The science fiction genre has given birth to iconic franchises like Star Wars, Star Trek and Blade Runner, but the one that’s had the longest shelf life is Stargate SG-1. Based on Roland Emmerich‘s cult classic Stargate, Stargate SG-1 showcases its titular team of military operatives using the device known as the Stargate to travel to different planets; more often than not, they encounter alien lifeforms that were based on mythological gods (or rather, those gods were based on these aliens in-universe). Stargate SG-1 was also immensely successful, as it lasted for 10 seasons; a large part of that success can be traced back to the pilot episode “Children of the Gods.”

“Children of the Gods” had a lot of heavy lifting to do. Not only did it have to introduce the concept of Stargate to people who might not have seen the movie, but it also had to find actors who could step into the roles of Kurt Russell‘s Jack O’Neill and James Spader‘s Daniel Jackson. Luckily, Showtime was willing to draw up a two-season order and devote $6 million to the pilot’s budget, per a Hollywood Reporter article from 2006. Those resources allowed executive producers Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner to craft a story that picked up on the events of the movie, while also casting Dean Richard Anderson as O’Neill and Michael Shanks as Jackson. In the process, the duo also set the stage for SG-1’s longevity.

‘Stargate SG-1’ Survived Multiple Creative Changes

Image via SyFy Channel

“Children of the Gods” set up multiple characters and concepts that would define Stargate SG-1 throughout its run. Chief among them was the fact that the Stargate was part of an intergalactic teleportation network, meaning that future episodes would bring something different to the table. SG-1 would also feature two characters that’d become a major part of Stargate lore: Captain Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and the genetically modified Teal’c (Christopher Judge), who formerly served the alien race known as the Goa’uld. These concepts were born when Brad Wright watched the original Stargate movie, and saw potential for an entire television series.

“I recognized immediately that there was a terrific series there, simply because there’s a gate that can get you to other planets. Our feeling was that if you had the capability of stepping through to another planet, the first thing you’d do is create an early NASA-like organization of small teams who go off and explore…And Jonathan had a notion that Ra was not the last of its kind, so you could have any number of ancient gods.”

Stargate SG-1 would become a ratings powerhouse, not to mention a beloved series in the halls of sci-fi. Yet it had to deal with multiple creative changes, including a shift in networks. Showtime kept requesting full-frontal nudity, which the showrunners bristled at and critics rightfully pointed out as unnecessary. Season 3 would see Glassner departing his showrunner duties, while Showtime opted not to pick up Stargate SG-1 up after its Season 5 finale. The Sci-Fi (now SyFy) Channel was more than willing to pick up the show, and SG-1 lived out the rest of its tenure there, with its final season airing in 2005.

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‘Stargate SG-1’ Launched an Entire Franchise

Before Stargate SG-1 moved to the SyFy channel, Brad Wright was planning to close out the series with a feature film. The series once again exploded in ratings and popularity, leading him to retool the idea into what eventually became Stargate Atlantis. This was only the start of a full-blown Stargate franchise, as another series would be launched with Stargate Universe; there was also the short-lived animated series Stargate Infinity and the webseries Stargate Origins, which weren’t as well recieved as SG-1. Wright and fellow Stargate showrunner Robert C. Cooper even got to make their own Stargate movies with Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum.

Stargate is making a return to television thanks to Prime Video, and it’s got plenty of advantages in its favor. Not only is Martin Gero, a longtime Stargate writer, serving as showrunner, but Brad Wright has been tapped as a consulting producer. Gero has also brought together a writers’ room, hinting that the series is starting to take shape. If the new Stargate wants to reignite love for the franchise, Gero should revisit “Children of the Gods”, as it contains the keys to what makes Stargate endure.

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Release Date

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1997 – 2007-00-00

Showrunner

Brad Wright

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Directors

Martin Wood, Andy Mikita, William Waring, Bill Gereghty, David Warry-Smith, Brad Turner, Mario Philip Azzopardi, William Gereghty, Peter F. Woeste, Dennis Berry, Ken Girotti, Charles Correll, Jonathan Glassner, Robert C. Cooper, Allan Eastman, Bill Corcoran, Jeff Woolnough, Jim Kaufman, Allan Lee, amanda tapping

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Writers

Dean Devlin, Damian Kindler, Katharyn Powers, Alan McCullough, Jeff King, Christopher Judge, Terry Curtis Fox, Martin Gero, Carl Binder, Hart Hanson, James Tichenor, Jarrad Paul, Tom J. Astle, Ben Browder, Corin Nemec, David Rich, Jacqueline Samuda, John Sanborn, Michael Shanks, Sam Egan, Alex Levine, James Taylor Phillips

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Stargate

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Bold and the Beautiful suggests it looks like Katie Logan‘s (Heather Tom) dream of running her own fashion house could be dead in the water unless somebody helps her turn things around fast.

We’re going to talk about one person—one guy—who could come in, swoop in, and help save Logan, even if Katie loses Eric Forrester (John McCook) as her lead designer.

As Katie watched Eric have those breathing issues and watched him collapse, she had to also see her dream collapsing of getting Logan off the ground. It’s hard to see how Bill Spencer (Don Diamont) and Katie’s new fashion company is going to get off the ground the way things are going.

Eric Forrester’s Health Crisis and the Secret Logan Deal Revealed on Bold and the Beautiful

The cat is out of the bag. Ridge Forrester (Thorsten Kaye) and Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) know that Eric is Katie’s lead designer. The stress of keeping the secret, Eric missing Forrester, and dealing with Dollar Bill is just too much of a strain on his health.

The paramedics were called, but Donna Logan (Jennifer Gareis) cannot get Eric to go to the hospital. Ridge, Brooke, and Donna all want Eric to quit working for Logan because of the toll it’s taking on him. Ridge wants his dad back at Forrester Creations. Mind you, he didn’t want him there before, but now that somebody else wants him, he’s changed his tune.

Eric doesn’t want to let Katie down, but I still have a feeling he’s not going to be able to keep working for her. Eric doesn’t seem to have the strength to deal with this launch. Maybe with the stress of the secret being out, he’ll do a little better, but he may stick around the minimum time possible and then leave as soon as he can.

John McCook Confirms the End of the Eric vs. Ridge Rivalry on B&B

I saw a new interview that confirmed, as fans suspected, that the rivalry of Ridge versus Eric is pretty much over by the end of this week. We already saw Ridge apologize and literally kiss Eric’s hand after Bill called out Ridge for disrespecting and mistreating his dad.

This is part of why I think Katie is going to need somebody to bail out Logan. In the same interview, John McCook confirmed that Eric will go back to Forrester Creations, but on his own terms. He may say that first he has to finish his commitment to Katie.

Ownership Disputes: Who Legally Owns Eric Forrester’s New Collection on Bold and the Beautiful?

What’s interesting is Ridge wants those designs that Eric made, and Ridge snarked about Katie taking things that don’t belong to her. Speaking of things that don’t belong to people, those don’t belong to Ridge.

I looked back and Eric signed a deal with Katie for the one collection because he said he would get her launch started, but he wasn’t staying long-term. Eric presented all those designs to Katie under that contract.

I suspect even if Eric wanted to take them, he couldn’t. Katie could probably stake a claim on them under that contract. I think Bill would absolutely enforce the contract and keep the designs primarily to screw over Ridge and infuriate him, even if Eric didn’t stay with Katie.

Quality Control Issues and the Mystery Designer Strategy on Bold and the Beautiful

We’ll see if Eric honors his commitment to Katie or if he hands over the designs and goes. There are lots of possibilities. Everything is going to get more complicated because Eric had an issue with the materials. He thought that his great designs came out poorly executed and shoddy.

Bill’s material standards aren’t as high because he doesn’t know fashion and doesn’t know why these things are important. If they’re not going to come out high quality, I could see Eric telling Katie and Bill, “You can keep the designs, but you can’t put my name on the collection.”

The good news is almost nobody knows that Eric is the lead designer she hired. Definitely nobody out in the fashion world or in the public knows yet. The press releases were just teasing a mystery designer. Katie could actually plug in somebody else and they can pick up where Eric left off. But the problem is they need somebody with a name because of the way they’ve hyped it up.

Could Thomas Forrester Return to Save Katie Logan’s Dream on Bold?

Right now, Katie’s dream of launching Logan and making it a success is close to being crushed. Things look bleak. I know a lot of fans are hoping to see Bill and Katie fail because they agree with Ridge that Katie is backpacking off Brooke’s name and reputation. If Logan has Eric’s designs but is doing them with low-quality materials, it’s like a cheap version of Forrester Creations.

But I think there’s a way to keep the rival fashion house concept going. The easiest solution using characters on the canvas right now is that Katie brings in Deke Sharpe and he helps Eric finish the collection. That would allow Katie to launch with an amazing collection, and Eric could give the caveat that they have to get the high-quality materials he wants.

Since Eric already said he wasn’t going to stick around long-term, that would work out because Eric’s heart belongs to Forrester. Since he and Ridge are burying the hatchet and squashing their beef this week, I expect Eric to come back to Forrester and work alongside Ridge again in a limited capacity—something without deadline pressure.

New Romantic Tensions and Corporate Rivalry on The Bold and the Beautiful

Here’s where I think it could get a lot more interesting. There is this one person that could come in and save the day—another Forrester. This guy could come in to fill in for Eric so that he could take a step back and protect his health.

I would love to see Matthew Atkinson come back to Bold and the Beautiful for a longer arc as Thomas Forrester. Can you imagine if Katie hired Thomas? He and Bill don’t get along, but neither do Eric and Bill. We know Thomas is an incredible designer who has made a name for himself.

Plus, Hope Logan (Annika Noelle) really doesn’t want Thomas on Hope for the Future. She might be supportive of that for Eric and for her own benefit, because Hope would really like it if Thomas bounced over to bail out Eric at Logan. Then she could bring Deke back to Forrester Creations to work with her.

Bold and the Beautiful: Is Thomas the Hero?

If you remember, Brad Bell made a big deal that Thomas was coming back to B&B, and then it turns out he wasn’t really back. It’s kind of like the big deal of the rival fashion house that now looks like it may be dying on the vine. It would be great if Brad Bell delivered on both and brought Matthew Atkinson back in a significant way.

Not only would it help Katie, but it could amp up the angst and drama because Liam Spencer (Scott Clifton) would be forced to see Thomas at the office. He’d hate that. That would be soapy. There could be some added tension in Hope and Liam’s marriage, which has been very dull so far. Bold could pair Thomas with somebody else romantically so there’s still tension, but without him trying to win Hope.

Ordinarily, Ridge’s head would explode if Katie hired Thomas. But if it was part of a deal to help Eric, then Ridge might accept it. A lot of old-school storylines on B&B that were really engaging involved fashion rivals like Spectra and Jackie M. I think it would be an amazing twist for Thomas to come back to take over for Eric and then watch him push back on Bill and stir up lots of drama.

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Eric Dane and Alyssa Milano had a brief romance that turned into a decades-long friendship.

Dane and Milano dated in the early 2000s before he landed a role on Charmed, which starred Milano, Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan. After splitting up, Dane went on to marry wife Rebecca Gayheart in October 2004. Milano, for her part, wed husband David Bugliari in August 2009.

Following their split, Dane and Milano remained cordial over the years. In April 2025, Dane revealed he was diagnosed with ALS. The Grey’s Anatomy alum died the following year at age 53.

“With heavy hearts, we share that Eric Dane passed on Thursday afternoon following a courageous battle with ALS. He spent his final days surrounded by dear friends, his devoted wife and his two beautiful daughters, Billie and Georgia, who were the center of his world,” a statement from the Dane family read. “Throughout his journey with ALS, Eric became a passionate advocate for awareness and research, determined to make a difference for others facing the same fight. He will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered always.”

After news broke of Dane’s death in February 2026, Milano paid tribute to her late friend.

“I can’t stop seeing that spark in Eric’s eye right before he’d say something that would either make you spit out your drink or rethink your entire perspective,” she wrote via Instagram at the time. “He had a razor-sharp sense of humor. He loved the absurdity of things. He loved catching people off guard.”

Keep scrolling for a look inside Dane and Milano’s friendship over the years:

2000s

Alyssa Milano and Eric Dane dated in the early 2000s. The pair enjoyed a night out at the 2003 premiere for the movie Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.

2003-2004

Eric Dane joined the cast of Charmed in season 5. Dane played Jason Dean, who was a love interest for Milano’s character Phoebe Halliwell. Dane was on the WB series for two seasons.

2024

During a July 2024 episode of Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast, Eric Dane opened up about his past romance with Alyssa Milano.

“I had a massive crush on Alyssa when I was 14. By the time I was 28, and we were dating, I wasn’t a child anymore and she was a person. A lovely wonderful person,” he recalled. “We dated for a little bit and she was obviously doing the show Charmed. She asked me if I wanted to be on it. I think I ended up doing like 10 episodes.”

Dane joked that his role was limited because they “broke up” in real life.

2026

After news broke of Eric Dane’s death, Alyssa Milano sent her condolences to his family in a touching tribute.

“When it came to his daughters and Rebecca, everything in him softened. He carried them with him even in rooms where they weren’t present,” she wrote via Instagram. “You could see it in the way his voice changed when he said their names. A breathtakingly beautiful family.”

Milano also looked back fondly on her memories with Dane.

“The spark. The mischief. The tenderness he kept guarded but never totally hidden,” she continued. “He convinced me to get my pixie cut and my nose piercing. He also was with me on the walk when we found Lucy, my beloved rescue chihuahua. He called me “Milano,” as if it was the only part of my name that mattered. My heart is with the people who were lucky enough to be his home.”