Exclusive: Farscape Producer Talks About the Franchise's Future
Ben Browder and Claudia Black courtesy Sci Fi Channel
Last week
Sci Fi Channel made the out-of-nowhere announcement that the dearly departed cult favorite series
Farscape would be coming back with all-new webisodes. In an exclusive interview, executive producer
Brian Henson gave TV Guide some scoop about the upcoming revival, and also indicated that bigger plans for the franchise lie ahead.
A dozen new webisodes of the irreverent 1999-2003 live-action/puppet science-fiction adventure could launch as early as this fall on Scifi.com. Scripts have yet to be written, but Henson says the installments will be three to six minutes long, and "each one is a cool little cliff-hanger scene that takes you on a mind-twisting adventure." He expects some of the series' actors and writers to return, but as of yet no deals have been signed. As to whether stars
Ben Browder and
Claudia Black will come back, Henson hints that their characters' son, D'Argo Sun-Crichton, will likely be featured in the project. "The story will definitely take place in the
Farscape universe," Henson says, "and there will be some characters that the audience knows and some characters that will be new." (All of the show's Creature Shop-designed animatronic puppets will have to be re-created, he says, "because all of their molded foam skins have rotted.")
Although webisodes may not be as glamorous as a TV pickup, Henson is enthusiastic about the chance to bring back the show in any format. Scifi.com "seems like a great place for us to play with new ideas. What we'll be doing is trying to explore where the next generation of
Farscape goes. By that I mean the next series." That's right, Henson hopes the webisodes will lead to a TV sequel.
Look for more news on
Farscape's future to be announced at
Comic-Con later this week.
Reporting by Ileane Rudolph
UPDATE: TV Guide just learned that Browder has talked with Henson about appearing in the webisodes. Browder's spokesperson says, "there's nothing concrete," but, if asked "Ben will absolutely try to make time. Ben has always been in love with the character John Crichton and the
Farscape series."
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Edited by TV Guide Staff at 07/24/2007 1:00 PM
