Let's face it, the current landscape for televised science fiction is a barren wasteland devoid of anything but the most painfully derivative storytelling you could imagine. Yes, I can hear fans of Enterprise et al protesting such a claim. Yet, try to recall the last time fans of the genre had not just an innovative series to watch but also enough choice with which to discern mediocrity? It's no wonder then that watching shows like Andromeda or even Enterprise still feels like settling for the best of the ugly girls at the party. h3. "Harvey, kiss my medulla oblongata" Farscape, is quite possibly the only sci-fi series to date that can take concepts that convention has made antithetical to the genre--cultural references, fallible characters and even romance--and tie them together to produce stories that are both humourus and clever. The priceless exchanges between Crichton and his evil, subconcious nag, Harvey, are worth an hour of your time alone. No doubt then that for my tastes, Farscape is the last sci-fi TV show worth watching since Babylon 5 culminated its arc. Last year, in a decision that puzzles many, Farscape was disappointingly cancelled by the--perhaps misnamed--Sci-Fi channel. This left most fans of the quirky series in perpetual limbo over the fourth season's cliffhanger ending. All we wanted was the last piece in the story to tie up the loose ends and give everybody, fans and creators alike, a chance to enjoy a fitting conclusion to the series. Surely the television industry couldn't be so perpetually out of touch with sci-fi fan's... could it? Thankfully, in what savefarscape.com rightfully claims to be "one of the most impressive fan campaigns in television history," legions of fans have inspired Farscape's cast and crew to finish the story with a 4 hour miniseries that will begin production as early as next week! Despite the fact it's unlikely to air on the channel, Sci-Fi's news service is confirming that the project is a go as well. So atleast now, even if the future of sci-fi on televison is trending towards stupefying drudgery, I can remain elated in anticipation of this final chapter in Farscape's arc. Never seen the show? If you happen to have access to Canada's Space channel, you can watch a 10 hour viewer's choice marathon of the shows best loved episodes on New Years Day at 7am PT. Savefarscape also offers a short primer for newbie 'Scapers. h3. New Babylon 5 Project? I nearly happy-danced myself through the window when I came across the following post from JMS himself: bq. On the B5 front, there has been something of rather substantial proportion that's finally gone from talk to money, such that I'm now working frantically to meet some deadlines, but there's nothing I can say about this until after January 15th, probably closer to the end of that month. The only thing I can say is that phase one of the new project is a go, hence the furious writing schedule at this end of things, which is why I've been silent until deciding to kick up some dust on the political discusion. I've been writing my little brains out. I know the immediate result of this will be speculation, but if we could keep that to a low roar on the nets to avoid precluding anything, that would be a wonderfulness. But trust me: I wouldn't go on about something in this way if it wasn't a significant development. Just trust me on this one for a bit and hold fire until further word. (Longtime followers of the various news groups know that an eep means that something significant has happened, but that I can't talk about it...the eep is just a way of saying, on the QT, that something has, indeed, happened and it's real, not just speculation or maybe-gonna-happens. So on that basis, you may consider this an eep.) The fifth season of Farscape and more stories in the B5 universe? The events of 2004 are beggining to set the stage for what appears to be our last, best hope for worthy science fiction for many years to come.