ein mehr oder weniger anonymes posting aus alt.tv.farscape ...

ohne Quellenangabe - keine Ahnung was man davon halten soll...


Reliable sources have confirmed a return of the
ground-breaking science fiction drama "Farscape", with
an official announcement of the project currently
scheduled for the weekend of November 14-16, at the
annual Official Farscape Convention in Burbank,
California.

An unresolved cliffhanger left fans of the show in
agonized limbo last year, after increasing production
costs and a very public falling out with the show's
previous home, cable's SciFi Channel, led to the
cancellation of the award-winning series at the end of
its fourth season. Irate fans, to whom SciFi had
previously promised a fifth season, mobilized in
impressive fashion in response to the cancellation,
landing coverage of the show's situation repeatedly in
major media outlets, including CNN and TV Guide, for
over 14 months.

International corporate deals have since led to the
reacquisition of The Jim Henson Company by the
founder's offspring, and the sale of SciFi Channel's
parent company to NBC. There remains little love lost
between the two former partners, and a return of the
show to its original venue was reportedly never
considered feasible by either side. The show's
long-term value as an entertainment asset, however,
could have been severely damaged by the lack of a
clear resolution to storylines left hanging at the end
of its original run.

The production team wanted a way to satisfy their
vocal fanbase; more critically, they needed a way to
protect the long-term value of the asset. Most team
members had already moved on to other projects, making
the reassembling of cast, crew, and the show's massive
sets a financial impossibility. In what critics
consider Farscape's trademark style, however, the
producers will try a new twist to resolve the problem.

Production will begin in December, on a full-length,
animated film, with the entire original cast returning
to voice their characters. The originally planned
fifth season of the show is being used as the basis
for the script, which will resolve a number of major
storylines and provide viewers with an appropriate (if
abbreviated) conclusion to the adventures of John
Crichton and Crew in the Uncharted Territories.

While character-design is still in the early stages,
there are strong indications that the producers will
follow a style based on the popular "Farpark"
parodies. The show used extensive cartoon animation
in an original episode, to great critical effect and
general accolades, and producers express confidence
that fans will similarly embrace the new project.

Distribution of the film was an early concern. The
production partners have no way to effectively bundle
and market the entire asset to broadcasters as a
single package, until the SciFi Channel's contract to
air existing episodes expires. Taking another page
from the fanbase playbook, the production will follow
the risky approach of releasing the animated film
directly to the internet via peer-to-peer file sharing
programs (such as BitTorrent and Kazaa), relying on
the proven fan devotion for distribution.

Some concerns already raised include the potential
disruption of the film's distribution by anti-piracy
vigilantes, who are likely to claim that this endeavor
does not have the endorsement of the "Farscape"
property's copyright holders. However, the production
partners have expressed confidence that wiser heads
will prevail, commenting, "Our fans are smarter than
that. They know the difference between theft by
downloading, and
downloading a fix to hold you over until the DVD is
released. This is our way of saying thanks."

The scheduled release date for the project is April
1st, 2004.

[edit :-( opera fuer linux & powerboard vertragen sich nicht ]