Syfy Orders More STARGATE UNIVERSE and SANCTUARY

Syfy has ordered more Stargate Universe and Sanctuary.  The two Friday night shows have been getting solid ratings with Universe averaging 2.6 million viewers and Sanctuary 2.2 million after you factor in DVR numbers.  With the pick-up, production has commenced on both shows, with season two of Stargate debuting in the fall, along with the third season of Sanctuary.  Both shows received a twenty episode pick-up.  More after the jump:

From THR:

“We’re dealing with 15 seasons of expectations with a certain fanbase,” executive producer Robert Cooper said. “Hopefully, as the show goes on, people will appreciate ‘Universe’ for being its own thing.”

Cooper also said the show would become more serialized and it builds on what happened in the fall finale:

“The implications of leaving Rush on the planet, the real division that will cause amongst the crew, the judgment of those characters and their actions are going to have a big impact on the show.  We have a lot of things planned for the second half of the season.”

But I think the best news is Universe will be introducing an alien race:

“There is a big story point coming up that does introduce an alien race,” Cooper said. “It’s more along the line of a “District 9″-type alien. Our interaction is handled in a very “Universe” way; they’re not the typical “Stargate” alien bad guys.”

As I have said since the beginning, I’ve been very impressed with Stargate Universe.  It’s always difficult to take a franchise that many people love and try to do something new with it.  If you haven’t checked SGU yet, only ten episodes have aired, so there is plenty of time to catch up before the second half of season one airs in March.