Lost
in ‘Scape
by Scott Thomas
From Non-Sport Update
Reprinted with permission
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For four years, Farscape has been more than merely a clever science
fiction space adventure. The weekly series brought prestige to two companies elbowing for
greater exposure in their respective industries.
By 1998, the Sci-Fi Channel cable television outlet had
emerged from an internal corporate transformation. Its new focus centered on airing more
first-run programming produced specifically for the network. Sci-Fi’s reliance on classic
shows such as The Twilight Zone, Star
Trek and Dark Shadows had been jettisoned for the present-day
special effects laden Babylon 5, LEXX and Stargate SG-1. Although vintage television fare comprised
a share of its schedule, shows such as Farscape branded Sci-Fi as a viable participant in the
prime time cable TV arena.
For Rittenhouse Archives, a similar situation existed. The
trading card firm, organized by former Fleer/Skybox executive Steve Charendoff, specialized in
science fiction subjects from its formation. However, the non-sport business had been shaking
off the effects of overproduction and other market damaging decisions since the mid-1990s. Rittenhouse’s survival as a manufacturer had hardly
been assured.
As with the Sci-Fi Channel, Rittenhouse looked toward
classic television. Their first project, the 1999 Twilight Zone, proved a triumph in current card making
technology. The black and white imagery the company published became a unique attribute in the
hobby.
A New Classic
Farscape debuted on Sci-Fi in March 1999. Recalled
Charendoff, “We took a chance originally with the license just a few months into the show.
Among the new TV shows, you couldn’t have found something that was better. We hit on an A
property at that time.”
A six-card preview later that year foreshadowed an
ambitious Farscape Season 1 collection. Four chase card levels, six
different costume cards and five actor autographs, had enhanced the 72-card base set. “My
feeling was we would have been satisfied with five to six thousand boxes of the first
series,” Charendoff said. We sold out 8,000 boxes. That
product put us in a new position in terms of our profile as a manufacturer of entertainment
cards.”
The Philadelphia-area firm went on to release Farscape’s
next two seasons plus Farscape
In Motion, a 6,000-box print run that included a six-card Sound In Motion chase
level. The company also marketed limited addition supplemental collectibles. Beginning with Season 2,
Rittenhouse made available more exotic, if pricey, memorabilia such as trading card
progressive proofs and uncut 72-base card set sheets.
If Farscape has proven a boon to Rittenhouse Archives’
entrenchment in non-sports, Sci-Fi concurrently attained critical praise within the
entertainment media. ’Scape
fanatics cheered last spring when network honchos foresaw an additional two-season future in
the adventures of John Crichton. The rarefied air of cable TV mastery rapidly vanished into
the chilling vacuum of space the following September. Lead actor Ben Browder and executive
producers David Kemper and Richard Manning announced in Sci-Fi’s Farscape chat
room that the series would not return for a fifth year. In the chat session, Kemper wrote to
stunned users, “We are all hugely sad. I am
shaking as I write this. Being just the people who make the show and not the corporate
entities that fund it, we are as helpless as anyone.”
Escalating production costs—published reports cited a $4.5 million
figure per episode—and disappointing viewer ratings during the show’s rerun cycle
ultimately grounded Farscape.
According to Sci-Fi’s president Bonnie Hammer, Farscape’s serialized story lines could not capture new
or casual viewers. Said Hammer in an interview by TV Guide Online in January, “It was basically an
invitation not
to tune in if you weren’t totally familiar with the show. It was brilliant if you got it,
but it took a little too much work.”
For those loyalists who “got it,” bitter disappointment
followed the cancellation notice. Fans soon realized John Crichton’s search for his true
place in the universe would not be satisfactorily played out. Cliffhangers at the end of each
season generated positive speculation. Farscape’s 22nd and last telecast, slotted for March
21, continues the practice. Although the Jim Henson Co., Farscape’s home studio, has made press statements that
plans for a TV movie are being investigated, as of this writing nothing has been firmly
established.
Charendoff disclosed his company’s marketing approach has
been altered. The base set configuration for Season 4, however, has not changed. As with previous Farscape base collections, three cards will depict and
describe each episode. Rittenhouse plans to ship
the product within days of the final telecast.
Space Chase
Virginia Hey (Zhaan), an accomplished illustrator, is
contributing nine character portrait cards that comprise one of four chase levels. Each pencil
drawing, unlike the company’s SketchFEX cards from Season 3, will be reproduced rather than individual
hand-drawings. From this series, Charendoff said the actress would sign 100 each of the nine
different ArtFEX character cards.
Other chase set titles are reappearing from previous
issues. Producer Kemper selected and wrote Behind The Scenes; Quotable Farscape depicts
memorable fourth season scenes with notable dialog. Discovery of single cards from either
chase group will carry a one in five pack insertion rate. The final chase series, Farscape
Gallery, an issue of celluloid frames housed in a cardboard window, will be scarcer with odds
to be determined.
Charendoff mentioned feedback received from hobbyists and Farscape devotees indicated a desire for increased numbers
of different costume cards. Season 3
originally had no fabric cards in the set’s product hierarchy. In the final release, costume
cards were added, although Rittenhouse guaranteed an autograph and SketchFEX card in every
unopened box.
Vessel Vestige
“Coming into the Season 4 set, we continued to feel the need to go more
heavily into the costume card area,” Charendoff said. “Now there will be one costume card
and two autographs in every box. We’ve added a piece of Moya’s interior (to the costume
card set). It’s not really a costume, it is the material used on the show to make Moya --
more of a relic.”
In January, the company initially announced four autograph
signers to be included in the new product. David Franklin (as Capt. Braca), Raelee Hill
(Sikozv), Melissa Jaffer (Noranti) and Rebecca Rigg (Cmndt. Mele-On Grayza) were the first
confirmed participants. Charendoff’s final goal of 12 autographers would result in the
largest roster of Farscape
signers for one release since the property was acquired in 1999. Also this spring, Rittenhouse
will market a set of four bobblehead dolls portraying Crichton, Chiana, Scorpius and Zhaan.
One thousand of each figurine will be manufactured.
The prospect of Farscape disappearing into a wormhole populated with
forgotten sci-fi television programs seems unlikely at this stage. What is certain in
today’s memorabilia marketplace is that nothing is truly lost in space when a corporate
entity owns a product license. Indeed, with Rittenhouse, Xena Warrior Princess trading cards continue to draw fan
and collector interest.
“I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Farscape,”
Charendoff commented. “The Henson Company is in the process of being spun-off from its
German parent. There’s been a lot of flux with this property. I’m most curious in seeing
the ratings for these last 11 episodes.”
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