The Sci-Fi Channel has cancelled Stargate SG-1, potentially shutting down the B.C.-shot series just as it entered the record books as North America's longest-running sci-fi series of all time.

Executive producer Robert Cooper got the news on Aug. 18, just before a planned party to celebrate that night's airing of the show's record-breaking 200th episode. But he is already talking about shopping the series - about a dimension-hopping team of explorers - to another network.

"The rumors of our demise are overrated. Just because Sci-Fi threw it in, the studio isn't," says Cooper. The show is produced by MGM.

This is not the first time SG-1 has been canned. It premiered on Showtime in 1997 and logged in five years before it was cancelled and it found a new home on Sci-Fi.

The show has reportedly dipped somewhat in viewership, but still gets an audience of nearly two million, according to MGM.

"We look at this as an opportunity to move to the next level - DVDs, a feature film, special episodes... We don't view this as a negative," says Cooper. "And hey, no one ever dies in science fiction."

There is even a grassroots campaign underway to get Sci-Fi to reconsider. An MGM spokesman points to petitions signed by 10,000 fans asking the channel to bring the program back.

Cooper would not say how many jobs would be affected by the cancellation. Stargate SG-1 and its spinoff Stargate Atlantis employ about 200 people in total, sharing producers, writers and crew.

Sci-Fi has picked up Stargate: Atlantis for a fourth season.

SG-1 has played a leading role in B.C.'s TV and film industry, providing long-term employment and opportunities to local talent. According to Cooper, it and Atlantis have brought US$500 million in production spending to the province and created 400 jobs in the past nine years.

SG-1 stars Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Michael Shanks, Beau Bridges, Ben Browder and Claudia Black.

The final 10 episodes of SG-1 will air next year on Sci-Fi. The series also airs on Space and other CHUM stations in Canada.

www.stargatesg1.com