Claudia Black just posted to the scifi.com bulletin board:
The purpose of this message is two-fold. Firstly, thank you for a successful and very enjoyable convention tour. Secondly we would like to send out our best wishes to everyone in New York. We walked into town and lit a candle on the steps of a closed church last night. What else is there to do but try and give blood and pray for everyone.
We are here in town until the planes start running and are being taken care of by a large and caring group of collegues from the Henson Group. So lucky to have members of our work family with us at this time.
As much as I have wondered how Aeryn would be dealing with this the very human me has been a little teary, a lot scared and very grateful to be alive.
Ben has plying me with chocolate and has firmly established himself as a real life hero.
Chick with gun and black tee signing out for now somewhere in nyc…..
This a flashback post to September 2001. There was a Farscape Convention held in New York City that year the week after the Burbank one. On that fateful morning of September 11th, Ben and his family as well as Claudia Black were at their hotel in the city, all planning travel to the United Kingdom. Claudia posted later in the week on the Scifi Channel Farscape board (under her handle chickwithagun) that she was fine and Ben had brought her coffee and chocolate. This site posted a message from Ben that they were alright as well. I misplaced discs containing many of my old posts and at times like these am very annoyed at myself!! I also didn’t foresee still running this in 2016! The classic photo from that con courtesy of CaScaper Sandy who attended.
I asked Ben Browder a few questions (with the help of some fans!) about the anniversary.
1) I have always been impressed by the pride that is evident when you talk about Farscape, so I ask this every 5 years —- have your feelings about Farscape changed or mellowed since it ended?
Having just watched a number of episodes in preparation for the 25th Anniversary … I was struck by how many were REALLY entertaining and cool. I also watched some that I felt were subpar or wonky. Farscape was bold, sometimes amazing, and on occasion kinda frelled. But I still find the freslin worth the squeeze. But there are many days where I don’t think of Farscape … 25 years ago, there wasn’t an hour or two per day that I wasn’t thinking of Farscape. That was part of the Job. I’m sure that means my feelings HAVE changed as I’m stuck with only memories of those days .. Not sure that feelings mellowed with age…. I just have different things to obscess over.
2) What do you think Farscape brought to viewers that is missing on TV programs these days?
There is so much on TV/streaming these days it would be presumptuous for me to access what could possibly be missing. Our early 2000s viewing experiences were very different by the nature of the delivery system … we had to plan a time and place to watch a show. So HOW the audience experienced a TV show was VERY different, and there were far fewer options. It might be the META experience is so different that I can’t compare these days to those days. Are there any deeply philosophical, romantic, adventure space shows with lots of cool creatures, stunning prosthetics, Henson puppets and Australian talent being made right now?
3) My favorite fan question asked about Farscape at a convention was at Dragon Con 2010 —- what would have happened had there been 2 Aeryns instead of 2 Johns? What is the best question you have been asked about the show?
Too many questions. too little time. When in doubt … boxers or briefs?
4) From Lynn (@plvanover88) — fan since 2014 :If you could have changed anything about Farscape what would it be?
20/20 hindsight? … I might plot season 4 as though it were the FINAL season. But obviously that’s above my pay grade anyway and you’d need a seer to inform those changes. If I were in charge of the world … I’d spend more time learning what worked, what failed, and figuring out how to do better next time. It’s a hard business learning from your failures and success’s.In the moment , with the limitations of time and space … you do the best you can. I’m not prepared to go back in time and change anything, who knows what would be destroyed?
5) From Krista(@FragmentedSand) fan since 2000 : In S3 did you prefer playing one of the Crichtons over the other? If so why? If you liked playing them equally —- -why?
Black Tee John was more fun to play. He was in a happier place and that was fun for a change.
6) From Jen (@JenLRossman) — fan since 2023 : What do you think John is up to now? Would you like to play him at this age?
I think after a brief respite … John got tangled up in another galaxy wide conflict … but this time with a gaggle of kids in tow … his kids have brought home ANOTHER brand new universe ending problem. I’d love to play an aging John with ALL of the benefits and deficits that age brings … Farscape Vol 2 : The Swinging Sixties.
7) From Nora (@ScaperNora) fan since 2001 : Do you ever dream you are still working on Farscape?
I still have dreams that I’m playing college football, which is … usually a nightmare. I still have dreams that include the cast and crew of Farscape. I still have dreams of Australia. I can’t recall an actual “work” dream …. That might be fun.
8) From Taja (@TajaKayScaper) fan since 1999 : What is something singular/remarkable/memorable that has come about because of being on Farscape?
Being on Farscape changed everything. I got sucked down a wormhole. There is before(BFS) and after (AFS). As Aeryn said … “You have ruined my life, John Crichton”.
So @JenLRossman is doing a first watch of Farscape on Twitter and has reached John Quixote. She is also doing a SG1 first watch and has heard Ben shows up as a character named Cameron and questioned why John!Headroom suggested Cameron as a name for the sword. I asked Ben as I was pretty sure I remembered the question from a con but wanted my facts straight! He responded and included a bit with why they came up with John!Headroom that I don’t remember hearing.
“Yea it was years before SG1…The Cameron was for Cameron Diaz. Uma was Uma Thurman. Winona was Winona Ryder.Funny how things turn out.
Original production draftwas a split screen . Elevator boy(played by John Crichton) wearing a bellhop outfit… when looking to save money and time we turned Elevator Boy into a video screen… which lead us to use the John Headroom motif.
There were many changes that would occur after production drafts of nearly EVERY script. I kept all my shooting scripts…wish I had the production drafts as they tell an interesting tale. Zaahn in a Van was also post production draft..original draft had a forest. The TV that dropped from the tower was originally a couch… as we threaded a television screen as a recurrent motif in episode”
I have always loved this ep but also “hate” that it keeps showing me new things with each watch!!
Syfy posted some quotes from Ben about Farscape and SG1 from 2005. At cons it is always interesting to watch his face as he prepares his answer to the question from SG1 fans about how great it must have been to get to be on a “real” or the “best” scifi show. He is always honest and thoughtful and often the fan is surprised. To me the shows are apples and oranges. Ben describes the differences concisely. I have never done acting or any of the things involved in creating a show/play but if that was my thing I would choose Farscape just for the opportunity to do something soooo different! On the most basic level it looks different for scifi —- the sets, the aliens, the lack of polyester. It has guns and bad guys but is not military. The article quotes Ben regarding the world building in Farscape, something the creators did very well comparing it to SG1‘s mostly Earth based mythology. Farscape was different in 1999 that goes without saying. I give most TV scifi a shot and though I love ST:Strange New Worlds, most remains unchanged from when I was a kid in the 1960s watching Lost in Space and Star Trek. Farscape is still unique and I enjoy seeing and listening to new fans of all ages discover the wonders I have seen!
The weekend after the producers and cast announced that Farscape was being cancelled in the public mIrc chat, my fellow CaScaper Avenging Angel came over for dinner and we discussed what we as fans could do. She was a marketing exec for another television studio ( ironically that had passed on Space Chase). Her angle was attracting an entity to produce it so we decided to take an ad in one of the trades. At the time the paper versions were staples in industry offices. Side note from 2023 —- I have to wonder if the digital versions hold the same power today. So we came up with a rough idea and the following Monday I called The Hollywood Reporter. After confusion in their ad department a woman figured out my goal and was intrigued as she hadn’t encountered fans using their magazine before. Another group was contacting Variety as well so Scapers were innovative! She worked great with me and was super patient. Avenging Angel and I decided September 12 , a Thursday was ideal (not wanting to deal with the 1st anniversary of 9/11 which was a raw thing for all of us). All the clever ideas were hers and any mistakes mine!
David Blue posted a photo of he and Ben on one of the picket lines last week. David is active on social media and posts his thoughts and other info about strike issues usually with references and photos with fellow actors and writers. I had a chance to ask Ben if he wanted to share any thoughts about what SAG-AFTRA was fighting for. He responded and included supporting documents.
Photo was snurched —- follow David @DavidBlue (Twitter) or david_blue (Instagram).
Only 12% of Sag-Aftra (20,000 actors out of 160,000 union members) make enough income (~$26,000 GROSS) per year to “qualify” for Union healthcare. I’ve personally lost SAG Healthcare on multiple occasions due to lapses in work.
Inflation has FAR outstripped the pay bumps negotiated from previous negotiations.
If you can’t make a living as an actor, its no longer a profession.
Our professions, actors, and writers, and directors, and crew, and post productions etc… We make the art that makes these big companies 30 BILLION+ in profits per year. That’s NET, not Gross…
Studio gross receipts are in excess of 200 BILLION. Creatives need a mere fraction more of those grosses to keep their professions viable.
The unions are asking a pay bump to keep up with inflation. The union wants some transparency from streamers so that creatives may share in the success. The union is trying to grapple with the changing media/technology landscape. The unions are trying to protect a living wage for its younger members and the struggling members.
My hope is that the companies will come to see SAGAftra and WGA as an important of the source of their wealth and understand that the health of our profession is in their financial interests.
*Ben’s comments shown in italics
People tend to forget most actors never see one of those $20,000,000 paychecks. Those actors are also supporting the strike in many ways as they remember their early days. Getting work post pandemic has changed radically as now it often auditions resemble Tinder. A video is sent in and the actor has no idea if it was actually seen or the casting agent just swiped it aside. Those of us that enjoy streaming because we can tune in and rewatch a favorite series or even episode — our choices are monitored and those shows/actors should be compensated. We all like to be compensated for our work. As it is the studios don’t pay medical insurance or other benefits to majority of the actors, the actors pay their union for these because their work takes them to different studios. Like other industries studio heads salaries have risen exponentially. Our rates for streaming or cable go up regularly. Residuals need to keep up. Those of you who do free lance work know and understand this best.
A few more from Christiane of Fed Con!! I love group panels and the big SG panel was one of the last of the con! Also a couple of familiar faces from Farscape, Gigi Edgely and Ricky Manning with a cameo by Moya 😉
So fellow Ben fan Christiane sent some photos from FedCon 2023 to share!! Enjoy!!Ben likes FedCon and this time was there representing SG1 though he had many Farscape questions. I had asked him at the meet and greet about the SG1 panel that would happen the next day and he said he planned to sit back and watch Amanda Tapping and Michael Shanks with Richard Dean Anderson. Then cello happened to the delight of most fans and I suspect a surprise to his fellow panelists!
Flashback to 2001 —- article from Farscapeworld
