Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars

[Grojlach]

I'm not even sure how I missed this news completely until I stumbled upon it on BitTorrent sites, but apparently, one of my favourite series in recent years, Farscape, is back! Or at least, for only a little while - SciFi-channel only aired two double-episodes of Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars to compensate for the lack of a fifth season. Basically, they've tried to fit all ideas they had for the fifth season in only 3 hours, and you're left with an action-packed space opera in up-tempo. While it'll take years before it'll be aired over here in The Netherlands, I took advantage of the Internet in order to sneak a peak (okay okay, I saw the whole thing. Happy now? I know I am!); and I have to say that this two-parter wraps up the Farscape saga nicely - at least a lot better than the last episode of season 4 did, with the sly cliffhanger that just screamed "why did they cancel this show?" more than a regular happily ever after cliffhanger would have done. And while there are plenty of other storylines that could take place within the Farscape Universe, I think they've pretty much concluded *any* old plotlines, giving me the feeling that this is probably the very last FS-related series that we'll get - the fans will be satisfied, the network will be satisfied, the series producers will be satisfied; but it would probably be tempting fate to ask for more of this way too expensive, yet fantastic series. Highly recommended for any fans of the show.
Either way, for more info, check out http://www.scifi.com/farscape/peacekeeperwars/

[Albromor]

Groj, was it due to the expense of producing the show the reason that SciFi cancelled at the end of the 4th season? I thought it was one of their most popular programs and so when they ended it so abruptly I was shocked. Do you know why they cancelled in the first place?

[Grojlach]

Originally posted by Albromor: Groj, was it due to the expense of producing the show the reason that SciFi cancelled at the end of the 4th season? I thought it was one of their most popular programs and so when they ended it so abruptly I was shocked. Do you know why they cancelled in the first place?

I believe it was indeed due to the costs; the budget had already been cut in half for the fourth episode, and the fact that the series was basically one long story made it very difficult for new viewers to get into it. Those who watched it regularly got hooked - and rightfully so - but the lack of appeal to new people to watch the show and poor ratings in general were among the reasons to kill it, IIRC.
More info: http://www.scifi.com/farscape/faq/