Tried it. 'yawn'

It was nice to see Eric Close (of Dark Skies fame) back on the screen, but the script just draggggggged.

I have the first 2 episodes recorded so far, haven't watched yet. I did notice that SciFi is really pushing this show. I believe it was on from 7pm (rerun of the first episode) until 3am (2nd episode played 3 times back to back). Thats a lot of airtime they are devoting to this.

• Quoth BenCJedi •<HR SIZE=1>It's amazing to me that people are condemning this because Farscape was cancelled on the Sci Fi network. I watch FOX quite often, even though they cancelled some of my favorite shows (Undeclared, Dark Angel, Greg the Bunny).. I'm not condemning them forever. Life goes on. I guess some people like to really hold a grudge. I just don't really see how Sci Fi is registering your disgust for Farscape being cancelled by not watching Taken. Handwritten letters to the network might be more effective in your disproval. <HR SIZE=1>

Before condemning our actions, some quick research on what really happened and/or reading the posts in this thread will reveal why this is completely different. While boycotting the channel itself is a perfectly acceptable response to their actions to kill anything remotely science fiction in the past 3 years, Taken holds a special place as Farscape was cancelled in large part to divert funds to larger advertising of the miniseries and be able to air each episode 4 times in a row. They promised and commissioned a 5th season (which has been completely written and is part two of a promised two-season long arc), but once they secured the rights to Taken, they intentionally sabotaged the show's ratings, then lied about its impending cancellation, then backed out of their 5th season contract, and once caught issued a press release packed with more lies about both the show and its viewers.

ABC and FOX have cancelled more beloved shows in my lifetime than many people have even heard of, and I keep watching them too. There is no comparison.

Written letters politely requesting their highest rated show not be cancelled were met with hostile and threatening replies. Requests that they release the original 88 episodes to another network so someone else could pay for the 5th season were met with even further threats. Thanks for the suggestion.

das

P.S. SFC had been lying to its viewers for over 3 years now ... Farscape is just the proverbial straw that pushed us over the edge (yeah, I like mixing my metaphors).

And, in case you missed the first 4 airings of each episode, this week's 5 episodes will be shown again all day Saturday. And if you missed that, all day Sunday as well.

• Quoth Dvdsky •<HR SIZE=1>And, in case you missed the first 4 airings of each episode, this week's 5 episodes will be shown again all day Saturday. And if you missed that, all day Sunday as well. <HR SIZE=1>

But what if I miss those?

I went searching to see if The Taken Network would reair the whole series after it was over and found this bit of programming on Satruday Dec 21.

3:00 PM MOVIE SO I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER
5:00 PM MOVIE SERIAL MOM

Now that's what I call Sci-Fi.

das

P.S. I answered my own question. If I miss the 4 nightly airings, the Saturday repeats, and the Sunday repeats, I can still catch all the episodes the following Saturday and Sunday. Whew! For a second there, I was scared.

I hope they find time to re-air Braveheart too. I missed that the first time they showed it. Too much sci-fi, too little time.

Wow. I wish Sci Fi had payed as much attention to Farscape as they are with Taken.
Someone was telling me about the show at work today. It sounds like X-files crossed with "V" and a few other things.
At least Farscape was original.

I wasn't a big Farscape fan and only caught a few episodes of it, but it was far from original. Seemed like it was basically Star Trek (or any other number of countless space-travel shows) with a smaller crew.

I couldn't disagree with you more. Farscape has many aspects of it that are quite original and refreshing. Rarely do you watch an episode and think "oh yeah, this is just like that episode of [x-files, startrek, battlestar galactica, whatever] where the same thing happened."

And (aside from the fact that it takes place in outer space), I really can't think of anything that would make it similar to any of the various Star Trek incarnations. In fact, I don't think the two shows could be much more dissimilar.

Well after clicking through 92 different pages of Taken propaganda I finally found the schedule for the 21st.

Un-friggin-believable.

• Quoth Jeraden •<HR SIZE=1>I wasn't a big Farscape fan and only caught a few episodes of it, but it was far from original. Seemed like it was basically Star Trek (or any other number of countless space-travel shows) with a smaller crew. <HR SIZE=1>

You may not have liked the show, which is perfectly fine, but you're really selling it short by claiming it wasn't original. It has almost nothing in common with Star Trek aside from it taking place in space (in which case you could claim that 2001 was basically Plan 9 From Outer Space) and even less in common with other space-travel shows. At its most basic premise, it's a crew of random escaped criminals who don't like each other, don't trust each other, and have stolen a ship from their captors, a ship that happens to be alive and doesn't really have to do a damn thing it doesn't want to. While that's a gross oversimplification of the concept, even at such a basic level, it bears little resemblance to any show I've seen. Add to that the fact that the plots are hardly your typical science fiction, introducing concepts untouched by even 35 years of Star Trek. On top of that, episodes would begin in the middle of a story and maybe even end in the middle of a story. It wasn't episodic television per se, yet it wasn't your standard arc story. It was just a 45-minute snapshot of some event in the lives of these characters. Sometimes you got a complete story from start to finish; othertimes, just a brief glimpse at a particular moment. From a completely animated episode, to an episode where each actor played a different character, to an episode where each actor played a different character in his own body, to an episode where each actor played multiple other characters in the same body at the same time, to an episode taking place entirely inside a computer game, these guys pushed the envelope, tried new things, and challenged the viewer to go where he had never been before.

Sure, you may not have liked the show, but it was nothing if not original.

das

How exactly does a cable network threaten a fan who asks that their favorite show not be cancelled?

• Quoth DodgingCars •<HR SIZE=1>How exactly does a cable network threaten a fan who asks that their favorite show not be cancelled? <HR SIZE=1>

1) Threaten to never air the remaining 11 filmed episodes in the US.
2) Threaten to never release the original 88 episodes to a network that wants to pick up the 5th season.
3) Threaten to contact the ISPs of Save Farscape sites to have the sites shut down ... this did happen
4) Threaten to ban anyone from Sci-Fi IRC servers for discussing Farscape, even in the channel named #Farscape ... this also happened. An administrator went so far as to limit the channel to 88 people, clear mockery that "88 is the limit" of not only users but episodes.
5) Threats of lawsuits against those participating in Save Farscape campaigns.
6) Threats to cancel scheduled cast member chats ... this happened as well, except instead of cancelling the event, they waited until everyone got into the chat and then rebooted the server. When everyone returned, they rebooted the server again. Repeat until the guest has to leave. While this could be attributed to server overload, an IRCop admitted that he was the one doing this and threatened to continue doing it unless we ceased all discussions regarding "Farscape" in the #Farscape channel.

You want more?

When the show was first cancelled, two major campaigns (that later joined forces) were launched to try to save it. The #1 rule of both campaigns was to NEVER, under any circumstances, threaten to boycott the channel or its programming. Anyone writing a letter or making a phone call was instructed to be as polite and professional and positive as they could be, and despite the continued rude and hostile response, the campaign was unbelievably civil and friendly towards The Taken Network and went out of its way to remain that way. They even tried to work with The Taken Network to have the fans promote the final 11 episodes to air in 2003 and help raise ratings for all parties, and they were told to screw off.

We have received little but threats, hostility, and doubletalk on all fronts concerning this issue.

das

The 2nd show was much better than the 1st. I hope "They" are setting us up for some great shows they final 5 nights.

Looks like I am going to watch all ten nights.

Looks like this will be the highest rate show ever on the Sci-Fi channel:

http://tv.zap2it.com/news/tvnewsdaily.html?29226

The first evening of Sci Fi's ten-night miniseries "Taken" shattered the channel's audience record, with a 4.9 household rating and over 6 million unique viewers. This installment of the alien abduction saga topped the previous audience record holder, "Frank Herbert's Dune, Part One," by 28 percent.

Don't flatter yourself, Hammer. There was nothing "creative" about what you've done. You could have called the thing, "Stephen Spielberg Presents 20 Hours of Dead Air" and it would have received a high rating. There's also nothing "risky" about it. We already knew USA got good ratings. You didn't need to convert the Sci-Fi Channel to another USA to prove that. Selling your soul to Satan is often a profitable venture in the short run ... in the long run, however, we all must pay the price for our actions.

Anyway, looks like they got what they wanted. They sold everything they had for this one rating. I hope it was worth it.

das

Sounds like a bunch of hooey to me. Not really threats.

A bunch of hooey? Not threats? Threats are just that but these were carried out.
Wish we could reboot Sci Fi indefinitely.

Hooey?

Hooey??

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Next...

Well, Sci-Fi didn't issue any death threats or anything (yet), if that is what you were looking for.

With the way you guys are acting, it sounded like they had!

I'm sorry, but all this just sounds like a bunch of fans who are bent out of shape that their favorite show was cancelled.

Loved the 3rd show, it just keep getting better and better.

Quote:

Originally posted by DodgingCars
With the way you guys are acting, it sounded like they had!
I'm sorry, but all this just sounds like a bunch of fans who are bent out of shape that their favorite show was cancelled.

I admit it - i'm sometimes scattered when I post which means my point might not come across.
[In my defense, i'm more of a VOCAL person]

But, I can NOT for the life of me understand how you arrived at this conclusion by reading das' various posts?!?!

das, perhaps it's time for a "Explain It To Me Like I'm A Six Year Old: Sci-Fi, Lies, & Farscape" thread...?

Thanks for the insult.

Look, I'm not going to get into a debate about how evil Sci-Fi Channel is. But from what I've read in this thread it just sounds like a bunch of fans upset about their show being canceled -- everything else is just internet rumors in my opinion, unless you want to give me a link to some actual news stories that show that Sci-Fi acted this way.

If so, then I'm wrong. If not, then I stand by my original statement.

(Any chance that the impassioned people boycotting the broadcast of TAKEN can also boycott this thread ... so that the rest of us can stay on topic and discuss the show?)


After three episodes, I'm not overwhelmed, but I am enjoying it. Several nice touches, and the acting is quite good. Hopefully our patience will be rewarded....