Farscape The Complete Series Coming Soon From A&E Home Entertainment (1 Viewer)

They can't get this out fast enough. Goodness gracious, this is going to be one heck of a set and it's also coming in season boxed sets and not single DVD releases. Please, A&E, no Double Sided DVD's and get this set out quickly.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Farscape-Complete-Series-Coming/12228

These generally do pretty well on the used market. It will be interesting to see how they price it. I think I paid just under $200 to get the whole series in the Starburst editions. Hopefully, they can do better then that this time around for new purchasers.

It seems like sometimes A&E doesn't always get the best prints available, which is why I bought the Saint (b/w) from R2. But from reading the article this appears to be a joint venture with Jim Henson, so you would think they would be the best available.

I would say that, compared to how A&E price their DVD releases, to pay a small fortune for these sets. I would expect that these sets are going to cost around $70-80 per each season set. A&E prices their sets almost like the BBC and HBO prices their sets.

Originally Posted by Mark Talmadge

I would say that, compared to how A&E price their DVD releases, to pay a small fortune for these sets. I would expect that these sets are going to cost around $70-80 per each season set. A&E prices their sets almost like the BBC and HBO prices their sets.

Click to expand...

Yikes!! I guess I should be thankful that I already have a complete set.

Originally Posted by Mark Talmadge

I would say that, compared to how A&E price their DVD releases, to pay a small fortune for these sets. I would expect that these sets are going to cost around $70-80 per each season set. A&E prices their sets almost like the BBC and HBO prices their sets.

Click to expand...

Precisely why I'm very hesitant to buy this until they put a Blu-Ray release together. They'd have to have some frelling awesome new content to get me to pay $200 when I already have the entire series on standard-def.

I was kinda hoping for a BD announcement at the same time. At this point, I'll probably hold off and wait for the high def version...unless I can find the DVD edition for a steal.

With the ebay prices for the Starburst sets I couldn't help but slowly sell off my sets to help supplement my dwindling blu-ray/dvd fund so a complete series does interest me. Even if the initial price is relatively high Costco typically gets the A&E sets at a later point and offers them at a nice discount.

I guess the big question here is whether or not the "Complete Series" set will include "The Peacekeeper Wars" (TPKW) mini-series.

There was nothing in that announcement regarding TPKW and it's pretty common knowledge that it was completed with the participation of a production company which was not involved in the series itself.

I would imagine that any Farscape "newbies" will be shocked and confused by the Season Four cliffhanger if TPKW is omitted. AFAIK it's only been released once, and the provided video presentation was below average for an anamorphic widescreen release (excessive EE and other video artifacts); so it would be nice if it was released with the set with a new transfer. If nothing else, this would provide the foundation for what we can expect from the inevitable Blu-ray release.

I wonder how much better this one will look as a BR release, or how much work would be involved in getting a good BR release. Depending on how the special effects were implemented and the lower quality used to save money in season 4 it may not be an easy task. While older shows like Star Trek TOS and Twilight Zone can look great in HD being transferred from 35mm stock directly. It seems like SciFi shows produced in the 70's through 90's suffer because of effects added after being transferred to SD video. I doubt this one wouldbring in the money to warrant a lot of effort.

I'm glad I never bought this before. Can't wait

Originally Posted by Bryan^H

I'm glad I never bought this before. Can't wait

Click to expand...

I'm glad I bought this years ago and didn't have to wait...

Don't look for the "Peacekeeper Wars" to be included. According to TV Shows on DVD, it won't be. Since TPW was released by Lions Gate Entertainment, don't look for it to be included. A&E and the History Channel are owned by the same parent company while Lions Gate is another company altogether. You'll need to purchase the movie separately.

Originally Posted by Mark Talmadge

Don't look for the "Peacekeeper Wars" to be included. According to TV Shows on DVD, it won't be. Since TPW was released by Lions Gate Entertainment, don't look for it to be included. A&E and the History Channel are owned by the same parent company while Lions Gate is another company altogether. You'll need to purchase the movie separately.

Click to expand...

Well that's very disappointing!! I don't see how they can call this a "Complete Series Mega-Set" without the resolution to the story!! (This would be like viewing "The Fugitive" without "The Judgment" or "Battlestar Galactica" without "Daybreak"!!) Surely when they made the deal with Lions Gate there was some verbiage in the various contracts which would allow TPW to be marketed with the series!!!! In any event, if that's the case I'll just wait for the Blu-rays ...

Um, that's because it IS a Complete Series set as is indicated by the Press Release on TV Shows on DVD. The Farscape: Peacekeepers Wars is a movie. Farscape the Television Series and Farscape The Peacekeeper Wars are two different entities. A&E/History Channel have the rights to the Television Series. Lions Gate Entertainment has the rights to the movie. Same as with the Firefly television series and the Serenity movie. They are owned by the same production company but distributed by two different companies.

Farscape the Peacekeeper Wars is a TV Movie and is not considered part of the television series.

Mark,

That's a good analogy that you're using with "Firefly" and "Serenity". The difference is that "Objects in Space" -- the last episode presented in the "Firefly" TV set -- actually provides some partial closure while "Bad Timing" -- the Fourth Season finale' for "Farscape" -- ends with an *extreme* cliffhanger!! I just think that "newbies" will be a little upset (and confused given the fact that the set will be advertised as "Complete".)

Ah well: "It is what it is" as they say ... (Perhaps I'm just looking for an excuse to wait on the Blu-rays ... )

I have the same issue with the upcoming BSG "complete" series box set. Frankly, it's not "complete" without The Plan and the Face of the Enemy webisodes.

However, in Farscape's case, I'll grant a ton of clemency because Peacekeeper Wars and the series are owned by different people. The chances of ever getting everything in one package have to be between slim and none.

Another series with a similar unresolved ending would be the Stargate SG-1 collection not containing the subsequent direct to dvd film. It would more a point of concern if TPW was as hard to find as the original series. Thankfully that's not the case.

I don't know why everyone is making such a big fuss. Studios don't generally release movies of a particular television series that served as an official finale for very good reason, they don't consider it as part of the television series. If they did, then it would be included as part of the official season set. (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica, I Dream of Jeannie, Farscape, etc)

To put it plainly, Farscape the Complete Series is just that, the complete series. The title "The Complete Series" refers to the Television Series, not the movie. The movie isn't considered part of the television series. It is, after all, what the industry refers to as a telefilm or television movie not a television series.

Everyone assumes that The Peacekeeper Wars is a part of the television series. It really isn't. The television series was canceled with the fourth season. It just so happens that Jim Henson Productions decided to produce a telefilm event to conclude the cliffhanger left over from the television series.

This is why Star Trek Generations, First Contact, Insurrections and Nemesis isn't included with the Star Trek TNG Complete Series.

New info on the Farscape megaset:

www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Farscape-The-Complete-Series/12357

It's coming out November 17, 2009 at an SRP of only $149, which is pretty good considering the previous pricing (cover art posted in link above). While I have the entire collection (Starburst edition) it is a mix of the earlier DVD-18's and the later DVD-9's. At 25 disks there is no reason they shouldn't be able to fit 88 episodes on DVD-9's and the new packaging looks to take up less space. While I wasn't going to do it, this new price and better packaging and disk pressing convinced me to sell off my old collection while I still could.

I'm sure I could have gotten more by selling them individually on places like ebay, half.com and the like but I didn't like the hassle of piece mealing it, so I sold the entire collection to one of the online used resellers for $192. This more then covers the new set even if I had to pay SRP (which I doubt). Looking forward to November 2009.

I sold mine as well, had two sets which sold for $250-300 each collection.

I know I'm anticipating this release as well. Apparently, all four single DVD season sets will be released on the same day as well. Best Buy, will probably have some kind of package deal, like they did when X-Files was re-released.