... in case you hadn't heard the unfortunate news yet.
One of the few series worth watching, and the plug gets pulled regardless. Ours is a sad state of affairs.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Farscape is, quite honestly, the best show I have ever seen on TV. Ever. I didn't even enjoy B5 this much.
What great morons, them that run networks...
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Though Trek is my one great passion, I also say without hesitation that "Farscape" is undoubtedly the best show ever made.
I've already mailed three letters, sent a fax, and purchased a little package of crackers to mail on Monday. (Crackers? Yeah, it's stupid. But not as stupid as canceling the show!)
I seriously have to wonder just how fucked up the people at Sci-Fi have gotten. Farscape is either the first or second highest rated show in their entire lineup. It's gotten extremely positive reviews from TV Guide and other publications, and just a month or two ago it won two Saturn Awards... one for Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series! Just what the hell are they thinking?
I desperately hope that a quick response can change their minds... because according to David Kemper and Richard Manning, the sets have an appointment with the chainsaw in about a week.
WHAT THE???
Heh... I just got an e-mail (as I'm typing this post) from the online fax service I use... and it seems that the Sci-Fi Channel's fax number is currently unavailable. Either they're overloaded with messages from pissed-off fans, or else they've got their fingers stuck in their ears and are yelling "LA LA LA! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!"
Sigh...
Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
On the other hand, network executives only produce what demographics dictate. Afterall, they're in it to make money. If market pressures dictate that good science fiction is unprofitable, then they cancel it. A good right-winger like yourself, must understand this concept.
In other words, don't blame the network CEOs, blame Joe, the average American.
Note: I was actually responding to Omega here, damn people who type faster than I do. Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Except, of course, that it's still an extremely highly rated show, for cable. So if that's the reason, they're, again, morons.
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
They. Did. WHAT?!?!
Those in charge of the Sci-Fi Channel have now officially incurred my everlasting hatred. Morons, the lot of them.
Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to rework the Grand Scheme of Series ? to include a whole lot more Farscape stuff than it did previously. (Yes, there's a Grand Scheme.)
Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
I heard about this the instant is happened because I just so happen to chat on the Sci-Fi Channel's Star Trek chat room, which is on the same server and I can just hop next door to see what is going on in FarScape. The room maxed out at nearly 500 users total. That alone shows the huge fan base that FarScape has.
I personally loved FarScape, but I missed the early episodes of Season 4 and have since not watched it, I planned to watch them once the reruns started. I also have the entire first season on DVD, and was planning to start buying the second. This definatly has to go down as one of the stupidest marketing moves in TV history, since FarScape is their 2nd highest series (Stargate SG-1 took over first a few weeks ago).
There will be no closure to the series apparently since, as they said, they're a week away from shooting the end of Season 4. So we'll be left with a cliffhanger. And then nothing... Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Gosh, where will I get my weekly dose of dopey muppets now?
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
I'll wager that The X-Files (the rights to which they've just purchased) will pull in two or three times the numbers of anything else on the channel, at a tiny fraction of the cost.
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
quote:Originally posted by The359: The room maxed out at nearly 500 users total. That alone shows the huge fan base that FarScape has.
If you'll forgive me for pulling out a sentence that sounds considerably sillier than I' sure it was intended to sound, I still have to say that it don't mean jack.
My sincerest condolences to Farscape fans. However, I'm going to give those running the Sci-Fi channel the benefit of the doubt and assume they are reasonably competently-trained knowitalls when it comes the ins and outs of television production these days. And so I imagine this was a rather large and well-considered decision on their part. Yes, I'm hopelessly naive, but that's not a crime.
What I'm saying is that it's more than a tiny bit petulant to turn around and tell these guys "look, I know thirty people online who really like this show, so clearly your balance sheets are lying and there's no way that you can conclude that the channel's interests would be best served with its timeslots and money invested elsewhere."
The fan petition was a groovy thing back in 1968. The television environment was of course considerably less forgiving back then, too, when shows were usually cancelled for running a low profit margin rather than an actual loss. In any case, aspiring Bjo Trimbles probably need a reality check. The petition is groovy and hip no more. Like, soooo out, and all that. And if a cable channel in need for a flagship show won't hang on to either of its two shows that come closest to that today (SG1 and FS), there's really no point to fighting the cancellation decision, because one can only assume this came about from an excessively deep pool of red ink.
Posted by Thoughtcancer (Member # 480) on :
This is what Warren Ellis (if you don't know who he is, I'm not going to tell you here, except to say he writes funny books) had to say about it:
Two events of note in genre TV this week.
WITCHBLADE, based on the Top Cow comics series, got shitcanned by TNT in the States, despite apparently healthy ratings but in the face of star Yancy Butler's treatment for alcoholism. I've only seen a bit of the pilot, but more than one wag in the TV/film business has suggested to me that, if they had to work with those scripts, they'd be drinking too. It'll be on reruns here in Britain soon enough, and I'll probably take a look at it then.
And sci-fi leatherqueen BLAKES SEVEN/ BUCK ROGERS rip FARSCAPE -- in space, no-one can hear you speak with an Australian accent -- has evidently also been shitcanned, and confusion seems to reign as to why. I've seen several episodes, and it's a wildly uneven piece of work. It has some good gags, some good dialogue, and some hard-working actors, but it's eaten up by its own continuity and the usual mediocre tangle of soap-opera elements to the point where later episodes are unintelligible. That sort of situation means that by season three or four you're writing for the fans, and the series concept doesn't allow for closure. If the crew aren't running away from bastards any more, there's no series.
This does presumably free up some money at Sci-Fi Channel to do something new. They've shown signs of serious ambition of late - their massive DUNE adaptation was, I think, a case of their reach exceeding their grasp, but it was nice to see them try. It'd be good to see them try either more novels-for-television or a serial with an more extensible concept. It must be tempting to go back to the old saw and launch a new spaceship drama, but cable provides a kind of aesthetic protection, the same environment that allows a SOPRANOS or a Larry Gelbart movie at HBO, and I'd really like to see them use it.
-- W
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Wow, I am going to disagree with Mr. Ellis now, and will likely find myself impaled on the top of a tall building by a fit teenage Japanese assassins-by-night/all-girl-pop-group-by-day.
quote: It must be tempting to go back to the old saw and launch a new spaceship drama, but cable provides a kind of aesthetic protection, the same environment that allows a SOPRANOS or a Larry Gelbart movie at HBO, and I'd really like to see them use it.
HBO does. Basic cable does not.
And, uh, at the risk of talking about things I myself have never seen, I am going to go out on a limb and say that the science fiction offerings which are on premium channels (Odyssey 5, Jeremiah) are not exactly bright and shining monuments to the genre.
Posted by Thoughtcancer (Member # 480) on :
That's true.
Regarding the quality of cable SF: Hey, I liked Stargate SG-1 well enough. That started on Showtime.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Exactly.
Don't get me wrong. There are lots of great shows on cable. I hardly ever watch the networks anymore. But don't think I could count many of them as "risky" or avant garde.
Posted by Thoughtcancer (Member # 480) on :
No. Plus, what Ellis would consider Avant Garde many other people would consider crap.
I would like to see something a bit more original than what they're putting out, but that's a common complaint with entertainment in general.
I posted Ellis's words about Farscape mostly because they're pretty much what I thought about it as well. I watched several episodes of it on a rental from Blockbuster, and I didn't bother to watch the rest.
It may just be because the aliens remind me too much of Fraggle Rock, though.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
The show is instantly recognizable as a Henson production, yes. I thought it was a remake of that "Amazing Stories-esque" show they produced back in the 80s when I first saw it. Now that was good TV.
Posted by Thoughtcancer (Member # 480) on :
Amazing Stories was Must Watch TV back in the day.
They had the best opening title sequence ever, too. Long have I wanted to get an .avi of that and have it start when I fire up the 'puter. (just once or twice. After that it would be boring.)
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Well, yes, but it lacked a certain crazy weirdness that the Henson show had. The magic sack! That's all I remember clearly, but it was a magic sack!
Posted by Thoughtcancer (Member # 480) on :
Surely it wasn't a purple wand and a hairy sack of magic?
I've been listening to far too much Bill Hicks.
Amazing Stories had an french knight slicing at you in the opening. You can't beat that.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
bastards...
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Hm... I wonder if this means they're more or less likely to start rerunning the show from the beginning again, so that I can start fucking watching it?!
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Could it be a publicity stunt???
I would like to catch all of the Ep.s I've missed....
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Could be, but it'd have to be an extremely high-level one. I don't think the cast and crew of Farscape would actually lie to the fans, so they, at least, think it's real.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
What a difference a year makes... I found a copy of that press release which came out sometime in the Fall 2001 -- October, I think.
quote: Don't get me wrong. There are lots of great shows on cable. I hardly ever watch the networks anymore. But don't think I could count many of them as "risky" or avant garde.
Try "Six Feet Under".
I love "Farscape", but I don't think I would care much for an anime version. I am hopeing someone picks up the show, but Anthony Simcoe said yesterday that the sets were already coming down and Pilot was already "in a box".
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
As I said, there is an entire ocean of difference between basic cable and premium channels like HBO.
Posted by Free ThoughtCrime America (Member # 480) on :
"Six Feet Under" is the bomb, yo.
Posted by EdipisReks (Member # 510) on :
Farscape is good, but it isn't the Sopranos or Law and Order. actually, i've enjoyed Odyssey 5 more this last year than Farscape.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
quote: it isn't the Sopranos or Law and Order
A most curious continuum. It is not air OR water. It is not a car OR a nematode.
[In other words, I am suggesting (overly wordily) that those two shows have very little in common.]
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
But they both have criminals as main characters in the stories!
Posted by EdipisReks (Member # 510) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sol System:
quote: it isn't the Sopranos or Law and Order
A most curious continuum. It is not air OR water. It is not a car OR a nematode.
[In other words, I am suggesting (overly wordily) that those two shows have very little in common.]
you are missing something very important. the thing the shows have in common is that they are both very exceptional.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
I see. My tongue is firmly held in place.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
With extreme prejudice?
Posted by Antagonist (Member # 484) on :
Today was supposed to be my day off. I think I would have rather worked my shitty job today instead of logging onto farscape.com and reading what I had.
To say the least, I'm sickened and I think I am going to be cancelling my cable subscription for the SciFi Channel in disgust, and the simple fact that I find nothing on Cable anymore worth watching except for Farscape and occaisionally a good movie every now and then that pops up.
In response to this bullshit, I think I'll go buy a *Mighty Fuckload of crackers and ship it to the SciFi Channel's headquarters with an attached note that reads something like this:
"Dear SciFucks,
Your flatulence precedes you in that I can smell your idiotic plumings before physics would normally allow.
Let me translate for you: You may find that cancelling one of your most interesting and exciting shows on your network to make space for a more financially lucrative endeavor is a wise move, however you forgot to take into consideration one aspect when you cut FarScape from the team; the loss of loyal fans and their enduring spirit and love for your network.
Though the following analogy is a drastic one, please try to keep up, I know that you're incapable of coherent thinking. Imagine you and your family. You all love each other and have grown to rely on them. You have been good times and bad ones too. Then one day the head of your family announces that a valued family member must be exiled, never to be seen again in order to make the finanancial quality of life much better for the rest.
Now if you can see the problem with this logic in my hypthetical situation, you can see the error of your own logic.
Please disperse the enclosed boxes of crackers as you see fit. Perhaps you will choke on them and die or something equally as unpleasant.
Signed, A very cheezed off Farscape Fan."
If they won't pick the series up again, I would at least like to see some sort of closure for the entire cast of characters. Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
They have trains leaving for the world of normal people every half hour, y'know.
Posted by Antagonist (Member # 484) on :
I've been on that train. It doesn't go anywhere very interesting. The idea of migrating to the land of Status Quo doesn't at all entice me to make the trip.
Posted by Free ThoughtCrime America (Member # 480) on :
Didn't any of you play Final Fantasy 3?
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Final Fantasy VI.
And no.
Posted by E. Cartman (Member # 256) on :
"They have trains leaving for the world of normal people every half hour, y'know."
Would those be Man-Trains?
Posted by Free ThoughtCrime America (Member # 480) on :
I forgot about the whole "It's a different number in the rest of the world" thing.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Wait... The US' FF3 is FF6 everywhere else? So, there were at least three FF games that weren't here, then? Just how many of those things have they made?
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
At least ten, I think... at least, one of the Trek Today editors was complaining about being unable to get "Final Fantasy X" a few months ago...
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Did you miss the rather popular FF VII, VIII, IX and brand new X then Timmy?
IV was II in the US, I believe. They skipped V (although it's now available in a compliation pack).
I think its:
I-III: NES IV-VI: SNES (or Super Famicom, whatever you call it) VII-IX: PSone X: PS2
And there's also FF Tactics, various Game Boy games, and monkeys.
Posted by Free ThoughtCrime America (Member # 480) on :
And Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest, which was for retarded children playing their first video game.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Isn't that Myst?
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Liam: Of course I know about FF10. But, if it's called that here, then doesn't that mean there have actually been thirteen games?
Posted by Free ThoughtCrime America (Member # 480) on :
Myst was fun for ten minutes, even if just on a "Look at all the pretty pictures!" level. Mystic Quest wasn't even fun for that.
Mystic Quest has a special place in my heart.
Imagine: You've just played FF3 (IV, whatever), and you loved it. You want another FF game to play. You find one at the store that you've never heard of before, and you buy it anyway, thinking: "Man, that last game really rocked. This one is by the SAME GUYS! I AM GOING TO LOVE THIS!"
You get it home, and it's...Mystic Quest. I found out later that Mystic Quest was developed for the US market, where RPG's weren't selling very well. The idea at Squaresoft was: "They must not like our games because they are TOO HARD. Let's give them one that is EASY."
Now, we're talking about Final Fantasy RPGs here. The word difficult isn't even in their vocabulary. So making an "easy" FF is like watering down Budweiser beer before you drink it. What's the point? You're essentially watching a really, really crappy movie where you have to punch a button in order to get to the next scene.
And of course, I couldn't take an opened game back to the store for a refund. Horrible.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
quote: DYING: Be warned that your character can be slain by monsters which are tougher than he can handle. However, this concept has been abstracted out of the game and takes effect simply by somewhat reducing the experience accumulated for each successful murder
Sounds like these boys are against the death penalty.
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
quote:The idea of migrating to the land of Status Quo doesn't at all entice me to make the trip.
Only a Brit would be able to appreciate how hilariously funny this sentence is. Suffice to say Status Quo (aka: 'ver Quo) are a veteran British rock group who have become a national institution.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Known here primarily for "Pictures of Matchstick Men," since covered by just about everyone under the sun.
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