Farscape is Back

cioxx writes "FilmForce has substantiated rumors of Farscape, widely popular TV miniseries, returning as a standalone project with no new episode commitment attached, independent of Sci-Fi Channel." Previously, some rumors had been flying around that the original series would be finished off in this way, but many Farscape fans are just happy to see more of the show on the way.

Comments

Still just speculation

[bigbigbison]

Earlier this week, Dark Horizons reported that he had learned the production office is open, but that he was unable to learn anything else. SOMETHING is going on but that article simply seems to be plagiarizing the Dark Horizons article.

There was a Henson press conference set for Thursday according to savefarscape.com but it was cancelled which leads me to beleive that perhaps whatever deal they had fell through.

There is a fan convention going on this weekend, so if there is an anouncement look for it soon.

Not a miniseries

[InfoCynic]

It's inaccurate to call Farscape a miniseries. It was a regular tv show, running 4 seasons with 22 episodes in each. Perhaps the author was confused after reading the article (although that would seem to imply he read the article, which on /., seems unlikely...), that mentions that the new project will be a miniseries.

Re:Not a miniseries

[Quarters]

The show got called a miniseries in the article header because the poster just grabbed various phrases from the linked story and combined them incorrectly. The comment in the article is:

The Henson company would not comment on the information but a source close to the production has confirmed that the new project will be a miniseries, not a new season as originally hoped for by the fans. While no plot details are available, sources have also confirmed that the new project will be independent from the Sci-Fi Channel, the network that broadcast the series. No information is currently available about just where the new miniseries will be appearing or when.

Obviously, this is good news for the fans that have fought so hard to bring the series back but there may be cause for guarded optimism. The miniseries is currently seen as a standalone project with no new episode commitment attached, so nothing is guaranteed beyond this project. More information as it becomes available right here at IGNFF.

Re:"Widely popular"

[TTMuskrat]

If it was widely popular, why does it have to be resurrected?

Because its cancellation was all about money and ownership of the show, not its popularity. (Kinda like the original Battlestar Galatica).

SciFi Channel (owned by USA networks) did not own the rights to the show as it was made by the Jim Henson company (who is owned by a German conglomerate whose name escapes me now). When the USA network changed leadership, they wanted shows that they made and produced to be shown so that all the monies from said show would go to them. Since this was not the case with Henson-owned Farscape, and the fact that the show was not cheap to make, USA (and SciFi) opted out of the 5th season. So now, all you get is USA network made crap programming on the SciFi channel as if the entire USA Network itself wasn't bad enough ;).

Good, Original SF Recommendations

[cquark]

I think science fiction is in its golden age today, both in terms of interesting well-developed ideas and in terms of the quality of writing. Here are some relatively recent novels that focus on interesting ideas that I'd recommend:

• Stephen Baxter's Ring, Manifold:Time, Anti-Ice
• Greg Egan's Quarantine, Diaspora, Distress, and Permutation City
• Ian MacDonald's Terminal Cafe and Evolution's Shore
• Alistair Reynold's Revelation Space
• Rudy Rucker's Software and sequels, which are the weirdest fiction I've encountered since Phillip K Dick
• S.M. Stirling's Island in the Sea of Time
• Harry Turtledove's Guns of the South, Agent of Byzantium, and World War series
• Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky
• Robert Charles Wilson's Chronoliths and Bios
• David Zindell's Neverness

For short stories, the Year's Best SF series edited by David Hartwell is quite good. Stephen Baxter and especially Greg Egan have amazing short story collections fo their own. If you know a good used bookstore, I'd also highly recommend John Varley's short story collections (most published under several titles). He's not a bad novelist, but he's incredible in short fiction.

Re:"Widely popular"

[Zero Muskrat]

Actually, the Henson family owns the Jim Henson company. It was sold to EM.TV of Germany for $680 million in 2000. The Henson's bought it back for $89 million this year. Not bad.

There has been wild hopes that Farscape would come back in some incarnation now that the Henson family owns the rights. We'll have to see if these hopes become reality. The theme of the campaign to bring the show back has been "Beyond Hope."

Have to agree

[Kludge]

There were so many Farscape stories posted on /., I figured it must be a good show, so I downloaded and watched the first 3 episodes. It sucked. Even my wife, who is much less discriminating, didn't like it. There must be a lot of people that enjoy bad sci-fi.

Sorry.

Re:Have to agree

[il_diablo]

Unfortunately, that's not going to give you the ability to appreciate the show. The first season, the entire cast was getting their legs and learning to work together. Ergo, the show was craptacular. The big draw of the show after season 2 was that the quirky humor started to gel, and the actors really got more into their roles. We actually started to care about them. Really, the first three eps are not the best way to get into Farscape. You'd be better downloading the "Best of" season n material.

Re:Have to agree

[El_Ge_Ex]

As I'm sure you're reading from other posts, Farscape was a show that didn't start out great, but developed into a great show over time (kind of the opposite of how most shows act.)

-B

Re:Babs

[Holi]

Actually no it didn't. It was meant to have a 5 year run (and yes I know it did) but prior to the 4th seasons end the show was to be cancelled so J.Michael had to rewrite to end the series at the end of the 4th season. When he was told that it would have a 5th he had to hack together the tacked on 5th season.

Re:Babs

[Holi]

Episode 15 Season 1, Grail

Full Quote:
"No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. What? Look, somebody's got to have some damn perspective around here. Boom, sooner or later. BOOM!" --Ivanova