On the evening of Friday, September 6th, 2002, fans of the television series Farscape received completely unexpected news: despite a much-publicized two-year renewal for the series, the SCI FI Channel chose to opt out of the second year of the new contract, effectively canceling the last season of the show. Within moments, fans were using every method at their disposal--web-based discussion boards, weblogs, newsgroups, Instant Messaging, and e-mail--to spread the word. Within the hour, notices had gone up on Farscape fan websites urging viewers to contact the SCI FI Channel to protest the decision.

"We were just a very small genre TV site and I had extra space on the server, so I put up a page of information for our users. It was up by 4 AM. And then--I'm really not sure how--sometime between 4 AM Saturday morning and 3:30 PM Sunday when I checked again, we got huge."
Nina Lumpp
SaveFarscape.com Staff

The campaign to save Farscape began as fans tied up phones, fax machines and e-mail at the SCI FI Channel beyond capacity. Telegrams and overnight letters sent on Saturday began arriving as soon as the office opened on Monday morning. On September 12th, picketers gathered outside the SCI FI Channel corporate headquarters opposite Rockefeller Center in New York. By then, the campaign had developed into an all-out effort to alert the media and the show's sponsors, and to petition other networks to consider taking over the show.

Coverage of the campaign moved into the mainstream media, with articles appearing in the print versions of the LA Times and the Boston Herald, and segments on CNN Headline News. While the cancellation itself was only small news--shows with devoted fans get cancelled all the time--the immediacy of the viewer response took the production team, the SCI FI Channel and even the news media by surprise.

"I don't think any of us could have imagined the passion; the strength and depth of support we've received over the last ten days. It makes us proud, and it makes us humble."
Andrew Prowse
Producer, Farscape
September 16, 2002

Internet fan sites are not an unusual phenomenon. What is unusual about Farscape is the reciprocity between the production team and the online community, a dialogue forged early on because of the production crew's geographic isolation from its largest markets.

"When we first started, the show wasn't even airing in Australia. The only way to know how we were doing was to jump on the Internet."
Ben Browder
Actor, Farscape

"Can the Internet save a cancelled TV show?" asked Renay San Miguel of CNN Headline News, and suddenly it appeared it might. Miguel was responding to the over 500 e-mails he had received since September 7th, asking him to ådo something about Farscape'. In the 24 hours between his two segments on September 11 and 12, Miguel received another 600 e-mails from Farscape viewers thanking him for his coverage. In the same period the SaveFarscape.com website received over one million hits.

Days after the news broke, fan-funded advertising began appearing in print. The first was a simple message of support to the cast and crew in Australia, running in the Sydney Telegraph on September 13th: "Farscape is more than a heroes' journey...It is an experience of wonder, a quest for family, a renewal of hope...You imagine a universe and invite us to believe. We do. We believe in you."

Using the trade papers to send a message to the SCI FI Channel, fans took an ad in Variety stating: "We know that fan campaigns...have become a humorous cliche. Nevertheless, we are leaving the couch and the soothing rays of the cathode to take a stand." Another appeared in the Hollywood Reporter, aimed at a possible new network: "Looking for a good home--Farscape, a slightly used science fiction drama with lots of life left in it..." Remarkably, for a short time it seemed this might become a one-battle war. On September 16th, the Sydney Telegraph confirmed that negotiations for a fifth season of Farscape had been re-opened.

"The pressure you incredible people are applying is...actually having an effect. People who were once not talking are talking again."
David Kemper
Executive Producer, Farscape

Interviewed by CNN Headline News, Farscape star Ben Browder was pessimistic. Things didn't look good. Two days later Kemper and writer-producer Richard Manning confirmed Browder's sad news: despite the fan outcry bringing all parties back to the table, the insoluble financial difficulties on both sides still prevented them from reaching an agreement. Negotiations were over. The sets were gone.

"Sets can be rebuilt. Stay a community...We come on in January. Last eleven eps. As Ben said, "'Get us a 2.0.' Then smile."
David Kemper
Executive Producer, Farscape

This setback called for a shift in focus by the campaign: not only to seek publicity but to gain viewers. If Farscape could win a 2.0 rating for the second half of the fourth season (a benchmark the show had not previously reached) the advertising rates would go up to a level that made the show viable to finance. And if the SCI-FI Channel was still not interested--an increase in ratings might be dismissed as a fluke, or merely the result of publicity generated by the campaign--a 2.0 rating would still help convince other networks the show could be profitable for them, with proper support and promotion.

"Farscape was made with so much love. They're a family out there. And they've always made us feel like part of that. We're the tumultuous mass of distant cousins, but still...families stick together when things get rough."
Fiona Stevens
SaveFarscape.com Staff

"I promise you, the people who make Farscape are ready to make more. Maybe we will get the chance. Maybe YOU will give us that chance."
David Kemper
Executive Producer, Farscape