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Farscape
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ralfy
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:42 am    Post subject: Farscape Reply with quote

I had a lot of difficulty appreciating this show because I think it focused more on character development (especially for the latter seasons), but it was a rewarding experience.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's another show I've heard great things about for years but never got around to watching.

Shame on me. I'll have to rectify that soon. Very Happy

I'm curious, Ralfy. You said you had trouble appreciating it because "it focused more on character development". Did you mean it did that to the exclusion of something else?

If so, what was excluded?

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Wed Jun 22, 2016 11:13 am; edited 1 time in total
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Pow
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Joined: 27 Sep 2014
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Location: New York

PostPosted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 8:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Farscape is one of my all time favorite sf shows, Bud.

When it premiered I thought it was a winner right out of the gate. And it was. The Jim Henson Company brought a lavish,rich look to it unlike any other sf show before it.

There was also some stunning location scenery in it.The series was filmed entirely in Australia. Later on Terra Nova would also give us incredible vistas as it was also shot down under.

One of my memories of the debut of the show was me discussing it with a good friend. I was taken with the show but he, was not at all.

He enjoyed the Star Wars films episodes 1,2,3.

Not me.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 10:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I'll just be Darwin's uncle! (You know, the "monkey' guy? Very Happy)

I just discovered that Farscape is available for streaming from Netflix! I don't even have to wait for discs to arrive.

I look forward to enjoying this highly recommended series, Pow. Thanks!

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Wed Jun 22, 2016 11:14 am; edited 1 time in total
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ralfy
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 2:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry, I meant character-driven. Several of the episodes focus heavily on one or more characters' thoughts, leading to very complex plots involving flashbacks, rewritings of memories, dialogue with characters who aren't physically present, and more. They're part of several story arcs that are connected to a main one.
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 6:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

One of the many aspects that I loved about Farscape were the alien creations via animatronic puppets.

Since the Henson Company was a co-creator of this fantastic series it would be a natural that they would include incredible make-ups, bodysuits, super sophisticated puppetry.

The puppets allowed them to bring us truly bizarre life forms for the show. And being puppets they could experiment with the look of these aliens. They would not have to conform to having actors with prosthetics on but still always being humanoid. They could go in original, fresh directions & did just that.
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Randy
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 10:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

One of the characters of Farscape that I loved was ...

Chiana

She's a thief, a liar, a tramp ... ah heck, she's just wonderful!
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Chiana was trouble! And I would have gladly taken it on. Wink
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 12:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production, Very Happy
________________________________

~ James Gunn was asked on Twitter in 2016 if he had ever seen Farscape (1999), as it had some similarities in terms of character. He replied that of all television shows, Farscape was the one that influenced Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) the most.

Note from me: My only excuse for not watching Farscape when it aired is that there seemed to be so many fine choices on TV during that era, and I just didn't make the time.

I should have . . . Sad

~ James Gunn said in an Instagram post in August 2017 that Farscape (1999) was one of his all-time favorite sci-fi shows. When he ran into the show's star, Ben Browder, at the Saturn Awards, he asked him if he'd make a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). He agreed and can be seen as the Sovereign admiral with Ayesha.

Note from me: I can't imagine how much fun it must be to star in great sci-fi movies and series. Even when you're not acting, you're attending conventions and awards ceremonies. Cool . . . Cool

~ Ben Browder is a huge sci-fi fan, just like John Crichton. His participation first on Farscape and later on Stargate SG-1 (1997) is like a dream come true for him.

Note from me: Hot damn, I KNEW it was A Wonderful Life!

~ The show faced the very real threat of cancellation halfway through its first season when its production location, Fox Studios Australia, "forced" them out to make way for another production: Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002). The logistical problems of moving the large and expensive sets to a Stateside location would have been too cost-prohibitive. Fortunately, another studio was found nearby that was able to house the production (at Homebush), and the series was renewed for a second season.

Note from me: Ah, but the down side of being part of shows like this is the way the "suits" play money games with the artistic folks, always putting the almighty buck before artistic endeavors. Sad

~ Originally Gigi Edgley's character Chiana was supposed to be killed off after a few episodes. But the producers liked her so much they changed their minds and made her a regular cast member.

Note from me: A few related comments.
Very Happy

Randy wrote:
One of the characters of Farscape that I loved was ...

Chiana

She's a thief, a liar, a tramp ... ah heck, she's just wonderful!

Pow wrote:
Chiana was trouble! And I would have gladly taken it on. Wink

~ Ben Browder's wife, Francesca Buller, has played three different guest starring roles in Farscape's first three seasons — M'Lee in "Bone to Be Wild", Ro-Na] in "Look at the Princess" and Raxil in Farscape: Scratch 'n Sniff (2001) — all three as antagonists to John Crichton.

In the Fourth Season, she came back again as recurring character War Minister Akhna, another antagonist.


Note from me: Here's a sexy thought. Did this married couple ever play "dress up" in the bedroom? Wink

"Honey, who would you like for me to be tonight?"

"Ummm . . . how 'bout M'Lee? You haven't been her in a while."

~ Crichton's nickname for Chiana, "Pip", came from Ben Browder. It was originally Ben Browder's nickname for Gigi Edgley, who plays Chiana.

Note from me: I'm started to get very jealous of this guy. He seems to be an interstellar ladies man! Shocked

~ At one point the show was re-named to Far Horizon before switching back to Farscape. Originally, the script was referred to as Space Chase.

Note from me: Farscape is a better name than Far Horizon. And Space Chase just sucks! Rolling Eyes

~ Manning and Ben Browder in an online chat at Scifi.com. Fans began a campaign to save the series and have hopes that a fifth season will follow, especially since the fourth season finale was written with the fifth season in mind.

After more than a year of rumors of a feature film or revived series being produced, plans were announced for a series-ending mini-series for 2004: Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (2004).


Note from me: I'm glad I found this out before starting to binge watch the series. It helps to know these things in advance, instead of just having the rug pulled out from under you! Shocked

~ The character John Crichton was ranked 20th in American magazine TV Guide's list of the "25 Greatest Sci-Fi Legends" (1 August 2004 issue).

Note from me: More encouragement for me to get off of my butt and start watching this show!

~ The show is infamous among German fans due to the fact that only the first three seasons were dubbed into German (the fourth season was not dubbed because of low ratings).

It was expected that the final season would eventually be dubbed for the DVD release but Koch Media, the home video licensee, deemed the cost too high.


Note from me: Verdammt, das ist scheiße! — (Damn, that sucks!)

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Krel
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 2:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In the late 1980s, the TV Guide announce that 20th Century Fox was going to do a "Star Wars" type show. The announced name was "Space Chase".

The producers of "Star Gate SG-1" have said that they were probably the reason "Farscape" was canceled, due to the high costs of SG-1. The channel couldn't afford both as "Farscape" was a very expensive show, even with the discounts from the Henson company. The Henson company discounted their work, as they felt it was a good calling card for their work.

Some scenes of Rigel flying were a CGI model.

When they were preparing for the miniseries, they had a problem. They couldn't find any pulse pistol props. Fortunately Ben Browder had kept "Winona", and he allowed them to make a mold from his prop.

David.
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Pow
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Joined: 27 Sep 2014
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 7:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some Farscape Trivia

Premiere episode : John Crichton's spaceship Farscape 1 is closer to scientific fact than science fiction.
Ricky Eyres, production designer at the Henson Creature Shop, said that the vessel was modeled on an experimental re-entry craft that NASA was working on.

Eyers regretted that the pilot/episode never did properly establish the scale of the Peacekeeper Command Carrier.

The carrier was 5,000 feet long, which is three times the size of Moya, but he he did not think that the audience grasped that fact.

Composer Chris Neal reported that producers Matt Carroll, Brian Henson and Rockne O' Bannon told him that the score should be 'somewhere between tribal and medieval.'
When they heard the theme music they said, 'Bingo--you've done it!'

The network hated it. They did not want to go with a female vocal.

We felt we had to have some sort of yearning sound, a tribal feel, there's a strong female presence in the cast, Moya is a female.

Everyone in the production felt very strongly about the music score and they resisted the network.

Much as I am in love with Farscape, the score never appealed to me much. I appreciate what Chris Neal was aiming for and it certainly is unique. But not my cup of tea.
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Pow
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 7:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Farscape} episode # 2, "Throne for a Loss."

The crew of the Moya encounter the ruthless warriors, the Tavleks.

Tavleks: A race of battle-scarred warriors whose exceptional aggression, strength, endurance and fighting prowess is fueled by a constant supply of a powerful and highly addictive stimulant injected into their forearms via armored gauntlets, which also act as energy weapons. Although savage scavengers by nature, their trade in all manner of stolen goods is supplemented by kidnapping and extortion.

The make-up and armor for the Tavleks was awesome and frightening.

The Tavlek leader had been in a previous battle where he'd had the top of his head blown off, and he replaced it with some sort of found technology, The headpiece had dents, bullet holes and screw holes partially covering his alien visage. It all made him look intimidating and fierce.

Another new alien constructed for this episode was the impressive looking prisoner Jotheb who was next in succession to preside over the Collective of Trao.

Jotheb was a large, multi-tentacled and multi-larynxed creature and a complicated construction for the Henson Creature Shop.

Jotheb was operated by putting in a false floor in the cell next to Rygel's, so that the puppeteer would be up to his waist inside the complicated Jotheb rig.

Creature-effects supervisor Dave Elsey was told that he could do anything his crew liked with Jotheb, because we were never going to see him properly.

Showbiz Note: Dave remarked that he'd been doing this work just long enough to know that if they ever say, "You'll never see it," you always do!

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Krel
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 10:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Eyers regretted that the pilot/episode never did properly establish the scale of the Peacekeeper Command Carrier.

The carrier was 5,000 feet long, which is three times the size of Moya, but he he did not think that the audience grasped that fact.

I think the Command Carriers have to be much larger than that. In one episode Crichton and Aeryn visit a Command Carrier, where she tells him that Peace Keepers are born, live and serve on one. She shows him a park that is so large it has clouds! They also use the park to practice ground battle maneuvers and combat. The Peace Keepers have some colonies to supply their needs, but most Peace Keeper live on Command Carriers and never set foot on a planet.

When the show first came on I watched the first few episodes and thought is was maybe intended for a young audience...Then they cut off one of Pilots arms! Shocked I was hooked on the show from that moment on.

David.
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Pow
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 6:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm sure you're right about the size of the Peacekeeper space ships, David. How could I forget that stunning scene where we see a large park with clouds?

More Fun Facts from "Premiere," episode One March 19, 1999.

Peacekeeper soldier Aeryn Sun is branded 'irreversibly contaminated' by Captain Crais of the Peacekeeper Command Carrier she has served on all her life. This is due to Aeryn's long exposure to astronaut from Earth John Crichton.

The Peacekeepers will slay her if they come into contact with her again. This results in the reluctant & unhappy Aeryn being forced to remain on board the living star ship Moya.

Zahn was a Delvian priest and something of an anarchist but was imprisoned to a maximum labor planet for another crime. On that world she worked with Peacekeeper technology. Zhaan can work very rapidly, her hands fly over the console controls of Moya at super speed.

Her gentle and serene nature make her ideal as a mediator with other alien species...not to mention her own crew mates.
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Krel
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 8:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They were sorry to lose Virginia Hey, but she had two problems. She was tired of shaving her head, which I'm sure they could have worked around that, the show had Delvians with hair. Unfortunately, she developed an allergy to the makeup for her character. Not the first or last time that happened on a TV show or movie.

David.
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