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Posted by Donnie on 14th Apr 2012

As long as they can sustain the sereis without getting too far from the template. What is the template? The template consists of the core hooks and focus that drew people to the show in the first place.Battlestar is about a ragtag fleet of ships containing the last human survivors, fleeing the cylons who are hell bent on the destruction of humanity.New Caprica is where the show went downhill, because that conflict of escape and looking for Earth hit a serious stalemate. With the humans captured, and seemed to be permanently grounded, the sereis was no longer about space survival and escape. It became about prisoner camps and prison camp politics, in addition to more domestic conflicts.Thankfully, Stargate SG-1 never strays too far from gate travel and exploration, so I think they've stayed true although obviously fans may take issue with some of the things they decided to do. I know some people who don't like the whole spiritual ascension track, etc. But I think overall they've done a good job. Atlantis on the other hand, while I enjoy it, dangerously straddles that line of violating template and why a spinoff sereis can be difficult to manage. It is no longer really Stargate, as the focus of many episodes center around the city and gate travel takes somewhat of a backseat to other features of the sereis. I can't really think of a solution to solve that problem, it's the inherent problem in doing a spinoff.So long story short, however long they can successfully maintain the show's template is how long a sereis can endure. I guarantee if you look where certain shows lost their footing, it was inevitably a violation of the template in some fashion.