Farscape

[Agent23]

The thread on Andromeda got me thinking about another 00s scifi series that was not part of the big 3 and that tried to be somewhat darker and edgier than what you got from Trek.
The visuals were quite alien and stunning, and there was a lot more character focus, with world building and stuff like space combat being a bit more lackluster, but it was still a very good series for its time IMHO.

 

[Spartan303]

The thread on Andromeda got me thinking about another 00s scifi series that was not part of the big 3 and that tried to be somewhat darker and edgier than what you got from Trek.
The visuals were quite alien and stunning, and there was a lot more character focus, with world building and stuff like space combat being a bit more lackluster, but it was still a very good series for its time IMHO.

Farscape is fantastic. I strongly recommend watching it.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

The show was memorable for the puppetry. Outside of movies like Star Wars or a Jim Henson production, you didn't really see puppetry used for aliens in sci fi TV. I guess there is Dr. Who but I wasn't into that. Star Trek used humans with different forehead appliances, or you had shows that used CGI aliens that didn't look very good.

 

[Simonbob]

Farscape was really good. Character driven, complex in both ideas and plot wise, well performed.

Nice.

 

[The One Char]

The show was memorable for the puppetry. Outside of movies like Star Wars or a Jim Henson production, you didn't really see puppetry used for aliens in sci fi TV. I guess there is Dr. Who but I wasn't into that. Star Trek used humans with different forehead appliances, or you had shows that used CGI aliens that didn't look very good.

If I remember correctly, The Jim Henson Company did the animatronics.

 

[Agent23]

If I remember correctly, The Jim Henson Company did the animatronics.

Yeah.

 

[The Whispering Monk]

I like Farscape! It was a good dynamic.

 

[Agent23]

I like Farscape! It was a good dynamic.

Yeah, although it was lacking somewhat where ship design and space battles were concerned.
Moya and Talin were cool, but most PK tech looked and felt somewhat half-baked, the Skarran dreadnaughts were sorta silly, too.
Great show that I'd give 8 out of 10.

 

[The Whispering Monk]

@Agent23
I think the ship designs more reflected a lack of budget for SpEf's.

 

[Bassoe]

space combat being a bit lackluster

That might've been because the protagonists were tooling around in an explicitly unarmed space whale that could be one-shot by a dedicated battleship of any faction but could starburst away. They were very motivated to avoid space combat.

 

[Carrot of Truth]

I was actually thinking about making this thread the other day for the same reason. Farscape was really unique and I haven't really seen anything else like it. As for the space battles sucking well the vessel was just a transport and not a warship.

 

[edgeworthy]

Farscape a classic story of Boy meets Girl under silvery moon, which then explodes for no adequately explored reason!?

... To the background of the Australian S&M scene.

 

[Argent]

It is a good show. I would say that they went a bit to far with the entsental vision mindgame thing a bit to much.


But overall I would say it is a must watch for any Sci-Fi fan.

 

[The Whispering Monk]

It is a good show. I would say that they went a bit to far with the entsental vision mindgame thing a bit to much.

The Wyle E Coyote ep was my favorite out of that I think!

 

[Undertone]

Farscape was amazing, though when you have a show in such a strange setting the temptation always seems to be to make it even stranger. Season 4 was almost incomprehensible -- even by the show's own standards.

Spoiler

"Puny human! We will conquer your world and devour its flowers!!!"

????????

 

[Agent23]

The Wyle E Coyote ep was my favorite out of that I think!

That was season 4, right?
We had sillyness like the videogame episode there, too.

The perils of having a purely character-driven series that over-relies on general weirdness.

 

[UberIguana]

Farscape was amazing, though when you have a show in such a strange setting the temptation always seems to be to make it even stranger. Season 4 was almost incomprehensible -- even by the show's own standards.

Spoiler

"Puny human! We will conquer your world and devour its flowers!!!"

????????

I'm pretty sure the devouring flowers thing was because Scarrans (or certain castes of them anyway) needed to consume that particular species in order for the more sophisticated bits of higher brain function to occur properly.

Wasn't it a plot point that Scarran expansion was in no small part dictated by which territories could support the plants?

 

[Agent23]

I'm pretty sure the devouring flowers thing was because Scarrans (or certain castes of them anyway) needed to consume that particular species in order for the more sophisticated bits of higher brain function to occur properly.

Wasn't it a plot point that Scarran expansion was in no small part dictated by which territories could support the plants?

I think they were just expansionist, but yeah, some flower called bird of paradise was very important to them.

IMO that means that the Eidolons probably messed with their biology as well,

Spoiler

since they visited Earth and took the predecessors of the modern PKs from it.