FARSCAPE EZINE

SAVE FARSCAPE NOW! The end of Farscape may be close - but the fans aren’t going down without a fight! Hell no. The ‘Save Farscape’ campaign has been the most extravagant campaign of its kind, including coverage on CNN and even a TV commercial! Find out what’s been happening down at ‘Save Farscape’ HQ and discover what you can do to help - inside this month’s Farscape Magazine.

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN... “There are a lot of storms on the horizon, a lot of plotlines set in motion, a lot of timebombs planted.”
As the final episode ever looms, Farscape Magazine talks to Executive Producer Ricky Manning about the future of the Moya crew.

ASK AERYN! We recently asked fans to submit the question they would most like to ask Farscape’s leading lady if, by some miracle, they were given the chance. Amazingly, we took your questions and got answers back from the lady herself - Claudia Black!

VIRGINIA ON THE RIDICULOUS! Ask any fan how long they could keep their mouth shut if they were told Zhaan was making a comeback - and they’d probably say ‘about as long as it takes to logon to the Farscape website!’ Well then, imagine what it’s been like for Virginia Hey (Zhaan herself), having to keep it a secret that she’d be returning to the show… Get Zhaan’s full story in the new Farscape mag!

SEBACEAN SPECIAL! They’re ruthless, insensitive and always spoiling for a fight… No, not Farscape fans - we’re talking about the Sebaceans! We analyse Aeryn’s race in a special in-depth feature.

RYGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Did you know, Rygel is actually the most intelligent character on the show? Well, that’s what Jonathan Hardy, the voice of Rygel, says about His Royal Flatulence - but we think he may be slightly biased… We find out what the esteemed actor thinks of Farscape’s cancellation and his stint on the show.

FARSCAPE’S FUNNIEST MOMENTS! With a helium-farting alien, a mad Old Woman, and the zaniest team ever to work on a sci-fi show, Farscape has certainly had its share of laughs. We take you on a merry stroll down memory lane and prove that even though the show’s ending, there’s still a reason to rub your belly and make that strange chuckling noise…

SCIFI MAGAZINE ARTICLE

David Kemper and Ben Browder promise a roller-coaster ride to the finale of Farscape's fourth season. BEWARE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!! 

..Click Here to read the article.
..and Click Here for a few spoiler pics from the new eps

CINESCAPE SPECIAL EDITION

Cinescape has always loved Farscape and their "Survival Guide" only goes to prove it. 

Season three is gone through, episode by episode with a brief summary followed by an analysis, with a grade given to each episode. 

Here's what they have to say about the season as a whole (Some of the statements are a little "off" but their heart's in the right place):

"Three years ago, Earth astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder) flew an experimental shuttle into a wormhole. Spit out in a place called the "Forbidden Territories," he banded together with a desperate crew of escaped prisoners on a living starship named Moya.

From the beginning, Farscape's visionary storytelling took viewers' breath away, and today Crichton's adventures still stand among the most imaginative and original spectacles on television.

At this year's Saturn Awards (where Farscape won both Best Cable Series and Best TV Actor for Browder), executive producer David Kemper told Cinescape that Farscape's cast was always intended to rotate as time passed.

"From the beginning we knew we wanted the crew to be perpetually changing," said Kemper. "We knew we'd have a core of central players, but we wanted to keep things fresh by having most characters on the move."

Season 3 of Farscape definitely kept its characters "on the move" - you almost needed a scorecard to keep up! Early in the season, Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black) reappeared after a brief flirt with death, Zhaan (Virginia Hey) sacrificed her life to save the others and Jothee (Matt Newton) departed to escape the disappointment of his father, D'Argo (Anthony Simcoe).

Jool (Tammy MacIntosh) came into her own as a character around the middle of the season, yet by the end of that same season, audiences bade farewell to Stark (Paul Goddard), Harvey (Wayne Pygram) and Crais. (Lani Tupu).

In addition, just as Scorpius (also Pygram) once replaced Crais as the series' central villain, season 3 ushered in Commandant Grayza (Rebecca Riggs) to take up the gauntlet as the new main bad guy. Unfortunately, the over-sexed, under-interesting Grayza was no replacement for Scorpius, though she might have been more intimidating if she weren't a virtual carbon copy of Servalan from Blake's 7.

Of course, the heart of Farscape " remained in the endlessly frustrated love between Aeryn Sun and Crichton. Season 3 took the boldly original move of splitting Crichton into two different bodies, with Aeryn developing a relationship with one of the Crichtons only to have him die from radiation poisoning.

The season also delved deeper and deeper into the central concept of Crichton's hidden wormhole technology. Scorpius, who faked his own death early on, used the time to build a wormhole research facility in the hopes of developing a star-smashing weapon that would end the military stalemate between the Sebaceans and the Scarrans.

Crichton became committed to denying the evil Scorpius the knowledge he needed for fear that the power-hungry madman would enslave the galaxy. It's a cause in which even the selfish Rygel (Jonathan Hardy) was able to believe.

Ultimately, season 3 of Farscape did just what it should: It developed the mythology of the series, expanded the central characters, and built bridges to future story arcs. Above all else, it entertained."

CINESCAPE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER

Until last month, things seemed to be going well for Farscape fans. Their favorite show had been picked up for two full seasons, there was a brand-new regular character named Sikozu (Raelee Hill) that people liked, and the quality of the writing was excellent and still improving.

Then, abruptly, the bottom fell out. 

On Sept. 9, the Sci-Fi Channel officially announced its decision to not make a fifth season of the series. The decision was made even though, after season 3, the channel signed a much-touted option agreement for both seasons 4 and 5. 

"Despite our best efforts to reach a broader audience, Farscape has been unable to grow beyond its core fan base," Sci-Fi remarked in an official statement on the matter. "That, coupled with the extreme and growing cost of production, has led to the difficult decision to end the series at the conclusion of season four."

The action is something of an about-face considering that only a year ago the channel regarded Farscape as its flagship property.

"We just assumed we'd be doing the next season," says series creator and executive producer Rockne S. O'Bannon. "We'd planned for it. This was a blow to everyone."

The Farscape production office didn't get word from the network about the cancellation until work had already been completed on the finale of season 4 -meaning that the cast and crew wrapped filming without knowing they would never make another episode of the series.

"We had already shot episode 22 of season 4 and we were just doing pickups for previous episodes when we heard," Farscape lead Ben Browder confirms. "We just never expected it. There was a lot of crying on set that day."

Juliet Blake, president of Jim Henson Television, the production entity behind Farscape, says when she heard the news she "was extremely upset. Farscape is very close to all of our hearts. The amazing thing about Farscape is that it was one big family. The actors, the crew and even the network representatives worked very closely together. We didn't want to see it end."

That's a sentiment echoed by fans. The first time Farscape followers at large heard about the cancellation was not from the network, but from an Internet chat held by Browder, showrunner David Kemper and co-executive producer Richard Manning on Sept. 6. Fans were floored, even enraged at the news, but they didn't remain in a state of shock for long. Almost immediately following the chat, online petitions started sprouting up, and before the end of the weekend an unexpectedly swift, strong and well-organized "Save Farscape" campaign had been born.

O'Bannon is impressed and grateful to all the fans who've given the show so much support.

"How can we possibly show our appreciation for all that they're doing!" he says. “It’s particularly important to the cast and crew. The show is shot in Australia where it doesn't air, so the only feedback they get is through the Internet. They feel flattered and thankful. It's always amazing to learn that there are people out there who feel passionately about the work you're doing. That's the best thing in the world."

"I've been impressed with the fans of Farscape from the very beginning," adds Blake. "They've always had a strong intelligent voice. Their feedback has been valuable to the development of the series from season 1. But the ['Save Farscape'] campaign has been particularly impressive. The reaction was  so massive."

Fans held pickets, sent untold numbers of letters, phone calls, faxes and e-mails, and even took out ads in entertainment industry trade magazines like The Hollywood Reporter.

"Since it started I alone have gotten over 5,000 e-mails," says Blake.

"That's absolutely staggering when you think about it. Really staggering. It's a wonderful thing. The campaign shows that Farscape fans are the kind of audience that advertisers seek out. They're younger, they're educated, they're hip they can afford to take out expensive ads in the trades. They have consumer buying power.”

The fan campaign initially concentrated on getting the Sci-Fi Channel to change its mind about  the cancellation, an effort that seemingly bore fruit when Sci-Fi reportedly reopened negotiations with Henson.

"It was never a straight cancellation, the way that a lot of people think," explains Blake. "It was much more complex than that. The ratings were slipping and Sci-Fi came back wanting to order only 13 episodes [instead of the standard 22]. Then, if those proved successful, we would pick up the back nine episodes. But we had to turn them down. We attribute the rating decline to the fact that they moved us from our usual time slot back an hour. We were in talks with them to move the show back to its previous time slot, but I think they felt that Stargate was a big success for them in that position, and they wanted to keep it there. We tried to meet them in the middle, but for a show like Farscape, with such massive overhead costs, it had to be 22 episodes or nothing. If we only got a 13 order, we wouldn't be able to amortize our costs, spreading them out over the whole season. It's just impossible to make an expensive show like Farscape unless you can do it in volume.”

When it became increasingly evident that Sci-Fi wasn't going to make enough of a commitment to the show to make production financially viable, fans turned their hopes to Sci-Fi's competitors. They began writing networks like UPN and Showtime, encouraging the companies to pick up the show and make the final season. But this effort also doesn't seem to hold much promise.

"There's a slim chance that [UPN or Showtime] will pick up the series, but it is by no means a slam dunk;' says Blake. "It's not something that we're actively pursuing. If the UPN came to us and wanted to do it, we would work with them, but I don't see that really happening. My feeling is that UPN would rather develop their own series than pull in an existing one.”

Despite a lack of clear-cut results, O'Bannon doesn't want fans to think their efforts have been wasted.

"Did [the campaign] cause an immediate reversal? No, it didn't,” he says. "But did it helpl Yes! It proved that there's a loud passionate following for Farscape. Ratings are numbers -they're impersonal -but these cards, these e-mails, they're from human beings. I saw one that said something like, 'I'm 55-year-old surgeon from Tennessee and I love Farscape.' That's a real person who wrote that. They don't see it now, but when Sci-Fi puts new shows on the air, and they don't do well, they might look around and say, “How can we get an audience that's educated, loyal and passionate. Oh, wait, we had that, it was Farscape.”

O'Bannon predicts that the network hasn't seen an end to the fan effort. Even though Farscape will not go on to season 5, the last II episodes of season 4 are still waiting to be aired. The show is currently in the middle of its regularly scheduled mid-season break.

"During all of this there have been some tough moments, but the moment I most dread is in January when those final 11 episodes air and they end with a 'to be continued' -but there won't be a continuation,' says O'Bannon. "If the fans are upset now, when they've only heard  that the series is ending, imagine how they'll feel when that happens."

O'Bannon explains why the final episode of the season will finish with a traditional gut-wrenching TV cliffhanger: "We had no opportunity to change it;' explains O'Bannon. "We wish it had a resolution, but we found out too late that we weren't doing more. This episode is something that could act as the last episode of the series, in the same way that any of the other season finales could have been the last episode of the series. But it isn't the kind of thing you want to go off on. It's certainly not the way I ever envisioned ending the whole show. But I hope that we'll find a way to tell the real end of the series, a way to give it a proper finale.”

That "proper finale" could take one of many different shapes. Currently show's producers are considering the possibility of pursuing a television movie, a television miniseries or even a theatrical feature film that would pick up from season 4 and resolve the show.

"I was asked recently if we could do a novel to resolve the series O'Bannon says. "I said 'no: I'm not giving up on the idea that we can film a resolution and that we can show it in the format we originally intended.”

[SOME SPOILESRS WERE REMOVED FROM HERE AND PLACED ON THE KARLSWEB SPOILER PAGE]

In addition to the series' resolution, whatever form it may take, other but the Farscape-based properties are in the works.

"No, I don't think that the Farscape series as we think of it will continue to exist;' says Blake. "But I do believe that Farscape as a franchise will move forward. We have an anime series in the works. We have the possibility of a movie version. And we still have a huge convention planned for New York in November. The trick is to not see this so much as a death for Farscape as it is the chance for a rebirth.”

The anime series that Blake describes is something that O’Bannon  and others have been mulling over for some time. The project was always on the back burner, but with the live-action series going off the air, production plans have been stepped up.

And when Henson executives say "anime;' they don't mean a watered- down American cartoon half-heartedly rendered in anime style. They mean a full-on japanese-produced traditional anime.

"Our executive in charge of direct-to-video development just got back the from Tokyo, where he was in talks with an animation studio,” explains Blake. "The anime version will go forward. It'll start as a series on DVD, but, in success, it could become a television property:'  

On top of that, O'Bannon is considering personally writing the Farscape anime.

"The anime isn't going to be a continuation of the series;' explains O'Bannon. "Instead it's about the joy of experiencing these characters in a different medium. It's definitely about john Crichton; he's the center of the show. And we're going to see a lot of familiar faces. We're going to be able to do a lot of things that would normally be prohibited by makeup turn- around times and special effects limitations. It's going to be a joy:'

In addition to new productions, Henson is still courting more exposure for the original series. The company is in talks to bring the existing 88 episodes of the live-action series into syndication, and of course the show's DVD releases will continue. So while fans may not have been able to bring the series back to the air in its old form, it looks like they're still going to be able to enjoy the Farscape universe in the years to come.

"No one should think these characters are just going to die off;' assures O'Bannon. "They're not. We're not going to let them.”

FARSCAPE PLACES 2 IN TOP 100

January 6, 2003: The February issue of Dreamwatch Magazine lists their all time "100 Greatest Moments in Science Fiction and Fantasy".  They include movies (Star Wars, 2001, The Day the Earth Stood Still, etc.) and TV.  Farscape makes the rankings twice -- at number 61 (for Die Me Dichotomy -- Crichton becoming Scorpy), and number 98 (Into the Lion's Den II: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing -- destruction of the command carrier)!  A good showing in, for the most part, excellent company.

Thanks to Idiclady for passing this along!

ARTICLE ON FARSCAPE IN SCIFI MAGAZINE

January 5, 2003: The new February issue of SciFi Magazine has an inside-scoop article on Farscape, according to the SciFi website. I haven't seen the magazine on the stands yet, but it should be there soon. For more information Click Here.

DREAMWATCH 98

A quote from an interview with David Kemper:

When we broke the scripts for 422," he says, referring to the season finale, "we thought we were going for a fifth year. And when we started shooting it, we thought we were going for a fifth year. We were three days from the end of shooting when we found out we weren't being picked up. Actually, we were supposed to be done last Friday; I pushed production two more days to accommodate some extra scenes. We originally would have found out on the morning of our last day."

Unsurprisingly, Kemper is tight-lipped about how the series now ends. But he does offer some words of reassurance to loyal viewers fearing the worst. "It ends like Farscape, " he reveals, "It feels like Farscape down to the last millisecond.

"We shot two extra days we didn't plan on shooting. There are a thousand different ways we could have gone. I pulled together about 20 key people from the cast and crew and I told them, "here are some choices: here's what I want to do. But I'll take the vote. The vote wins.' I'm proud to say my choice was a unanimous choice. So what people are going to see at the end of Farscape is what the people who make Farscape thought it should be.

"The fans shouldn't worry," he adds firmly, "they've always been in good hands. And I've got to say our fans are the best. We all cry for the fans [at the show's loss]."

Farscape # 10 

From Farscape E-Zine: 

Hot on the heels of last year’s spectacular Ladies Issue, the new issue of Farscape Magazine is an All-Blokes Issue! Yes, you heard right, an issue crammed full of Moya’s men - including Crichton, D’Argo, Pilot and Rygel, plus loads more!

Also this issue, we’ve got the inside scoop on the cancellation of Farscape - what happened exactly, what do the stars and creators have to say about it, and what will happen next? Check out this issue for the com plete lowdown. Here’s a little taster of things to look forward to…

BEN BROWDER

We’ve got a double Ben whammy this issue! First up, in our news section, we’ve got an exclusive interview with the series’ star as we get his reaction to the show’s cancellation. Then we’ve got Ben as the star of our third very special reader Q & A. Just one day before the news of Farscape’s cancellation leaked, we posed your questions to Ben, including such important  topics as Jesus, nudity and Tweety Pie!

AND OUR NEXT ‘ASK THE STARS’ STAR IS…

… Gigi Edgley! Yep, the little grey one will be facing your probing questions in our final reader Q & A, so send those lovely questions in so that we can go out with a bang! Make your questions as funny, weird, silly, interesting or fanboy-ish as you like. Deadline is end of December. Send all questions to farscape@titanemail.com (or post them to Farscape Magazine, 144 Southwark Street, London SE1 OUP, UK)

IT’S VOTING TIME!

Is Scorpius the sexiest Farscape character? Is the nik-nik your favourite Farscape alien? Well, now’s the time to let your opinion be counted - in our special readers’ poll! We’ve got nine tricky categories for you to vote in, so all we need you to do is sit yourself down with a pen and a thinking cap, and then send your nominations off to farscape@titanemail.com or to Farscape Magazine Poll, 144 Southwark Street, London SE1 OUP. Here are the categories:

Favourite male character
Favourite female character
Favourite Moya crewmember
Favourite villain
Favourite alien race
Sexiest character
Favourite season

Favourite Farscape episode (pick one from each season)
Best Farscape 'moment'

Happy voting!

THE SHOCK CANCELLATION

We’ve got a special news section on the SCI FI Channel’s unbelievable decision to end the show. There’s a day-by-day account of what exactly happened, we’ve got series creator Rockne S. O’Bannon, executive producer David Kemper, the Farscape puppeteers and Ben (Crichton) Browder sharing their thoughts on the situation, and we’ve got news on what’s next for the show.
For updates on the Farscape campaign, check out www.farscape.wdsection.com, but the best thing to do is watch the show when it comes back in January - let’s get those ratings THROUGH THE ROOF!!

ANTHONY SIMCOE

Farscape’s D’Argo drops in to discuss the final season of the show - and drops hints about the Macton storyline, his romance with Jool, the return of ‘D’Argo the slut’ and loads more!

DAVID FRANKLIN

In his first interview with the official Farscape Magazine, the actor who portrays Captain Braca discusses just how the frell his character has managed to survive into season four! Also on the conversational agenda are punch-ups with Crichton, the Farscape fans, and Grayza’s evil breasts!

NEW FARSCAPE STORY!

Farscape Script Co-ordinator Joshua Mapleston provides this issue’s brand new Farscape story! Chi and Jool bring two lovely, fluffy alien creatures on board Moya - but they turn out to have a less lovely, less fluffy side to them! It’s up to Aeryn, Crichton and D’Argo to sort it all out…

…AND THE REST…

We’ve also got Pilot… Well no, not an interview with Pilot, but we’ll be analysing the Pilot race, we’ve got a mini Q & A with Jonathan (Rygel) Hardy, posters, the latest Farscape merchandise, reviews, your letters and looooads more!

…AND AS FOR NEXT ISSUE…

We’ll be catching up with Virginia Hey as she returns for season four, we’ll be putting Jonathan Hardy in our Aurora Chair, the show’s Lil Taylor will be providing the fiction, and there’s much more!

TV ZONE 156

'Farscape fans were shocked when we broke the news that their favourite show had been cancelled. We take a look at the popularity of the series, and try to assess why, ultimately, it might have been just too good to survive…

It’s amazing how quickly the landscape of Sci-Fi TV can be altered. Farscape has been cut down early, cancelled by its makers, the Sci-Fi channel, due to the fatal combination of falling ratings and rising costs. To most regular viewers of the show, this seems impossibly cruel. Farscape rewards its fans like almost no other show through the sheer inventiveness and tortuousness of its running storylines. Its complexity makes them feel included. One has only to consider TV Zone’s poll last year to see how fans rank it head and shoulders above its competitors. Twice as many readers as voted for Stargate voted for Farscape as their favourite TV show of 2001, with Buffy polling a low third. Farscape came second only to Doctor Who in the category of favourite TV show of all time, with Ben Browder and Claudia Black, the show’s lead actor and actress, winning their categories by a very clear margin.

TV Zone Special's issue #47 focuses on the New Season 2002. There's an excerpt from the featured interview with Ben Browder on Visimag's website. Out now in the UK, soon in the US.

TV Zone Special #48 (Yearbook 2002-03) is a 100 page look-back at the year in Cult Television and covers new shows as well as "everyone's favorites," which includes Farscape. Read more at Visimag's website

Cult Times #85 (October 2002) will feature Farscape on its cover and contain news and interviews. For a look at the cover, click here.