'Atlantis,' 'Eureka' Get Pickups By SciFi Channel

This is great news for "Atlantis," which is in the middle of its first season without "Stargate: SG-1" as a lead-in. And it has done well. "Atlantis" is drawing an average of 1.8 million viewers to its Friday 10 p.m. timeslot, according to Variety, well above the channel's average of 1.3 million total viewers.

Amanda Tapping joined the cast of "Atlantis" this season, replacing Torri Higginson, who had played Elizabeth Weir from the show's inception. Tapping has said in the past that if the show got renewed, she would be very interested in spending her 12th year as Samantha Carter. "Stargate SG-1," where her character originated, lasted for 10 seasons on Showtime and later the SciFi Channel, and is now making telemovies.

"'Atlantis' truly came out from under the shadow of its sister series this year and proved that it's a hit in its own right," said Mark Stern, executive vice president of original programming for SciFi Channel.

There is still no decision yet on what will happen to "Flash Gordon," the lead-in show to "Atlantis" which is in the middle of a 22-episode order, but has not been drawing the ratings "Atlantis" has. SciFi Channel has tried to boost some of the viewership and introduce a more sophisticated audience to the show by showing minisodes of "Battlestar Galactica" during its airing, leading up to the telemovie "Razor" Nov. 24.

SyFy Portal has reported in the past that SciFi Channel did not intend to renew the series, but executive producer Peter Hume denied that report.

"Stargate: Atlantis" airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on SciFi Channel.

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