It?s official: Stargate Universe has been renewed for a second season, MGM and Syfy Channel announced late last night (via The Hollywood Reporter).
A 20-episode season will begin filming in early 2010 for a fall premiere. Meanwhile, the second half of Season One will return in April. Work on the first episodes of Season Two is already underway in Vancouver, British Columbia, where the show?s writing team has hammered out storylines and already started writing scripts.
The renewal comes as no surprise, with SGU relaunching the stalwart, 12-year-old franchise and bringing in brand new viewers with its markedly different tone and approach to storytelling. The show has averaged 2.6 million viewers with ?Live + 7 Days? DVR data taken into account, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
It?s the cable network?s second highest-rated show of the fall season, behind Ghost Hunters.
According to Syfy:
?In the eight episodes with full ?Live + 7? DVR viewing data, Stargate Universe?s first year has averaged 2.64 million total viewers, 1.66 million Adults 25-54, 1.47 million Adults 18-49 and 617,000 Adults 18-34, along with a 1.9 HH rating.
?Compared to the 2008-09 Stargate Atlantis Season Five, SGU jumped 55 percent in Adults 18-34, 36 percent in Adults 18-49, 31 percent in Adults 25-54 and 26 percent in total viewers.
Of course the studio isn?t saying just which cast members will be on the show next season. With another 10 episodes still to air in the freshman season, anyone is at risk of being killed off.
Syfy also announced the renewal of SGU?s Friday night companion series, Sanctuary. It will be the third season for the series that stars and is executive produced by Amanda Tapping, formerly of Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis fame. The series has averaged 2.2 million viewers this season.
Sanctuary will continue to air the rest of its 13-episode season into January, then return with Season Three in the fall. The renewal marks the show?s first 20-episode order, THR says.
Watch for the next new episode of SGU, ?Space,? when the show returns in April! In the meantime, we?ll continue to cover every moment of the franchise and look at Stargate Universe so far, right here at GateWorld.