We’re all well aware of the odds against a healthy life for a Canadian drama series. Just getting one to air is an impressive feat. And then, if the show is good enough and the broadcaster cares enough to invest some thought and resources behind its promotion, it may actually catch fire with viewers and get renewed.

So what, then, would be the Holy Grail for a domestic drama series? To make it to five seasons? It rarely happens. Cold Squad took a final bow after seven. Da Vinci’s Inquest also got to blow out seven candles, with a bonus for one season of Da Vinci’s City Hall, which may return in some form.

But another show shot in B.C. has trumped them all. So, hats off to the men and women of Stargate Command, who recently soared to a milestone 200th episode in the 10th season of smash hit Stargate SG-1. (See our special report, starting on p. 27.)

This would be a remarkable accomplishment in any country, so let’s rejoice in this amazing Canadian success story.

Would you care for further quantification of this program’s success?

Well, the sci-fi series – which follows the exploits of a team of do-gooders who can transport themselves across the universe to protect Earth’s interests – has spawned a successful spinoff, Stargate Atlantis, which also shoots in B.C. While Vancouver has certainly benefited from the many Hollywood feature films that have shot there, you just can’t beat the steady work of a franchise that sticks around for a whole decade. It has provided Canadian writers, directors, actors and crews with steady work on a high-end production with a budget of US$2 million per episode – the approximate cost of many Canadian feature films.

It doesn’t stop there. These series have played a part in building the local infrastructure that in turn has enabled the B.C. industry to produce other high-quality TV series and features, of both a domestic and service nature. Burnaby’s The Bridge Studios, Stargate’s soundstage home, has expanded to accommodate the FX-heavy production, while artists at post shops including Rainmaker, Image Engine and Atmosphere Visual Effects have pushed their CGI skills to the next level to bring the show’s aliens, fantastic worlds and ‘gate crossings’ to life.

According to their makers, the Stargates have pumped US$500 million in production spending into the B.C. industry. SG-1 is seen by 10 million viewers in 120 countries.

And yet, unfortunately, as is sometimes the case in this country, for all its great success, SG-1 is looked upon by some in the industry as a wealthy but somehow inferior brother. To wit: in all its years, despite achieving a level of quality that has sustained it longer than any other drama series on cable television, the series has picked up a token two Gemini Awards – one for FX, the other for production design. SG-1 is certainly Canada’s elephant in the soundstage.

And don’t think this pointed snub means nothing to the primarily Canadian talent that puts its brains and sweat behind each week’s episodes. Come Gemini night, the series’ producers take everyone involved on the show out for their own dinner to celebrate SG-1’s accomplishments, while their colleagues in the industry choose not to.

So, what’s the industry hang-up? Well, clearly, it’s that the franchise, which is 6/10 Canadian according to CRTC criteria, is owned by U.S. giants MGM and Sony Pictures Television.

It brings to mind a recent debate that raged in the pages of Maclean’s, in a story where top feature film producers argue over which of their films are more ‘Canadian,’ those backed by foreign studios that feature foreign stars but shoot here, or those that are owned by Canuck producers yet shoot outside the country with little in the way of Canadian talent or crews.

Well, from a Cancon point of view, both SG-1 and Atlantis provide a superior model, because not only do they shoot here, but outside of lead name actors such as Richard Dean Anderson and Beau Bridges, they feature plenty of key Canadian talent, in front of and behind the camera. After all, Brad Wright, a proud Canadian, was the driving force behind Stargate SG-1, and he created Atlantis with fellow Canuck Robert Cooper. And these guys continue to call the shots on the franchise.

So, although there are those who would downplay what some talented and business-savvy Canadians have accomplished out there in Burnaby, I say that 200 episodes is a good time to give the success story that is Stargate a hearty round of applause.