Sean has mentioned Farscape a couple of times now and I’m considering taking a look and seeing if it clicks.
I wanted to ask any fans out there what the tone of the show is. For me to suspend disbelief in scifi, the story needs to take itself seriously and have a little grit- anything campy or slapsticky (tin man a recent example) will make me lose interest.
Thanks for any (spoiler free 
info!!
SS
i’m a die hard FS fan, but it can be very silly and a litle campy at times (one of the reasons i love it)other times it can be action filled, and others completely serious, and some of the best drama you likely to find on tv, but the show moves all over the place in tone i see it as a strength, but like you said i think you might lose interest in its more farce like moments.
But who knows, find it on tv a watch an episode, and see what happens just don’t go out and buy the dvd’s or anything, until your very sure.
The story arc is quite serious, but the show can be very irreverent.
I would recommend the show to anyone who has an interest in sci-fi. I don’t think there is one tone to the show though. It can be campy and funny at time, and others it can serious. And there are some moments when crighton—the deficient human—gets the drop on his pursuers in such a way it that it will have you pumping your fist in the air. If it helps, my interest in sci-fi shows goes in order of Firefly, BSG, Farscape, Babylon 5, Stargate, and star trek.
Tin Man is a good example of Camp causing problems, However a little camp and sillyness can be a good and welcome thing.
Examples::
Firefly :: Jane’s Cunning Hat, Wash playing with dinosaurs (Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal )
Star Wars :: Let the wookie win, Ewoks
Star Trek:: Tachyons… need i say more?
BSG::: well not really anything
GWC:: Larry’s World
Halo:: Super Intelligent talking underwater plants
KOTOR:: lots and lots of parts, anything involving HK 74 (i think thats his number)
etc.
So while camp CAN easily ruin a show, used in moderation it can be a welcome element… that said, yes Tin Man had…issues…well a subscription…ok the lifetime subscription to rolling stone magazine. yeah. bad.
Farscape is in a class all its own when it comes to the mixture of grit and camp. Some of the grittiest moments of the show are also the campiest (Harvey, for example).
I agree this show can be very campy and gritty at the same time. But I always liked how it was more realistic in the heroes don’t always win! I mean of course as in any show in the end they do but people do die in the show…
Harvey is one of those characters that really defines the combination of camp and grit and humor and drama that define the show. It’s almost like Scrubs, where humor leads to a dramatic moment and a dramatic moment leads to a joke.
Is it the right mix for you? Rent or borrow the first season. I didn’t care for the show when I watched my first episode and it took me two or three episodes to get into the spirit of the show, but then I loved it.