Variety has reported that the Sci-Fi Channel has ordered 22 new episodes of Stargate SG-1, renewing the series for its seventh season.  The anchor of the Sci-Fi Channel's Friday block of original programming, Stargate SG-1 has consistently been the highest rated series on the network, averaging over 1.32 million households over the past summer (see 'Stargate SG-1 Getting Great Ratings on Sci-Fi Network').  Series star  Richard Dean Anderson, who reportedly was thinking about quitting the show or only doing half of a season in order to spend more time with his family, will be back for all 22 episodes.  It is also being reported that Michael Shanks, who played the character Daniel Jackson in seasons 1-5, will return as a regular cast member.

The Stargate franchise began with the 1995 MGM movie that morphed into a TV series that lasted five years on Showtime before moving to the Sci-Fi Channel.  The Sci-Fi Channel also owns the rights to the first five seasons and shows them on Monday nights. The Sci-Fi Channel still has 11 shows from the sixth season of Stargate SG-1, which won't debut until January, when they will be paired with the last 11 episodes of the cancelled Farscape series (see 'Farscape Canceled').  The first half of Stargate SG-1's seventh season should debut in the summer of 2003.

Stargate SG-1 and the animated Stargate Infinity series offer retailers several good merchandising opportunities including trading cards from Rittenhouse Archives, DVD box sets of the first two seasons, a soundtrack and companion books from Titan.  Avatar Press has the license to publish Stargate comic books (see 'Film 2 Comics: Stargate, Species, Robocop') but they haven't solicited any yet.