Farscape

The really, really big news is that the miniseries is done and is scheduled to be aired on the SciFi Channel in the fall. The Henson Company (who owns all things Farscape) has made an announcement here and of course there’s a huge amount of discussion and excitement over at SaveFarscape, especially on the Frell Me Dead board where Brian Henson himself stopped by to make the announcement. This is part of the official statement from Henson:

“This special television event would not be a reality were it not for the tireless, unwavering efforts of the Farscape fans to bring the series back. Like all of us at The Jim Henson Company, they believed that the epic story we were telling was something special and deserved a proper ending. We are thrilled to respond to their dedication be creating this miniseries, thus resolving many of the unanswered questions from the final episode and giving fans their just due.”

Of course no good news is complete without a controversy, and here it is: SciFi, having cancelled the scheduled and contracted fifth season, is anathema to many of the Farscape Faithful, and now they’ve gone and bought rights to air the miniseries. In many ways it makes sense, from a marketing perspective; hopefully they will run all four seasons in prime time leading up to the mini, which will give us a chance to boost ratings and a shot at a real fifth season.

In any case, it’s very hard to imagine those four hours finished, sitting on a shelf someplace waiting to be watched. From the letters I get from my readers, I guess this is how many of them feel about knowing that book four is finished, but they just can’t have it yet.

Do you suppose Ben Browder and Fran Buller have neighbors and friends over to watch those four hours? Has Claudia Black shown it to her family? I’ll go do some work now so I can stop worrying about unknowable things.