The full story of SGU will take five seasons to tell, according to executive producer Joseph Mallozzi.

The producers of Stargate Universe hope that the show will live on for five full seasons, according to executive producer Joseph Mallozzi. He told fans at his blog that the writers have five years’ worth of story, building up to the final pay-off and conclusion of SGU.

“There are a number of arcs and elements that will figure into the ultimate finale we have planned,” Mallozzi said. “Ideally, we’d get five years to tell the entire story in satisfactory fashion but, if it came down to it, we could pay it off over the course of a single season.”

Stargate Universe is the first show in the franchise to be conceived as a single, arc-based story with a beginning, middle, and end, rather than an episodic series that could go on as long as the ratings would support.

At this point, Mallozzi also said, the studio is not thinking about a back-up plan for finishing the story in another medium, should the show be canceled without sufficient warning to pay off the story. Right now “the plan is deliver the ending at the conclusion of Season Five,” he said.

The show’s ratings in its new Tuesday night time slot, however, may threaten that 5-year story. Last month Syfy Channel canceled Stargate‘s lead-out show Caprica for low ratings. Meanwhile WWE Smackdown and Sanctuary are thriving on Friday nights, blocking the likelihood of returning SGU to that night on the schedule.

The network is expected to announce its decision about SGU Season Three in December or January, following next week’s conclusion of the first half of Season Two. The second half should pick up in the spring, after production on Season Three would need to have already begun.

The show does benefit from a larger number of DVR-delayed and online viewers … which don’t mean much to the advertisers who pay to keep Syfy’s programming on the air.

“I think our audience is there but simply growing more diffuse,” Mallozzi said of the ratings. “It would terrific if the television industry found a way to catch up with the modern media’s technological advancements, find a way to make sure everyone is counted in those ratings — but barring a major miracle, I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

“The only alternative to ensuring a third season is to bring more viewers to Tuesday nights, be they SG-1 fans, Atlantis fans, or fans of Celebrity Circus.”

Stick with GateWorld for the very latest, and be sure to watch the final episode of the fall season this Tuesday night at 9 p.m. (8 Central)! Visit GateWorld’s Season Two episode guide to learn more about “Resurgence,” and be sure to visit Joe’s blog for more from the SGU writer/producer.