Stargate Seasons 1 Thru 3 Plus The Movie Kurt Russell James Spader Richard Anderson

In 1928, in Egypt, a strange device is found by an expedition. In the present days, the outcast linguist Dr. Daniel Jackson is invited by a mysterious woman to decipher an ancient hieroglyph in a military facility. Soon he finds that the device was developed by an advanced civilization and opens a portal to teletransport to another planet. Dr. Jackson is invited to join a military team under the command of Colonel Jonathan 'Jack' O'Neil that will explore the new world. They find a land that recalls Egypt and humans in a primitive culture that worship and are slaves to Ra, the God of the Sun. But soon they discover the secret of the mysterious "stargate".

The Showtime cable series Stargate SG-1 turns the premise of Stargate into a surprisingly viable formula, with former MacGyver star Richard Dean Anderson assuming Kurt Russell's role as Air Force hero Jack O'Neill. Michael Shanks inherits James Spader's role as archeologist Daniel Jackson, and the series' 1997 pilot, "Children of the Gods," reunites the adventurers when the Air Force's Stargate facility on Earth is attacked by sentries from Abydos, the distant planet on the other side of the space-warping Stargate. Faced with a new nemesis from Abydos, O'Neill and the fresh recruits of Unit SG-1 must return to the planet and close off the Stargate to prevent further attacks on Earth. It's a pretty standard adventure, with brief, gratuitous R-rated nudity not seen in the original cablecast, but Anderson's an appealing leader of the well-chosen cast (including Alexis Cruz, reprising his role from the film), and the show's production values are consistently high. Taking logical steps from Stargate, series developers Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner have managed an admirable feat.