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Save Farscape - Red, Teri and Jool of the Save Farscape Campaign, interviewed at Gallifrey One

Introducing the campaign
  Could you tell us who you are and what you all do?

My name is Nina, my screen-name is Red, and I started the Save Farscape.com website. Our campaign has been up to this point about trying to get new viewers, and trying to get good press for Farscape. Just get Farscape out in the public eye and try and get more viewers and hopefully a future for Farscape in one form or another.

My name�s Teri, my board name is Walter�s girl. I�m board cheerleader I guess, keeping her motivated, and running around doing grunt work, trying to talk up Farscape to whoever I can, converting folks at work, they all think I�m a little bit crazy. But it�s a good crazy, and I like that.

I�m Julie, and my board name is Jool. I�m the media relations person for the Save Farscape.com website, and basically what we do is try to get the name of Farscape out there in the press, make it a known commodity, so that people take an interest and tune in, and those people who are casual viewers actually realise what�s going on with the show, and tune back in and let Sci-Fi or whatever station they happen to be working on, let their stations know how much they appreciate the show.

Advertising Farscape
  What does the campaign do?

We want people to contact the advertisers for Farscape, and let them know that we�re concerned about the future for Farscape, and we�ve seen them advertise on Farscape. [We've also been] writing to the Sci-Fi Channel and UPN and Viacom. We have had ads placed in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, also fans have placed ads in their local newspapers.

A group of anonymous fans bought the cover of the weekly Variety a couple of weeks ago, beautiful cover. We�ve done radio advertising across the US and two series of television commercials, also across the US, in all the major markets in the US.

Getting a response
  What's the reaction to the work of the campaign been like?

Red: A lot of people have seen the television commercials, it�s been quite exciting. I get emails saying "did you know? I saw a fan commercial."

Teri: There were some on the Sci-Fi Channel too, which was fabulous.

Red: "An advertisement for Farscape on the Sci-Fi Channel. Cool!"

Have you had support from fans of other shows?

Well, we�re at a Doctor Who convention here and we just asked for a fan table. [The organisers] let us pick whatever table we wanted, so we picked the best one, of course. They gave us our own panel, and they invited us be part of the Farscape panel.

It�s just been incredible. Across the board, from all kind of fandom they�ve been helpful, and Farscape fans just keep saying what can I do, what more can I do, what can I give you, how can I help?

Caring for the cast
  What do the cast and crew of Farscape think of the campaign?

David Franklin can�t stay away from our table here. He keeps coming back. He�s fabulous. The actors, they seem, really happy and amazed by what we�ve done. They�re excited by what we�ve done.

They�re so isolated in Australia - now they�re here they�re seeing how much their fans care about them and that�s a fabulous, wonderful thing. To know that we made their day. The show got cancelled but they�ve got fans who care, and whether we win or lose, they know we�re out here, they know we care.

Success in sight?
  Do you think that the campaign is succeeding?

Red: It�s hard to gauge what effect we�re having. I�m told, and we hear things, that people are watching, people in the industry are watching us. We had an executive at another network mention that we were the largest fan campaign in television history, from his point of view. It�s hard to see it from our side, but from his side that�s what he�s seeing.

Teri: It would be hard for Sci-Fi not to see that they�ve got a valuable commodity and that there are people out there who really want to see it continue. Fans that want to see it continue, but the advertising side of it, the fans are like, "we want to throw our money at you, please let us throw their money at you, you�ve got a good show, we want to keep watching it, it�s going to be financially profitable for you, look at the response we�ve got. This is because of a show you produced. Be the good guys here and put it back on the air.

Jool: The critics have been amazing, the critics have been especially supportive and it�s been reported that at the winter TV press junket, when Bonnie Hammer, President of Sci-Fi, tried to sidestep questions about Farscape the critics actually yelled at her, and said no, and made her give an explanation as to why they cancelled Farscape. She was in the process of trying to introduce her new programming, and they would not let her do that before she�d answered their questions about why she was cancelling Farscape, or why Universal Television was cancelling Farscape.

Red: Every time Sci-Fi gets mentioned in the press, we get mentioned. Which is a huge coup. I can�t tell what effect we�re having. We hear rumours, and I don�t know how solid they are, they could be interested one week and the next week everything changes. I know people are watching us. People in the industry are watching us. I hope something good will happen. If I didn�t think we had even a chance I wouldn�t be here, because I have other things I can do.

What next?
  What can the fans do now to try to save Farscape?

Have a Farscape party, and write letters. And invite your friends.

We�ve had some fans in the UK working with fans in the US taking out ads in the US papers to try and get the ratings up. UK fans are just fabulous, I get emails every day from fans in the UK, I just love them. And they can write to the Sci-Fi Channel, that will work.