OK, I Know I'm Just a Sad Fangirl Who Puts Way Too Much Emotional Investment into TV Shows, But To Be Honest With Y'All, I Feel Like I've Just Been Punched in the Gut.

Apparently Farscape has been cancelled.

No shit.

When I got this news in my inbox, at first I thought it was some kind of a sick joke. I mean, they'd already been renewed through Season Five, right? Well, not exactly. It seems Sci-Fi had a clause allowing them to drop the show if they wanted to, and they're exercising that option.

The final episode of Season 4 has finished filming... and the sets are scheduled to be torn down next week.

What is particularly terrible about this is that the show's creators were fully expecting at least another year of production. The show's currently in the middle of a huge story arc, in which I strongly suspect a great deal was to be left unresolved at the end of the season. And there is no way for them to go back and change what they've done so far to wrap things up more neatly. To quote producer David Kemper (who made the announcement in a chat session earlier tonight):

"The story is not finished...
We found out after shooting 422 [the final ep. of season 4]
And we mistakenly left a few people alive at the end of 422
Who knew?
hehehe"

A desperate and highly appreciated attempt at humor, that, from someone who elsewhere in the chat transcript describes himself as "shaking as I write this."

There is a slim possibility of the show being picked up by another network, but that would most likely depend on the network in question being able to get the rights to the first four seasons from Sci-Fi, which has been notoriously stingy about parting with rerun rights.

There is also a possibility that, if they get enough of a response from fans, they might change their minds. If you're interested in contacting Sci-Fi about this (Please!), you can find info on how to do that here. But if you're going to do it, do it fast.

If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go and punch something now. And then I'm going to sit down and start writing letters.