Evaluation of the Farscape TV Show

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Recommended: influence of science fiction

Summer break of 2011 had just started and I was looking for some entertainment. Being a big science fiction fan I was sure that I had gone through all the franchises, Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and Stargate. Bored and yearning for something new I decided to do some browsing. Then I came across a show called Farscape. I had heard of the show in passing, but never gave it a second look. This had been a mistake on my part as I quickly realized Farscape was my new favorite show. Farscape aired on the Sci Fi channel from 1999-2004, during its syndication it won several awards and became a cult hit. Farscape’s an original show with broad appeal, featuring both drama and comedy in generous amounts worth experiencing.
Farscape’s the story of John Crichton or just “Crichton”, as his companions call him, an astronaut who, while performing an experiment in Earth’s orbit is sucked through a wormhole. On the other side Crichton joins forces with a ragtag group of prisoners and former soldiers, on a living ship. Throughout the series they’re pursued by Peacekeepers, futuristic human like super soldiers and the Scarrans, a brutish race of reptilians. Both the Peacekeepers and Scarron’s are in a cold war, constantly pursuing Crichton for the wormhole knowledge in his head. This is a refreshing break from science fiction, where protagonists traditionally explore the galaxy or fight against some grand villain. Here Crichton and crew simply try to evade a vastly superior force and survive from one day to the next.
Crichton is unlike your typical hero, he isn’t particularly smarter or stronger than the enemy or his companions for that matter. This is another welcome change from standard science fiction, with humans generally viewed...

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... all these components and separate them they’re interesting in and of themselves. However, when we combine them, as Farscape did, we have a truly fascinating show. Or as Entertainment Weekly puts it “If the wisecracking puppets didn't make it cult, the sexy silver and blue alien babes surely did. Farscape was also one of the trippiest space sagas ever”(EW Staff). Twice a year I gather my Farscape collection and plop down in front of the television, knowing that I’ve got a memorable and wild experience ahead of me.

Works Cited

EW Staff. "26 Best Cult TV Shows Ever." Entertainment Weekly 17 Mar. 2014: n. pag. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. .
Heaton, Dan. "Farscape: The Complete Series." PopMatters 18 Feb. 2010: n. pag. Web. 29 Mar. 2014. .

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