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.

Comments

Power of the people

[neomagi]

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.

Full series return unlikely

[curtlewis]

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)

Re:Full series return unlikely

[TobiasTheCommie]

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?

Re:Full series return unlikely

[kannibal_klown]

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.

Re:Full series return unlikely

[Jahf]

My understanding is you're basically right, but he was at one point told that he'd only get 4 seasons and so had to cut the Shadow War content down significantly, then when the ratings justified the 5th season after the 4th season was almost done finishing he got to take time to finish various aspects in the last season.

If so then he got his 5 seasons, but not the 5 seasons he -wanted-.

That explanation made sense to me because after over 3 years of build up the Shadow War seemed to end -awefully- quickly and easily. But as with all SciFi show mythos it could be incorrect.

Brilliant

[NedR]

While I was upset when Sci-Fi cancelled Farscape, this is, admittedly, probably the best possible way to bring it back. Farscape was always best in blocks of three or four episodes, particularly the "We're So Screwed" arc right before the series finale. It seems like the show excelled most when Chrichton and the gang were in a seemingly impossible situation, and then the writers had three hours or so to go completely nuts. It will be interesting to see what they do with a miniseries, especially considering the title hints that things could get even messier than usual.

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?

Yup Yup Yup

[ackthpt]

And I think it's for the better too... Sci-Fi Mini Series.

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.)

Re:Trends

[stratjakt]

I've been thinking about this lately, having been watching some of the Anime on Adult Swim. I'm not a huge Anime freak or anything, but anyways..

The (better) animes really are sort of a miniseries format, even if they have a few seasons worth of episodes. It would seem to me that the creative force behind them spells out the plot for the entire series - or at least knows how it's going to begin and end - and the series as a whole becomes more cohesive and watchable.

American animated series' tend to be open ended. No end is planned, so they can just go on forever and ever.

For instance, Trigun. I realize that this was taken from a comic, and the series follows the comic, but the series flows. The characters evolve from the first episode til' the last. Compare to something like the Batman series (which also comes from a comic), each episode is completely independent of the last.

I guess both have advantages/disadvantages. If you miss a few episodes of Trigun, you run the risk of not knowing what the fuck is going on, especially if they were key episodes.. If you miss Batman, big deal.

Anyways, back to the 'real' sci-fi.. I'd love to see more vision put into it on TV, rather than having a series finale which was pulled from some hacks ass. "Capt Kirk and Picard travel thrrough time to ummmm tell Spock how to get Janeway pregnant so they can ummmm.. Klingons, lets think.. How about prevent a Klingon war? Sounds good lets shoot it and go home"

Ie; A plan - beginning and end - for Voyager would have made it a watchable show. Instead they just toss characters in here and there and the rest of the typical bulldink. I didnt watch the finale, but I'll bet hard cash that the day was saved with some cockamamie time traveling.

Re:Move On to Firefly !!!

[FrostedWheat]

No!!!

Support both! Both shows are getting a new lease of life, both shows are really really good and a million times better than anything else on TV at the moment.

Re:Trends

[TobiasTheCommie]

Contrary to most series, Farscape did already have a tight plot, with fresh stories. Like Babylon 5 Farscape have a continous ARC, and if you don't follow the series you will get lost. This makes it hard for people to get into the middle of the series. But it keeps me happy. So yes, mini series are usually interesting, with good stories. But i would rather have a series with good plot, good arc, and good storie, than a mini series. Just because i get more with a series.

Amazing, but not for the reason you'd think

[webwalker]

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

Re:What is farscape's appeal?

[jdray]

It's a fair question.

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.

Re:Am I the only one?

[Mr Pippin]

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.

Giving Sci Fi way too much credit

[shiffman]

"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.

Re:Trends

[dnahelix]

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.