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Sci Fi Confirms Forthcoming Farscape Miniseries
Albinus writes "The Sci Fi Channel has decided to continue the Farscape series in the form of a miniseries, according to a short article on SciFi.com. Apparently, 'The four-hour miniseries picks up where the cliffhanger series finale left off and will reunite John Crichton (Ben Browder), Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black) and the rest of the Moya crew.' Hopefully this will generate a renewed interest in the show and bring it back permanently." We reported on earlier rumors to this effect late last year.
This was announced in the second BiMonSciFiCon in January.
They took detailed measurements, pictures, etc of all the sets before destroying them. It will help them recreate the sets. And the other stuff like Pilot was put into crates and sent off to storage.
Some stuff was destroyed, if memory serves me right, though.
If you only saw an episode here and there, you'd probably find it disjointed and hard to follow. Farscape was a serial rather than a series, in that the story continued from week to week, and changes in the characters relationships (or mortality) were developed over time and maintained. Dialog in one show referred to events in others. This is in direct contrast to shows like Star Trek, where you could re-run episodes in all sort of order and no one really cared (Borg episodes notwithstanding).
The other thing that attracted me to Farscape was the dry wit and the pure humanity of the hero (John Crichton). He screwed up on several occasions and had to figure his way out of jams. Or maybe something didn't go the way it "should have," and plans were shot. No phasers from space or transporters to get them out of trouble. Occasionally fistfights broke out, often among the main characters.
This isn't to say that the show was all violence. Romance showed up a lot, and the bounds of friendships were tested (some failed, some didn't). Many times, characters weren't either "bad guys" or "good guys," but just had their own way of getting through life. The character of Scorpius was played brilliantly as one who is evil on so many levels that you can't keep track of them all, but in certain situations can be trusted to be true to his word. Others, like Chiana (what a babe), were good at heart but sometimes did bad things. I'm reminded of Jessica Rabbit ("I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way.")
So, if you have a chance, watch Farscape for several episodes in a row. It starts to make sense after a while, and then you're addicted.
The Spoon
Updated 6/28/2011
Ever heard of Babylon 5? Want to know how many times that series returned from cancelation? 4 times. After season 1 it was canceled. After season 2 it was canceled. After season 3 it was canceled. After season 4 it was canceled. It made it all 5 seasons, JMS never wanted more, actually, he wanted exactly 5 seasons. Thats what he got. So YES shows have recovered from cancelation. Also take a like at Saturday Night Live. That have been canceled And the star trek franchice. what about that?
Tobias Ussing http://www.nearby.dk
Firefly is already returning, atleast for a movie. Though you may not like farscape, i do. Farscape has a far better arc than firefly. this is also because firefly never really got the chance, thanks FOX. But i have found Farscape to be better than all Joss Wheedon shows. Mainly because its more arc driven.
Tobias Ussing http://www.nearby.dk
Why is it that everyone says there is no good sci-fi on SciFi and yet Stargate SG1 is still going strong? Yes, I admit, there has been some off episodes but that happens to almost every series that lasts for as long as SG1 has. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but then neither is Farscape. Don't get me wrong, please, I enjoyed Farscape when it was on but I've rarely found reasons to NOT watch SG1 though I was hoping they would drop their meta-physical kick they were leaning on and get back to sci-fi/exploration. And they did. Plus, with Atlantis about to start they could be making another hit show. We'll just have to wait and see how they play it.
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Starts coming out this year.
Some of the sets were slated to be rebuilt anyway before the fifth season started due to other problems like general wear and tear. In the end they didn't lose that much.
Yeh, but you obviously don't know the backstory...
SciFi was on the fence about having one more season. After going back and forth, they told the writers and cast they had their final answer: there WOULD be another season.
So they changed the script around a little and set it up for a cliffhanger. They made it look like 2 of the main (well, face it, THE 2 main characters) die in a weird kind of weapon blast that turns them into dried matter (like a banana after being frozen by liquid nitrogen, then shattered). This weird thing probably means they're alive, but just transported or whatever.
THEN, AFTER they wrapped everything up, shot the last scene, edited the film, added the sound track, etc, SciFi dropped the bombshell. "We changed our minds. Sorry about the inconvenience."
They immediately cut funding and VERY shortly after started tearing down the sets.
This gave them no choice but to air what they filmed. Though I would have liked it better than they just used a pair of scissors and cut out the last 10 seconds.
"The Sci Fi Channel has decided to continue the Farscape series in the form of a miniseries,
Uh, no. Henson and Hallmark decided to continue the series and got funding to produce the miniseries. That all happened last November, or at least that's when word began to leak out and was later confirmed (unofficially but with plenty of nods and winks) at the Farscape convention in Burbank. What's new is that Sci Fi will be the broadcaster for the mini, which is already in post production. The quoted line makes it sound like Sci Fi reconsidered its decision to cancel the series, which gives them way more credit than the facts warrant.
I know you're just trying to be a Troll, but you've just come across as Stupid.
Several of the actors have had other roles, which is suprising considering the relatively short timespan between Farscape being cancelled and the big push to start a mini-series.
Ben Browder (John Crichton) has been in an episode of CSI: Miami, played Lee Majors in Behind the Camerea; The Unauthorized Story of 'Charlie's Angels' (which was pretty campy but entertaining, especially with Dan Castallaneta), and a major roll as Sam Moss in the film A Killer Within which is in post-production.
Claudia Black (Aeryn Sun) is the character Lady Briana in the game Lords of Everquest
Anthony Simcoe (Ka D'Argo) plays the character Scott Seaton in the two part TV movie Marking Time. He has also had a role in BlackJack, another TV movie.
Gigi Edgley (Chiana) has played the character in Liz Kempson in BlackJack, a TV movie, which has turned into a TV movie series. She has played the same roll on BlackJack: In the Money, BlackJack: Ace Point Game, and BlackJack: Sweet Science (which is currently still filming)
Lani John Tupu (Captain Crais/Voice of Pilot) has played the character Sharky Garcia in the movie Liquid Bridge, also the character Chief Finau on the TV show Revelations.
Wayne Pygram (Scorpius) has played Col. Langdon in the TV movie Heroes' Mountain.
Tammy McIntosh (Jool) has played Melissa on the TV series Jeopardy and also the character Charlotte Beaumont on the TV series All Saints
Mellisa Jaffer (Noranti) has played Gwen Walston on the TV sereis Snobs
David Franklin (Braca) was the Maitre D' in The Matrix Reloaded (bet you didn't know that)
Kent McCord (Jack Crichton) was in the movie Run Ronnie Run!
This is what these actors have been doing since Farscape, it doesn't even touch the huge list of work from before. Several of the actors whe played smaller roles in Farscape have also been appearing in various things. So stop being an idiot.
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Family Guy is coming back after 2 (?) years of being off of the air. There was a recent article about it but I can't find it. They start again in 2005 after going off in 2002.
Okay, I'm going a bit astray here, and while yes, the Asgard have been used as a deus ex machina on occasion, there have been other times when the Asgard have said, "Tough Luck, you're on your own" (Red Sky) or "We're sorry, but we can't take your call right now. Please leave your gate address and we'll get back to you" (Redemption); and other times, they simply figured them out on their own (Singularity).
The only reason we have the rights we have is that people just like us died to gain those rights. -- Cheerio Boy
Hard one to answer, as there are a number of things that contributed to Farscape becoming my favorite show.
What tops the list for me is the show's intensity. My favorite episodes of ST:TNG were always the season finale/cliffhanger/two parters. That moment, for example, when we find out that Picard is now Locutus, that he has been assimilated, and it seems like there is no way the day can be saved. This happens in nearly every episode of Farscape, and to a much greater extent with any multipart episodes. The title of the 3 episodes leading up to the series finale "We are So Screwed" really describes the feeling you get watching the entire series. You are on the edge of your seat as every situation gets worse and worse, and just when it seems there is no way out they pull a last ditch effort, which always, at least to the necessary extent, works. The overlying problem for each season though is never solved and we are forced to tune in next week as the story gets more and more involved.
Next up: The characters are deep, as you get to know them you really almost feel like you know them. I don't ever want to meet the actors, because I'm sure that it will spoil my illusion of these people actually existing. The actors do a phenomenal job. They have immense chemistry, especially from the end of the first season when Scorpius (and later Harvey) is introduced. Wayne Pygram and Ben Browder play off each other brilliantly.
Third: The show has a very clever, somewhat dry, but extremely funny wit. Crichton makes constant references to Earth pop culture, and when used as clever similes to describe something in this extremely alien universe it is often very funny. Aeryn and Dargo always try to use Crichtons Earth and English references and always screw them up. Seeing a big alien with tendrils trying to measure time by saying "1 mippippi, 2 mippippi", or Aeryn saying "She gives me a woody. Woody...? A human saying I've heard you say often, when you don't trust someone or they may you nervous they give you..." "Willies! She gives you the willies!"
Fourth: The show is SO cinematic. Every episode is like a 1 hour movie, and again this is even more true for the episodes with 2 or more parts. The cinematography is brilliant, and it never gets old as every episode is shot very differently (there's even an episode that is mostly a Warner Brothers style cartoon). The special effects range from perfectly adequate to stunning. The puppeteer work is phenomenal, after very little time you forget that Rygel and Pilot are puppets and accept them as just a couple more characters on the show.
These are the reasons that pop to mind as the most significant portions of Farscape's appeal. Of course words can hardly do it justice, and certainly mine are not the most eloquent, so my recommendation is that you get ahold of the DVD's (or acquire the episodes in whatever manner you see fit :), start from the beginning and I'm sure that after you've got a few episodes under your belt (I was borderline fanatical by 1x05, Back and Back to the Future) you will be hooked and won't be able to resist watching the whole series.
A couple of notes about other comments in this topic: I think the miniseries will do very well, possibly better than the series did ratings wise, as I know that myself and all the other people I know that watched Farscape bought the DVD's and got as many people hooked as they could. I have personally sat 10 people through the entire series (and they became as obsessed as I), and I'm sure this isn't a localized phenomenon.
In regards to Firefly: I think it was a phenomenal show, and am so terribly sad that it got taken off the air, especially after having such a short run. I am delighted they are making a movie. Having said that, I don't think it is as deep, intellectual or imaginative as Farscape, so if I had to choose between them, there'd be a Farscape miniseries instead of a Firefly movie. Fortunately I don't have to make that choice as we are getting both.
There, my first ever slashdot post... Don't be too hard on me. :)
-=(Lord Crosis)=-Andy Rooney of Borg: "Ya ever wonder WHY resistance is futile?"
No idea when it will be out
Cheeers
Vikingbrad
As I recall, the 5th season only got made because a cable station (TNN maybe? Can't remember) picked up the show for its last season, which meant substantial pay cuts for the cast members (cable rates are much lower than broadcast).
"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than that of whether a submarine can swim" -EWD