I am a sci-fi-oholic, I was indoctrinated with TNG (Star Trek the Next Generation) as a child and have walked the path ever since. I have seen the good (Firefly), the bad (Cleopatra 2025… he he he… my fellow nerds will get it), the funny (Red Dwarf), and a lot in between. Farscape stands apart from all of these shows, in its ambition, creativity and passion. It is an anomaly, a singularity, an impossible combination which somehow has come into being.

The show is created by the Jim Henson Company… yes the people who brought us Sesame Street and the Muppets… no it is NOT a child show, but if you did watch these shows as a child, you know the wonder and imagination it invoked and may understand what I mean when I say:

Farscape is for your adult self, as Sesame Street and the Muppets was for your child self.

Hopefully you will now be intrigued… because what follows is my attempt to explain the impossible combination, and no matter how hard I try it never seems to feel convincing after this part. So I quote the season 4 title sequence:

My name is John Crichton… an astronaut. Three years ago I got shot through a wormhole. I’m in a distant part of the universe aboard this living ship of escaped prisoners, my friends. I’ve made enemies. Powerful. Dangerous. Now all I want is to find a way home, to warn Earth. Look upward, and share… the wonders I have seen.

You should note, that the title sequence reads like a trailer and watching it I get excited like I do when watching a Michael Bay trailer (without his flare for revealing of all the best scenes). In my opinion that trailer title sequence is there to help ease in new viewers to the in dept world of the show. Jumping into a random episode of Farscape, is like starting a book in the middle, or watching any episode of Lost… confusing. This is the reason I think the show never reached a broader audience. The cause of that confusion, the detailed world and characters, is also the shows greatest strength, and what turns watchers into zealots.

So start with episode 1… the pilot… he he he (you will get the joke later after watching the show), and enjoy the helium farting floating alien, hairless blue plant woman exhibitionist, the hot leather clad super soldier, and the table-dancing-nuke-wielding human astronaut as they zoom through space in their living spaceship (which eventually gives birth) trying to survive.