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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.
Looks like there's a trend starting to develop here.
And I think it's for the better too... Sci-Fi Mini Series.
The Dune ones, the new Battlestar Galactica, for example, and now this Farscape one.
I think it's a good way to keep stories fresh and entertaining, with a tight plot, compared to some season-long space operas that drag on way past their expiry date...
I'm all in favor of this format.
If the series is actually picked back up, it could prove inspirations for all the other shows that were cancelled, but are still fighting to get back on the air. the save farscape crew did a good job of trying to rally support.
Nice pipe dream, but since the series wasn't cancelled due to lack of interest, I doubt it'll happen.
Even Jesus hates listening to Creed.
Do shows ever really recover from cancellation? Sure, there's some convulsions before rigamortis sets in, but rarely is there a rebirth, if ever.
Now, if it WERE to happen, I'd be immensely happy. I'm a big fan of Farscape. The humor is priceless ("Bill Gates can't guarantee Windows, what makes you think you can guarantee my safety?").
I look forward to the miniseries eagerly and I must admit I wonder how they'll write themselves out of the series finale where Crighton and Sun were literally vaporized.
(grabs popcorn)
At risk of getting modded down as off topic here or as a troll (he says with a straight face), let me suggest that all you Farscape fans out there get behind Firefly!!! Farscape is about a hunk surrounded by hot babes and puppets flying around in the gut of some kind of space-creepy. Firefly is about a real group of people with guns, no aliens, bonding for that warm family feeling in a hunk-of-junk honest-to-god spaceship that let's you go aaahhh... at the end of the ep. Much more satisfying.
Also, I had a feeling that Chrichton and Aeryn weren't dead at the series finale. Any theories though on how they're coming back?
The show wasn't cancelled for poor ratings (it was one of thier highest rated shows), Sci-fi just decided that with it's very high production costs about to increase, it would be best to turn to some cheaper programming.
If you can get ratings with cheap crap like Scare Tactics (come on, I could produce that show for 5 bucks an episode), then why shell out 3 million an episode for some quality programming?
I imagine this miniseries would have to get some pretty spectacular ratings to sway Sci-Fi on this.
Yes! I could only stand a few sci-fi series for a few episodes, until I got the feel of the shallow writing, (dripping with moral lessons) or lame conflict ("It would be my honor to run away screaming like a little girl from that ravenous bugblatter beast for you, Captain") That some series dragged on for years longer than they should have only, IMHO, harmed sci-fi series.
A quick story, with no commitment to continuity, would work for me, and I'd possibly get back to watching more of it. (I've felt simlarly about sitcoms, but you know how networks think, they want a season, something they can count on, drag it out for years, etc.)
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Some stuff was destroyed, if memory serves me right, though.
SCIFI treated Henson pretty shabbily when they were producing the original series, and backed out of the series for the 5th season when Henson wouldn't take less money for the same number of episodes delivered (as well as SCIFI insisting that they should get virtually unlimited re-run rights, which would tie up the series syndication in the USA for a long time. You know SCIFI: they'd run it in repeats until it was dead if they could do it for free.)
The fact that Henson would back up in the arms of SCIFI for the American distribution is really odd, as it was SCIFI that made such a mess of it in the first place. But I think someone needs to read the fine print: SCIFI's exclusive license to run repeats ends this fall (they had a 2 year contract.)
I'd be willing to bet my leather Scorpy suit that Henson hooked a deal for distribution in return for an extension of SCIFI's lock on the American distribution. And it means that fans are stuck with SCSFI's crappy attitude toward hard science-fiction and their decision that "Sci-Fi" means Horror-Fantasy.
So expect SCSIFI to make a big hoorah that "We're bringing this signature show back because we care about and listen to our fans." Phooey. I cancelled my extended cable because after Farscape and Firefly went off-air, there wasn't any decent Sci-Fi left to watch on SCIFI. Tremors2? Fear Factor?
I'll camp out at a friend's place for the mini-series, but I'm not going to sign up with SCIFI again until they demonstrate that they are proactive, rather than reactive.
RMW
flames > dev/null
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
Farscape is one of those shows that's very difficult to break into because of its highly seralized nature. That is to say, the plotline is very involved, and trying to break into it is very difficult. ("Who is that guy? Why are they all looking at each other uncomfortably? Why the musical sting?") It got to the point where the "previously, on Farscape" section at the beginning of every episode packed in more story than most of the actual episode.
With that in mind, Farscape rewarded loyal viewers with a story that was incredibly involved and detailed (think: Babylon 5), coupled with character interactions that seemed effortlessly natural (think: completely unlike Babylon 5). I first started watching partway through season two. I'd just sorta left the TV on the Sci Fi channel (a mistake I very rarely make these days), and the conversation between my wife and I just sorta drifted off as we watched an episode called "The Way We Weren't," which remains my favorite episode to this day. It was about shame, and betrayal, and forgiveness: most importantly, it was about these things in a way which seemed to assume the best about its audience, rather than the worst. My wife, who generally dislikes space-opera style sci-fi, became a rabid viewer, as did I.
Anyway, watch a few episodes with an open mind and a sense of humor, and you're likely to be surprised with where it takes you.
Actually, I considered this to be one of the best SCI-FI attempts I have ever seen. Too bad it started getting weak plotlines in the last two seasons.
The general outline was "Obtain a central enemy. Over a period of time, have the enemy become an ally while obtaining a new enemy."
My overall preference for the show was that the majority of the characters had depth to them versus most of the sci-fi chaff thrown at us.
For instance, I think Scorpius is on the best fleshed out enemies I have ever seen. He is a very well done chaotic-good representation, in my opinion. In fact, they did a show letting the audience know his ultimate motivations, and why he is the way he is. The good part of this show was that none of the other characters in the show ever saw this.
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.
"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.