With that pesky business of putting the kibosh on season six of Atlantis out of the way, Sci Fi is now ready to announce that they are giving the Stargate Universe project a green light. The show will kick off with a two hour movie early next year and transition to a regular series for the summer. Creators Brad Wright and Robert Cooper will be the executive producers.

Universe will follow a new cast of characters on the adventure that comes after they explore a ship launched by the Ancients, Destiny. The reconnaissance mission takes a dramatic turn when they discover that the ship can never return to Earth. They are along for the ride as the ship carries on with it's pre-programmed navigational schedule. The adventure comes during periodic stops at stargates. The danger is that if anyone is left behind, there is no way to go back for them.

If nothing else, you have to give the team over at Sci Fi a couple points for thinking outside the box. This latest rush of creativity finds them partnering with Trion World Network to build their very own massively multiplayer online game to coincide with a companion series. In a nutshell, TV writers will partner with game designers with the end result being a game and series that will work in unison. The kicker being that those fans that play the game will influence the direction of the series.

Exactly what that influence will be is one of the many questions left up in the air after the guarded announcement. The only real details that were given up about the setting and direction of the show are that it is set 80 to 100 years in the future and Earth looks very different. It's not a lot to go on, but it's understandable why they are excited about it. Reading through the quotes from those involved you see things like Sci Fi president Dave Howe saying, "This is the Holy Grail for us, without a doubt." So, if you had Aztec Rex in the Sci Fi Holy Grail pool, you were wrong.