There was a specific format and approach that many sci-fi series during the 90s followed. Taking popular series like Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, for example, humanity had an established footprint and influence in space. When Farscape premiered on Syfy in March of 1999, the series took the opposite approach. To offer something different was the creators’ intention from the start.
Humans are relatively unknown and insignificant in Farscape‘s grand scheme. John Crichton is an experienced astronaut, but he’s transported into a part of the galaxy where his experience means very little. The simple shift in perspective gave Farscape the ability to stand out among its contemporaries of the era. For Star Trek fans in general, the series presents a fun ride from a different point of view.
Farscape Took Creative Risks That Were Rare in Sci-Fi
Farscape became a cult classic because it dared to be different during an era when sci-fi shows were busy copying each other. This was intentional and by design. Creator Rockne S. O’Bannon, known for The Twilight Zone, Alien Nation and seaQuest DSV, had spent years working in the genre before desiring to create something fresh.
The idea that came forth was the basis for Farscape, and O’Bannon had an unlikely partner. After Brian Henson took over as the head of the Jim Henson Company after his father’s death, he wanted to expand the company and prove that advanced puppetry and animatronics could be used for more than just children’s entertainment.
Brian Henson grew up a fan of sci-fi and wanted to highlight the capabilities of the Henson Creature Shop with a full-scale, mature science fiction series. Henson thus paired with O’Bannon. Farscape spent years in development under the working title Space Chase. Henson and O’Bannon initially approached Fox, hoping the success of The X-Files would land them the opportunity, but Fox went a different route.
CBR Exclusive · Star Trek Quiz WHICH STAR TREK LEGEND ARE YOU? Engage — Quiz Sequence Initiated 🖖 Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of your personality. From the bridge of the Enterprise to the holodeck, from Starfleet Academy to the farthest reaches of the Alpha Quadrant — the Star Trek universe is filled with legends of logic, courage, compassion, and curiosity. Twenty questions. One legendary result. Your mission begins now. 🌌
⚡Kirk
🖖Spock
🤖Data
📡Uhura
☕Picard
01
Your shift begins. The bridge is yours. What’s your first move? 🚀 How you start tells us everything about how you command.
02
Red alert! An unknown vessel is on an intercept course. You: 🛸 Crisis response reveals your true command philosophy.
03
Your Starfleet uniform colour. Which division fits best? 🎨 Your division is your destiny.
04
There’s a Kobayashi Maru–style no-win scenario in front of you. Your move? 🎯 The impossible situation defines the true officer.
05
Off duty in Ten Forward. What’s your order? 🍵 Even legends need a moment of reprieve.
06
Your greatest superpower aboard the Enterprise? ✨ Everyone has one. What’s yours?
07
Where do you feel most like yourself? 🪐 Home isn’t a planet. It’s a state of being.
08
Captain’s log, personal — what’s your actual biggest flaw? 😬 Even the greatest officers have one thing they’re still working on.
09
The crew is looking to you. How do you lead? 👊 Command style is character in uniform.
10
We’re halfway through the nebula. 🌟 What is your core mission? Not Starfleet’s mission. Yours.
11
The mission failed. The ship took a hit. What now? 😳 How you recover is who you truly are.
12
Starfleet offers you any upgrade. What do you take? 🎁 The upgrade you want reveals the officer you already are.
13
Shore leave on Risa. What are you actually doing? 🌴 How you decompress reveals your deepest self.
14
What does your Starfleet record actually say about you? 📋 The official record is just your reputation with a stardate on it.
15
Preferred method of getting from A to B in the galaxy? 🗺️ Your travel style is your whole vibe in motion.
16
What does being a Starfleet officer truly mean to you? 🌟 The final frontier is a philosophical one.
17
How will the Academy teach your legend? 🎬 Every great officer leaves a lesson for those who follow.
18
A Romulan commander is testing your resolve. You: 👀 How you handle adversaries is your combat record, your philosophy and your character.
19
Your go-to holodeck programme? 🎭 The fantasy you choose is the life you wish you led.
20
The fate of the Federation is in your hands. This is THE moment. GO! 🔥 Twenty questions. One choice. No saving now.
🖖 Starfleet has made its determination 🖖 YOUR STAR TREK LEGEND
Your scores are revealed below! The character with the highest number is your Star Trek counterpart. Read their profile to discover your true Starfleet destiny. 🌌
⚡ Kirk
🖖 Spock
🤖 Data
📡 Uhura
☕ Picard
You are boldness incarnate — and somehow it keeps working. You break rules with such magnificent conviction that the universe rearranges itself around you. Nobody has your instincts, your charisma, or your reckless genius for turning impossible odds into victory laps. You carry a crew on pure force of personality, and they would follow you into a black hole. You believe in a no-win scenario exactly as much as you believe in gravity: not at all. Live long and prosper? You’re more of a damn-the-torpedoes type. 🚀
You are the most fascinating person in any room, and you would find that sentence illogical. Cool under impossible pressure, precise where others are chaotic, and possessed of a depth of feeling you keep extraordinarily well-contained — you are proof that logic and loyalty are not opposites. You have walked between worlds your entire life. It made you harder to read and infinitely more interesting. People underestimate you until the moment you save them, at which point they simply stare. Fascinating. 🖖
You process everything faster and more thoroughly than anyone around you — and somehow still find yourself reaching for something just beyond the data. You are extraordinary by any measurable standard. What makes you remarkable is that you know it isn’t enough, and you keep searching anyway. Your curiosity is boundless, your loyalty is absolute, and the question you’re really asking — what does it mean to truly feel? — is the most human question in the galaxy. You are, without doubt, a superior being. 🌟
You hear what others miss. You speak what others cannot. You are the bridge — literally and figuratively — between every world the Enterprise encounters, and without you the mission falls silent. Sharp, culturally fluent, unflappable in a crisis, and the first one anyone wants at their side when everything depends on the right words at the right moment. People remember the captains. The ones who know the score know it was you on the comms making first contact possible. 📡
You carry history with you like armour. You speak with the weight of every civilization that came before, and you command with the gravity of someone who has read every great book and decided to live up to them. Measured where others are reckless, eloquent where others resort to force, and possessed of a moral clarity that intimidates even those who admire you — you are what Starfleet was always meant to be. Make it so is more than a command. It is a complete philosophy. ☕
Ultimately, the duo found the perfect marriage at The Sci-Fi Channel, which told them they were looking for original programming that was specifically not aimed at children. It turned out to be exactly what the network was looking for. With the Henson Creature Company supplying the effects and O’Bannon’s fresh premise, Farscape had the room to experiment where other sci-fi series had neglected.
The story is built around Ben Browder’s John Crichton. Crichton is an astronaut who travels through a wormhole and is transported to a foreign part of the galaxy. Crichton immediately encounters a firefight between a tyrannical group known as the Peacekeepers and a rogue group of convicts aboard the spaceship Moya.
This is where Farscape separates itself from the standard sci-fi series. Crichton is dropped into a place and situation he doesn’t understand, amongst others who either don’t know or don’t care about humans. That setup is the foundation upon which the show is built.
Farscape Found Its Fanbase in Sci-Fans Looking For Something Different
Image via Brian McKenzie /The Sci-Fi Channel / Courtesy Everett Collection
Though Farscape was canceled after four seasons, it developed a devoted following. That success comes back to the original concept by Brian Henson and Rockne S. O’Bannon.
Beyond making humanity the outsiders, nearly every aspect of the series was designed to go against traditional sci-fi tropes and themes. The ship, Moya, is one of the best examples. It’s a living leviathan with thoughts and instincts. There’s no military-esque structure for the crew. They’re a group of escaped prisoners who barely trusted each other, opening the door for a lot more internal conflict on the ship.
Farscape wanted to be different in every way, down to the lighting, makeup, effects, characters and beyond. The show’s lack of tradition was part of its appeal and why Farscape was able to develop a fanbase and grow into the cult classic it is now.
Release Date
1999 – 2003-00-00
Network
Nine Network, SyFy
Directors
Tony Tilse, Rowan Woods, Andrew Prowse, Ian Watson, Peter Andrikidis, Geoff Bennett, Catherine Millar, Pino Amenta, Brian Henson, Ian Barry, Brendan Maher, Karl Zwicky, Kate Woods
