Accela's TV Reviews

I've been a Stargate SG-1 fan for some time now, and since there appears to be a severe shortage of intelligent shows on TV, I thought there wasn't anything decent to watch before Friday night.
I was wrong.
Stargate Atlantis is one of the best spin-offs I've ever seen. Its visuals and CGI are pretty incredible considering the TV budget, while the characters have a wonderful chemistry, which is one of the most important things for a show. Unlike some series (Star Trek: Enterprise comes to mind), these characters have genuine life and feeling behind their faces. Each has a unique personality that aids or abbets the others regularly.
The plot takes place in the Pegasus Galaxy, where the team discovers the lost city of Atlantis (yes, the one that was in that lousy Donovan song). Some aspects of this weird galaxy are similar (all human-like people speak English, you need ZPMs to power stuff) but the team discovers a new enemy: the Wraith. Think pale vampires that use their hands to suck your life out instead of biting at the neck and you get the idea. And so the newcomer humans spend their days fighting off the Wraith and going to other planets spreading peace and harmony (okay, not really).
I recommend being at least somewhat familiar with Stargate SG-1 before viewing Atlantis; however, Atlantis does a successful job of creating its own little universe/community, so the two do not necessarily have to go hand in hand.
A great show with excellent characters is hard to find, so I happily endose Stargate Atlantis. It's good, clean fun (PG, with a couple episodes in the area between PG and PG-13); as soon as the show starts up again, I know I'll be glued to the television on Friday night.