Back to Farscape

Well, producer David Kemper just gave a talk in the Farscape chat room. And, yup, he comfirmed what we'd already heard: that Sci-Fi had re-opened talks, that the negotiations fell through, and that nothing has really changed. He did say that in his opinion the 11 forthcoming eps were the best they'd ever done and that he was actually entirely hopeful that, when they air in January, if the ratings are good, that someone will decide that they really want this show. (Whether he was hoping that someone would be Sci-Fi changing their minds or another network, he didn't specify.) And he suggested waiting until then and then putting the pressure back on. Me, I'm not feeling that hopeful, but maybe that's just the depressed mood I've been in lately.

Something else interesting that he said was that the 2/10ths of a rating point drop that Sci-Fi cites as part of the reason for axing the show translates to six people with Nielsen boxes. Six. And you know something that kind of makes me sick? I almost had a Nielsen box. They actually called me on the phone and left a message. I picked it up halfway through and said something like, "Hello, I'm here!" and the person on the other end said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you! I'll call back in a few minutes," and hung up. Then she didn't call back, and when I called back at the number she'd left on my machine, she said she didn't have any record of contacting me in her computer. So I didn't get a box (or a diary, or whatever is was they would have given me). And now I wonder if it might actually have made a difference, whether if I'd answered my phone a minute earlier it would have kept Farscape on the air. Probably not, and I know it's pointless to speculate, but still, the thought doth niggle...

He also said that the 22 unwritten 5th season episodes would have been better than anything we'd seen so far, because they would have been the end of the story, and Farscape was always meant to be one, single, epic story. Somehow, this does not make me feel any better. There really is nothing -- nothing -- that bothers me more than not getting the end of a story. I even finish really bad books, because I can't bear not knowing how they come out, even when I don't actually care all that much about what's happening. When it's a story that I've invested this much time and emotion and energy in... Grrrrrr. One of my friends recently told me that I take this stuff far too seriously, and he's right, I do. But I can't help it. It's how I am. I care about things too much, even (or perhaps especially) stupid things like TV shows, and then I get my frelling heart broken when I lose them. You'd think I'd learn.

But, like I said, this is doubtless just my current pissy mood talking. There is still hope that we might get to see the end of the story, and even if we don't, it's not like the world is going to end.

But, damn. I need some god-damned good news, and I need it fast.