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Once in a Great while it happens. We aren't always expecting it but we are definitely always hoping for it. Once in a while something good happens to television. A few years ago FARSCAPE premiered on the SCI-FI channel, a product of the Henson company. We didn't know what to expect at first, was it to be 'Star Trek with better aliens?' At first it almost seemed to be the case. In the first season you could see the show struggling to find it's own identity. Initially with the second episode, I, ET, I felt a bit let down. Here was a standard star trek type storyline and though the characters were rich and complicated, I felt this show was a lost cause. Star Trek is a series of parables. In each episode, a new message can be learned- a new moral for every story. Don't get me wrong- I love Star Trek- I have been a fan since I first saw a show. But I didn't want another Star Trek type show... I didn't want the peas and carrots goodness of a wholesome story every week. There had been 4 different Star Trek series (This was prior to the ENTERPRISE series) already and I was feeling a bit worn of it all. I didn't want another helping of peas and carrots. All the Same I tuned in to the show a few more times. Soon after the  episode Throne for a Loss came out and something different happened. Something unexpected and best of all, NEW. The episode had an ending that made the whole story pointless. The moral that was being set up for the story failed. The young Tavlek who was hooked on the narcotic was NOT saved. Despite the best efforts of the soul of the group, Zhaan, the only point to the story seemed to be this... you can't save everybody.

Despite the shaky start, Farscape has introduced elements that have been long lacking in other 'stranger in a strange world' shows. Humor is an example. Though there have been quips and puns in other such sci-fi shows, here was a series that would dedicate almost entire episodes to simply making us laugh. Crackers Don't Matter, Won't Get fooled Again and Revenging Angel are examples of episodes devoted almost exclusively to giving us a chuckle. On the other hand, the show didn't mind bringing us down in the dumps and leaving us there for long stretches of time either. Nearly from the end of season 2 the show has been, with a few exceptions, severely dismal. From the death of Zhaan it seemed as if nothing John Crichton could do could be right. Almost immediately after her death he inadvertently caused the deaths of a convent of peaceful Sebacian women and children. This wore us down as well as it wore him down... weren't heroes supposed to SAVE lives? We learned something at the beginning of season 3... John Crichton was not a hero- he was just a man. He made mistakes- and others paid for them with their lives.

Season 4 has now barely started and as you all know Scifi channel has backed most ungraciously out of purchasing a fifth season (which they had already agreed to). I will try not to gripe about Scifi's stupidity too much here, though it's glaringly obvious and difficult not to point out. The single finest and most innovative science fiction show on television since the original Star Trek series has been cancelled by a bunch of idiots looking for a quick way to make a buck. Millions of loyal fans have been severely pissed off and we all wait and hope somehow the show will live on. The fifth season was to be the last anyway- the writers and producers had planned to bring the story to a close, at least the television story, and had been thinking of the possibility of a feature film...

No no one knows what the future holds for Farscape, and at this point we can only agree to hope, even if we are not sure what miracle we are hoping for. Will another network pick it up? Will Scifi see the error of its ways? Will they forgo the series and go to the big screen? No one wants to see it end, unless they are the stupid dumb asses over at Scifi. The Critics love it, the fans adore it, the only one that doesn't see its value is the one that failed to ever properly promote the show in the first place. Scifi. I said I wouldn't bitch. I lied. Scifi deserves to be bitched at. Dropping Farscape is an act of betrayal to loyal science fiction fans everywhere, by the channel that purports to be "Scifi." A channel that will spend three times as much money promoting a con man named John Edward who fleeces and rapes his audience by using their grief to make himself money as it will promoting actual science fiction like Farscape. The only part of "SCIFI" that John Edwards can be associated with is the "Fiction" part. Perhaps scifi loves this syndicated crook so much because internally, they see themselves in his deceit. They both know how to screw people.

I guess I've said my piece. It's a shame really- but Farscape fans are persistent and somehow I don't think we've seen the last of this great show.

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