I'VE NEVER WATCHED FARSCAPE, the

I’VE NEVER WATCHED FARSCAPE, the Sci-Fi Channel TV series, but according to this article, it’s very big in Afghanistan:

At Bagram Air Force Base in northern Afghanistan, soldiers couldn’t picket [to protest Farscape’s cancellation], so they gathered to watch tapes of the show and write letters of protest instead. When other fans heard about this, they raised money to send the soldiers a “care package” of DVDs, photos and T-shirts. One European fan commented sardonically, “This is the first time I’ve felt positive about the American military lately.”

The thought of a mine-clearing unit obsessing over a TV program that features living alien spaceships is surreal. But it also challenges the popular image of fans as isolated geeks who have lost touch with reality.

The article quotes Spc. Howard W. Bushey III, who organized the Bagram rally, on what he finds so appealing about the show.