Summary
- Sci-fi was once looked down upon and relegated to “the ghetto” of media, according to actor Ben Browder, but
Farscape
helped pave the way for complex, binge-worthy stories that are now common. -
Farscape
was a transitional piece of television that influenced the genre’s evolution, showcasing heavy, complicated arcs ahead of its time. - Celebrate the 25th anniversary of
Farscape
with a marathon featuring new interviews and content and classic episodes.
We live in an era where aliens, intergalactic travel, and superpowers are accepted in mainstream blockbusters, but this is honestly a somewhat recent phenomenon. Aside from Star Wars and Amblin Entertainment films, prior to the ’90s (and the advent of CGI and digital VFX), sci-fi was generally relegated to B-Movie status, with most ‘serious’ filmmakers and actors unfortunately avoiding the genre as much as they could. With the MCU, DC movies, and Avatar dominating box offices the past two decades, times have certainly changed. Even in the 25 years since Farscape premiered.
A perfect case study in this is looking at the success of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy today, and the cult classic sci-fi TV series Farscape, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this week. The Jim Henson Company produced the imaginative, super-fun series, which was canceled after four seasons but accrued a large fanbase of devoted followers. The show was incredibly influential, shaping James Gunn’s vision for Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s respected now, but sci-fi television was looked down on 25 years ago. Ben Browder, who plays protagonist John Crichton, spoke with MovieWeb about the difference between now and then:
“In science fiction, the superhero stuff is an extension of that. Science fiction, it went completely mainstream. It was the ghetto. It was the ghetto for actors. It was the ghetto for writers, you know. No one really paid attention. But there’s a huge audience that loves genre, and I’m one of them. So, you know,
I would watch the next iteration. I think we need another one.
We don’t need a reboot, but the next iteration of the story.”
Farscape 25 Years Later: ‘A Transitional Piece of Television’
Farscape
5/5
- Release Date
- March 19, 1999
- Cast
- Ben Browder , Claudia Black , Virginia Hey , Anthony Simcoe , Gigi Edgley , Paul Goddard , Lani Tupu , Wayne Pygram , Jonathan Hardy , Tammy MacIntosh , Raelee Hill , Melissa Jaffer , David Franklin , Rebecca Riggs
- Seasons
- 4
- Writers
- Rockne S. O’Bannon , David Kemper , Justin Monjo , Richard Manning
When MovieWeb spoke with Browder, we had to ask about the 25th anniversary, because for the biggest fans of Farscape, it just seems like yesterday. Here’a a portion of the transcript:
MovieWeb: I have to tell you, when they told me it’s been 25 years, the first thing I did was check the math. Because I was like, ‘No, no way has it been 25 years,’ but it has. So if that feels very strange to me, I have to imagine it’s even stranger for you to think that it’s been that long.
Ben Browder: 25 years is kind of incomprehensible, but it does kind of give you hope. It’s like, well, if I’m making another 25 years, the world would be this much different. Just think about it for a second. Remember where you were in 2000?
MovieWeb: Oh, I don’t want to think about it.
Ben Browder: We’ve got 25 years to get that much better. I’m very excited about the prospect.
MovieWeb: Yeah, let’s hope we’re on the upward swing. Right. That’s a good way to think about it.
Ben Browder: We’re gonna do this. If that’s just history, let’s just buckle up for the ride. Let’s go.
MovieWeb: There you go. So, things in sci-fi were very different 25 years ago. I feel like it’s evolved a lot and Farscape was so unique at that time, but […] how do you feel things have changed in science fiction, and what effect do you think Farscape has had in those 25 years?
Ben Browder: I think Farscape was a transitional piece of television. Not just in regards to science fiction, which hadn’t really done heavy arcs, complicated arcs where you have to go back and binge the first 20 episodes to understand what’s going on. That’s common in streaming and the binge world [now], all of the things that Farscape did starting in 1999 are now very common. [Maybe] it was the technology that changed it, because of the delivery methods, the fact that people were taping their shows, so that they could pass them around to their friends, which allowed us to do that.
You don’t want to say, ‘Oh, we changed this. We did that.’ It’s just, we were in the right place at the right time, and we were able to tell a very complicated and long-arc story, which is much more common now. Better or worse, or just different.
Shout! TV will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the cult-classic television series Farscape with a marathon airing on March 19 on Shout! Factory TV and the 24/7 Farscape Channel beginning at 11am PT / 2 pm ET. The marathon will feature an exclusive introduction from executive producer Brian Henson and include all-new interview segments with Farscape stars Ben Browder and Gigi Edgley (Chiana). The marathon will air classic and fan-favorite episodes of the series curated by Ben Browder and Gigi Edgley.
Fans can watch the entire series, including the Emmy-nominated miniseries Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, on-demand on Shout! Factory TV and streaming 24/7 on the Farscape FAST channel. Also available from Shout! is Farscape: The Complete Series (25th Anniversary Edition) Blu-ray collection.
