far-star-scape-trek-mash-up

Article first published as The Far-Star-Scape-Trek-Mash-Up on Blogcritics.


Thanks to holiday gifts and the local library, we've been having a bit of a sci-fi marathon lately. My brother gifted us with the second season of Star Trek (the one with the tribbles), and my daughter has been enjoying Captain Kirk's unparalleled talent: talking computers out of destroying the universe (I am NOMAD!), as well as his amazing fighting skills (always that one little streak of blood at the side of his mouth after he takes a punch).

At the same time we started watching Star Trek I found the first season DVD of Farscape at the library and decided it would be fun to watch that again, too. I was a huge fan of the show first-run (at least the first two seasons—I started to lose track of it when the SciFi channel started messing with the schedule and the show added an annoying red-headed character), and was curious to see if it would hold up. It did. It's just as sassy, silly and scientific as I remember it. I planned at first to watch it after the kid went to bed, but being the holidays she was staying up later, and she actually stayed awake and got into the pilot episode so much she asked to see some more. So we have been having a fun mash-up of some great television science fiction.

It's no surprise that the two shows have many similarities. Ben Browder's John Crichton was clearly and consciously modeled on James Tiberius Kirk, in fact, Farscape may well be the meta-Star Trek. It is full of pop-culture references and sly jokes upon itself. Crichton makes many pop culture references in the series, including worrying that Buffy the Vampire Slayer might be dead by the time he gets back to Earth and writes "Hi there!" on a nuclear bomb.

Farscape also takes the human-thrown-into-the-barrel-of-aliens much farther than Star Trek did with its Klingons and Romulans by making its Enterprise, the ship, Moya, a living being. Farscape also has the added attraction of having main characters designed by The Jim Henson's Co., which supposedly will be producing some additional webisodes with all of the characters. I've been a huge fan of Brian Henson since he played the Storyteller's Dog in The Storyteller,  a great series also featuring Henson Co.'s human/creature collaborations. Farscape's characters of Rigel, the selfish deposed king and Pilot, the ship's pilot are very real and inspire as much involvement and emotion as their human costars.

Farscape can go full-steam with humor, but still keep its science where Star Trek could only occasionally do humor. A sign of the times. Star Trek was blazing the trail and had to be a bit more serious in its approach, whereas Farscape could do multiple riffs on Star Trek and just about anything else it could think of. There's much to love in both shows, and I think our mash-up is helping point out some of the best parts of both universes. Here are some of our favorite pairings:

"Assignment: Earth" is a great Star Trek episode, which almost spawned a spin-off featuring hipster alien Gary Seven, whose job is to save the universe (I think) is almost prevented by guest star Teri Garr and Kirk and Spock. This matched well with Farscape's "I, E.T." where Crichton and Co. have to visit a planet (similar to all of those Star Trek episodes where Kirk & Co go to an earth-like planet and have to make friends to get help with something they need, for the ship or an ill comrade, etc.) to find a special substance that will heal Moya.

In "Exodus from Genesis" space bugs invade Moya and create duplicates of the crew, which was a nice counterpoint to the classic Star Trek Mirror, Mirror episode where Kirk, Uhura and Chekhov are beamed to an alternate universe where everything is different and evil and Spock has sexy sideburns and a goatee.

Crichton gets zapped in "Back and Back and Back to the Future" and starts experiencing potential glimpses of the future - all involving the deaths of himself and his shipmates, unless he can find a way to change the current course of events. This paired nicely with "I, Mudd," which wasn't exactly about multiple time warps, but the multiple androids were funny and fun and just as potentially lethal until super-Kirk figured out how to bust up their main computer link.

When watching a series that has been off the air for quite some time it always makes me wonder—where are these actors now? We all know about the main Star Trek cast, some of who have passed on, some who turn up in the reboot and some who are all over the place. But what about all those Aussie actors and transplanted American leading man from Farscape? A little searching on imdb reveals that Ben Browder is starring in a web series, Naught for Hire.

With so many of us hooking up our laptops to our televisions and watching old favorites on Hulu and similar sites, this seems like just another way to keep working. Claudia Black who played Aeryn Sun seems to be busy with voice work since having her second child. Virginia Hey has apparently stopped acting and relocated to the US, where she is launching a business based on her long interest in natural therapies. Maybe inspired by the deleterious effects all that blue make-up she had to wear as Zhaan had on her skin and kidneys.

If you can't find the DVDs, Farscape is available on Amazon and iTunes. And Brian Henson still promises more webisodes. So there are many more mash-up possibilities in our future. And then there are the action figures ...

hulu hula

I've been very happily Lost the past few weeks. How did I miss this show? Oh right, I have a five year old and it's been on for five years...

Anyway, it's never too late to join the party, luckily, especially with hulu and my fabulous MacBook Pro screen. So these days after the kid is tucked in bed I have been tucking myself in and settling back into an episode or two on my laptop. I'm halfway through season two at the moment.

I love television, always have, and enjoy shows in many different genres, but my favorites are usually found in mystery, fantasy or British categories (Buffy, Angel, Poirot, The Avengers, Farscape, Are You Being Served?, The Night Stalker, Lovejoy—the list goes on and on). I wouldn't say that Lost is the greatest show I've ever seen, mostly because I shy away from superlatives, but it is damn good, as Sawyer might say. It manages to blend fantasy, mystery, romance, even a reality/Survivor feeling with excellent characterization. Most of the actors are top notch. Even with its intricate plotting the show, although full of quick-moving action, isn't afraid to let the characters take time to interact, both on the island and in glimpses of their past. Some might find it slow, but I love it.

Lost manages to tap into our deepest fantasies and fears. Who hasn't had a deserted island fantasy? What if you could start fresh, where nobody knew your baggage—is that even possible, or does it follow you to paradise? What could be scarier than a plane crash? Or your child being kidnapped? Or not being sure you can trust those around you? Or will you will be able to survive in a very unpredictable wilderness? What does it take to bring out your very worst or your very best? How interconnected are we all really, if we bothered to find out? But you get the idea. So excuse me. I've got some more episodes to catch up with . . .

what, me worry?

There's a lot of talk these days about carbon footprints and how we can all reduce them. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

I give this thought, from time to time, when I'm not swigging from my plastic water bottle or after I have forgotten (again) to bring the reusable bag to the supermarket, so opt for plastic. Sorry, it's easier to carry multi-plastic bags on the walk home...

The New York Times recently had a small piece on just these sorts of issues that prick our conscience and how not to think about them. I hate to admit it, but I love the idea. I am a worry wort by nature, so anything I can knock off my running list, is welcome. The Times has a short but interesting list, including reducing gas emissions, cell-phones, plastic bags, BPA and those plastic water bottles - all things that have crossed my radar. But wormholes? Wow, I never really was too concerned about them, unless it was during an episode of the much-beloved and sorely-missed Farscape.

I believe in global warming and Al Gore, but on a quest to simplify my life, I guess what I am really looking to do is to try to live the best way that I can, and if I can reduce some of these carbon footprints during my daily routine (like not running the water while I brush my teeth) than all the better. But I will not spend a half hour every night running around unplugging appliances to save some energy. My down time is too limited and too precious and I already have enough routines to follow in this hectic life. And it's such a pain having to reset that DVD clock, isn't it?

But I have compiled my own short list of ways to reduce waste:

• No more travel/meetings - there is such a thing as the conference phone - it's not necessary to use up gas, charge expenses, etc. Meet virtually.
• More flexible schedules - why are we still so married to 9-5? Traffic would be eased if folks could swing in later, or earlier, as desired. This goes for school schedules too. Different ages and classes could start at different times. School days could be a little shorter for younger children. Why are kids expected to pull 8-10 hour shifts like their parents?
• Remember to bring that reusable bag to the store. It's much better than paper or plastic.
  
• Close some of those Starbucks - oh, never mind, that's already happening...
• Don't cruise the gossip/entertainment sites - they might be fun sometimes, but it's such a waste of time and it exposes one to just how foul-mouthed and bored the average internet poster really is, not to mention the intellectual level of the subjects of the gossip.
• Adopt the $5 rule.