Farscape on NBC?

[dzynz]

I was thinking about networks, and came to the conclusion NBC was by far the best place for farscape. They tend to deliver the highest caliber shows (ER, NYPD Blue, Scrubs, etc) and seem less impulsive/dickish in programming decisions than fox or wb (and less volatile than cable networks). It would also allow for an increase in farscape exposure. Its a pipe dream I'm sure, but it seems like it could fit in there really well.

[Doc Holiday]

They would have to cut some of the sex references out. On ABC you have alias whohas terrible ratings and has not got axed.

[dzynz]

sex references, are you kidding? NBC gets away with murder on that stuff.

[Frost]

Originally posted by dzynz
I was thinking about networks, and came to the conclusion NBC was by far the best place for farscape. They tend to deliver the highest caliber shows (ER, NYPD Blue, Scrubs, etc)

Ummmm... Average Joe? :D

Also, NYPD Blue is on ABC, not NBC

[Verlon]

Alias has terrible ratings? No wonder I like it. It must be a trend.

[TINemo]

NBC looks for ratings like high teens or 20s. Farscape never made it past a 2. However, If the deal with Vivendi ever gets out of the Federal Trade Comm NBC will own Scifi,USA,Bravo, Telemundo---not to mention Universal Studios.

Now there are some possiblities. Farsvape dubbed in Spanish. Wormdole in Quatro, tres, dos---oh no they'r doing that already.

[dzynz]

my bad with the nypd, i never watched it.

[B Sharp]

Originally posted by TINemo
NBC looks for ratings like high teens or 20s. Farscape never made it past a 2.

On the other hand, it's hard to tell what ratings FS would have received on any major network...I have a suspicion that it would have been a lot more than a 2. SciFi is cable only, and did truly amazing things with the schedule.

Then again, maybe it wouldn't have lasted 4 seasons on NBC, who knows?

[Frost]

Originally posted by dzynz
my bad with the nypd, i never watched it.

And yet you find it to be a high calibur show. ;)

[Frost]

Originally posted by B Sharp
On the other hand, it's hard to tell what ratings FS would have received on any major network...I have a suspicion that it would have been a lot more than a 2.


Maybe, but not much more.


Originally posted by B Sharp
Then again, maybe it wouldn't have lasted 4 seasons on NBC, who knows?

It wouldn't have. It would have been lucky to have lasted one. Networks and Science Fiction rarely work well together. Need proof?

These were all network shows:

Max Headroom - Cancelled after 1 season.
The Flash - Cancelled after 1 season
Nowhere man - Cancelled after 1 season
Earth 2 - Cancelled after 1 season
John Doe - Cancelled after 1 season
Space: Above and Beyond - Cancelled after 1 season
Firefly - Cancelled after half a season


Farscape is more off the wall (in a good way of course) than any of those shows. It wouldn't have stood a chance on a major network.

[Frost]

Originally posted by dzynz
I was thinking about networks, and came to the conclusion NBC was by far the best place for farscape. They tend to deliver the highest caliber shows (ER, NYPD Blue, Scrubs, etc) and seem less impulsive/dickish in programming decisions than fox or wb (and less volatile than cable networks). It would also allow for an increase in farscape exposure. Its a pipe dream I'm sure, but it seems like it could fit in there really well.

Actually, NBC has recenly cancelled two of their highest calibur shows, Boomtown and Miss Match. Both were great shows. They were different. Like Farscape, they were critically lauded but, nobody watched. So, they went bye-bye. Instead we get shows like Average Joe (2 & 3) and The Apprentice (which airs not once but twice each week).

The problem is that networks are cheep and people are lazy. They don't want to think. "Reality" TV is their solution. It costs nothing to produce and requires no brain cells to watch. The one that started it all, Survivor is really the only good one. At it's heart it's a strategy game show. An extreme, strategy game show. No one there is trying to get married, or fool someone into getting married, or dupe a pretty girl into going out with a dork, or trick someone into thinking they have a million dollars. It's a game. But Survivor started an evil trend that quickly went downhill. There's even a version of Trading Spaces on now where you vote for couples to get elimated!!

Like I said earlier networks and Sci Fi rarely work out. The sadder thing is that we have a network devoted to Sci Fi (yes, the Sci Fi channel) and rather that say "were going to give them something different, something challenging, something they are not getting anywhere else" they instead give us the same exact thing everyone else giving us. Mad Mad House?? Am I suppoed to think it's differnt than Big Brother just becuase some guy is dressed up like Marilyn Manson's long lost cousin and calls himself a vampire?

Mad Mad House is not differnt than Big Brother but it's inexpensive to produce. Farscape was expensive.

The ideal place for Farscape would be HBO. They deliver the highest calibur shows on TV, The Soprannos, The Wire, Six Feet Under, Sex and the City, Curb Your Enthusiam and they pull no punches. Farscape would be a welcome addition to their lineup. It would fit right in. It's different. It challenges the viewer. Rateings matter little on HBO because it's viewer subscribed. They have no advertising sponsers to answer to.

[dzynz]

Needless to say Farscape on HBO would be a dream, an extra ten minutes an episode and the freedom to make things as racy and violent as the story might require (not that farscape has had much problem with these things, its slipped through fairly well).
Alas, Farscape is not prone to picking up series not of its own creation... I think there was one but I don't recall what it was.

[Kalliope]

Yep, HBO would be THE BEST place for Farscape. Are you writing letters to them on this matter?

[Doc Holiday]

SciFi can work on Network television although I do not think Farscape could survive.
Examples:
The X-Files
ST:TNG
Buffy
Futurama
For the most part you are right but it is possible.

[Fyodor]

If the show went to NBC John would not be able to say "shit" anymore

[Frost]

Originally posted by Doc Holiday
SciFi can work on Network television although I do not think Farscape could survive.
Examples:
The X-Files
ST:TNG
Buffy
Futurama
For the most part you are right but it is possible.

X-Files is a prime example (but Chris Carter's Harsh Realm got the axe from Fox after like 6 eps) as is Buffy. Futurama however was cancelled after 3 seasons. Not exactly what you'd call a huge hit, especially considering it's older brother, The Simpsons is in it's 15th season.

Although it ran for seven years, Star Trek: Next Generation doesn't count. It wasn't on a network, it was syndicated. The prime reason for it's syndication was that they knew a network would never be able to pay for the shows cost. Same goes for Deep Space Nine, it was syndicated (also for seven years!!). The first Star Trek show to actually have a succesful run on a network was Voyager on UPN (again 7 years). After all, original Star Trek was cancelled by NBC after only 3 years (actually it was only 2 years but fan support brought it back for a third, then it was cancelled again). Of course Enterprise isn't faring as well. Next years 4th season may be it's last if things don't pick up. If Paramount's not going to be loyal to Star Trek, who will??

If not HBO perhaps a syndication deal for Farscape would work. In addition to the two successful Trek shows, it's worked for Babylon 5, Xena, and Andromeda.

[Chi27]

Originally posted by Frost
Actually, NBC has recenly cancelled two of their highest calibur shows, Boomtown and Miss Match. Both were great shows. They were different. Like Farscape, they were critically lauded but, nobody watched. So, they went bye-bye. Instead we get shows like Average Joe (2 & 3) and The Apprentice (which airs not once but twice each week).

The problem is that networks are cheep and people are lazy. They don't want to think. "Reality" TV is their solution. It costs nothing to produce and requires no brain cells to watch. The one that started it all, Survivor is really the only good one. At it's heart it's a strategy game show. An extreme, strategy game show. No one there is trying to get married, or fool someone into getting married, or dupe a pretty girl into going out with a dork, or trick someone into thinking they have a million dollars. It's a game. But Survivor started an evil trend that quickly went downhill. There's even a version of Trading Spaces on now where you vote for couples to get elimated!!

Like I said earlier networks and Sci Fi rarely work out. The sadder thing is that we have a network devoted to Sci Fi (yes, the Sci Fi channel) and rather that say "were going to give them something different, something challenging, something they are not getting anywhere else" they instead give us the same exact thing everyone else giving us. Mad Mad House?? Am I suppoed to think it's differnt than Big Brother just becuase some guy is dressed up like Marilyn Manson's long lost cousin and calls himself a vampire?

Mad Mad House is not differnt than Big Brother but it's inexpensive to produce. Farscape was expensive.

The ideal place for Farscape would be HBO. They deliver the highest calibur shows on TV, The Soprannos, The Wire, Six Feet Under, Sex and the City, Curb Your Enthusiam and they pull no punches. Farscape would be a welcome addition to their lineup. It would fit right in. It's different. It challenges the viewer. Rateings matter little on HBO because it's viewer subscribed. They have no advertising sponsers to answer to.

Great post. I agree whole-heartedly that Farscape would do well on HBO or maybe Showtime. It's a real pisser that Sci-Fi is now catering to the lowest common denominator with shows like Mad Mad House and Scare Tactics. Has anyone here seen their newest crap-fest, Tripping the Rift? I saw it the other night and what a piece of dren. :rolleyes:

Yes, I guess those folks that watch network TV really want to expend the least amount of brain power as possible. But to be fair, The X-Files was a major hit on Fox. I think if any so-called mainstream network would pick it up, it might be Fox. Even with the small numbers that Farscape got on SciFi, Fox might be willing to take a risk. Now that the The X-Files is gone, they don't have anything sci-fi on their network. It wouldn't be hard to sell Farscape to their audience since some of them were once X-File fans. The only problem I have with mainstream network TV is that I don't want to see Farscape watered down and sanitized so as not to offend anyone. If that happened, it will cease to be the adult show that it is and will not be nearly as good.

[Wolli World]

I would love for Farscape to go into syndication. I mean, if crap like Andromeda and Mutant X can last, Farscape should certainly be able to. I really believe that syndication is Farscape's best chance. It would show 5 or 6 times a week at all different hours of the day - plenty of time for late night and daytime viewers to catch on to how good it is. Buzz could start, and you could have another cultural phenomenon on your hands like Xena turned out to be. I mean, if you want to see strong female roles - look no farther than Farscape! Personally, I don't think the X-Files would last more than one season nowadays. Networks don't give shows a chance anymore. If they're not an instant hit (or really cheap), they're history. The president of NBC said in a recent interview in TV Guide that it was sad, but that Seinfeld wouldn't have made it if it started today. :(

[dzynz]

The president of NBC said in a recent interview in TV Guide that it was sad, but that Seinfeld wouldn't have made it if it started today. :( [/B]
If they recognize the problem why dont they do something about it? Don't they realize what prudence is? Its discounting the present gratification for a larger reward later, its a simple rule that we learn as we grow older, so apparently networks are getting less mature... i guess thats an obviouse statement.

Id hate to see it go to FOX because I KNOW they would cancel it. Theyre bastards and I don't trust them.

Syndication would be good, only problem is theyd have to tone things down even more than if they ran on a reg network because chances are theyd show during the day in many places instead of at night.

[Chi27]

Originally posted by Wolli World
I would love for Farscape to go into syndication. I mean, if crap like Andromeda and Mutant X can last, Farscape should certainly be able to. I really believe that syndication is Farscape's best chance. It would show 5 or 6 times a week at all different hours of the day - plenty of time for late night and daytime viewers to catch on to how good it is. Buzz could start, and you could have another cultural phenomenon on your hands like Xena turned out to be. I mean, if you want to see strong female roles - look no farther than Farscape! Personally, I don't think the X-Files would last more than one season nowadays. Networks don't give shows a chance anymore. If they're not an instant hit (or really cheap), they're history. The president of NBC said in a recent interview in TV Guide that it was sad, but that Seinfeld wouldn't have made it if it started today. :(

It's a shame that networks need an instant hit and not give a show like Farscape a chance to build an audience. I guess instant hit is like instant gratification. :rolleyes: I don't even bother watching much of anything on the networks. One thing that impressed me about Farscape was the strong female characters and, of course, a certain leather clad male sealed the deal for me. ;) Most of what's on network TV are these vacuous, blonde bimbo types and/or reality TV. :hork: Yeah, there's L&O and all it's various offshoots, but I'm sick of L&O. We have L&O coming out of ears on TV and all different times of the day and night. Sheesh! I wish Farscape would air as much as L&O and then maybe I wouldn't have wear out my dvds.

[VBKatLou]

Well here's a thought I posted on another board this morning pertaining to the same subject. What if the mini series were shown on the SciFi network?

Personally (and I have no experience in the TV industry except for reading articles and posts on the boards for the last year and a half) I think that's feasible. At the final round of negotiations, the network did offer a 13 episode deal which was turned down at the time. Maybe this (the mini) is an alternative deal. It would explain why SciFi has had exclusive rights to the show for an additional two years.

It would also perhaps explain this "secrecy" around the mini series. Maybe, since the cancellation "announcement" was made public so prematurely (much to SciFi's dismay), the network has been adament about "no chatting".

Just a random thought.

I know that there are a lot of Farscape fans that absolutely hate the SciFi network. I did too the first couple of months after the cancellation. But after reading a lot of articles, it's almost understandable from a business point of view. And to me, a science fiction show that had started on SciFi returned in the form of a mini-series, a form which SciFi has repeatedly said they are interested in showing (ie: Taken, Dune, etc.) would be a good fit.

But when it's all said and done, I don't care where or how it's shown as long as I get to see it. :)

[dzynz]

they offered a 13 episode deal for season 5?
Call me crazy but that sounds better than cancellation, especially if their ratings went up and they could get more seasons after that. I mean, Farscape only needs 13 episodes a season to tell its arcing story (granted there are fun sidetracks along the way, and it helps character development) but honestly, look at season 4, there are a good 6 episodes that didnt NEED to be there, and I'm sure a couple that could have been combines, especiall yearly in the season.

[VBKatLou]

Well I believe at the time, Henson et all were still pushing for the 22 episodes that had been originally contracted.

Just in case you didn't know, in April of 2002, SciFi contracted for 2 seasons (4th and 5th) of Farscape. In September they used an "out" clause in the contract to stop after the 4th season. This was what made fans so angry.

[Selena]

Originally posted by Frost
Maybe, but not much more.




It wouldn't have. It would have been lucky to have lasted one. Networks and Science Fiction rarely work well together. Need proof?

These were all network shows:

Max Headroom - Cancelled after 1 season.
The Flash - Cancelled after 1 season
Nowhere man - Cancelled after 1 season
Earth 2 - Cancelled after 1 season
John Doe - Cancelled after 1 season
Space: Above and Beyond - Cancelled after 1 season
Firefly - Cancelled after half a season

Farscape is more off the wall (in a good way of course) than any of those shows. It wouldn't have stood a chance on a major network.

However, Farscape has one thing going for it that none of those shows had ... a firm and faithful following that is growing daily. It has also proven itself over 4 years of stiff competition against shows aired on the main networks and Farscape has also won a number of consistent, prestigous awards.

Other shows on NBC with explicit content ...
Law & Order
Jay Leno
Conan O'Brien
Law & Order: SVU
ER
Las Vegas
Saturday Night Live
Crossing Jordan - check out the title of Friday night's episode ... IS THAT PLUTONIUM IN YOUR POCKET,OR ARE YOU JUST HAPPY TO SEE ME?

And VBKatLou, I believe Brian Henson, Ricky Manning and Rockne O'Bannon as well as a number of the show's cast made statements that the mini-series will not be shown on Sci-fi.

[Frost]

Originally posted by Chi27
But to be fair, The X-Files was a major hit on Fox. I think if any so-called mainstream network would pick it up, it might be Fox. Even with the small numbers that Farscape got on SciFi, Fox might be willing to take a risk. Now that the The X-Files is gone, they don't have anything sci-fi on their network. It wouldn't be hard to sell Farscape to their audience since some of them were once X-File fans.

Yes, I did site it as a success. However I agree with the person who said it wouldn't survive if it was starting out today. Back when X-Files went started Fox needed any hit it could get so it was willing to stick with it even in the rough beginings. They Did the same thing for Beverly Hills 90210 even going so far as to have summertime episodes of 90210 when everthing else was in reruns. They pushed 90210. They don't do that much anymore. They do have a few good shows (24 is very cool) but as for putting Farscape on Fox and trying to sell it to X-Files fans, I'm not so sure. They Sci Fi record is less then stellar.

As I mentioned earlier, they didn't give Space: Above and Beyond (a great show) more than 1 season and it was created by Glen Morgan and James Wong (Both formerly of X-Files). Harsh Realm from X-Files creator Chris Carter was dumped after 6 or 7 eps. Most recently, Fox killed Joss Whedon's Firefly after only 11 episodes aired. They knew that the very same man created Buffy which did wonders for the WB and yet they didn't stick it out. The joke is on them though because Joss' Firefly movie "Serenity" starts shooting this summer!!

Originally posted by Wolli World
The president of NBC said in a recent interview in TV Guide that it was sad, but that Seinfeld wouldn't have made it if it started today. :(

Many people don't remember but Seinfeld barely made it when it did start. Back in 89 the first season, then called The Seinfeld Chronicles was yanked after only 6 shows. It came back as a summer replacement (I'm pretty sure it was in the summer) and was yanked a second time before Brandon Tartikoff ( I belive it was him) saw something in the show and brought it back, this time for good. In the very first episode, George was ALMOST actually cool. Elaine didn't exist and Kramer was called Kessler. Can you image what would have happend it they never let it grow? A world without Seinfeld? I don't even want to think about that.

[stlscape]

Originally posted by dzynz
they offered a 13 episode deal for season 5?
Call me crazy but that sounds better than cancellation, especially if their ratings went up and they could get more seasons after that. I mean, Farscape only needs 13 episodes a season to tell its arcing story (granted there are fun sidetracks along the way, and it helps character development) but honestly, look at season 4, there are a good 6 episodes that didnt NEED to be there, and I'm sure a couple that could have been combines, especiall yearly in the season.

From what I've gleaned from this board as well printed articles, here's (very) a rough generalization. The numbers are plugged in strictly for demonstration purposes.

Henson felt it could do 22 episodes for $33,000,000, total. It needed $14,000,000 for start-up costs (set building, contracts, etc.), then $865,000 to film each episode. ($14,000,000 start up + $19,000,000 for episode filming = $33,000,000.) *Averaging* total season cost over all the episodes, each episode costs $1,500,000.

For a 13 episode season, total cost would be $14,000,000 (start up) + $11,245,000 (13 episodes x $865,000 per episode to film) = $25,245,000. *Averaging* total season cost over all the episodes, each episode costs $1,942,000.

It's my understanding that when Henson was offered the 13-episode deal, it was at the per-episode price of the 22-episode deal (meaning the Henson side of the equation would have to come up with an additional $442,000 per episode ($1,942,000 - $1,500,000 = $442,000), an additional total of $5,746,000.

Due to the then-owners of Henson (EM-TV) as well as the owners of The Sci Fi Channel (Vivendi) both being in financial difficulties, neither side was able/willing to come up with the additional funds to produce a fifth season for us, and the show was cancelled in accordance with the contract between EM-TV and Vivendi.

Again, this is just a rough, partial, I'm-not-a-professional-in-the-entertainment-field explanation of one of the reasons for Farscape's cancellation. Our Farscape PTB left "To Be Continued" at the end of episode 422 as a promise to us. They're keeping that promise. All we need to do is continue to spread the word of Farscape goodliness and bring them ratings.

[Digger]

Originally posted by dzynz
they offered a 13 episode deal for season 5?
Call me crazy but that sounds better than cancellation, especially if their ratings went up and they could get more seasons after that. It came down primarily to money, and maybe to Bad Timing. EM.TV (Henson's former owners) wanted and needed a 22 episode commitment from SciFi becuase they (EM.TV) were in financial ruin and probably needed the upfront money from SciFi (about $750K per episode). SciFi on the other hand was also part of a company that was in financial trouble (Vivendi) and didn't want to pay the upfront money for this many episodes. 13 episodes more would, however, give Farscape 101 episodes, one more than the "magic" number that is considered by some to be necessary for a show to be sold into syndication. SciFi may have also tried to get additional rerun rights from EM.TV at reduced rates. EM.TV may have countered with higher rates for the reruns. Who knows all the reasons why it didn't work out. Probably very few people except those who were there. And whose to say if things might have been different had all of this happened a year later when the Jim Henson Company had been sold back to the Henson Family and SciFi had been sold to General Electric. All we can say is that there was plenty of blame to go around. SciFi gets the brunt of it because few people even know who EM.TV was. Also, SciFi handled the cancellation and the period afterwards extremely poorly. They said and did a great many things that pissed off those people (like us) who were their original core audience.. I dont think I could ever forgive them for that unless a lot of things change there (like giving us another season of Farscape), and I'm sure there are many who feel the same. As for the miniseries airing on SciFi, I hope it doesn't because I do not like them and don't want them to be able to put out some self-aggrandizing press statement glorifying themselves for how wonderful they are to be bringing back Farscape for it "Epic Conclusion". And that's what it would be, becuase I don't think SciFi would ever bring it back for more even if it got better ratings than BattleStar Galactica did. Then they could put out another press release patting themselves on the back for their wonderful ratings success. Then they'd drop Farscape like a bad habit. That's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

[Frost]

Originally posted by Selena
However, Farscape has one thing going for it that none of those shows had ... a firm and faithful following that is growing daily.

The fact that there are stil Max Headoom websites today speaks to the contrary, and that show was cancelled 17 years ago.

In all fairness though, none of them was given the chance to gain a firm and faithfull following. Firefly has a pretty good little cult following. Look around on the web and you'll see. And like I said in my last post those rallying around Firefly can look forward to the feature film version (staring the entie cast of the show) to hit theaters June 2005. Go Joss!! Go Serenity!

[dzynz]

well those money figures do make sense. But Henson has sense come under different ownership, correct? So producing episodes for syndication or something wouldn't be fiscally impossible?

[Doc Holiday]

Both Herc and Xena was Syndicated, right?? Maybe we can get on WGN.

[Doc Holiday]

Do not forget the short lived spin-off of the X-Files entitled The Lone Gunman

[Doc Holiday]

In reference to syndication there is a show that did great in syndication. That show being Baywatch.

[Selena]

Originally posted by dzynz
well those money figures do make sense. But Henson has sense come under different ownership, correct? So producing episodes for syndication or something wouldn't be fiscally impossible?

Henson is not under different ownership. The company still belongs to the Henson family. What Brian and the BOD have done is diversified and sold some of their assets to rationalize production - so we've been told.

With the sale of some of the Muppets to Disney Henson hopes to sink the funds into more "adult" types of productions ... we have all our toes and fingers crossed that some of those "adult" ventures will include more Farscape.

[Doc Holiday]

That is one of the more reassuring things said in reference to new Farscape.

[stlscape]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by dzynz
well those money figures do make sense. But Henson has sense come under different ownership, correct? So producing episodes for syndication or something wouldn't be fiscally impossible?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Selena
Henson is not under different ownership. The company still belongs to the Henson family. What Brian and the BOD have done is diversified and sold some of their assets to rationalize production - so we've been told.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just for clarification:

I think dzynz was referring to my earlier post which stated that at the time of the cancellation Henson was owned by EM-TV. And yes, now the Henson family owns The Jim Henson Company.

[Selena]

I thought it was just Kermit and some of the Muppets that were owned by EM-TV and that Henson reacquired them late last year.
The Henson Company has always been under Henson ownership hasn't it? What changed last year was the leadership - the entire family now share that responsibility (all the Henson kids that is).

[stlscape]

Hmm, I may be wrong, (and right now I'm too lazy to go back and check it out.) *I* was under the impression that EM-TV had bought Henson a few years ago, then was selling off/trying to sell off bits and pieces of it (Sesame Street characters, Muppets, Creature Shop, etc.) due to their (EM-TV's) financial situation, and that the Henson family bought it back last summer.

Doesn't really matter, though, 'cause we all agree that the Henson family now completely owns the Jim Henson Company. (Well, probably them and the bank, but that's just bein' picky. ;) )

[Frost]

Originally posted by Doc Holiday
Do not forget the short lived spin-off of the X-Files entitled The Lone Gunman

Good call Doc. I may be one of the few people who actually watched every episode of that show and it even slipped out of my memory. It had potential. Fox couldn't even sell an actual X-Files spin off featuring actuall X-Files charaters to former X-Philes.

[Frost]

Originally posted by Wolli World
I would love for Farscape to go into syndication.... a Buzz could start, and you could have another cultural phenomenon on your hands like Xena turned out to be.

If you wanna talk Farscape turning into another culteral phenomenon, why stop at Xena? Why not think big? Star Trek big.

The orignial series was canceled after only three seasons on the air. Here we are, 35 years later....

Five spin off television series later (that'll be aprox 675 episodes (by the end of this season) and counting, so far) and 10 feature films later. Not bad for a show that ended in 1969.

That's the kind of phenomenon I hope for Farscape to become. Even half that would be nice. I think it's worthy.

Thing is, Star Trek didn't become crazy popular until after it was cancelled, based on as you called it, a "buzz" about syndicated reruns (and the help of conventions). Hmmm... I sense a possible trend. The time may be right for something like that to happen again.

And who knows, maybe it will.

A chord has already been struck with the production of mini series. For all intent and purpose, Farscape is returning from the dead, a thing few canceled shows ever do. While it's said that the purpose of the mini is to wrap up the story there's no saying that it won't end up being the jump off point for a second mini, or a series of minis, or a feature film or even another series.

[dzynz]

Even if they wrap up a bunch of stuff, that doesnt mean that they'll be able to wrap everything up, or cook up new conflicts of course.

[BritAngie]

Originally posted by stlscape
Hmm, I may be wrong, (and right now I'm too lazy to go back and check it out.) *I* was under the impression that EM-TV had bought Henson a few years ago, then was selling off/trying to sell off bits and pieces of it (Sesame Street characters, Muppets, Creature Shop, etc.) due to their (EM-TV's) financial situation, and that the Henson family bought it back last summer.

Doesn't really matter, though, 'cause we all agree that the Henson family now completely owns the Jim Henson Company. (Well, probably them and the bank, but that's just bein' picky. ;) )

Nope you are correct-EMTV did own Hensons completely with Brian staying on in a producing then managerial capacity I think. :)

[stlscape]

Thanks, Angie. I knew it wouldn't take long for someone to verify! :)

[SabaceanBabe]

Originally posted by Selena
I thought it was just Kermit and some of the Muppets that were owned by EM-TV and that Henson reacquired them late last year.
The Henson Company has always been under Henson ownership hasn't it? What changed last year was the leadership - the entire family now share that responsibility (all the Henson kids that is).

Nope, Selena, EM.TV actually owned the Jim Henson Company until August of last year, which is when the Henson kids' buyback of the company became official.

Thank God!

[DamonAO]

And they paid a lot less for it than the originally sold it for :)

[justanotherFSlvr]

A few months ago, I posted that that I thought there was a good chance the mini might appear on SciFi. The venue is perfect, it's the climate that's out of whack. My thoughts were that by the time the mini was ready to go, NBC would be in charge, and the climate at SciFi would no longer be a problem.

For some reason, I've not received any Google News Alerts for Farscape lately, and renewed my subscription today. Included in the batch of references I received was an article about the recently aired Charlie's Angels program on NBC, where Ben Browder played Lee Majors. It was a line contained in that article that caught my attention:

"Browder was brought in by NBC..."

I think there is a seed of connection between Farscape and NBC that is waiting to blossom. Yet Farscape would not be Farscape on network TV, so don't look for the mini there.

However, once the SEC gives final approval to the merger that will bring SciFi under NBC control, I say look for an announcement that the mini will indeed be airing on SciFi.

Ok, now wait just a sec until I get my Nomex suit zipped up...

[Doc Holiday]

NBC also owns Bravo who is not afraid of "risky" programming.

[jpinMoya]

Originally posted by justanotherFSlvr

Ok, now wait just a sec until I get my Nomex suit zipped up...

No Flames for you. :D Flames to Skiffy for ripping out my heart with a non pointy stick :frellyou: (thats for Skiffy if they even read this board anymore) I will always agree with that. I also hope they dont get within a MILE of the mini. I too think HBO Showtime would be the best place for Farscape but I just dont see it as they prefer to do there own productions. But I do think if they persue the syndication route ala Star Trek, there might be a good chance for the show to catch on. More people are watching less and less network tv. Hell I cant tell you any names of a Network TV show because I dont watch them. I dont watch much of it because I find most of it to be mindless drivel with some shows having the morals of my cat in heat. But syndication can and does work. USA, Spike, Bravo, any of the major cable networks would work I think for Farscape, but they would need to be able to run the previous episodes and push it. They would probably need to even run a Farscape primer type show several times to help the audience that missed it get up to speed. I have faith in something this good that it will continue and I hope that it will soon

:joy: :joy: :joy:

[dzynz]

YEah, if it went syndicated id say theyd need a year to run reruns before airing new episodes, like show two episodes (best in a row, that always gets people more than just one ep) a week for a year (44 weeks, whatever) and then everyone would be caught up.

[jpinMoya]

I hate to admit to watching Spike TV but I do watch the Next Gen reruns on there when I remember they are on :). But then again I also have purchased all the B5 stuff because its totally disapeared again off of TV.