After Petition, Farscape Miniseries Trailer Online

Myrmi writes "The four-hour Farscape miniseries will be aired on the Sci-Fi Channel starting October 17th. The trailer for the miniseries is to be hosted at Apple Trailers and starting today at 3PM EST." Here's the trailer page. As eve11 writes, "Apple.com agreed to host the trailer after a write-in campaign from Farscape fans. Until today this trailer had only been shown during the July 24th Farscape panel at Comicon in San Diego. More info here."

Comments

Bad News

[Anonymous Coward]

Sci-Fi says despite thousands of people wanting to see the trailer, they're going to have to cancel it.

Re:Bad News

[the_mad_poster]

Fine by me. I canceled my cable TV non-service partially because stations like Sci-Fi were showing such utterly worthless shit and canceling the good shows.

Re:Bad News

[Kryxan]

True, Sci-Fi channel shows way too much crap now. cant they save that for the middle of the night when everyone knows that nothing good will be on TV anyway? i dont care if i see re-runs of old sci-fi shows all the time, at least make it sci-fi, not random B movie about some giant insects or whatnot. i remember getting cable just so i could watch sci-fi, now its just another channel that i sometimes watch.

Re:Bad News

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, Scif-Fi's reasoning is that Hawking and his newfangled black hole theory contradicts the wormhole plot.

CLAIMED!

[Anonymous Coward]

Even thought I'm AC at the moment, your FP has been claimed by the CLIT!

Love Always,
News For Turds

Re:So?

[jameskojiro]

Yes, but in a good way, as in sucking things into a wormhole sorta way that suck you in and you can't wait to get more of it!

Will this be worth watching?

[Matt Perry]

Will this be worth watching for someone who's never seen Farscape? I've heard good things about Farscape but never bothered to watch it as I knew the story wouldn't be completed due to the cancellation of the series. Does any hardcore Farscape fan know if this mini-series will stand on its own or expect me to have watched Farscape before to understand what's happening?

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[Robotech_Master]

Well, the narration that opens the trailer seems to suggest they're going to do a "The story thus far" segment. I'm pretty sure that if they want to attract viewership, they'll do something of that nature.

I don't doubt that there will be more rewards for those who have watched the entire series than those who haven't, but they'd be stupid not to try to reach out to new audiences. This is, after all, the last chance they have to build a bigger audience and show they're worthy of being brought back for another year.

Either way, if you'd like to catch up on everything that's ever happened in the series so you'll have a better idea what's going on in the movie, there's always the Farscape Primer.

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[IEEEMonkey]

I bet, as with most of the Babylon 5 movies, that there is enough of an explanation to make it interesting for someone who has never seen the series. I would suggest, being a fan of the show, that you rent it and watch the show. The first four seasons can be rented from www.netflix.com.

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[dinodipp]

I don't know much about the plot of the mini-series but you are given the basic premisis of the series in this trailer for the mini series soo i think you would be able to follow it. I'm speculating ofcourse but it would be pretty stupid to alinate new viewers and i think they will do a pretty good job setting the story up. Hopefully without ruining it for the hardcore fans

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[Digital_Quartz]

Watching the entire series is 100% worth the time. I had just finished the end of season 2 when the series was cancelled (we get Sci-Fi channel stuff a little slowly up here in Canada, since we don't get the Sci-Fi channel). I watched it through to the end, and I'm very glad I did.

You should keep in mind when I say this that I watch next to no television at all. Farscape was a truly unique series.

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[LilMikey]

Actually, if you even jump in the middle of the series you're kinda going to be lost. I started watching it about a year ago by renting the DVDs from netflix in order. My netflix account expired so now I'm only catching the reruns and with a plethora of new characters, sub-plots, and storylines I'm decently confused. Hell, the last episode had a new character I've never seen on the ship, no Moya or Pilot, a dead guy invading the mind of the main character, and 2 good guys trying to kill each other in a cartoon?

Let's hope they have some kind of summation before they really get into it.

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[Anonymous Coward]

hell, if you missed just 1 episode of farscape it was often difficult to figure out just what was going on, so think about your answer based on that :)

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[Nos.]

I think this is the issue a lot of movie makers run into. How much do you focus on new viewers and how much do you focus on those that already know the storyline/environment? This has been an issue with a lot of movies including LotR.. Jackson had to balance boring the long time fans of the books with those that had never read them. Its a tough balance to reach for anyone.

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[deranged unix nut]

If you watch episodes out-of-order, you will get a bad experience. You want to watch them in-order, or else pick a season and watch it start to finish.

That said, this is a unique show that is well worth watching.

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[delus10n0]

I wish they'd update that primer for what happened in season four.. there's quite a bit :)

Also, the primer doesn't explain Jool at all. Tsk. Tsk.

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[Robotech_Master]

Eh, I just found that link in ten seconds with Google anyway. I have little doubt there are more complete primers out there if people just look for them.

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[Anonymous Coward]

Farscape was cancelled at the end of season 4 -- that's four seasons of quality tv to enjoy.

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[Photar]

Ask for people's opinion get modded interesting, state one of your own and get modded troll. Interesting :)

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[jwkane]

"Revenging Angel", Season 3 Episode 16

A great episode. You've indicated the one real flaw in Farscape that even die-hard fans have to acknowledge. Many of the episodes are hard to understand unless you've seen all the earlier shows.

With so many of the Farscape episodes as 2 or 3 part it isn't something they could have fixed without dumbing down the plot.

On the meta-plot axis; you have the weak meta-plot shows like Star Trek (orig and NG), single plot threads (voyager) and multiple plot threads (DS9, B5 and Farscape).

The stronger the meta-plot the harder it will be for a new viewer to "get" the show. Some shows are worth the effort (Farscape); some are not (DS9 }:> ).

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[Quantum Jim]

If you watch episodes out-of-order, you will get a bad experience.

Boy, is that true! I never really connected with Farscape since I couldn't figure out what's happening! I'd watch one episode, where everyone on Moya is at each other's throats. Then - in a different episode - the characters like each other. Even within an episode, the plot is often nonlinear so I often get really confused if I was late and haven't seen the first act. Furthermore, the alien words - frell, cycle, etcetera - don't make sence if you don't know what they stand for! I can hardly anticipate if an even is five seconds, hours, or days away.

Now this writing and dialog style would be great for a novel or series of books - or even a movie - but it sucks for a television series. You can control what you read or see in those venues, but television relies on a schedualed affair. In essence, you have to be a diehard fan to understand the series. If you happen to be busy when Sci-fi shows Farscape and can't catch a few episodes, then nothing makes sense in the next show! Farscape is a space soap much more than Bablyon 5 or the last three Star Trek spin-offs.

(Another offtopic complain involves the stories themselves. When the series first came on, I hated all the characters except for Moya, Pilot, and John Criton, and he even tries my tolerance at times. There is simply very little redeaming qualities in most of the others. While a movie, soap opera, or miniseries thrives on such antiheros, it makes a casual viewer turned off of the series as a whole. I cared about Spock and Sinclair. I got disconcected with the characters on Farscape and never cared for them or to see their adventures. That's why that show usually doesn't interest me.)

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[deranged unix nut]

Having a TiVo helped me quite a bit when watching farscape. I watched the first episode and was religiously hooked to it ever since. When I would go on vacation or for some reason wasn't home when the episode aired, I could always still see it in order using my TiVo.

As far as the alien words go, I don't think they ever say what some of the words are, but after a while you do get the gist of their meanings.

It is a bit of a soap opera, but it is also a mind-warp and a lot more intelligent than many other sci-fi shows. Take for example how the translator microbes do a fine job on straightforward statements, but they get analogies and comparisons completely wrong. Things like that make it very interesting to me.

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[Quantum Jim]

Geeze I wish I had a PVR like a TiVo. I am also a little confused by describing Farscape as intelligent. To me, that means the plots and themes inspires the viewer think deeply about issues (like Star Trek) or neat logical dilemmas (like hard sci-fi such as Asimov's book, I, Robot). Sometimes Farscape satifies these requirements, but often the show is just about character development for the sake of character development. What's the point in developing characters in fiction if it doesn't have a deeper meaning? Especially if the said characters aren't likeable!

As for the alien words, they tend to be more distracting than interesting when used so haphazardly. I mean, what's the point? They don't emphanize things at all since the meaing is, well, alien. The novelty wears off fast: as in pilot-of-Battlestar-Galactica-then-annoying fast. That is why non-experts hate technobable as well; you can't communicate well with different vocabularies.

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone that has never seen it, but would have a desire to (and has netflix), you can rent the series from there (quite possible from some normal rental places too).

If you like sci-fi with an edge, it is definately worth watching...

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[clem]

I've been renting the episodes from Netflix. I'm making my way through the first season and, man, it's been rough. Forget the fact that they scrambled the order of the episodes on the DVDs so that end up watching them out of order. The plots just seem a bit generic -- plotlines that have been played out in older sci-fi with better style.

The show does have its moments and a fairly good sense of humor but, please, someone stop Crichton from talking to himself. It's irritating.

It's hard to justify the hype at this point. Just tell me it gets better.

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[natrik]

Oh yeah! You better believe it gets better! The first season is the slow part, just building the foundation ... once you get close to the second season it really starts taking off. It's like the first part of a roller coaster ride, lifting up to get ready to take off ... "ka-chink-a-chink-a-chink-a-chink"

It's in my top 3 favorite TV shows ever. I was really pissed when they cancelled the series.

Yeah, that nonsequential mess is nonsense... there's NO reason to do that. I was lucky enough to get them from someone who recorded all the episodes.

The show must go on!!!

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[Bitsy Boffin]

A great episode. You've indicated the one real flaw in Farscape that even die-hard fans have to acknowledge.


Umm, no, those of us with attention spans of more than an hour realise that Farscape is ultimatly one very long story; of John and his journey, the 'people' he meets along the way, and the experiences he goes through to get there.

People have become so accustomed to the 'Star Trek' universe where the entire universe is (almost) reset for the beginning of each episode simply don't seem to grasp the idea that Farscape is not like that.

In short, it's not a flaw, thats the way it's supposed to be. The Farscape story is too big to fit into 1 hour, so it's been broken over 4 seasons (+ miniseries) of them.

As you say, missing episodes will confuse (although there are a couple of throwaways each series which don't impact the scheme of things), but after you've got hooked in the story you don't *want* to miss them anyway, you'll look forward all week to finding out what happens in the Farscape universe next.

It will make you happy, and also bring tears of sadness, you will really feel for the characters as if they are life-long friends, you'll privatly mourn for the dead, and cheer for the living.

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[deranged unix nut]

I like Star Trek, I have probably watched every episode three times, but once I got into it, I really liked Farscape an order of magnitude more than I like the current star trek shows.

In fact, for most of the recent star trek shows, I fail to find any interesting meaning, and Farscape is usually more interesting even if it is completely plot development.

(Then again, I am one of those fans that the Farscape producers were talking about...I canceled my cable TV subscription when the Sci-Fi channel canceled Farscape and I have Farscape propoganda in my apartment windows.

I think that if you give it a chance and watch the episodes in order, you will really enjoy it too.

Re:Will this be worth watching?

[Digital_Quartz]

Sorry, that wasn't terribly clear;

*I* finished watching season 2 at the same time as season 4 came to an end. Space (the Canadian equivalent to the Sci Fi channel, only with less money) was showing season 2 when Sci Fi was wrapping up season 4.

But yes, there were 4 seasons of farscape.

petitions actually work?

[obli]

I thought petitioning was a way to raise the hope for people by making them feel like they actually were doing something to help, I'd never think they'd make a difference. Well, it's always nice to hear about a succeeded one :)

Re:petitions actually work?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nah, farscape was one of their best shows and they knew it. They would've brought it back anyways regardless of petitioning. They just let it happen and spun it so that it seemed like the petitions were effective for publicity and PR. /tinfoilhat

Re:petitions actually work?

[nanoakron]

Ever hear about a little show called 'Star Trek'? That was resurrected by petition way back in 1967.

-Nano.

Re:petitions actually work?

[SeanDuggan]

That was resurrected by petition way back in 1967.
*wry grin* And what followed was a third season of bad episodes that put the nail in the coffin. Spock's Brain, anyone? *shrug* On the other hand, from what I saw of Farscape, it was indeed ended far too early. We will see how things go.

I dont remember

[ilsie]

It's been so long since I finished Farscape that I don't even remember half the characters- the crew of Moya & Scorpie obviously, but who's the big blue baddie, and the lady dressed in all black?

Re:I dont remember

[talaphid]

Scorpie sort of went rogue, the lady in black is sort of like the third in the series (Kryace, Scorpie, Lady in black). Kryace was violent, Scorpie cunning, she's manipulative.

Big blue dude is, IIRC, the Skaren Emperor - you know, those guys the peacekeepers are terrified of, and are basically a race of juggarnauts.

Re:I dont remember

[Thieron]

The lady in black is "Commander Cleavage" or basically, a high ranking peacekeeper that took Scorpi's command away from him. She has some hypnotic ability with chemicals she excretes to control males.

The big blue baddie is one of the top, if not the top, Scarran.

Re:I dont remember

[Vaevictis666]

The lady in black's name is Commandant Grayza (if not proper spelling, that's how it's pronounced)

And yeah, most of the scarrans in the trailer are probably high-ranking ones, not that I recall ever getting many names during the 3-parter at the end of season 4.

Also, there are definitely some new faces there in full frame shots that indicate a focal character :)

Re:I dont remember

[DaHat]

First up, you got the spelling right, it is Grayza.

Next up, the critical Scarrans in the final episodes were War Minister Ahkna, and Emperor Staleek and captain Jenek (who was nuked).

Re:I dont remember

[jdray]

I can't remember; was that guy they were dealing with (big blue) in the last few episodes the Emperor, or just some upper governor who was trying to claw his way up? I thought he was the head of the regional outpost or something.

And, the Lady in Black (assuming you're not referring to Aeryn) is not only manipulative, she sweats a transdermic, hallucinogenic aphrodesiac. Just think "black widow" and you've got the picture.

Re:I dont remember

[Merovign]

Oh, boy. Pregnant WIB (Woman In Black) is Commander Grayza, recently relieved of command (possibly back in command) who was making a deal with the Scarrans (the blue meanie is a ruling-class Scarran, the warrior-class are more lizardlike and primitive).

The long-haird WIB is Aeryn, the mother of John Crichton's child.

The fuzzy-headed WIB who walks up walls is Sikozu, Scorpy's girlfriend, with a major hair and clothing restyle.

I was confused by the question for a sec - every gal but Pip was wearing black!

Nice to see D'argo kicking a little Scarran tail.

False Causation Link

[RobertB-DC]

Apple.com agreed to host the trailer after a write-in campaign from Farscape fans.

I RTFA'd, but I don't see the direct link implied in the summary. Event A (write-in campaign) happened before Event B (trailer is available), but I don't see any evidence that Event A caused Event B.

But then, it's nice to feel like you have a voice. They held elections in the old USSR... or should that be, "In Soviet Russia, Elections hold YOU!" ?

Re:False Causation Link

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess the lack of presented evidence of causation (which would be one sentence, something like "Mr(s) X thought it would be profitable to bring it back after seeing the petition") is due to the fact that it is REALLY BLEEDING OBVIOUS. Or do you think that Mr(s) X just woke up one day and decided to revive a cancelled show for no particular reason?

Re:False Causation Link

[Otter]

Wow, someone understands the difference between correlation and cause? Apparently you're overqualified to be a Harvard researcher or a JAMA editor.

Re:False Causation Link

[BrianMertens]

The poster didn't say it was causal - they said "after a write-in campaign".

So, who made the False Causation Link?

Re:False Causation Link

[thelexx]

From a chat with Brian Henson:

( ChatMod) (Nessus) to (ChatQ): Where did the funding for the mini come from?

( BrianH) It came from a consortium of financers who would not have heard of us if it weren't for all of the attention the fans bought to the cancelling of the series.
( BrianH) So thanks to all of you, the mini series was funded

Re:False Causation Link

[hanssprudel]

Ergo post hoc, ergo proctor hoc!

Re:False Causation Link

[nacturation]

And after the Farscape fans' write-in campaign, the fighting in Iraq intensified! Won't someone please think of the children!!

Re:False Causation Link

[sammy baby]

The question isn't "how did the miniseries come about." The question is, "how did Apple come to post the trailer for the miniseries."

Re:False Causation Link

[Tom7]

This is not a case of correlation vs. causality. In fact, we can pretty clearly say that if Farscape petitions are correlated to Farscape trailers, then Farscape petitions cause Farscape trailers. (Their temporal succession makes this a pretty easy argument, don't you think?) What we don't have data about is the correlation, since there has been just one experiment that we know of.

Re:False Causation Link

[Anonymous Coward]

It's nice to be picky and everything, but the quote doesn't state (or even really imply) causality.

Re:False Causation Link

[eve11]

A few people had emailed the folks at apple.com and asked to see the trailer there after comicon. Apple.com said something about talking with the Sci-Fi channel (they actually don't usually host TV trailers) -- but actually it was Henson who owned the trailer. The staff at www.watchfarscape.com (I am also a staff member) brought the folks at apple up to speed on who owned what, and encouraged site members to write in to apple.com telling them about their desire to see the trailer. After a week of such emails and negotiations, Apple.com announced it would host the trailer.

If you'd like to argue with me about causation, I can pull MS statistician-going-on-PhD on you and start talking counterfactuals and Directed acyclic graphs, but I'd rather not.

Re:False Causation Link

[Tom7]

Huh? I'm replying to someone who says that there's a confusion of correlation versus causality in the quote "Apple.com agreed to host the trailer after a write-in campaign from Farscape fans." I say there is no such confusion, because this is not an empirical correlation. Your story is an argument for causality, but it is not a rebuttal for my claim.

If you'd like to argue with me about causation, I can pull MS statistician-going-on-PhD on you and start talking counterfactuals and Directed acyclic graphs, but I'd rather not.

Presenting your argument is always better than merely claiming you have one because of your credentials. What is it that you're claiming I'm wrong about?

Re:False Causation Link

[eve11]

ack, sorry, I think I replied to the wrong thread. I meant to reply to the first claim, not yours! Sorry.

SweeeT

[teamhasnoi]

All I need now is for Farscape and Firefly to come back in full-time series, and TV would be good again.

Of course, nothing will ever fill the hole that 'Suddenly Susan' has left in my heart.

Re:SweeeT

[theMerovingian]

I've been buying all the seasons of Highlander on dvd, between that and the olympics I'm having a pretty good TV week

Re:SweeeT

[Anonymous Coward]

This reminds me of a Mad TV episode "Suddenly Millenium" or something like that. Did Brooke Shields stab you or Bishop?

Re:SweeeT

[taustin]

At the Comic-Con panel, they refused to rule out any possible future projects, but it sounded to me like they would most like to do a movie for theatrical release, rather than more television.

Re:SweeeT

[m_c_rose]

Its not like 'Suddenly Susan' isn't in syndication.

Re:SweeeT

[rfunches]

To the first comment, that would be frellin' shiny. To the second...well, there isn't a phrase in Cantonese to describe that second comment.

It's a good start

[Rii]

I'm glad they're going to go back and redo the ending. I won't spoil it for the 3 /.ers that didn't see it, but I was dissapointed. I saw the trailer on TV and it looked promising. Maybe if this does well enough they'll bring it back for another season... SciFi has changed management since Farscape was canned.

Re:It's a good start

[Cyberllama]

I don't think they're re-doing it, but rather they are continuing from it.

Remember pilot now has most of John's wormhole knowledge, I'm sure it would be possible for the crew of Moya to undo what was done. Of cousre it coulde be any number of other things as well.

Notice the part of the trailer where someoen says "John Criton is alive". That seemed to me to be a reference to the end of the tv series. . .

How Does Apple Profit?

[idonotexist]

I've seen many movie trailers on Apple.com and I'm sure many others have too. Certainly this media is not gentle bandwidth usage.

How does Apple profit? Do studios pay Apple to have trailers on its site?

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[IncarnadineConor]

I always thought it was a way to push their format of choice.

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[Thrymm]

Free i-pod commercial air time during the show!

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple may charge a fee in some (most?) cases, but their primary goal is to push the QuickTime format...

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[theMerovingian]

Just in case...

google cache

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps bandwidth isn't as expensive as the telecom companies would have us believe...

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[mbbac]

Quicktime penetration is the benefit Apple reaps.

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[errtega]

Apple profits mainly because you have to use QuickTime(tm) to watch the trailers. Someone wants to watch something on Apple Trailers and they don't have QuickTime? Well, they have two options. Either don't watch or get QuickTime. BAM! They have a new QuickTime user. There are individual user licenses that you can buy to make QuickTime more functional (QuickTime Pro), but what Apple is looking for is marketshare. The more QuickTime users, the more businesses/companies/media outfits notice and use the QuickTime format.

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[pknoll]

How does Apple profit? Do studios pay Apple to have trailers on its site?

By selling QuickTime.

You can get the player for free, but it's the "foot in the door". The more interesting things you can do only with the full version, like authoring and so forth, and movie previews at Apple have become the de facto way of viewing trailers online.

Pretty good push for their player software.

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[GoofyBoy]

>Quicktime penetration is the benefit Apple reaps.

Wouldn't it be cheaper just to buy us all dinner and some flowers?

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[nine-times]

Quicktime penetration is the benefit Apple reaps.

Wise you are, master Yoda, and well you speak.

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[AKAImBatman]

Just in case...

google cache

Considering that Google does not cache images or movies, do I even need to point out how stupid of a post this was? Or were you hoping that the moderators were dumb enough not to notice?

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps bandwidth isn't as expensive as the telecom companies would have us believe...

are you suggesting telecoms are overcharging for bandwidth STOP i cant believe this STOP when did they start doing this STOP

/ slashdot ruined my telegram joke by not allowing all caps :(

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[dgagley]

Advertising.

They get you in to see the trailer hopeing that you will look around on their site - Mac.com subscription, I tunes, I pod mabey a new computer.

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[Ost99]

Quicktime penetration is the benefit Apple reaps.

I can't see this Quickie thingy you're talking about anywhere on my box, but the trailers work just fine...

- Ost

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[sootman]

quicktime penetration... there's a joke in there somewhere. :-)

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[puck01]

Don't for get the third option, which I use. The Alternative Quicktime player. No nagging, just plays movies. A good option for windows users.

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[Anonymous Coward]

Also, an "Easter Egg" link above the band-aid on Crichton's head, only accessable if you are using (install) iTunes. The link gets you a super-duper high rez trailer thingie. Another foot in the door kind of thing.

Re:How Does Apple Profit?

[mbbac]

Aren't you special.

IRC Information

[KILNA]

For those of you who popped in to irc.scifi.com during the campaign to get the show back on the air, that server has gone the way of the dodo. Many folks have ended up at #scapers on irc.scifi-fans.net and alternately #farscape on irc.chorn.com. Happy yakking!

Re:IRC Information

[Lelon]

#farscape on efnet has also kept the flame burning during the dark months since cancellation.

Behold the power of the internet.

[DeadBugs]

Thanks to fans writing in... I noticed that the Family Guy is on Fox tonight. (check local listings).

Re:Behold the power of the internet.

[StevenHenderson]

Has nothing to do with the internet. It was the phenomenal DVD sales that made them rethink their stance. Also, new episodes dont start til 2005...tonight is just a mini marathon.

Re:Behold the power of the internet.

[stratjakt]

Fans shmans. The fans had nothing to do with it!

Fox realized Family Guy was popular right about the same time that Cartoon Network started leading the ratings during the 11-midnight slot adult swim is in. That is, when CN shows Family Guy and Futurama in syndication.

Now it's back in syndication on Fox. Also, it's there to promote Seth MacFarlane's new show for fox, "American Dad". Don't worry though, they'll cancel that one after it doesn't become as big as "Simpsons" after a couple seasons.

Re:Behold the power of the internet.

[Have Blue]

That wasn't fans writing in, that was DVD sales.

Re:Behold the power of the internet.

[Cyberllama]

Fox took notice when they saw that a BASIC CABLE show was beating Letterman in the ratings in males 18-30 demographic (aka, the demographic that advertisers pay the most for). It's pretty impressive when something on cable beats something on network tv. . .

The cartoon network ratings, coupled with the fact that Family guy season one box set was the best selling dvd in the country at the time made it so obvious that even FOX executives had to realize they'd been morons not to renew it in the first place.

Only played during comic con?

[Kagato]

Is this different than the trailer Sci-Fi has been playing during their normal rotation? I only watch two shows on Sci-Fi, and I see that trailer, along with the Galactica mini series at least two times per show. And that's been at least a month now.

Re:Only played during comic con?

[Lordrashmi]

Yes, much different trailer. Pretty good in fact.

Re:Only played during comic con?

[Cyno01]

Its not for the BG mini-series, its for a real show. The mini-series ended on an open note, leaving the door open for this.

Re:Only played during comic con?

[TCQuad]

The trailer's OK, but I really prefer the teaser. Beyond the great choice of background music, the footage seems better selected. The trailer tells you more, but doesn't give you the same goosebumps as the teaser.

Any Farscape is good Farscape...

[Vandil X]

...so long as the creators don't decide to rerelease it 30 years later as a special edition with new CGI effects and green aliens shooting first ;)

WARNING: SPOILER FOR THOSE WHO NEVER SAW THE ORIGINAL SERIES AHEAD.

I'm interested in how they resolve the cliffhanger ending of the original series. I mean, are they going to do a Dallas ("it was all a dream") or what?

It's hard to walk away from being a pile of shattered red glass...

Re:Any Farscape is good Farscape...

[Thieron]

Near the start there is a quick line from Scorpi stating, in a surprised tone, that Chriton (sp?) is alive. So I think it wasn't a dream, as at least the news of his death got out.

Re:Any Farscape is good Farscape...

[happyhippy]

I think just before the pilot shoots them he gets the call to 'bring them in'. I could be wrong about this as its been so long since Ive seen it. If so it means the crystallisation (sp) weapon isnt lethal. Instead it must be an immobiliser.

Re:Any Farscape is good Farscape...

[Anonymous Coward]

I always read from the bottom of the page up and read the spoiler before the warning. :/

Re:Any Farscape is good Farscape...

[Have Blue]

If Chrichton can walk away from being a metal statue with its head ripped off, he can walk away from this.

Re:Any Farscape is good Farscape...

[Anonymous Coward]

rygel being semiaquatic picks up all the pieces of Aeryn/John... heard that from an interview by DK.

Re:Any Farscape is good Farscape...

[AmonRa1979]

In the last episode what happened to them was described as a 'neutralization run'. That doesn't sound too lethal to me. Plus the whole 'to be continued' before the credits role kinda leaves it open for a sequel. I don't see any problem with resolving this cliffhanger.

Re:Any Farscape is good Farscape...

[kpkca]

over at farscapefantasy.com they did a breakdown on the original teaser trailer, including one particular shot indicating that they do resolve this 'realisticly' - no quickie repair, dream, etc.

Re:Any Farscape is good Farscape...

[Cyberllama]

Could be lots of things, Here are the theories I think hold the most water:

1) The "weapon" is actually just a device used to capture. The "victim" converted into red dust in one place and he reassembles elsewhere.

2) Pilot has John's wormhole knowledge now, so he takes the crew back in time and they prevent the entire nasty incident from happening -- though I have no idea how they can do this without creating an "unrealized reality".

3) Something else.

The point is, there are many many good ways to resolve that without resorting to "it was all a dream".

Re:Any Farscape is good Farscape...

[eve11]

(Hey is this the Thieron? Of the atherton lobby crew Thieron?) Anyway, check out Bittorrent -- there is a little clip out there in cyberspace that expands on the scene where Crichton and Aeryn are in the big circle drawing their guns. Spoilers below: D'Argo mentions that the people all around them helped "Put you back together" and that "It was an accident. You were crystallized."

Re:Any Farscape is good Farscape...

[Thieron]

Yes it is the very same Thieron.

If that is the case, I hope they find all the pieces. :)

Whats that?!

[Anonymous Coward]

Farscape?! Whats that!?!! And why should I bother!? Theres plenty of Star Trek left.

Give us a XI trailer!

Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

They manage to test their servers to see if they can withstand a /.ing.

Bizarro World

[Silvrmane]

What kind of a crazy consumer culture have we created where people demand MORE advertising. Personally, I always thought of Farscape as Lost In Space with Muppets, but to each their own.

Re:Bizarro World

[stratjakt]

Lost in Space was muppets.

Oh wait, that was Pigs in Space. NM.

(Still it had much better writing and way better SFX than FarScape)

Re:Bizarro World

[jo42]

But neither has the uber shaggable Claudia Black (Aeryn Sun) and Gigi Edgley (Chiana)...

Re:Bizarro World

[tdelaney]

How could you possibly fail to mention Raelee Hill (Sikozu Svala Shanti Sugaysi Shanu) ...?

Direct large version link

[Universal Nerd]

In case you just want to download the video...

http://movies.apple.com/movies/independent/farscap e/farscape-peacekeeper_m480.mov

Re:Direct large version link

[vsprintf]

Thanks!

Re:Direct large version link

[Anonymous Coward]

thank you!! thank you!!

i do wish "open source" stuff included better access for freebsd! i _prefer_ xine in xfce4 on freebsd ... but, as usual, _MY_ "choice" leaves me mostly out in the cold. (i like goom; xine does it all; xfce doesn't choke my hardware (i _am_ struggling to figure out how to tweak my ssi enough to get more hardware (but i guess all those browns might not make it as much fun, tho) for doom3); and freebsd just feels more like the _traditional_ unix (no prob with different distros putting stuff in different places in different versions of the same distro (*bsds didn't _need_ no steenking "standard base", eh?)).) {yes, the parentheses do match [but "somebody" choked on the lt-g-gt ... sigh - always somethin'.}
wayn (msKila speaking easily) in lynnwood, wa

ps: am sure glad to see that the `scapers are still in there fighting!! go teams!

Too bad

[Photar]

Despite thousands of people wanting to see the trailer, it still looks like complete crap.

Re:Too bad

[Anonymous Coward]

If you regard the rule of thumb for movies, "The better the trailer is, the more likely that is all there is." I have pretty high hopes for the actual miniseries. The trailer was kind of rough but based on the original production team still producing this series I anticipate these four hours to be golden.

I have seen some really bad trailers for really good movies. I have seen some really cool trailers for really crappy movies.

Re:Too bad

[Anonymous Coward]

You are dead to me.

Re:Too bad

[Angostura]

Well, the parent was voted troll, but I'm afraid I'm with him on this one. I like SciFi, I've never really seen FarScape, but I decide to dip into the trailer to see whether it looked good.

Perhaps 'crap' is a bit harsh. "Cheesy" is the word I had in mind. Sorry.

Re:Too bad

[Photar]

Probably not too bad for the Jr. High crowd though. Where is the good Sci Fi for grown-ups?

Re:Too bad

[Anonymous Coward]

But as a counter-example, look at the Lord of the Rings trailers. Every trailer was brilliant. The trailer for RotK was awe-inspiring and better than any other I've seen :)

(Best to say that "just as you can't judge a book by its cover, you can't judge a movie by its trailer")

Re:Too bad

[Angostura]

Oooo - my first ever flamebait mod.

Farscape jumped the shark..

[KenFury]

when Scorpius joined the crew. I could go along with Crais, a bit of a stretch but who knows. Since then the show has gotten bigger. Bigger effects, bigger story arc, more extreme characters, every thing but better writing. Sorry guys you lost me somewhere around mid season 3..

Re:Farscape jumped the shark..

[ttrafford]

Wasn't Scorpius their prisoner? He was a much of crew member as Hannibal Lecter was an FBI agent.

Re:Farscape jumped the shark..

[KenFury]

Yes he was a prisoner then they helped each other then they disliked each other. It was like a soap opera..

Re:Farscape jumped the shark..

[Siergen]

*If* Scorpius has been honest about wanting to do anything to fight the Scarons(sp?), then his motivations in helping them now makes sense, as does their halfway trusting him. Of course, Scorpius is such a good liar that he could have completely different motivations.

Never fully trust someone who can tell when you're lying, but can lie to you without fear...

Re:Farscape jumped the shark..

[vsprintf]

[Farscape jumped the shark] when Scorpius joined the crew.

He didn't exactly "join" the crew, unless you think that being kept in confinement or under supervision is *joining*. It was a matter of mutual survival with a number of sub-plots. The one involving Jool was probably a red herring, but we never got to find out. Strange alliances are Farscape's forte. Scorpius was still after John's knowledge, and John knew it, which led to the whole sniffing-drugs-to-forget-Aeryn thing (pause for a breath) because John knew Scorpius would use Aeryn and their baby-to-be as leverage against them.

There were some strange episodes, but it was the most innovative SciFi on TV - if you didn't keep up, you got lost. Farscape didn't try to tell stories that could only fit into an hour, nor did it waste a half hour bringing you up to speed every episode. I found it continually interesting and enjoyable, and I haven't paid any attention to the Horror (SciFi) Channel since they dropped it.

Re:no sound

[Anonymous Coward]

I've watched the show once or twice, and if the diaglog was any indication, you are a lucky man.

I just hope they don't ignore the last cliffhanger

[kalirion]

There's only a single line in the entire trailer that might possibly be referring the the last season's cliffhanger. I really hope they do a good job of resolving it, as opposed to a cop-out quick fix (you know, the kind that Misery chick hated.)

Incomplete story

[talaphid]

The series ends in such a way as to be 'complete', story-wise, without, obviously, precluding continuation. You should have watched. If you're willing to put some coin and time towards catching up, but the 4 years of 20? 26? episodes are a bit much for you, many of the major events that establish things are two/three part episodes. I think there's a 3 part episode in the last season that should suffice as enough of a crash course ("Who is that lady in black? Who is the big blue dude?" per another post) if you're willing to forgo the completeness of answers (ie, "Why is that lady in black so angry at the main character?" - established in earlier incidents).

I am, of course, referring to the... what are they? azaelia incident.

Direct

[Anonymous Coward]

Direct Link

Thanks to Dave's Trailer Page.

You can watch the series first

[cat_jesus]

"Gear up for the new miniseries by watching all 88 episodes of Farscape, airing in order every weekday from 9AM-4PM ET/PT, Oct. 1 through Oct. 15"

This is when a DVR comes in handy. I'm glad I bumped up the storage on my Tivo.

Re:You can watch the series first

[DaHat]

Or you could be less than legal and pull the series from a known bit torrent site whose name will not be given here.

Re:You can watch the series first

[waferhead]

Time to add a 250G drive to my Mythtv setup...

HDTV?

[Anonymous Coward]

Any idea if it's being filmed in HDTV and, if so, when the Sci-Fi channel plans to broadcast in HDTV?

Re:HDTV?

[ajservo]

Seeing as how cable channels do not fall under as strict FCC revisions as the standard broadcast set, I would say that they can take their sweet time to get there. Considering that it's owned by NBC now, that they'll slowly grind their wheels towards HDTV support at some point in the future.

Re:HDTV?

[brentl]

Any idea if it's being filmed in HDTV

Probably. I mean, Channel Nine do Funniest Home Videos in HD, I'm sure they can do it for Farscape.

Re:HDTV?

[ahbi]

So let me see if I get this right, they take some guy's crappy lo-rez VHS tape off his 1985 video camera and broadcast it in HD?

Now I can see broadcasting those hot chicks they have host the show in HD.

You know, everytime I look at the AU newspapers they are filled with hot chicks, usually 9s sometimes even an 11.

I am so moving to AU. However, I am married. So, maybe I'll just send my penis over.

Re:HDTV?

[brentl]

So let me see if I get this right, they take some guy's crappy lo-rez VHS tape off his 1985 video camera and broadcast it in HD?

Yup.

Now I can see broadcasting those hot chicks they have host the show in HD.

Yeah Toni Pearen is hot, but what your really looking for is Mecleods Daughters. Every now and then you get a random pillow fight. I'm pretty sure that's the reason it's Australia's highest rated locally produced TV show.

Re:HDTV?

[Anonymous Coward]

The original series was shot on 35mm filmstock and panavision cameras, I would anticipate that is the case still. I would think you could make an HD broadcast copy from that, yes?

Re:I just hope they don't ignore the last cliffhan

[Anonymous Coward]

The farscape crew was told there would be another season, and when the crew shot the last episode, they were told the series was cancelled. I'm sure if the crew created a cliffhanger, they knew how to get out of it.

Direct Link

[Yerase]

Direct Link

Decisions, decisions, and chainsaws...

[tyroneking]

Watch the trailer OR make an early post when only 3 crappy comments were on the story...

Well I watched the trailer, and apart from the dodgy voice-over, it brings back all those warm fuzzy memories.

But hang on - I thought they had taken 'a chainsaw to Moya'; so how come they seem to have scenes inside the ship?

Re:Decisions, decisions, and chainsaws...

[BlacKat]

I would imagine that any sets that were destroyed could be re-created from the original designs.

Heck, there will probably be sites springing up after the Miniseries to point out any differences between the "new" Moya and the "old" Moya sets. :}

Re:Decisions, decisions, and chainsaws...

[tyroneking]

well yeah - I guess they could rebuild - but Ben Bowder sounded so final at the time...

Re:Decisions, decisions, and chainsaws...

[rfunches]

Same thing Universal did for the Firefly movie. Took the original designs (or as close to original as they could get) and rebuilt the set.

Re:Decisions, decisions, and chainsaws...

[Dr_Barnowl]

**** potential spoiler **** I always thought the deconstruction of Crichton and Aeryn into small red chunks was a hint ; It would make sense that the writers would have time to respond to being canned by the network. It looked to me like they were taken apart to be reconstructed at a later time, and that this was a giant hint that they might be doing that with the sets and props as well, as well as being a quiet thumbing-of-the-nose at the SciFi channel.

New theme music!

[ChuckleBug]

Wow - they finally found the right theme music! Nice lyrics:

It's time to play the music
It's time to light the lights
it's time to meet the Muppets on the Farscape Show tonight.

It's time to put on makeup
It's time to dress up right
It's time to raise the curtain on the Farscape Show tonight.

Re:New theme music!

[Cyno01]

Heh, look around on P2P, somebody edited (very well i might add) farscape clips to the theme from the muppet show. E-mail or IM me, i've got it too.

Re:New theme music!

[LordNimon]

Are you talking about this?

Irony: But I don't WANT to see the trailer...

[the_skywise]

I love the story so much I don't want to be teased by it. I KNOW it's going to be good, I know it's going to have suprises. I don't want any hints, I want to savor it as I experience it!

That has to say something about its quality.

Of course, Sci-fi will cancel it when they see the low trailer hits...

Re:Irony: But I don't WANT to see the trailer...

[SlashdotLemming]

Of course, Sci-fi will cancel it when they see the low trailer hits...

Front page Slashdot. I don't think that will be an issue.

Re:Irony: But I don't WANT to see the trailer...

[ravenspear]

The trailer actually gives very few hints. It's mostly reviewing the background story again (shot through a wormhole, etc.) plus a bunch of shooting scenes.

Re:Irony: But I don't WANT to see the trailer...

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're concerned about low trailer hits but don't want to watch the trailer, then just download it without watching it.

Wow.

[Anonymous Coward]

After watching this trailer, I can still say with confidence than I'm glad I never wasted my time with the series.

Cut to the chase...

[billimad]

will there be any alien boobs in this?

Re:Cut to the chase...

[jdray]

Unlikely, other than what you normally see on Farscape (which, mind you, is quite a bit compared to the likes of Star Trek), seeing as how it's being shown on SciFi and not HBO/ShowTime/.

Re:Cut to the chase...

[j0nkatz]

Not on the show but you can see some of the chick that plays Chiana HERE

Don't worry

[justsomebody]

Lucas will be busy redoing 1,2,3,4,5,6 while makin 7,8,9 (and hopefully die before getting to Farscape)

Fortunatelly he's the world only stupid enough to do stupid thing like this

Re:Don't worry

[TheHawke]

Naw, Give an ep or two to JMS and watch the ratings go like a cartoon cat with his tail on fire!

Kinda lame trailer

[Trikenstein]

The Grayson trailer was better.
And it's a fanflic / trailer for a film that isn't even being made.

jmho

Re:Kinda lame trailer

[Anonymous Coward]

exactly, for something that won't be made. This was a teaser trailer for something that will, whereas Grayson didn't need to hide plot details or worry about showing too much, too early (it won't be made).

Direct download link

[david.given]

3 MB low-resolution download
6 MB medium-resolution download
18 MB high-resolution download

Needed to poke around inside the original .mov with a hex editor to get them, too...

Re:Direct download link

[Vaevictis666]

Really? I just downloaded the wrapper, ran it through cat, and went to the url that was in the midst of the gibberish :)

Re:Direct download link

[david.given]

Really? I just downloaded the wrapper, ran it through cat, and went to the url that was in the midst of the gibberish :)

Interesting; what I got was a 272-byte binary MOV file. I found the word 'farscape-peacekeeper_m480.mov' in it, so I tried that in the obvious place and it worked.

Maybe I just missed the human-readable version when groping through the HTML source trying to find where the movie actually was. Sigh. Damned movie plugins. I wish people would just supply real download links for those of us who are standards-advantaged...

Re:Direct download link

[Sivat]

Seems like looking at the html source would have been easier, but to each his own.

Re:Direct download link

[Geno Z Heinlein]

... ran it through cat...

strings farscape_480.mov worked too. We need to have another Ask Slashdot linux tips day, those are always cool.

Re:Direct download link

[Anonymous Coward]

using streambox vcr suite 2 (windows) it dled the movie through the .mov linking file, nice and easy
freeware too

Re:Direct download link

[Geno Z Heinlein]

using streambox vcr suite 2 (windows) it dled the movie through the .mov linking file, nice and easy... freeware too

I looked this up, but it requires something called "Win2k/ Win95/ Win98/ WinME/ WinNT/ WinXP" and I couldn't find any mention of the GPL.

OMG Comic-Con (Was Re:Bizarro World)

[omghi2u]

OMG I was there at Comic-Con.

I can say I haven't seen every episode of Farscape, but I enjoyed the ones I saw. And the trailer was so good and there was a lot of WOM spreading like Woodstock around the world about this trailer people were just jonesing for it!

Without Farscape, who would carry on the great Muppet tradition?

Farscape: The Oxymoron Wars

[Anonymous Coward]

Great title!

While they're at it

[Anonymous Coward]

make a mini series for Space Above and Beyond

Re:While they're at it

[eadint]

Yea now you got it if i had any modpoint i would mod you up.
i wended up buying bootleg coppies of the seris from england.

Re:Your typical Farscape fan...

[Anonymous Coward]

I beg your pardon, it was the grey one I was jacking off to. My girlfreind of the time expressed her lust more toward the human-looking Aerin, but we agreed to disagree about that, since I liked her rack and she liked my tongue enough to make up the difference.

And then she went and found someone with a longer tongue....

I don't really like Farscape

[James Turpin]

After getting Babylon 5 on DVD and watching most of Angel and Stargate SG1 on TiVo, I tried watching some episodes of Farscae that I hadn't seen before. It just grates on my nerves. Its predictable, uninteresting, and repetitive. I might give up TV soon. I'm running out of programming that I enjoy.

Re:I don't really like Farscape

[Anonymous Coward]

Happy Days and the A-Team are both on TVland...

Re:I don't really like Farscape

[Anonymous Coward]

After reading the 10000000th post on slashdot, and then reading yours, "It just grates on my nerves. Its predictable, uninteresting, and repetitive." you should give up /. soon. Your running out of posts that I enjoy.

PS. Its implies possession. It's == It is

Re:I don't really like Farscape

[claytongulick]

I agree 100%, which is why my wife and I gave up on TV 7 years ago.

When a good series comes out, we buy the DVDs. We can watch the shows whenever we want, we are never left stuck at the end of an episode begin forced to wait for next week, and most importantly NO COMMERCIALS (though with the DVD stop flag, who knows how long this will last).

The only down side is that I didn't learn what an unbelievably great show Firefly was until after it was cancelled.

Everyone please please please buy the Firefly DVD's, and go see Serenity when it is released. This show deserves to live (I never thought I could be so passionate about a TV show!).

There must be some way that the fans of great shows like these can apply more pressure to the networks.

Or is there an alternative media distribution method that could be used? What about the idea of fan sponsored shows released on the internet?

Does anyone have any idea what sort of budget Joss needed for Firefly?

I, for one, would be more that willing to pitch in $50 for another season...

Re:I don't really like Farscape

[Luke Mewburn]

I concur; we gave up watching Farscape on DVD around series 3.

Farscape just isn't up to the standard of Babylon 5 or Buffy/Angel in story-arc development, or Stargate SG1 in the comedy-with-some-storyarc. Farscape relies too much on the Unresolved Sexual Tension (UST) angle. (Another series that lost it is Andromeda; by series 3 it had become "Hercules in Space" with all series attempts at story-arc abandoned.)

IMHO, DVDs is the best way to watch series; widescreen, surround sound, subtitles, and no in-program adverts or station watermarks. It can be a costly habit though :-)

Re:I don't really like Farscape

[Anonymous Coward]

To each his own, but Farscape is the *only* TV I watch. After discovering it 3 years ago, I've found that I can't stand to watch other shows that I would have normally been interested in. Farscape has spoiled me. The writing is sharp, the direction is fast-paced, the effects are fantastic (particularly considering the low-even-for-TV budget of $1.5M per ep), and the actors are great.

By comparison, the "talking heads" style of other shows and their predictable plots/dialogue bore me and most actors on other shows either phone in their performances or chomp through scenery.

OMMV.

Re:I don't really like Farscape

[James Turpin]

I suggest either cancelling Cable to help pay for the DVD's, or get TiVo so you can have something closer to the DVD experience with your favorite programs. Either way you go, its much better than suffering through commercials right at a cliff-hanger, or missing the climax because your girl-friend wants to talk.

Re:I don't really like Farscape

[Anonymous Coward]

Your running out of posts that I enjoy.
PS. Its implies possession. It's == It is

Kinda funny, you complaining about his use of its right after you butchered you're.

Not to mention how ...

[Anonymous Coward]

LOUD they became as the series progressed. No, literally.

Default plugin error

[r_j_prahad]

This page contains information of a type (video/quicktime) that can only be viewed with the appropriate Plug-in. Click OK to download Plugin.

That's all I get when I go to the link in the article. I've tried Firefox, Opera, and Konqueror and it still doesn't work. So if this is indeed a Microsoft-only story, then the headline icon is wrong, eh?

Re:Default plugin error

[Blakey Rat]

Yes, I'm sure that a movie trailer posted on quicktime.apple.com would be Microsoft-only. Didn't you know? Apple's a Microsoft-only shop now.

Maybe you should try installing the Quicktime Player before trying to play Quicktime Movies, eh?

Re:Default plugin error

[Anonymous Coward]

mplayerplug-in for mozilla plays it just fine on linux.

This actually makes me happy

[noewun]

Farscape was one of the few sci fi series in which character development was given precedence over technobabble and stale sci fi conventions. I'm looking forward to the miniseries.

Re:I just hope they don't ignore the last cliffhan

[Anonymous Coward]

I think they did. If you pay attention to both this trailer and the preview they have shown lately on Sci-fi, you see a sequence where they are kneeling on the floor hugging each other and pulling the guns at the creatures surrounding them. I think the "shoot" at them was really an effect for fooling the rest of the crew and then they were actually teleported to that location in a possible spacecraft. But that is just my guess. We will see in Oct. (can't wait!!!)

SPOILERS AROUND HERE

[talaphid]

Notice how SANDY the residue was? I'm thinking it's (essentially) a dehydration gun. That's right, preserved human and sabation, just add water!

and as another poster said.. he was turned into a statue before. NBD.

Re:SPOILERS AROUND HERE

[AmonRa1979]

Exactly... I wonder how many bits of Aeryn will get put into John because of this. I mean Aeryn also has some of Pilot's DNA in her. These people certainly are liberal about mixing their DNA.

It's more than just the Quicktime Player

[green pizza]

You can get the player for free, but it's the "foot in the door". The more interesting things you can do only with the full version, like authoring and so forth, and movie previews at Apple have become the de facto way of viewing trailers online.

It's more than just Quicktime, it's the Quicktime-based pro apps (and G5 hardware) that Apple wants to promote.

Quicktime (which is an extensive media framework which happens to also include a [somewhat crappy] Quicktime media player) is free for users and developers alike. Apple also sells a "Quicktime Pro" package, which is little more than a beefed up Quicktime media player for converting, editing, and exporting several media types. Back in the Mac OS Classic days, there were many third party Quicktime movie players that provided many extra features, but still used Apple's Quicktime framework to do the heavy lifting. I don't know of any (good) players for Windows or Mac OS X, so it seems Apple has been stepping in with their "Quicktime Pro" player for $30.

Getting back to my initial point, Apple is promoting their name and their Quicktime framework to sell products like FinalCutPro, DVD Studio Pro, and Shake. They're also using it to help promote other similar tools, such as the iLife suite (iDVD, iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto, and Garage Band). But these apps are only available for Apple's hardware and OS, and iLife happens to be included free of charge on new Macs.

So, yes, Apple is hosting their mega awesome huge trailer site for a reason, and they are making some money off their deluxe "pro" Quicktime Player. But it's the big fish they're after, they want to promote their brand and technology to sell G5s and FinalCutPro/Shake/DVD Studio Pro class software.

Re:It's more than just the Quicktime Player

[yo5oy]

take it and never look back to wmv crap again. windows media player classic is a handy tool. kinda like mplayer is for *nix. http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/1045531002/1 Publisher's Description: Media Player Classic is an extremely light-weight media player for Windows. It looks just like Windows Media Player v6.4, but has many additional features. It has a built in DVD player with real-time zoom, support for AVI subtitles, QuickTime and RealVideo support (requires QuickTime and/or Real Player), and lots more. Latest Changes: * AAC decoder: mono sources fixed * MPEG splitter: reads PVA streams, also fixed choppyness with some mpegs

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:I just hope they don't ignore the last cliffhan

[kpkca]

Actually, since the last ep. started with 'finally on farscape', and ended with dialog probably selected to let you know exactly how it would be resolved (what the weapon was refered to as, etc.), they tried to make it a bit of a non-cliffhanger.

Then, over at farscapefantasy.com they did a breakdown on the original teaser trailer, including one particular shot indicating that they do resolve this 'realisticly' - no quickie repair, dream, etc.

Now to really throw them for a loop...

[Tom7]

... Boycott!!

pssss

[superultra]

TV would be good again.

pssss tv is good again (cf. arrested development)

Shrug

[superultra]

I've watched a far share of Farscape and while the set design is excellent, I've never been as enamored as others obviously are. The plots seem, to me anyway, Babylon 5 level of complexity, and it's not a show anyone could really watch casually.

That said, I support Farscape because it's far better than the drivel that rules the rest of the television landscape. To support Farscape is to support a genre, one that is populated by personal favorites like Futurama and Firefly (which I both enjoy far more than Farscape).

Is it worth watching? Not especially, in my opinion - at least, if you don't have a Tivo or a Nielson box. Otherwise, macro it away.

MOD PARENT UP

[Cyno01]

that'd be the one. :P

Dont you listen to your mother.

[Anonymous Coward]

didn't your mother ever tell you, if you don't have anything good to say that don't say anything at all. well it looks like the majority of the posts here are from people who don't like farscape. but thats usual. you could have a SCI fi hardcore porn with physics based sci fi action ( not that stupid Hollywood drama) and have of the morons on /. would say they don't like it. i would assume all of the people who say they don't like farscape are the same imbecilic, unthinking, worthless , mouth-spouting, brain-dead morons who like star trek. or you could be one of those nuvo, unoriginal, nonthinking, fuck-heads who say i don't like it just to look cool. well her you go. all the post by people who don't like farscpe. you're a bunch of fucking morons who wouldn't be able to tell good sci fi if it bit your ass. all of the other people who didn't like it or said it was stupid., the truth is your stupid. i am counting the seconds until farscape comes back on, and anyone who says otherwise is a flat out worthless lier.
we should qualify people her.
maybe
slashdot1 : for all the people with IQ's and maturity levels below 100

slashdot : for actual people who can socially function or IQ greater than 100

that i would once again enjoy reading slashdot.

if it doesn't get any better I'm going to start posting GNAA replies. at least these are entertaining compared to the crap i see today.

save the stream with mplayer

[cosmol]

if you have mplayer set up correctly, you can save the quicktime stream to your hard drive with this command (YMMV)

mplayer -dumpstream -dumpfile farscape-peacekeeper_m480.mov http://movies.apple.com/movies/independent/farscap e/farscape-peacekeeper_m480.mov

Here, Trollie Trollie Trollie...

[Merovign]

Oh, look. Vandals! Running up and down the comments with spray paint and rocks!

Too many d***-wavers on /.

Don't feed the Trolls, people. And don't get them wet.

mplayer http://movies.apple.com/mo...

[Anonymous Coward]

mplayer http://movies.apple.com/movies/independent/farscap e/farscape_480.mov

Will work without downloading it.

This is the Dradest! :)

[Jafar00]

I mean, what the frell. It should be the dradest thing on TV for a long time according to the trailer, but you never know when kind of dren they might serve up.
They'd be completely fahrbot to disappoint the show's hardened and loyal fans. :)

Firefly

[James Turpin]

I forgt to mention Firefly myself. Excellent sereis. It never even finished the first season on TV. Oh, they aired the last episode on TV, but not the whole season. Which is why every sci-fi fan should buy it on DVD. Seriously, the quality is much better than farscape, and its the only way you will ever see it for a very very long time.

DVD

[nexus987]

Good thing you can get them from Netflix... the price for the boxed set (per season) is $130! Most TV series boxed DVD sets go for about $50-$70. Farscape is really good, but that's an outrageous price...

OT: USSR

[orasio]

But then, it's nice to feel like you have a voice. They held elections in the old USSR... or should that be, "In Soviet Russia, Elections hold YOU!" ?

Lack of elections are a bad example of soviet failure, athough there are many.
You should start with the US example, and Florida voters, that is much more recent, and a much more believable illusion.

Plus, in the USSR, eleccions were actually a way to decide some things, you just didn't decide which government to have. You don't either, many times, in the US, and many other countries ruled by capitalism, including mine, Uruguay.

Maybe this is too much to answer to an innocent comment, but I just wanted to point out that the exact characteristics of the USSR that are considered unacceptable, are very accepted nowadays, in systems that claim to be opposite to it. Maybe it is because it's not a matter of right-wing or left wing, of course. /rant

Re:OT: USSR

[RobertB-DC]

I love off-topic discussions!

Lack of elections are a bad example of soviet failure, athough there are many.
You should start with the US example, and Florida voters, that is much more recent, and a much more believable illusion.

I'm no fan of the clearly tainted Florida election, though I did go against my fellow liberals when I decided to just accept it as one of the glitches in the democratic process. Even with 20/20 hindsight, I'm not entirely sure that Gore wouldn't have given us his own version of the Patriot Act -- and you've really hit the nail on the head about how little real choice we have in Demoblican vs. Republicrat elections.

But there's still one big difference between Florida and a Soviet election. When we didn't like the way Florida turned out, we were able to protest the results in as open a process as could be expected. When the process gave us Dubya, we retained our ability to continue to protest the results.

John Ashcroft notwithstanding, I can go down the road to Crawford and peacefully register my discontent -- though it took a judge to tell the city to leave protesters alone. I won't have to worry about being sent to Siberia^W Alaska for excersizing my right to protest.

Although I may have trouble getting on a plane...

Re:OT: USSR

[orasio]

It's true, you have the right to protest, and in the USSR you wouldn't, that is an actual difference, and one of the things why many people who called themselves communists used to migrate to the US, and not the USSR.
That is the exact point, the only actual advantage in human rights the US, and most of the "western" countries have, is freedom of speech.
Most other problems with authoritarism exist, although usually in a smaller scale, but at least you can do something about it.
The problem I see now is that especially the US people, although they can, don't care, and others are going the same way. And that freedom of speech is been slowly undermined, in the name of patriotism, with noone standing up for themselves. The ones who do, are shushed and called stupid, like Michael Moore (who might be stupid, but whatever his points of view are, they are worthy of exploring), so noone cares.
You still have a better country to live in than the USSR, but not thaaaaat much better, and the situation isn't improving, I believe.

Frell Farscape

[bill_mcgonigle]

I really hope they do a good job of resolving it

I thought that for a while, but I've decided I really don't care.

Farscape thought they were done. They could have wrapped up the series nicely, be it sad or happy, but they didn't - the ended the series with a cliffhanger.

That was a real kick in the teeth to viewers who were watching the show for a decent story arc. It was a book with the last page left out on purpose.

They thought they were canceled - they destroyed the sets and everything. It's only through a stroke of luck that this miniseries is getting made. Odds are it wasn't going to get made.

So, guess what, Farscape? Tahell with ya. You don't get to screw with your viewers for a sadistic hoot and then get return viewership and box-set sales. Sure, some 'battered' fans will keep coming back but the smart ones will just cut their losses and get out.