Farscape

[Mrbloodworth]

I am really surprised there isn't a thread for this. I just recently finished watching the entire series and the peacekeeper wars movie (again). To me, this is possibly one of the most epic, and best si-fi show out there. Its a shame that it ended, but i suppose all good things must come to an end, and the show really had run its course.

Wikipedia link

[Hindenburg]

Only sci-fi tv series I've ever liked.
Rygel was   
Scorpio was 

[Rasix]

I imagine a few people had trouble getting into this one.  I liked the show a managed to watch the entire run a few times.  I'm glad I did as it has one of the better payoffs and enjoyed it greatly once it got going.  Claudia Black is simply amazing in this show from beginning to end.  She is awesome.

-It starts off very slowly and isn't very good for the first season / season and a half.  It really only became a must watch for me at the end of season 2.  Luckily I had someone to tell me to stick with it, otherwise I would have dropped it several times during season 1.
-Crichton is an annoying actor and poorly acted for a lot of it.  Maybe poorly acted isn't the best way to describe it, but the way the character is approached for much of the series run is nails-on-a-chalkboard annoying.
-There are so many stock SCI-FI episodes that are just poorly done.  Why does every SCI-FI episode have to keep drawing from the same fucking well so many times? All of the space filler felt like reskinned TNG episodes.
-The mini-series was great but.. they did a couple things that really made no sense and were just done for shock value / rapid plot advancement.  See Sizoku.
-Leather festishists.

Still, it's one of my favorite shows I've seen. The main plot / romance was executed masterfully.  It was worth watching once I got past the initial suck.

[Nevermore]

Pure space opera.  Pure 

[Signe]

Ah.  I never got past the initial suck.  My brother in law started watching it when we were staying there and it was just awful.  It's nice to know it got better.  If I see it hanging around the tv, I'll give it another shot.

[Mrbloodworth]

I imagine a few people had trouble getting into this one.  I liked the show a managed to watch the entire run a few times.  I'm glad I did as it has one of the better payoffs and enjoyed it greatly once it got going.  Claudia Black is simply amazing in this show from beginning to end.  She is awesome.

-It starts off very slowly and isn't very good for the first season / season and a half.  It really only became a must watch for me at the end of season 2.  Luckily I had someone to tell me to stick with it, otherwise I would have dropped it several times during season 1.
-Crichton is an annoying actor and poorly acted for a lot of it.  Maybe poorly acted isn't the best way to describe it, but the way the character is approached for much of the series run is nails-on-a-chalkboard annoying.
-There are so many stock SCI-FI episodes that are just poorly done.  Why does every SCI-FI episode have to keep drawing from the same fucking well so many times? All of the space filler felt like reskinned TNG episodes.
-The mini-series was great but.. they did a couple things that really made no sense and were just done for shock value / rapid plot advancement.  See Sizoku.
-Leather festishists.

Still, it's one of my favorite shows I've seen. The main plot / romance was executed masterfully.  It was worth watching once I got past the initial suck.

I have to disagree with a bit of this. Mainly, Crichton. From his perspective, he was thrust into a completely different world, the things i think (i think) may have annoyed you about him was the parts he was trying to hold onto to remind himself he was human, namely, the catch phrases and pop culture references he throws out to keep the aliens guessing.... Through the course of the entire show (and mainly the first two sessions) he is trying to hold on and not get lost in the wonderful, scary and confusing galaxy.  Honestly, i think any of us that didn't go into a state of shock, would also be annoying, especially to other cultures.

I tend to think the actor did a great job, especially during the last few seasons where Ka D'Argo becomes more of his "drinking buddy" in terms of dialog.

The first seasons are really trying to bring this confusion of his home, considering how he arrived... i think it works well.

But yes, make it past to the end of season 2.

[Abagadro]

I was initially turned off by the Henson-ness of it and thought it was Labyrinth in Space. Once I got into it though I really dug it. Lots of hot chicks, space battles, and one of the better villians of all time. Once "head Scorpio" was brought onto the scene (which Moore shamelessly ripped off for BSG) I was a true believer.

[Righ]

American falls through a wormhole and ends up on an Australian Muppet show. I watched a couple of episodes but it made me cringe. I think the lead character was worse than the acting. He was annoying to other cultures, in this case mine.

[Merusk]

I can't express how much I love this series.  One of my favs and I plan on getting the DVDs if they ever price drop like B5 finally did.  My take on Crichton was the same as Bloodworth's.  He's trying to cope and remain some sanity in a universe that's so utterly foreign and just damn bizarre that the only way he can cope is by constantly reminding himself where he came from. 

Righ, you hate America anyway, so we understand. Commie.

[Xuri]

I got this series pushed on me by a friend, and didn't really like the first few episodes. It felt... I don't know. Cheap? Not in a Flash Gordon kind of way, but... *shrug*

However, I watched it some more, and then some more, and then some. Before I knew it there was no more Farscape to watch, and there was much sadness in me.

[LK]

I thought Ben Browder was pretty cool in the role. My impression of Crichton was that he was a bad-ass motherfucker. Most memorable scene from the first season is the way he psyched himself up and eventually went through with having to jump out of an air lock across space without protection to get back to safety.

[Prospero]

God bless Farscape. It got me through a lot of tedious texturing assignments in school. I really like how they were willing to play with the camera and light. It didn't always work, but it was always interesting.

[Signe]

I never give things much of a chance.  It was the same with True Blood and it turned out better than I thought it would.  I watch an episode or two of something and give up on it.  Actually, sometimes if I can't make it through the first episode, I don't ever bother again.  Sometimes I really like a show and then forget all about it before the second episode.  I suck at tv.

[sidereal]

Farscape is pure awesome.

I got turned onto it because it featured Claudia Black, who I got 'turned onto' (yeah, she's hot.  I'm not afraid to say it) in Pitch Black.  And I guess then went onto Stargate:SG 1 with almost the entirety of the rest of the Farscape cast.  Browder as well, at least.  But I dunno because I never watched SG1, although I watch Atlantis.  Weird, that.  Also, I might pick up Project Sylpheed because she narrates it.

[Johny Cee]

I was initially turned off by the Henson-ness of it and thought it was Labyrinth in Space. Once I got into it though I really dug it. Lots of hot chicks, space battles, and one of the better villians of all time. Once "head Scorpio" was brought onto the scene (which Moore shamelessly ripped off for BSG) I was a true believer.

The smartest thing Lucas did in the prequals was cast the actor who played Scorpius as a young Grand Moff Tarkin.  As much as I don't particularly like Star Wars cash grabbing,  I'd give a live action show with him playing the main villain against an early rebellion a shot.

[SnakeCharmer]

Really enjoyed Farscape; once I got past the low budget Muppet stuff.

Nevermind the fact that Claudia Black is extremely easy on the eyes.  She and Browder have a great chemistry that translated well to SG-1 also.

I think I was one of the few people that thought SG-1 got better once Browder/Black came on board.  Never liked RDA all that much, and the show was still pretty damn good in spite of him.  I would love to see an SG-1 with Browder all the way through it.

[Bzalthek]

Farscape ranks as one of my favorite shows.  There are cheesy moments, but I love Browder's humor/sarcasm.  And yes, Black's hot.  I can't wait to put it up next to my Firefly boxed set, but I haven't found prices that don't suck yet.

[FatuousTwat]

Loved this show. I'm glad they listened to the fans and did the movie at the end instead of just letting it drop.

[Riggswolfe]

I was going to post in the old thread but since it is over a year old I figured I'd make a new one.

I avoided the show for the longest time because the muppets kind of turned me off. However, my wife asked for, and recieved the whole series plus the miniseries on DVD so I've started watching it. We're about 10 episodes into Season 2 and just finished Out of their Minds when they all switch bodies.

To my great surprise I find I really enjoy the show mostly because of the characters. The writing is a bit uneven (some awesome episodes and some very "meh" episodes) but the characters are well done. I figure I'll give my thoughts on the characters as it stands at this point in my viewing (apologies for likely mispelling their names):

Chrichton: I like him though he takes occasional turns to the asshole. Like in the episode where he pitched a fit and went out in his ship and accidentally got left behind. He acted like a total child. Sometimes I think he is going slowly insane, especially when he laughs...

Erin: First, I played Dragon Age before I watched the show so I sometimes get Morrigan flashes. Whereas when my wife watched me play DA she was always saying "that is something Erin would say!" Anyway, I really like Erin. It helps that Claudia Black is hot but I like that, despite coming from the bad guy race, she is often one of the more loyal crew members even if she is deeply flawed in some ways.

Rigel: I'd have spaced his ass by the end of season one. I don't get why this set of characters even puts up with him. Seriously. I'd have a standing "don't talk to me. Ever" policy with him.

D'agor: I quite like his character but out of all the characters he seems a bit uneven in  how he is written. Sometimes he is like "we won't leave them, no matter what!" and other times he's like "fire up the engines! Screw the ones still on the planet!" Though that is mostly season 1 and I've seen less of this mercenary side in season two.

Zan: She is good but also a somewhat boring character for me. She has lots of internal conflict but doesn't really push my "I can't wait until she's onscreen" buttons for some reason. I can take or leave her.

Chiana:  I love Chiana and not just because she is oddly hot for a grey skinned woman. Her speech patterns, her borderline predatory movements, and her interactions with others always make me enjoy her time onscreen.

[Johny Cee]

Getting through Season 1, and the first batch of episodes of season 2, is the toughest part about Farscape.  They are really still finding out what the show is about in the early episodes, developing the themes and the characters, and it fell back on episodic one-offs a bit too much.

There are still some great episodes in the early seasons (the season 1 finale multi-parter that introduces Scorpy, Crackers Don't Matter) but it isn't quite firing on all cylinders yet.

Pretty much after the three parter "Kiss the Princess" the show gets turned up to 11 through to the season 3 finale.  The last four or five episodes of season 2 are great television.  Season 4 is a tad uneven, too many one-offs again, but still there are some great moments.


Rygel is the weakest part of the early seasons, since he falls back on back-stabbing asshole far too much.  D'argo has impulse control/aggression issues.  Chianna is just fucked up...  she is constantly sabotaguing herself.  Not going to spoiler John's character development.



I think the show worked much better on TV.  The narrative style is off-kilter, usually ending on cliffhangers to build dramatic tension.  This was really fucking effective when they showed it as half or third seasons, since it built up tension while you were waiting for the resolution.  It doesn't work nearly as well when you can just pop in the next episode on DVD.

Overall, if you can adjust to the muppets, the emphasis on physical effects really gives the show a much different feel when so much TV and film have started to use CG as a crutch.  The models and puppets give everything a gritty and real feeling that the antiseptic modern CG is awful at.  It's like the difference between the original trilogy Star Wars and the prequels....  in the OT, things felt lived in.  In the prequels, though the effects were top notch, everything felt plastic and fake.

[Merusk]

It's reliance on physical and camera effects are part of the reason I loved the show so damn much.  I've always been a fan of physical effects, puppetry, model building, etc.  I'd have loved to have done that for a living, but alas, technology has moved beyond that.  Funny thing is since they relied on physical effects it's held up better over time (IMO) than B-5, who I still enjoy but wince when I watch these days because some of the effects are so very dated and obvious.

I'll agree with JC's assessment of taking some time to get into it and find it's own groove, but the show had me hooked from the first episode I saw.  The ever-changing cast after S2 was also kind of fun and made it felt a little more real to me.  I couldn't envision reasons for some of them to stick around forever while remaining in-character so it was good to see that kind of flux.

[Mrbloodworth]

One of the best series ever.

[Sky]

I also love the physical effects. They almost always hold up better over time. Especially when you start to get to the point where actors are just in an empty room with almost nothing to react off.

Also, Chiana  I still call my fiancee Pip once in a while.

[Hutch]

Rigel: I'd have spaced his ass by the end of season one. I don't get why this set of characters even puts up with him. Seriously. I'd have a standing "don't talk to me. Ever" policy with him.

Diplomacy. Acquisitiveness. They don't refer to it terribly often in the show, but he's the only one on the ship with these characteristics, so they need him.

He's mean and abrasive because he used to be the emperor of sixteen trillion other sea-slugs. On the prison ship, he's just a little dude in a floating chair, so he turns up the nastiness as a bluff, imo.

[Mrbloodworth]

They do, but later.

[Furiously]

My all time favorite Farscape moment....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBJaT3wOy4w

[Chimpy]

You can't help but be impressed by the talent that Jim Henson's Creature Workshop has with shows like this. Rigel is so expressive and realistic (and the fact that other actors actually interact with the puppet physically) that you forget that he is a puppet and not actually some kind of alien slug.

[Morat20]

Crackers Don't Matter is where John Crichton gave up and embraced the insanity that is the universe.

I'm very fond of the show, and Scorpious as a villian is just absolutely amazing. I think it's mostly the actor that manages to pull it off so that you can never be sure exactly what his plan is -- but you know that whatever happens, whatever the results, he will somehow manage to make it work for him.

He's implacable, adaptive, amoral, and absolutely unpredictable -- even when you know his goals and think you've figured out his plan, you're probably wrong. And even if you're right, he'll somehow manage to out-think you. Vetinari in a leather suit, basically. :)

I honestly think Critchton embraced insanity as the only possible line of defense against someone like that.

[Quinton]

This thread reminds me that I need to watch more Farscape.  I'm maybe 1/2 through season one, and yeah, somewhat uneven but a lot of potential here.

[Sky]

I think I only saw the last season live and never got around to watching the DVDs. Libraries tend not to get series DVDs, many parts to get lost and they're $$$, especially since if you lose one disc you have to buy a whole new set.

[tgr]

I also love the physical effects. They almost always hold up better over time. Especially when you start to get to the point where actors are just in an empty room with almost nothing to react off.

I have to agree, there's usually just something which easily gives it away when it's CG. It's subtle, but it's there.

I was watching a-team a few months back, and I remember one particular scene where a chopper swooped down behind their car, and the chopper cut off a few small twigs off of the tree next to them. The first thing I thought was "That would never have happened in CG ". Granted, their real life effects were often pretty weak and easy to see through (at least now that I'm not a kid anymore and not as easily impressed), like the badguys chasing them always hitting something which caused their car to flip onto its roof, or drive off into a lake etc, but I usually had to giggle at it precisely because it was so cheesy, but I also kept thinking about what danger they put themselves in to get those shots.

I kind of miss that now, somehow it's still less jarring to me than something which is CG with a few tiny mistakes.

[FatuousTwat]

I really enjoyed this show,

[Merusk]

I think I only saw the last season live and never got around to watching the DVDs. Libraries tend not to get series DVDs, many parts to get lost and they're $$$, especially since if you lose one disc you have to buy a whole new set.

Good news for you, then. It's all available on Netflix streaming. 

[Sky]

But back in the all or nothing days, the Vanishing Point days, the Dirty Mary Crazy Larry days, the White Line Fever days, they had real cars crashing into real cars and real dumb people driving em.

I always laughed when I was a kid, at how the General Lee would get demolished on a jump and in the next view would be pristine again. But I also loved watching stunts. Wanted to be a stuntman, actually.

[Riggswolfe]

Cool. I'm watching so much of it that I still haven't finished DA2. I'm hoping to watch some tonight as my wife and I have no new shows I know of. I cracked up when I read about the Out of their Minds episode and how the stuff with Chrichton in Erin's body checking out her boobs and playing with them was Claudia Black's idea. Lol.