200 (Stargate SG-1) - Production

Production

Executive producer Robert C. Cooper originally proposed they write a normal script for the 200th episode. However it soon became clear that deciding who would have the privilege of writing the 200th episode would be problematic. This led to the idea to create a sketch episode in the manner of Saturday Night Live, with each writer creating a vignette. The episode took shape when the writers thought to bring back Wormhole X-Treme and the character of Martin, and frame the whole episode as a notes session. By the end of the writing process the episode had turned into "an homage to the cast, crew, and die-hard fans."

Stargate producers were not sure actor Richard Dean Anderson would return for the episode, so they devised many scenes where Anderson was "in" the episode but not actually shown. Luckily, Anderson was willing to return and appeared in several scenes. In the DVD special Stargate SG-1: Behind the 200th Cooper said, "it was a big deal for us to have back for the 200th episode. We obviously didn't think we could do it without him."

Despite the markedly different content of the episode, "200" took no longer to shoot than a normal episode, mainly because much of the filming took place on the briefing room set. On the other hand, the episode was much more expensive than a typical one, due to the unusual sequences. For example, the marionettes used in an elaborate spoof of the series were created by the Chiodo brothers, who also made the puppets for Team America: World Police; each puppet cost about US$25,000, and the wires pulling each puppet had to be readded by CGI in post production because they didn't show up well enough. Several existing sets were used as stand-ins; for example, the bridge of the Odyssey was used for a Star Trek: The Original Series spoof, while a set from the sister production Stargate: Atlantis was used as the chamber of the Wizard of Oz.

In an interview about the tenth season of Stargate, Cooper and series co-creator Brad Wright stated that there was a fine line between the humor of regular episodes turning into camp. While jokes for the joke's sake are usually limited in normal episodes, the line between humor and camp is deliberately crossed frequently in "200". The producers even talked about recreating a part of Blazing Saddles that breaks the fourth wall, but they could not afford the horses.

The producers made sure that the episode was well-publicized, dropping hints that Anderson's character O'Neill would return for the episode. Joe Mallozzi, executive producer for the series, also hinted that series fans would finally meet the Furlings, an enigmatic race referenced in the second season episode "The Fifth Race" but never seen. Despite the outlandish scenes filmed for the episode, many of the writers' favorite moments did not make it to production due to time constraints. For example, Cooper noted that a Gilligan's Island skit was cut from the script.