I finally watched Firefly! (SPOILERS)

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Savage Dragon, Jan 5, 2009.

  1. DWF

    DWF Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah and the movie made a mere $25 million at the US box office and it's nice that it grabbed you but it needed to grab three or four times the audience it got.
     
  2. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    I don't think that's what he meant. What he is referring to is the fact that, when the film rights to the franchise were sold to Universal, the legal situation was one in which the series couldn't be made on television again for (IIRC) ten years, essentially rendering any televised versions of Firefly dead. I'm not sure exactly how or why the deal went down the way it did, but that's as best as I can remember it.
     
  3. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    I think not airing the pilot first really hurt the series, not to mention Fox's lack of proper/enough promotion of the series.

    But there's a LOT of exposition and set-up in that pilot that's just glossed over in "The Train Job."

    Airing the episodes out of order only hurts it on some minor contnuity levels, but not doing the pilot first was DUMB of Fox and that the show has such popularity on DVD I think "proves" that Fox erred in some way in promoting it, it's time slot, or how they aired the episode order.

    Sigh.

    What could have been. :(
     
  4. Savage Dragon

    Savage Dragon Not really all that savage Moderator

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    Well for what it's worth I watched the series out of order and it didn't take away from my enjoyment or understanding of the series. I'm surprised that they didn't edit the pilot to make it a flashback though considering when they originally aired it.
     
  5. Hermiod

    Hermiod Admiral Admiral

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    ^By the time Fox got around to airing it, I don't think they cared.
     
  6. Sakrysta

    Sakrysta Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Off and on for weeks, actually. Having been an "original" Browncoat, I followed it all along, and it spent months and months drifting around in the top 50. It would sink, then some news would come out, or it would go on sale, and BAM it would top the list again, beating out all manner of new releases and more recently popular shows & movies. That was a fun time. :) Even today, the set is ranked #70.

    This is exactly it. One of the conditions of the transfer of the property to Universal was that it couldn't be developed for TV again for 10 years. This was stated by the actors multiple times in interviews and at cons when people would ask, "If the movie succeeds, can we have our TV show back?" The answer was always, "No. Part of the deal was that it can't go back to TV for 10 years." At the time, it was hoped that the movie would spawn a trilogy, which would have covered most of that 10-years anyway, but that didn't happen.
     
  7. John Picard

    John Picard Vice Admiral Admiral

    I'm late to the party, as usual; however, I felt the need to comment on this show since I've seen so many comments on this board about the series, that Joss Whedon person, etc.

    First, I watched the movie Serenity. I found it interesting and with a good plot. So, I decided, based on the Netflix recommendation, to put the Firefly series in my queue. This past weekend I watched the first three DVDs and was absolutely enamored with the concept -- outer space colonization with an Old West style influence combined with smugglers who have morals. I found the characters to be well written and with interesting backgrounds and excellent interaction. I think Jayne is my favorite :lol: The concept of the series is (was) well executed and wasn't the typical Sci-Fi technobabble fanboy dorkiness. The premise was versatile enough that any average-Joe would have commented "Oooh, that's cool" on the Sci-Fi elements. What I really liked was that any explosions, collisions, or gun shots that took place in outer space was all done in complete quiet! FINALLY, someone has keyed in on the fact that sound won't travel out there.

    Anyway, it's a shame this series didn't last. Then again, TV audiences seem to be hooked on the craptacular (Reality TV). Perhaps Stephen King was on to something with his Running Man story.