Richard "Froonium Ricky" Manning

Last shot of Farscape’s “Bad Timing” Episode 88

A little over ten (!) years ago, Farscape aired its last* episode, “Bad Timing.”

SPOILERS TO FOLLOW: The episode, written by the sadistic genius David Kemper,  concluded, shall we say, not very well for our heroes, with yet another OH MY GOD season-ending cliffhanger, and yet another “To Be Continued” card at the fadeout.

And then… we found out that the season-ending cliffhanger was going to be the series-ending cliffhanger, because Farscape had been canceled.

Which posed a question: should we change the ending of “Bad Timing”? Should we leave the “To Be Continued” on there or not?

The overwhelming sentiment among the Farscape crew was to leave it just as it was, and so the ending of the episode aired without changes, “To Be Continued” and all.

However! We did discuss a drenload of other ideas for the last shot other than “To Be Continued”… and here are the top ten! Continue reading ‘Top Ten Other Ways Farscape’s Last Episode Could’ve Ended’ »

YOU KNOW YOU WANT THIS (the piece of Moya, not the cat, although I’m tempted to throw in the cat)

But wait! It’s not just a chunk of Moya, it’s ALL this great Farscape stuff! NOW how much would you pay?

The wonderful folks at Con or Bust, which helps people of color/non-white people attend SFF conventions, are currently holding their annual fundraising auction of all kinds of amazing stuff, and I’ve contributed a couple of awesome Farscape items that you Simply Won’t Find Anywhere Else.

A “Season of Death” script!

An extremely limited edition T-shirt!

An actual piece of Moya!

So what are you waiting for? Go! Bid!

And hurry! The auction ends February 24, 2013.

(Oh, and if absolutely nothing in the entire auction strikes your fancy, or the bidding’s too rich for your blood, you can simply make a donation via PayPal to help this most excellent cause.)

“I’m learning to love myself despite my kitten problem.” – Emily Salzfass

Em and me at the 2002 Farscape convention

A lot of people in a lot of places and a lot of fandoms are grieving today at the loss of Makiko aka Sab aka Makikosab aka, simply, Em. She was many things, but primarily she was an Illuminator of Rooms, the sort of human dynamo universally described with phrases like “contagious energy” and “delightfully skewed” and “fearless enthusiasm” and “one of a kind.”

Go to Em’s Facebook page to read or contribute remembrances, photos, or kittens.

Jonathan Hardy at “Best of Both Worlds 16″ convention, Sydney, July 27, 2002.
Photo by Peter Fallon.

Jonathan Hardy has passed away at the age of 71.

His acting career spanned 37 years and included Moulin Rouge!, Mad Max, and a shirtload of Australian television including Farscape, where he not only performed the voice of Dominar Rygel XVI but also donned a toga to play Kahaynu, one of Moya’s builders.

Jonathan was also a screenwriter who shared an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1981 for Breaker Morant, one of Australia’s all-time best films.

He was a skilled raconteur who delighted in sharing anecdotes, meeting with fans, and lighting up every room he entered.

Born in New Zealand (on September 20, 1940), he particularly enjoyed telling ribald jokes concerning Kiwis and their sheep.

Because of his slight facial resemblance to Rygel (judge for yourself), there are some who claim that he served as the model for the puppet. However…

What resemblance?

Continue reading ‘RIP Jonathan Hardy’ »

Element Froonium. Click for details.

I was channel-surfing with my obnoxiously precocious six-year-old niece Gabby (her full name is Gabrielle Callisto Aphrodite Zimbelman; she was conceived at a Xena convention) when we stumbled upon a rerun of Blaster Patrol. “My favorite show! Did you write this one, Uncle Ricky?”

“No, Gabby, I never worked on Blaster Patrol, more’s the pity.”

On the tube, Sam and Janet, the series leads, were being chased by evil alien Greebs and were simultaneously firing blasters and exchanging witty yet affectionate banter. “Sigh,” Gabby sighed, “they’re soooooooo in love. Are they married?”

“Sam and Janet? No, they never got married, even though, much to everyone’s amazement, the show ran for six seasons…”

“Not the characters, silly. The actors.”

“Oh. Yeah, she’s married. Third or fourth time; I can’t keep track. Him, he’ll never get married unless the father of the bride owns a shotgun.”

Gabby couldn’t fathom it. “But… they love each other… don’t they?”

“You kidding? When the camera’s not rolling, they can’t stand one another.” I omitted mentioning that she thought he was a lecherous drunk who couldn’t remember his lines, and he thought she was a ruthless, upstaging diva who despised television in general and sci-fi in particular.

Gabby’s lower lip quivered. She indicated Sam and Janet, who were celebrating their escape from the Greebs with much kissing and fondling. “Look at them. You’re wrong.”

“Honey, it’s all make-believe. They’re actors. They’re faking it.”

Her Bambi eyes clouded with doubt—but as Sam and Janet exchanged perfect loving gazes, her conviction returned. “Nuh-uh. Nobody could fake that.”

And there, I reflected, was the biggest reason why that otherwise unmemorable show had run for six years. Separately, the actors playing Sam and Janet had been no more than competent—but together, they had the most elusive and valuable commodity in show business: chemistry.

Continue reading ‘The Elements of Television’ »

“Thanks for the Memories”…

Fans keep me warm! Photo by Dizzy.

Since 2000, Creation Entertainment has hosted annual Farscape fan conventions.

What’s a “fan convention,” you might ask? Simply this:

An opportunity for the cast and crew to meet the fans! 

And the fans don’t just pose for photos and sign autographs. They put on costume shows, panel discussions, and talent exhibitions, and they show off their amazing vids, fanfic, and other artistic creations.

I recently attended what was billed as the “final” Farscape con (but I don’t believe it; when it comes to Farscape fans, nothing is ever “final”) and was going to write up a con report, but I thought I’d instead share a few happy snaps and memories from a dozen years of congoing.

Continue reading ‘Ricky’s Farscape CreationCon Report and Picspam’ »

88 episodes! 427 commentaries! 13,034 special features!

The Farscape Blu-Ray release is now on sale! And a thing of beauty it is indeed.

However… it’s not entirely complete. Alas, here are the top ten things that were (sadly) omitted from the box set:

10.) Original profanity-laden dialog tracks before Sci Fi made us replace everything with “frell” and “dren”

9.) Discarded early version of the pilot ep “Premiere” with Guy Pearce and Cate Blanchett as Crichton and Aeryn

8.) Shelved script for Farscape/Buffy/Xena/SG1 crossover episode; fanfic writer from whom we stole it threatened lawsuit

7.) Rejected costume design sketches: Aeryn’s muumuu, Rygel’s thong, Scorpius’s tutu, Crichton’s plaid T

6.) Never-aired Episode 89, a backdoor pilot for Scorpius/Natira/Furlow spinoff sitcom

5.) New commentary tracks that comment on the previous commentary tracks (“What? That’s a LIE!”)

4.) Video of rehearsals for aborted live show featuring costumed ice skaters (aka “Farscapades”)

3.) Three words: Muppet Sex Tape (aka “Hynerial Disease,” a very special Rygel episode)

2.) Brian, Rock, DK, Monj, Ben, Claude, and Ricky doing dramatic readings of selected fanfic

And the number one thing omitted from the Farscape Blu-Ray boxed set:

1.) “Jeremiah Crichton” (No, scratch that, it’s on there, but the vote was very close.)

Ricky mesmerizes a huge audience at the 2010 Farscape convention. Photo by Tina Gill.

A few random musings on attending and speaking at the 2010 Farscape Convention…

• Farscape has the Best Fandom Ever. Lunatics all, but charmingly so.
• The Los Angeles Right Under the LAX Approach Path Marriott Hotel has perhaps the worst public address system I’ve ever heard; my ears are still bleeding.
• Ben Browder is still pretty. And funny.
• Ditto Fran, only moreso.
• Public speaking is much more fun if you wing it entirely with little or no regard for the truth.
• When e’er my profession seems drab or burdensome, I have only to remember two words: writer groupies.
• Few people live up to the sobriquet raconteur as well as Jonathan Hardy.
• Did I mention that our fans are utterly crazy?
• Nobody holds a candle to Virginia Hey, because she makes her own.
• A Farscape con is the one place on Earth where I can’t say “I’ll be easy to spot because I’ll be wearing a Mambo Loud Shirt.”
• ETA: Thanks for the happy snap, Tina!

Actual whiteboard from FARSCAPE "Season of Death"

Picture, if you will, perky young Mary Sue, an aspiring TV writer who’s celebrating her first sale. She pitched a dozen ideas to veteran genre-TV producer Sam Showrunner for his new series Space Slayers, in which a ragtag team of teenage misfits travels the galaxy and battles alien mutants. But Mary Sue’s enthusiasm will soon be tested; she has no idea what terrors await in… The Writers’ Room.

Mary Sue’s successful pitch:“Griff and Angela [the series leads] must mind-link with K’Vax [their sentient, female, wisecracking spaceship] after a radioactive nebula erases K’Vax’s memories.”

There was more to her pitch – such as the mind-link forcing the aloof Griff and Angela to confront their true feelings about one another – but Mary Sue never got that far; Sam had interrupted. “Good hook, but amnesia’s soft. Needs more jeopardy. Hey! What if the nebula turns K’Vax evil? And she tries to kill everybody on board! So it’s dangerous for Griff and Angela to go into her mind; they might never come out. Terrific pitch! Sold!”

Mary Sue was ecstatic. “Great! I’ll write up an outline –”

“We don’t do outlines. We – me and the writing staff – break all our stories in the room. Once we get the structure down, you go off and write the script. Come in Tuesday at nine. Bring in a beat sheet. Not an outline, just the big moves. Some rough act breaks. Keep it simple. One page, tops, just to get things started.”

And so it begins…

Continue reading ‘Tales from the Writers’ Room’ »

Chris Wheeler in the FARSCAPE writers room, 2001

Just heard that Australian writer Chris Wheeler, story consultant on Farscape and writer of the episode “I Shrink, Therefore I Am”, died this week, apparently from a heart attack.

Talented, funny, hard working, friendly, great to work with, and definitely One of the Good Guys. He’ll be missed.

ETA 7 Aug: Obituary has been posted by the Sydney Morning Herald.