Farscape, a co-production by the Jim Henson Company in the U.S., Hallmark Entertainment in the U.S. and Nine Films and Television, part of Nine Network in Australia, blends state-of-the-art animatronics from the Jim Henson Creature Shop, CGI and live action to create a sci-fi universe on location in Australia. And for anyone who remembers back to 1978, let me assure you, it ain't "Pigs in Space."

The 22 x one-hour project-dubbed by the Jim Henson Company as its "most ambitious production ever"-begins in 1991, when Brian Henson, president of the Jim Henson Company, and his team of developers toss around ideas for a sci-fi show.

Set apart from other sci-fi shows with its present-day setting, Farscape opens with a 20th century astronaut getting caught in a wormhole and flung across the universe, arriving without invitation into the middle of an alien conflict. The hero, John Crichton, played by Party of Five's Ben Browder, lands on a living animatronic ship named Moya, joining a motley band of rebel alien refugees-a creative combo of prosthetics and animatronics-in their battle against the Peacekeepers.

Marcie Ross, VP of the TV group at Henson and creative exec on Farscape from its inception, explains: "Brian [Henson]'s dream was to do a show that utilized all the talents of the Creature Shop in London-the wonderful designers and puppeteers and our licensing and merchandising and publishing division. The `-ber' picture for the whole project was to link all elements of the [Jim Henson] Company." At the same time, exec producer and series creator Rockne O'Bannon, the former exec producer and writer of the SeaQuest DSV series and screenwriter of the feature film Alien Nation, signs on as collaborator.

Don't even try to spot the Muppet. Farscape marks a departure for the Jim Henson Company from strictly family fare by aiming for an older prime-time audience. "`Family' tends to be a bad word in TV," says Ross, explaining that family programming tends to connote programming without an edge. "I think the whole Henson mentality is to always have humor and to play the story on lots of different levels, everything from the Muppet humor to a show like Farscape." Ross adds, "I think younger audiences are going to appreciate it because it's this cool spectacle with strange animatronics and creatures and technology, and the adults are going to be drawn to it through some pretty sophisticated storytelling."

Duncan Kenworthy, then-GM of Jim Henson Productions (which was renamed the Jim Henson Company last year), pitches Farscape in 1992 to Fox in the U.S., which passes. Angus Fletcher, senior VP of international co-production, development and TV distribution at the Jim Henson Company, reflects on the network's reluctance: "This really was a show on such a scale-with animatronic-heavy characters. You can't pilot such a show-you need to do a certain number of episodes before the [budget] numbers begin to make sense. That was primarily the problem with Fox, and indeed with many broadcasters. To launch a significant number of episodes cold is a brave decision on everyone's part." But, he cautions, "if you start looking around saying, `there's too much or too little, too this, too that,' you run into the danger of not being able to make anything because you can always find a reason to not make something."

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