FarscapeWeekly Farscape Season 4 Finale and un-Cool Rumors

Season 4 "Finale" and un-Cool Rumors
Joan Hedman ¤ 19 August 2002

The Rumor Mongers had a busy week last week, fueled by two separate sources: first, a rumor was posted on the Ain't It Cool News site, as follows:

Farscape Finished?

This from an AICN stalwart: “You didn't hear it from me, but in case you're interested... I've been told from a (very) highly placed source that FARSCAPE has been picked up for one more 13 episode season, and then will be over.” But “Farscape” has a 22-episode season, doesn’t it?

The second tizzy-producing bit of weirdness was posted on SCIFI's Farscape page, which happily proclaimed the upcoming August 23 episode as the "series finale". Since we've only seen ten episodes of season four so far, and the season does have twenty-two episodes, it seemed rather odd that SCIFI would be calling "Unrealized Reality" (4.11) the "season finale".

In response to these developments, I made some calls and eventually reached Lana Kim at SCIFI. Here's a rundown on the information that Ms Kim shared with me.

First, regarding the AICN rumor: The SCIFI Channel refuses to respond to anything posted at Ain't It Cool News as a corporate policy. They do not consider it a legitimate news source and refuse to give it credibility by treating it as such. Ms Kim would only go so far as to say, "If we had a statement, it would be made next week." That's it, so stay tuned.

Some additional information to consider about this AICN rumor: SCIFI and Henson proudly announced the 44-episodes for which Farscape was renewed. Farscape is no longer SCIFI's number one ratings draw, having been displaced by newcomer Stargate SG-1, but it's still consistently in the top handful of shows. I'll refrain from any speculation at this point, and I'll be sure to post any new information from reliable sources as it becomes available.

Second, regarding the announcement on www.scifi.com/farscape: Ms Kim assured me that the use of the phrase "season finale" was just a marketing move: "Unrealized Reality" is going to be a cliffhanger, and then there will be no new episodes until January. They want viewers to realize that there is a hiatus coming, and not be surprised next week when they tune in and find no Farscape. (For information on SCIFI's programming during the hiatus, please see Hiatus 2002.)

As of today, Monday, 19 August, it appears that the online brouhaha and various phone calls and emails have brought about a reasoned response: wording over on the Farscape page has been changed to read "Summer Finale", which has the advantage of being both descriptive and accurate.

Thanks to Andre Espinoza at Henson Co and Lana Kim at SCIFI for their help.