Farscape: Peacekeeper War

[Assenpfeffer]

I've got Season One en route, and I'll be giving it a watch. I've got friends who adored the show with a near-religious fervor, and it seems to have been widely liked all around. I've seen the first four episodes and maybe two others later in the series, and none of them kept me very interested or struck me as particularly good, though I did sort of like the pilot.

So maybe the show didn't pick up until after the first couple of episodes, or I missed long-running plot elements in the later ones I saw. I'm willing to give the show a shot.

So, while I'm genuinely happy for Farscape fans, I was never one myself. I'm jealous of them, though, since their show got four and a half seasons - just imagine what Firefly could have done in four and a half seasons.

 

[John Crichton]

So, while I'm genuinely happy for Farscape fans, I was never one myself. I'm jealous of them, though, since their show got four and a half seasons - just imagine what Firefly could have done in four and a half seasons.

The series really picks up about halfway through season 1. The episode PK Tech Girl is the one you'll want to look for. There are a few clunky episodes after that but the season ends in a bang with the last 4 eps. PK Tech Girl is ep 7 I think.

BTW - Farscape got 4 seasons and a 4 hour mini. The four hour mini equals 4 eps which is less than a fifth of a full season. So I look at it like 4 seasons and a little more.

And I totally agree about Firefly. I have equal love for both shows. Firefly deserved so much better. It was hard to loose both in such a short amount of time.

 

[RC Hagy]

Can yay! and Ugh... go in the same sentence?

I am real happy (well as happy as I ever get that is and maybe a bit more).

It just means I have to bump up SciFi's ratings though... Oh, well. I can just go back to not watching again.


Farscape!


Hoooooby!


RC Hagy

 

[Hand of Evil]

So, while I'm genuinely happy for Farscape fans, I was never one myself. I'm jealous of them, though, since their show got four and a half seasons - just imagine what Firefly could have done in four and a half seasons.

The first season and shows were introductions and build, it had a lot going on and took time to get but it hit you hard when things started to come together.

Firefly was great, never supported by the Network, just showing it out of sequence and then pulling it, good news is it looks like it will make it to the big screen.

 

[Assenpfeffer]

The series really picks up about halfway through season 1. The episode PK Tech Girl is the one you'll want to look for. There are a few clunky episodes after that but the season ends in a bang with the last 4 eps. PK Tech Girl is ep 7 I think.

I liked the pilot - quite a lot, actually. But that was followed up by three dull episodes, and, considering that I was buying the 2-episode DVDs at the time (Season 1 hadn't yet come out,) I simply wasn't motivated to buy any more.

Now, of course, there are box sets for the first two seasons, but at $120 each, they're dramatically overpriced. I'll take a chance on, say, Alias for $45 without having seen it before (I did, and was very happy with it.) But $120 is just way, way too much to spend on a show that is (to me) unproven.

That said, I've got an arrangement to obtain a copy of Season One. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

BTW - Farscape got 4 seasons and a 4 hour mini. The four hour mini equals 4 eps which is less than a fifth of a full season. So I look at it like 4 seasons and a little more.

I thought it'd been cancelled in mid-season. I'll have to defer to your superior knowledge of the subject.

And I totally agree about Firefly. I have equal love for both shows. Firefly deserved so much better. It was hard to loose both in such a short amount of time.

I have no hate for the people responsible for Firefly's mismanagement and subsequent cancellation. I have... a sledgehammer.

 

[John Crichton]

I liked the pilot - quite a lot, actually. But that was followed up by three dull episodes, and, considering that I was buying the 2-episode DVDs at the time (Season 1 hadn't yet come out,) I simply wasn't motivated to buy any more.

I actually got into Farscape because two of my buddies loved it. One of them asked me to tape a few episodes they were re-running for him. I didn't know exactly what he was looking for so I just taped whatever I found for the airings, which happened to be alot because they were really pushing the show at the time and had mini-marathons and such right before the premiere of Season 2. Also, the way Sci-Fi aired it was odd. They would show about three to four-fifths of a season and then take a break for about 3 months (sometimes longer, specifically in later seasons). Then they would come back and show the rest. Then they would start the next season within a month of the last season ending. Very odd.

So I was bored one day and decided to pop in the premiere, which I really liked. Then I had a bunch of the eps I taped for my buddy sitting around so I watched those. They consisted of the last 4 from Season 1, which had their own mini-arc and blew me away. There were also eps that were critical to this mini-arc in there as well. Maybe about 4-6 episodes. So I only got to watch about half of Season 1 when Season 2 came out and I started watching that. It turned out that I caught just about all I needed to understand the rest of the show. The ones that I missed were only referred to as in-jokes or something minor like that.

I eventually went back and watched all of Season 1 but many of the episodes were lacking in quality compared to the brilliance that I was used to from the later seasons. The best part was seeing more Zhaan.

So, honestly, you really only need to see about half of the first season to really get a background. But they need to be the right eps. Now everything from Seasons 2 & 3 was great. There were a few off-eps here and there but even a 'bad' Farscape episode is better than 99% of the stuff out there.

Season 4 is a mixed bag for me. It had some excellent episodes, especially at the beginning, middle and end of the season but some of the filler eps, while entertaining weren't as good as the 'filler' from other seasons. It seemed very scattered. And just when they started to pick up steam, the big mid-season break hit. It was about this time (near the beginning of airing the new eps) that SFC announced that the show was getting the axe. I remember hearing rumblings and thinking to myself, "Self, this is a baaaaad time for Farscape to be stumbling. These episodes are not good examples of what this show really is." The show really picked itself up in the second half, as it always does but the cancellation had already happened.

So the combination of some shaky eps, bad advertising, refusal to run repeats to keep people who missed a few eps up to speed and general stupidity caused the show to die. IMO, of course but I call em like I see em.

Oops, I went to rant-land there. Sorry.

Now, of course, there are box sets for the first two seasons, but at $120 each, they're dramatically overpriced. I'll take a chance on, say, Alias for $45 without having seen it before (I did, and was very happy with it.) But $120 is just way, way too much to spend on a show that is (to me) unproven.

I don't blame you. The main reason I haven't picked up any of the Farscape seasons yet is because of the price. $100+ is too much no matter how much I love the show. I have almost all of the first 3 seasons on tape anyway. The quality stinks but I can still watch them if I want to.

That said, I've got an arrangement to obtain a copy of Season One. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Sweet. Some of the eps are dry. Press on until the second half of the season and you'll see why people love the show. It only keeps getting better.

I have no hate for the people responsible for Firefly's mismanagement and subsequent cancellation. I have... a sledgehammer.

Too true. The pain may never go away...

 

[CCamfield]

I agree with you that some of season 4 was not the best. They changed some of the cast, which took some getting used to (I found the new female character annoying for a while) but the ending episodes - particularly the three-parter "We're So Screwed" - were phenomenal.

 

[John Crichton]

the ending episodes - particularly the three-parter "We're So Screwed" - were phenomenal.

Oh yeah, those were classic Farscape. Great stuff. Made the ending hurt even more...

 

[Evil Eli]

Hello,

I am a long time Farscape Fan.

I do have a question thou. Wasn't the show orginial filmed and made for Austrilian TV and later imported here to the US?

The reason I ask is that sometimes shows made overseas have to be editted before they can be aired in the US (Ex: Highlander the series has this problem)

 

[John Crichton]

Hello,

I am a long time Farscape Fan.

I do have a question thou. Wasn't the show orginial filmed and made for Austrilian TV and later imported here to the US?

The reason I ask is that sometimes shows made overseas have to be editted before they can be aired in the US (Ex: Highlander the series has this problem)

The show was taped in Australia but was aired here first as far as I know.