Dragon Con Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Farscape
The Farscape panels at Dragon Con were filled with tearful reunions, funny stories, unexpected physical comedy and insightful commentary on the beloved show. Ben Browder, who played the star of the series, John Crichton, Gigi Edgley who played the monochrome alien Chiana, Rebecca Riggs who played the cunning Commandant Mele-On Grayza, Anthony Simcoe who played the fierce warrior Ka D’Argo, Lani Tupu who played Captain Bialar Crais and voiced Pilot, Rockne S O’Bannon, the show creator and Brian Henson, co-producer and director of Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars were all in attendance. Actors, writers, producers and fans all gathered together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the show. With its blend of human actors and puppetry in increasingly strange environments, it was clearly unlike anything else on TV. Even two decades later it still feels ahead of its time.
The buzz at Con revolved heavily around the possibility of Farscape coming back, a possibility that was teased by creator Rockne S. O’Bannon and Brian Henson of The Jim Henson Company. At three of the panels they showed a video montage of clips from the four seasons of the show ending on a hopeful note for the future. Once again, O’Bannon only hinted at a revival, but he did encourage fans to watch the series on Amazon Prime, saying that those numbers were being noted. Needless to say this announcement was met with cheers from the audience. When asked by an audience member if they were surprised by all the love the show received, Brian Henson spoke about the show being evergreen. O’Bannon expanded on that, saying that the bulk of the effects being practical instead of CG added to its ability to stay relevant. Since the show went off the air in 2003, its audience has grown. Henson recognized that the uniqueness of the show needed some time to grow its fanbase.
They spoke about working on bringing back the show as feature films for a few years before realizing that it wasn’t enough time to show all the layers the Farscape had. They also wanted to pay tribute to the complex relationships they had built over four seasons and felt that film wasn’t the right venue for it. This was before high budget TV shows like Game of Thrones gained popularity. They decided to return back to TV where they would have more room to work and hopefully the budget to support it.
The cast talked about how special the Farscape fans are and how this show changed their life. For Edgley in particular, Farscape fans cast her in her new film Hashtag. Tupu talked about how the love of the show has spanned generations and that it feels like being in an ever-growing family. Browder said being on the show one of the most significant experiences of his life next to his marriage and the birth of his children. Simcoe called D’Argo and Farscape his “destination.” A role like this was the reason he got into acting. For Riggs, the show was an extraordinary opportunity to dive into a new place and reality. It was also an opportunity for her as a creative to inspire creativity in others.
In a funny story, Browder talked about seeing Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 1 and texting O’Bannon that their stuff had been stolen. Browder would later jokingly tell James Gunn, director of Guardians of the Galaxy, at the Saturn Awards that he stole from Farscape. Gunn agreed prompting Browder to ask where his job was. He didn’t think anything would come of it but sure enough when Gunn started filming Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2, he contacted Browder to put him in the movie. It wasn’t a connection I initially made but once Browder pointed it out, I couldn’t stop thinking of how much the characters in Guardians resembled the characters in Farscape.
Browder asked O’Bannon if they felt freedom from the network to do what they wanted. A regime change at what was then the Sci-fi Channel led to a new president who thought Farscape was going to be a kid’s show and told O’Bannon to ‘make it as weird as you possibly can’. They exceeded expectations. Farscape is a strange show with a lot of heart. The creators ended the panel by thanking the fans for being the driving force behind keeping the show on air and bringing it back to life with The Peacekeeper Wars. Now once again fans have the opportunity to bring back Farscape. Don’t forget to stream it on Amazon Prime and look out for future announcements.
