This show was hands down one of the greatest sci-fi gems ever created. I absolutely loved this series as a kid, I literally couldn't get enough.

From a cultural perspective John Crichton was Starlord before starload. An Earther among aliens wisecracking pop culture references in an attempt to maintain his sanity

"They had other options, girls who were more attractive..." - Claudia Black, the childhood inspiration for my entire look to this day in 2024.

Well crap now I'm rewatching my favorite TV show.

I always felt Farscape had the most ALIEN aliens. In Star Trek, the aliens are all obviously metaphors for different human cultures. The Star Trek aliens aren't really aliens, they're humans with a bump added to their nose, the audience is trusted to use a little imagination, to allow the story to happen. But in Farscape they really were trying to imagine the strangest, most different creatures that their budget and storyline could possibly allow. I liked that a lot.

I'd totally missed the exact details of Virginia Hey's departure. Honestly, the fact she knew privately so early in the show her health was at risk and she stuck around so long anyway is both sad and moving.

I just loved the cameo-esk attitude to when the actors met again on stargate. "Do i know you? You look familiar"

I don't think Scorpius was giving an approving nod at peace. I think he was giving a self-serving nod and smile that two people he hated - Grayza and the Scarran Emperor - had to swallow their pride and accept terms they weren't happy with.

One of the greatest shows ever created. A true gem!

Star Trek had beige spaceships with carpets, Farscape had a living organic spaceship with its own mind.

Loved how the main 2 actors joined stargate for its final 2 seasons they fit perfectly and when stargate SG1 ended it felt like the end of an era for Sci fi

The other Chrighton's death scene was unrelentingly gut wrenching. I still can't bring myself to watch it again. Claudia and Ben knocked that out of the park.

Wayne Pygram is a severely underused and underappreciated actor.

It remains so wild to me that Farscape aired on a children's network here in Canada, because it is SO HORNY. I love that about it; just such a distinctive show. I've had a lot of success specifically introducing non-scifi fans to it.

Rowan, delightful eccentric choice to launch a Farscape retrospective on Christmas eve, worthy of the quirky madness of the show 😆Let's honor the gravitas it could reach too: "D'Argo: Fear accompanies the possibility of death. Calm shepherds its certainty" (one of my favourite lines!) Let's make sure Farscape is never forgotten, this show deserves all the love it can get ❤

Whatever else this show was, it gave us the greatest romance ever portrayed in this genre and one of the best romances in television history period.

And perhaps worth a mention in the final summary was that Browder & Black were quickly rehired by their old nemesis SG1, and played regulars for the final 2 seasons there, though not as a couple

To this day, every time I see Ben Browder or Claudia Black, I have to remind myself they are not, in fact, married; their chemistry is that good. I somehow want both a reboot of this show (so that there is even more of it) and for it to be perfectly preserved for all time just as it is, because it is both deeply flawed and absolute perfection, all at the same time.

Yayyy! Farscape! One of the best sci-fantasy series ever. It broke every trope and defied expectations in every episode. Absolutely groundbreaking, and is criminally over-looked. Farscape: One man's journey into insanity - and back again.

Every time I'm reminded of this show, I find myself wishing we were in an alternate universe in which Virginia Hey wasn't *literally poisoned* by her makeup and we got to see how the story would have played out had she stayed, including a full and proper season 5. They introduced a couple other characters to fill a similar niche(at least intellectually) later on, but they never quite felt right. At this point, even a comic book retelling that diverges at the point where Zhaan died onward would be extremely welcome.

The title music gets me everytime. Ben and Claudia had so much chemistry it was a site to behold, it made it funnier when Ben's wife was playing yet another new character, she played four characters I think. My favourite show.

It may not have been terribly popular, but I found it to be one of the best scifi shows ever.

I actually had the pleasure of meeting Virginia Hey twice. The first time was at Toronto Trek con many years ago where I was present as a freelance journalist. My research on Hey told me that she was very spiritual/new age so when met her I greeted her with a 🙏 which she took delight in. I complimented her on her performance in The Living Daylights (where she deftly intimated that Timothy Dalton, Bond, was a schmuck - it's amazing what one can say when one does not say anything- while John Rhys Davies was a delight to work with). Anyway Hey was lady and a joy. My second meeting with her was surprising. I was on her website and noted that there was a bug in the system so I fired off an email to the web person to let them know. Seconds later I got an email back saying thanks - from Virginia herself! I confirmed that yes she designed and managed her site and she remembered who I was! Many many years later I now looked into Virginia only to be horrified to discover that she has stage 4 Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma with which she has been diagnosed back in 2022. She has been in remission twice but from what I can tell it does not look good. Please think good thoughts for her.❤

My first experience with Farscape was almost ten years ago, when I saw the show's thumbnail on Netflix, I had no idea what this show was. I just thought it looked so corny judging by the thumbnail that I decided to watch it to make fun of it. But, then I watched the first episode and was instantly hooked. I've never seen, watched, or played a piece sci-fi like this before or since. It's just that compelling and unique. I never would have thought that some obscure show, with a goofy thumbnail on Netflix, would end up being my favorite TV show of all time. But here it is, in all its glory. Thank you, for this retrospective, Rowan. This show deserves more love and acknowledgment, by the wider sci-fi community, or not. I don't mind if it stays obscure. That way someone doesn't get any grand ideas on remaking or rebooting this series.

Farscape has the best trick trivia question ever: "In what episode does Chrichton acquire his signature weapon, Winona?" The trick is that he doesn't acquire it in an episode; he acquires it in Farscape: The Game, which is a canon event which takes place _in between_ two specific episodes.

A classic. Sad that others don't get it! Sometimes it is like that. Let us enjoy this thing that's just for us who get it!

This was my most favorite show. The only show I ever wrote letters of outrage when it was cancelled. A great show from a better time.

I can't believe it's been 25 years. I thought the scifi channel was about to be the best channel on earth. They were on the verge of being that incredible.

One of the greatest and most underrated sci-fi series of all time. Plus I feel like it influenced Guardians of the Galaxy… a human who makes jokes, a bad ass warrior woman with a shady past, a big straight forward tough guy, a blue badass lady with black eyes, a small fowl mouth character, and a character who is part planet… I wonder if James Gunn was a fan lol

Absolutely loved Farscape. So criminal that it was cancelled too soon. One of my all time favourite TV shows. Superb cast, music, effects and stories.

This is one of the best Sc-fi shows of all time. The chemistry in front of the camera and passion behind it made it great. It was playful and painful, funny and fantastic. It could change tone but it never felt out of place in the world it created. As much as I might have wanted it to continue, i think it ended at the right time. So many great stories, so many great effects and characters that we loved.

I used to love Friday nights here in the US. You had Invisible man, Farscape, and Lexx. Farscape got me hooked and then I found the other two.

I own the box set, and haven't seen it in several years. This just inspired me for a rewatch of one of my favorite sci-fi shows from my childhood.

I watched this show from the beginning to the end. I love it til this day

One of the greatest tragedies of this show was that out of desperation over mounting storage costs as the show sat languid and mostly forgotten by studios, and feeling like no one would ever revisit the project, Henson was forced to clear the warehouse of all the original film stock of the series. In a twist of fate this ended up being mere months before a studio came wanting to make the first HD bluray release. Now a true remaster without AI upscaling will never be possible as all they have left are the SD broadcast masters. That's why the new bluray set releasing this month is so important as it's the greatest effort made to date to preserve the series for the future and they've made a truly valiant effort in cleaning up the audio and video to make the show look great on modern TV's. Support the show, buy the blurays.

Every so often I think about that episode where they switch bodies, tropey, but is so memorable.

I loved how alien the theme song sounded compared to other sci-fi

Farscape was a perfect storm. I loved this show so much

My top five sci-fi shows are B5, Stargate SG1, Farscape, Battlestar Galactica (reboot), Deep Space 9.

A truly ground-breaking and off-the-wall sci-fi that still kept grounded in its heart and characters. Black and Browder were one of the most attractive and believable on-screen "couples'" on the small screen, and Claudia has the sexiest voice in sci-fi. Great work as usual!

"Farscape" is my favorite sci-fi series of all time. I've watched each episode so many times that I can recite whole chunks of dialogue. Having met all the actors except Tammy MacIntosh (Jool) at Creation fan conventions, I can attest that every single one of them was warm and generous to the show's fans.

Looking forward to giving this a watch. Along with Star Wars, Farscape was my gateway into SF, so it'll always hold a special place in my heart. Wacky, unadulterated sci-fi. Loved watching it after The Simpsons on BBC2 back in the day 😂

My oldest son was born not long after this ended and his middle name is a variation on "Rygel" as I loved the series and the character.

I always thought Farscape didn't get enough love. Thanks for doing this awesome show justice in this video.

This, B5, SG-1, DS9, S:A&B, etc. We had it good.

These days, I always say that FARSCAPE is just GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY but as a TV show (and weirder). The similarities between the two is quite amazing!

Rowan, I think every streaming service that contains one of these properties should include a link to your retrospectives. These are incredibly well done. ❤

The crew being about as far from being a military hierarchy as you can get really is a microcosm of the show in general (as it pertains to other sci-fi shows). The other show that stands out to me for this reason is Lexx. Both are shows I loved when they came out and continue to. I like the militaristic aesthetic of Star Trek and others. I absolutely love proper military sci-fi, e.g. Banner of the Stars. I don't think I could deal with tons of stuff in the vein of Farscape or Lexx. But since that is not the case, both are incredible at injecting some fun oddities and insanities into ones diet of sci-fi.

Excellent retrospective/overview of the series. I don't think it was so much that Farscape was "Too weird" for mainstream success as the naration stated, I think it was too creatively complex, original in it's vision and intellegent for many mainstream viewers. It will always be one of my favorite series.

I love this show. Still my favorite of all time. But I do think you missed an opportunity here to talk about one of the things that really made this show unique, Moya. Such as the fact she was unarmed, and how that affected how the crew had to deal with threats, vs. how those same threats would be dealt with on other shows. But hey, gotta cut something, right? Great job!

Farscape! One of the most original and entertaining scifi shows ever. The cast and crew of the show are some of the nicest people I have ever met at cons and are the most fan friendly bunch of characters around. It is definitely my favorite scifi show.

1:07:34 I love how you drop this line on top of the best possible illustration of *why* Farscape will always be a cult show. 🙂Which is why its fans love it.

Me and my ex-wife LOVED this show when it first debutted on tv and wouldn't miss an episode. She wasn't a sci-fi fan at all,but,Farscape caught her attention,plus we both also LOVED the Chicago Bulls team and wouldn't miss a game. Those were fun times. LOL.

What a beautiful way to honor Farscape, this is the best retrospective any fan could ask for. This is such a great retrospective series you put together. Thanks for reminding me how wonderful this show is. Definitely plan on re-watching it now.

Loved this show. Still watch it from time to time. The Aeryn and John romance is one of the best to be put on a screen...

Farscape is a show I found one Saturday or Sunday morning flipping by on Sci Fi. and I stopped and found myself enjoying it, I then found out I had come in on the season finale which was a big shock when it really didn't feel like a full season had already aired. That was in 1999, and I had effecively not just got myself hooked, but also my family. It still feels like a breath of fresh air 25 years later. And as for Guardians of the Galaxy as a spiritual successor, I realized why still liked Farscape and enjoyed both for not only the similarities, but also the differences.

It was and is amazing. Nothing like it still. It may be the best sci-fi show put to film. Gotta rewatch it again.

Was lucky enough to meet Rowan Wood one of the producers of the show when i was working in a pub in New Zealand , talked to him for a while about Farscape, really nice guy

I gave a friend a set of DVDs for Christmas or a birthday, oh many years ago now. I remember how completely nonplussed he looked. He had never heard of the series. I wasn't familiar with it either, but something made me take a chance on it. Not only do I remember the bewildered look of disinterest when he opened the gift, I also remember how much he enjoyed the show when he actually watched it.

it's streaming on a loop now - Shout/Freevee Always the #1 show in my book - there was so much more they could have done. Peacekeeper Wars wrapped up most of the story lines, but there was plenty they left out. but who knows maybe in another 20 years we'll see a Farscape TNG - lol

Farscape was AMAZING and seriously still is just as good today as it was when it came out.

for a long time i thought the show ended at the boat scene so when i found out years later that there was more i cant not express the joy that surged into me to finally see the conclusion to one of my favourite shows was so cathartic and i still think it has one of the coolest intro songs ever

Rowan this is so cool. I recall watching Farscape when it first came out. Such a wonderful show! Thanks for doing this dude!

Imagine creating a weapon so devastating that it erases war.

Farscape was wonderfully weird and eccentric. In all the best ways possible.

I forgot about the crazy curse words until the last bit from Aeryn Sun! Magnificent review, thank you.

thanks for bringing a tear to my eye man, this show was my rock in a troubling time, and you've reminded me why it meant so much, thanks.

Thanks for this deep dive! Farscape was the most amazing show. A risk taker in storyline, turning tropes on their heads, with excellent writers, cast, and effects 🎉

I was parusing my local thrift store last month when I found the entire Show in its original Star Burst edition release. Every disk was in pristine condition I couldn't believe my luck. I had to buy the entire set even though I already owned the Show on DVD, best hundred bucks I ever spent, frellin love this show.

Talon ' starbust' still gets me in the feels

I recall watching this sporadically on BBC2 when it was first shown, it was on at a weird time slot closer to the kids shows than the sort of early evening programming that might have seemed more appropriate in hindsight. It certainly stood out from everything else at the time but I’m not sure the BBC really understood who the show’s intended audience actually were.

Absolutely extraordinary show and I *wish* it was better known and more celebrated. A sequel would be extraordinary. Just loved it.

Ben Browder was absolutely a perfect cast for Crichton.

I absolutely adore this show, its one of my all time favourites. I remember just kind of initially riding along the first season, interested but also feeling it was rather formulaic episode of the week, typical Star Trek stuff but more effort into alien characters and makeup design (which was utterly fantastic by the way). But then they introduced Scorpius - possibly my all time favourite villain - and off we went on a wild ride. It was full of rich, interesting characters and interpersonal conflicts, crazy episodes that weren't afraid to push boundaries and go completely off the wall, and then the next few episodes punch you over and over with emotional rollercoasters of the sheer hell these characters have to go through. I am so grateful we got the Peacekeeper Wars mini-series to wrap things up, its just such a damned shame it felt rushed as a result, cramming all of what would've been Season 5 and maybe beyond into a 3-4 hour mini-series. Despite that, it was a fantastic send-off and had my all time favourite Crichton/Scorpy interaction, as he makes Scorpy beg to see the wormhole weapon - pretty please with a cherry on top. Just love it. And yes we had puppets. Pilot and Rygel, two fully formed fleshed out main characters that you quickly forget are puppets once you're engaged with the story. I still think there's potential to explore the Farscape universe again someday, 20 years on, see where all our favourite characters are at this point. I know there's the comics which are supposed to be canon, but I want more live action. Let's hope :)

Browder and Black are so incredible

fantastic, i saw them filming season 1 episode 14 sometime around 98-99 at a reserve somewhere outside of sydney, specifically the scene where the natives are dancing around the campfire, the crew were trying to get people in the area to keep the noise down which surprised me because you would think they would have the park closed off while filming

Amazing! Farscape was one of my favorite TV shows since I was a teenager! Even now, as I am writing this comment, I am glancing at my wall -- where a huge fan-made Farscape poster is hanging in its frame, right next the posters of other sci-fi space classics like B5, BSG, Mass Effect and the OG Star Wars. There are many different aspects that those other famed shows and movies and games did better or are better known for, but what Farscape can not be competed on is its uniqueness. There is nothing like it and there never will be. It is a truly singular vision realized in its niche with more depth hidden behind its weirdness than anyone could have expected. On a personal note, I suspect it is one of the major inspirations responsible for igniting interest in BDSM or at least the leather kink in a certain subsection of fans and leading them along the path of incredible self-discovery. I know, because I am one of those fans. Thank you, Rowan for this retrospective. Sublime work as always.

I never realized D'Argo was supposed to be a "teenager." Now I'll have to rewatch the series with that in mind.

Two central points of this excellent I very much agree with : (1) yes, sometimes farscape stepped over it's own crazyness for crazyness sake mantra to the point where it emotionally lost me in different phases of the season (2) but : Aw man, the central live story. That chemistry. That never lost me for even a split second. So so good. They were the reason I kept watching even the plot occasionally overdid the Hail Maries (if that's English).

The range of emotions you face whilst watching this show is incredible. Such a good show and the actors are absolute top notch. Also part of my teenage years so I might be biased here but I watched the whole series again when I was 30 and I think I liked it even more!

Farscape is still my favorite scifi series of all time.

John: you're the closest friend I have. D'Argo: you could have done so much better. John: nowhere in the universe. Truly a parting of adopted brothers

I miss this show so much. It had real heart.

I loved this show! The FX, story, and cast were incredible! and Holy Cow was I smitten by Claudia Black! It was so cool to see her and Ben work together after Farscape! This was a great video!

What a terrific Christmas present! Thank you so much for showing the appreciation this series deserves.

It was wonderful! I was shocked when it was cancelled in favour of more Stargate SG-1. That Ben and Claudia were added to the cast was not a enough for me!

Still have my original Dvd’s with the old Australian channel 9 logos. One of my favourite series and I was always kind of proud it was filmed in Australia

We will never have stories like this again.

The Peacekeeper Wars had a very good ending for the story, and I didn't really want anything else after that. And we got the two main actors back a few years later in Stargate SG-1 which was nice. Well, not a huge fan of the later seasons otherwise, but Claudia Black was especially great in those. And the short Farscape parody bit in episode 200 was priceless

Can we all take a moment to thank FOX for refusing this show. We all know how that would have turned out.

I literally just got the 25th anniversary release on blu ray. So its a happy gateway to get back in.

By far one of my favourite TV shows of all time

My favorite sci fi series of all time. Watch it once a year.

I'd call this the best frelling sci-fi property ever. To watch it play out week by week and season by season was an emotionally tumultuous experience. I remember my eyes popping out of my head at the visual effects and how seamlessly they sat with the live action. The cgi scenes never felt separate or implanted, and so they never took you out of the story even for an instant. The story itself lacked absolutely nothing. There were sources of tension, fear, joy, anger, shock. humour, lust, love, envy etc. etc, that somehow played out virtually simultaneously without ever overloading the viewer or clouding the narrative. The filmmakers managed something bordering on miraculous just to persist as long as they did, with all the hurdles and setbacks, in keeping a firm hold on the integrity of the universe they created. Everyone involved deserved much more success with the series than they acheived. It absolutely deserved a few more seasons and I felt robbed when the series ended. However, looking back now I'm happy with how it played out. It remains a perfect thing in my memory and I could have happily accepted the season four finale as a show finale. I knew when The Peacekeeper Wars was announced that they would have to come up with some kind of mcguffin to resurrect Cricton and Aery Sun, and anytime you do that you remove jeopardy from your story and tension leaves with it. I knew it was simply to satisfy fans and therefore you're writing for entirely different reasons, and it's probably going to be shit. But I loved Farscape and so I had to give it a look and I was blown away all over again, but for different reasons. Yes, they had made something for the fans but all the fans wanted was a good Farscape story. That's how I look at the mini series now, a great Farscape story with a very satisfying conclusion, but - Farscape ended on that boat.

One of my other favorite scifi shows. I love the manic energy, the creative makeup and alien aesthetics, and most importantly the characters. Pa'u Zhoto Zhaan was my favorite character even after her actress's departure. But by the end, practically every character, even the villains, were so likeable.

FarScape being made in Australia and having all the Australian actors and production team really made this show great. It honestly gives the show a different edge that, to an American, makes it feel alien which is perfect for the show.

The emotional dynamics is what makes Farscape the brilliant piece of art that it is. Thank you for this video.

Some things just enough as being emotional, weird and epic instead of being a huge franchise or part of pop culture. Farscape was there to told its story and show us how a universe can be interesting and really dangerous. It is a rare gem among other sci fi productions.

I loved Farscape. Took part in the Save Farscape stuff. Was happy with Peacekeeper Wars. Thanks for the run through memory lane. It seems trite to call it weird. It was, but it was also very real. The family dynamic is unmatched in SF shows. And I really liked the space opera turns. Maybe an MMO at some point? I dunno.

I do love Farscape. It really was a bonkers good time.