Last year at this time, Farscape fans were waiting to hear if all our efforts would pay off, if the To Be Continued we were promised at the end of the last episode would be fulfilled. We suffered through the entire weekend waiting for a word that would not come. Although suffered isn't entirely accurate; we were being told in every way except a direct statement that Farscape would indeed be back.
Now flash forward to November, 2004. The promised Farscape miniseries had aired, the four-season-long story had come to a satisfying conclusion, the efforts of all the fans had paid off. And so we prepared to celebrate, while at the same time asking ourselves what next? Is this really the end? Or are there more stories waiting to be told. Enquiring minds want to know...
Creation's fifth annual Burbank Farscape convention began with the
appearance of Richard Manning, Executive Producer, writer and all
around loon. I'll know that the Burbank con has ceased to be the
first time I don't see Ricky's name in the lineup. More than any of
the cast, Ricky is the heart and soul of these events, our
connection to the people in charge and their connection to us.
Ricky used this first session to talk about the mechanics of making
a television show and in particular, the history behind the making
of Crackers Don't Matter, a season two favorite that was to
be the basis of a commentary at the end of the con. But his talk
was about more than mere mechanics; it revealed the kind of Farscape
genius that turned the necessity of doing a low budget shipbound
episode (a "bottle" show) into the sort of inspired craziness that
kept us all coming back. And how a minor plot device, the
appearance of Scorpius in John Crichton's delusions, led to the
creation of Harvey, Farscape's most original character. (And if
that didn't make any sense, go watch the first two seasons in their
entirety. I'll be here when you get back.)
Next up after Ricky and a well fought trivia competition was
Bianca
Chiminello, the beautiful if excessively tall former model who
played Peacekeeper assassin Jenavian Charto in the Look At The
Princess trilogy. It is perhaps a mark of what makes Farscape
cons different from other genre events that a one-shot actress most
of us had already met at last year's
Scapercon and
Burbank con would be welcomed and
appreciated not just for her connection to the show but for
herself. Bianca talked about her work and her life with warmth and
good humor, delighting us with a word picture of her breaking into
her own car. Twice. Her time was over too quickly, as she took her
bow and then went to sign the banners that would be auctioned off
later. (And demonstrating another of her impressive aspects.)
Which did make me wonder yet again: What the heck do the winners do
with these enormous banners? Who has ceilings that high? But I
digress.
Following an auction of some genuinely cool artifacts from the show,
as well as a lot of junk (I bought a piece of the former, although
it might have been the latter), we were treated to a little award
ceremony. The Henson people had put a little contest together to
reward some of the fan promotional activity. At left we have some
of the Chicago Scapers who somehow managed to Scape an entire
marathon. I've seen pictures of their efforts and admit to a bit of
awe. But I'd love to have seen that sea of yellow Scorpius balloons
among all the race fans that day. One hopes that when Farscape goes
into syndication next year our publicity efforts can achieve similar
levels of enthusiasm and success.
Of all the cast members on Farscape,
Wayne Pygram may be the
most changed by his experiences. Before playing the articulate and
menacing Scorpius, Wayne was mostly used for working man kinds of
parts. Now he's in demand for more sophisticated roles, including,
if rumors are to be believed (he would neither confirm nor deny),
that of Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars III, the part played by Peter
Cushing in the original. Wayne was also more energetic and
opinionated about Farscape and Scorpius, including his disagreements
with the Powers That Be about some of his character's actions. It
was great to see him so fully recovered from his long, and long
undiagnosed, gluten allergies. And equally great that the movie
business had discovered what Scapers have known since the
beginning. Wayne was gracious enough to pose with all the Scapers
in the Mambo Lost Weekend shirts he'd made famous on the show. How
goofy do you have to be to wear something just because some actor
did in some show? What losers these people are! (Your humble
webmaster is in the lower right corner of the picture. Which I
think proves my point.)
After a dinner break, we were back in the room for a special treat:
a performance by Wayne's other band. Two years ago they called
themselves Number 96; now they're
Signal Room. The band is a labor of love on the part of its
members. As songwriter, lead vocalist and sometime actor Anthony
Simcoe explained later, acting is what he does professionally; music
is his passion. And passionate the band members certainly are;
they had the room rocking! And my ears ringing; sometimes having a
front row seat is a mixed blessing. Fortunately, I'll have more
control over the volume when I listen to the band's CD.
The concert should have been the day's end. But there was one last
item on the schedule: a commercial free presentation of Farscape:
Peacekeeper Wars, the miniseries we'd fought so hard to get. How
could I miss that, both a chance to see the mini on a big screen and
in the company of the bestest people on the planet? I couldn't, of
course. And somehow I made it through to the end, dragging myself
up to my room at 1:30 Saturday morning. Could have been
worse, I suppose. I could have spent all that time in the hotel
bar. (Which I did Thursday night. And Saturday night. And a
little bit of Sunday night. Gee, I think I'm detecting a pattern
here.)
Brian Henson, co-president of the firm with his sister Lisa,
director of Peacekeeper Wars and the man who never gave up on the
show or its fans, opened day two of the con. In his too-brief
appearance, he explained a lot about his family's buyout of the
Jim Henson Company, why being a
small production house is really a benefit (the networks that do
distribution don't see you as competition), why selling the
Muppets
to Disney was the right move and how his father would have looked
at Henson's new direction. He talked about directing the mini, his
desire to tackle a Farscape feature film now that the main storyline
of the series has been wrapped up and the connection between the fan
activities and his own efforts. He tried to give us all way too
much credit, which is why we all appreciate him the way we do. He
accepted some fan-produced awards, laughed at a Kentucky Scaper
being named by the legislature the state's official Farscape
representative, waved goodbye and was gone. And I thought that it
won't be long before a whole generation starts thinking of the
Muppets as the long ago creation of Brian Henson's dad.
Next up was David Franklin, loyal Peacekeeper officer and
Smithers
to Scorpy's
Mr.
Burns. David has made the leap from
Oz to Lalaland and is working hard on
his American accent, despite casting directors' interest in his more
exotic natural sound. He talked glowingly about his calendar, made
during the filming of the mini's complex battle scenes. Apparently
there was plenty of time between setups for a naturally mischievious
soul like Mr. Franklin to get himself and his colleagues into
trouble. One pose shows him wearing a large metal orb and a pair of
sweat socks. (For the moment, the calendar is available
here.) We
even got him to sing; Captain Braca does a pretty impressive Elvis
along with his more military skills. Truly a man of many talents
and hidden depths.
Taking pictures of Gigi Edgley presents special challenges. And I'm
not just talking about the difficulty of getting an attractive image
of someone so fundamentally nonphotogenic. (Kidding, I'm kidding.
So please, no threatening cards, letters or emails.) No, the
hard part is getting Gigi to slow down long enough for the camera to
do its thing. Farscape's little perpetual motion machine has been
busy since Bad Timing, with major roles in two Australian
television series. (Her part in the long running cop drama
Stingers sounded particularly meaty, the kind of storyline
we haven't seen on this side of the Pacific since Jerry Springer
closed up shop: a manic/depressive detective with a major fixation
on her older superior, who turns out to be her father.) Gigi did
have a few words to say about the mini, including the difficulties
she had getting Chiana's new cat's eye contact lenses to stop
rotating the wrong way around. And of course there's her
dramatic turn in that shocking scene where... but of course I
wouldn't dream of spoiling it for any furriners who haven't had the
pleasure. Suffice it to say that our little Chi is all grown up and
one hell of an actress. I just hope she won't be too big and
successful when Henson comes calling again.
I had one big wish for this year's con. Well, one wish in two
parts: first, that they'd play the D'Argo video I'd written to Da
Vinci's Notebook's Enormous
Penis in front of the
Scaper multitudes; and second, that they'd choose that particular
video to introduce D'Argo's slightly shorter but much funnier alter
ego, Anthony Simcoe. It doesn't happen often, but occasionally
wishes are granted. (I knew I should have asked for
something else. Great wealth. Or more height. Damn.)
But enough about me. (More than enough, I hear you say.) What
about Anthony? How did he react to that big... nope, still can't
talk about it. And what's he been working on since the mini
wrapped? Anthony told us about his personal project, a sci fi
comedy called Eddy's Place in Space, self-funded and cast
with unpaid volunteers, including Farscape regulars Jonathan Hardy
and Lani Tupu and a few very lucky Scapers. Sadly,
Anth wasn't terribly optimistic about the show's chances. I guess
people in the entertainment business have never seen Red
Dwarf. Or maybe they don't think it's a comedy. That would
explain the absence of laughs in the American remake.
Last for the day, but certainly not least, was utility player
Francesca Buller, most recently seen as War Minister Ahkna, the real
power behind the Scarran throne and one scary woman. Which is one
hell of a contrast from the real Fran, a lovely, warm and petite
lady who has appeared as four of Farscape's more memorable
characters, one for each season. It took some doing to get the con
organizers to invite Fran. Fortunately, Scapers are nothing if not
persistent.
("Don't make us
angry. You wouldn't like us when we're angry.") And Fran was
surprised and pleased to discover that she had her own fan club in
matching
Fran's Fans
baseball caps, who presented her with a magnificent hat in honor of
Ahkna's own remarkable headgear. Bet her husband Ben wishes he had
fans as devoted. Oh yeah, he does. But that's another story for
another time.
Scapers are a talented bunch. Disturbed but talented. And what
better to show off that talent (and the disturbance) than a talent
and costume contest? With those world renowned judges, Ben Browder,
Francesca Buller and Ricky Manning. Who in their reactions and
overreactions were easily as entertaining as the entrants, as good
as they were. And they were very good indeed, both the performers
and the costumers. The song parodies made quite an impression, with
fans begging for the lyrics to the talent winner's version of
If I Were a Rich Man
before most of us had returned home. Fortunately, both the author
and the con organizers obliged just as quickly.
The official part of day two ended with a dessert reception for
those of us who'd paid for the expensive con package. The draw for
the event was a chance to spend a moment with some of the guests.
This night it was Wayne Pygram, Anthony Simcoe and Ricky Manning.
And moment is no exaggeration; each would appear, give us a
chance to say hi and then move on. Except Ricky and his lovely wife
Cheryl; they stayed long enough to regale us with the true story of
Harvey the neural clone's Mambo shirt in Crackers Don't
Matter. It may have been the shirt off Ricky's back as we'd
been told earlier. But it wasn't his; it was Cheryl's. Ricky had
borrowed it that day when they were trying to find something
interesting for Harvey (who wasn't Harvey yet) to wear. Hey, who
says these things aren't educational?
Day three began with the traditional charity breakfast, in support
of the James Ellis Foundation at Hofstra University. This year's
silent auction included the amazing quilt at left, yet another
Scaper project coordinated at
WatchFarscape.com,
as well as the usual collection of autographed photos. But for most
of us, the high point of the breakfast is the chance for another
encounter with some of the cast. This time it was Ben, Gigi and
David. Ben was the first to arrive at our table. (First being a
relative term; the wait was interminable!) And as much as I enjoyed
teasing the women at the table about their reaction to Ben, I have
to admit that there's just something about this guy. When he
focuses his attention on you, it's like everything else in the room
recedes. I take pride in the fact that I didn't lose my power of
speech. But I have to wonder why he isn't a huge star. This is a
man with charisma to spare, both on and off the screen.
The Creation folks had ordered that there be no posed photographs,
in a faint attempt to
make the
trains run on time. Gigi Edgley, anarchist that she is, would
have none of it. Not only did she move from person to person at
each table she visited and take the time for pictures, she made sure
she didn't miss anybody. Gigi is as gracious as she is lovely,
which is saying a lot. David Franklin tried to follow the rules,
spending his time with us talking about his experiences as a new
actor in Los Angeles. (His first gig was for a nicotine therapy
product, a fitting job for a recent ex-smoker.) But if he couldn't
pose with us, we'd just have to pose with him.
A year ago, Farscape's creator Rockne O'Bannon walked out onstage
with a piece of red tape covering his mouth, a clever way of telling
us that he couldn't tell us anything about the miniseries. This
year he wasn't sure what to tell us. After all, we'd all (or mostly
all) seen the mini. And we all (or mostly all) knew about the
history of Farscape; he'd start a sentence about the show's original
name and the first network to express interest and let us finish it
for him. (If you haven't been as obsessed as the rest of us, the
answers are Space Chase and Fox.) But that didn't
leave him completely unprepared. Rock shared his amusement at
discovering that there's an Asian bootleg DVD of Peacekeeper Wars,
with some peculiar alterations. At right he's holding a photocopy
of the disc's cover, called something Knights, and which
has a bearded John from Jeremiah Crichton, D'Argo, Zhaan
and some unidentified woman (neither of whom appear in the mini)
and a couple of light sabres that clearly belong to a galaxy a long
time ago and far away. (You can see a better picture of the cover
here. Gotta love those
Nikon optics.) Rock was much cagier
about his current projects. Guess we'll just have to be patient.
Scapers are good at that. We've had to be.
I was excited when Felicity Price was added to the guest list. Not
because she's pretty and blonde (okay, not just because of
that), but because she's the one guest at this con whom I hadn't met
at a previous event. In fact, this was Felicity's first convention
appearance. Not that you'd know it; she was as comfortable in front
of the Scaper hoards as anyone I've ever seen. Then again, what
would you expect of a
genuine
certified princess? Felicity isn't a real princess, of course;
she just plays one on TV. She was Katralla, the title character in
the Look at the Princess trilogy. Fortunately, Felicity's
a lot warmer, livelier and less severe than the character she
played. And she handled the inevitable "what's it like to kiss
Ben Browder" questions with grace and wit. Now if only we
could get Scapers to stop asking such stupid questions...
Which leads us to these two ugly, ugly people: Ben Browder and
Claudia Black, AKA the first couple of the Uncharted Territories.
Creation had decided to bring out Ben and Claudia together in one
long session. Which was inspired; as good as they are individually
(and they are very good indeed), they're even better when they have
each other to play off. There can be no doubt about the amazing
chemistry between these two performers, either onscreen or off.
The horseplay started almost immediately, as Claudia attempted to
seat herself while wearing a skirt whose lack of length caused quite
a sensation. And that led to a series of incidents, as she dropped
water bottles and papers, asked Ben ever so politely to retrieve
them for her, and then gave him a not exactly colleagial stare as he
bent over to do so. I think most of us realized how much we must
have missed by not being on set before and after the cameras
rolled.
Poor Ben. Most of the questions were for Claudia, about her role in
Naked
In London (where she is not the former, although she
is the latter), a planned film called One in which
she will star and which she will co-produce, how she
prepared for the delivery of Aeryn's baby at the end of the mini,
whether Ben or Michael Shanks, with whom she acted in an episode of
Stargate SG-1 was the better kisser. Oh, and how Brian's
call to the cast for the mini threw her wedding plans into
a tizzy and forced her to postpone her honeymoon. (Disappoint
millions of Farscape fans? Disappoint the new Mr. Claudia Black?
Which would be the greater sin?) It would be
uncharitable to suggest that there was anything more than good fun
in Ben's enlisting the audience in a prank when Claudia had to
answer the call of nature. But we played along; when she returned
to the stage, everyone in the room headed for the exits. Her
expression was priceless; sadly, I was too busy exiting with the
crowd to photograph it.
It is a tribute to the lady that she didn't try to retaliate when
Ben paid his own visit to the plumbing a little while later.
Although she didn't fight too hard when we, her (and supposedly his)
loyal fans insisted that we had to do something. That
something was very clever and very funny: one Scaper ran out to the
dealer's area, bought a photograph of Michael Shanks and gave it to
Claudia to prop up on Ben's chair in his place. His reaction was
all we could have wished.
One of the things I've noticed from Ben and Claudia's appearances,
both at the Burbank cons and at this year's San Diego Comic Con, is
that they're never stuck for an answer. No matter how odd the
question, they can find something interesting to do with it. One
Scaper asked about a scene in The Locket; an aged John and
Aeryn are walking in the woods. John says something and Aeryn
breaks into a big smile. What did Ben/John say to get that
reaction, the fan wanted to know. Ben and Claudia clearly couldn't
remember; it was one moment in one of eighty-eight episodes. And
after a moment they suggested that he might not have said anything,
that they were simply following the director's instruction: "Aeryn
should laugh as if John has said something funny." And to make the
point that they are, after all actors, they both laughed
uproariously as Claudia does in the picture at right.
No matter how much time Ben and Claudia had, it wasn't enough. But
we still weren't done with the
FCotUTs.
They were joined by Ricky
Manning for the promised commentary on Crackers Don't
Matter. Unsurprisingly Ricky's comments were mostly around
aspects of production, Ben's and Claudia's around how a scene or a
line was played. I found it challenging to keep switching my
attention between the episode on the screen and the commentary.
It's a tribute to Farscape that knowing how it's done and why it's
done doesn't reduce the magic at all. And that no matter how many
times I see these episodes, they still manage to suck me in.
And that was it for the guests at the con. But there was one last
event before we were done for another year: a musical introduction
to Farscape put on by some very talented fans. This abbreviated
Scaper opera was the Reader's Digest Condensed version of something
that was a tradition at Scapercons past, including
the one I attended. It boiled four
years of episodes into thirty minutes of song parodies, good
costumes, bad gags, gross overacting and general good humor. One
would think that the performers were asking for trouble by following
three days of good times. It is a tribute to them, and to their
audience, that they were one more high note of a weekend that was
nothing but high notes.
One final note before I return you to your regular web browsing: the
Burbank cons have all been held at the Hilton across the street from
Burbank Airport. And although we tend to monopolize the hotel
lobby, the hotel is brave enough to schedule other events while
we're there. Which makes me wonder what the normals (or mundanes or
muggles or whatever you choose to call those who haven't been bitten
by this particular bug) think when they see us coming. Did the high
school reunion think they were having drug flashbacks? Did the
business seminars have trouble concentrating on their multi-level
marketing or whatever is the scam du jour? And what about the event
at right? I never did get to find out who the SoCal BARF
group were or what they were doing in the hotel. I just hope they weren't
there for a lunch meeting...1
Take me home:
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Comments to: Hank Shiffman, Mountain View, California
