By McClance on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 06:29 pm:

For a while now, I've been curious about this... Since last October, I've been watching a really good science fiction TV show called FARSCAPE. I don't know if you're familiar with this show, ADF, or if anyone else here is. It's about a present-day astronaut, John Crichton, who gets thrown via a wormhole to a distant part of the Universe. In the series, he nicknames another character, Chiana, "Pip". When Chiana asks what "Pip" means, Crichton replies, "My favorite traveling companion." For a time, I figured that was a reference Flinx and Pip since the character of Crichton makes many such references to Pop Culture throughout the show. But then I was wondering... Could it be possible for that name to have come from another source?

By Minion on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 07:02 pm:

Sorry to say that it is not a reference to Flinx but a reference to Gigi Edgley who in real life is nicknamed "Pip". That in itself is a reference to either a poem or Lord of the Rings I cannot remember which. Have to say it was a great show especially if you like sci-fi that takes risks and can seem like it was written by a group of guys who had been on a three day bender, taken some seriously strong drugs and then decided if they can make a weird program. I do not know how far you are into it but after the first season it gets more and more impressive and weird. In addition Scorpius is possibly one of the best villians in Sci-Fi history.

By McClance on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - 12:12 am:

My mind now recalls the character named Pip/Pippin in Lord of the Rings. What drew me to think "Pip" was a reference to Flinx was Crichton's line which I quoted above. That and the joy of seeing (hearing?) a pop culture reference to one of my favorite authors. Oh well... FARSCAPE is definately one-of-a-kind show! I'm halfway through Season 4 and I have to agree: Scorpius is indeed a great villain--you never know which way he'll turn.

By adf on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - 07:21 am:

Pip is an old English name/nickname...used in Dickens as well, of course. And the English expression "He's a pip!"...meaning someone who stands out, is good at something, etc. Also a fruit reference and..... Well, y'all can have fun looking up the various origins....

By Minion on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - 10:10 am:

Just a quick thought ADF do you watch Sci-Fi television regularly? If so what and is it for pleasure or to see what else is happening in the mainstream?

By adf on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - 12:12 pm:

Minion; All I watch regularly are: The Simpsons, Family Guy, Nova, Frontline, Deadwood, and The Sopranos. Much of what is on the Sci-Fi Channel is not SF...it's reality TV with a psi slant, or low-budget films, and especially a lot of horror. Not that there's anything wrong with any of that...it's just not my cup of tea. And when they let the Halmis trash Le Guin and Gurney, etc., I lose what respect has built up for their programmers. There's much better SF available on The Science Channel, Discovery Channel, etc., if one counts such productions as the BBC's "Walking with..." series...not to mention the purely SF "Expedition", based on Wayne Barlowe's work.

By teqxan on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 08:36 pm:

farscape is th only scifi show i will actually turn the tube on to watch .. or DVD purchase .. crichton and other characters almost seem to be lifted from ADFs stories .. personalities mostly .. and crichton = flinx in i woke up minding my own business and now i have to seave everyones bacon =) .. and there r definately a few that r way out there .. John i.e. roadrunner and through the looking glass come to mind .. bt i would take any ADF story any time ..

By Kuza on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - 02:53 am:

I couldn't agree with you more ADF... the Scifi channel needs a facelift.

By Minion on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 05:57 am:

Must confess that the last time I watched anything on the Sci-Fi channel was a long time ago. It seems too interested in rehashing poor ideas or rather rather sloppy science. Farscape is a good case in point. The channel killed the show at the end of the forth year due to concerns over the budget even though it was the most popular show on the channel. I recently read a book "War in a time of peace" by David Halberstam who commented that one of the problems with the American popular media is that it caters for the lowest intellectual ebb and that the bottom line is more important than anything else including keeping the populas informed of things that they need to know. While I was reading it I remember a section in Quozal (sorry for the mis-spelling) where a woman phones in and complains about the arrival of an alien race as they are interupting her soaps. Unfortunately this may come to pass as the media (see Sci-Fi channel) seem to be falling into this trap.

By tara on Friday, August 08, 2008 - 06:49 pm:

Love the Farcape t.v. series. Kind of like a intergalactic real world....to bad Chiana's name has nothing to do with Pip and Flinx....

By Daz on Wednesday, December 31, 2008 - 07:35 am:

I'd say Farscape and Firefly are the only two s-f series worth watching. Both managed to keep away from the 'Star Trek remake syndrome', both had realistic characters with all the faults that make people interesting, and both got killed early by Sci-Fi. Verily 'tis true, only the good die young ...

By beeliaVobre on Wednesday, October 07, 2009 - 01:34 pm:

Hi People How are you doing?

By Larry on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 03:05 pm:

I like to compare the name Pip to that same name in the Charles Dickens novel. That particular Pip being short for Philip Pirrip-a typcally odd Dickens character name!

By PAX on Monday, March 08, 2010 - 09:39 pm:

Really, Philip? What a coinsidence...