Fire Fly?

[RJDiogenes]

His next project should be DeadHorse.

Anyway, as far as the multiple planets go, there's a few ways to fudge that in a Space Opera. One way is just to finesse the laws of physics; in Star Trek, asteroids and moons tended to have Earth-normal gravity (as did planets, which also should have varied somewhat). As long as the rules are internally consistent, I don't care about that. I have a better idea, though. The size of a star's Goldilocks Zone is dependent on its size, so we could just postulate a supermassive star with a proportionately large GZ and an "asteroid belt" of Earth-sized objects-- or at least with a generous helping of Earth-sized objects. It's pretty unlikely in real life, but then so is something like Niven's Smoke Ring; the important thing is that it creates a nice playground for telling stories.

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

His next project should be DeadHorse.

Anyway, as far as the multiple planets go, there's a few ways to fudge that in a Space Opera. One way is just to finesse the laws of physics; in Star Trek, asteroids and moons tended to have Earth-normal gravity (as did planets, which also should have varied somewhat). As long as the rules are internally consistent, I don't care about that. I have a better idea, though. The size of a star's Goldilocks Zone is dependent on its size, so we could just postulate a supermassive star with a proportionately large GZ and an "asteroid belt" of Earth-sized objects-- or at least with a generous helping of Earth-sized objects. It's pretty unlikely in real life, but then so is something like Niven's Smoke Ring; the important thing is that it creates a nice playground for telling stories.

Well, we already have some gas giants among the known exoplanets which are ten times the size of Jupiter and which are probably located within the habitable zone of their stars. So, there's a potential for lots of huge moons there.

The only "problem" is that we've never seen a gas giant in the sky in one of the Firely episodes, I think. A planet this large and this close should be fairly visible. Then again, maybe the gas giant was always on the other side of the respective moon when Serenity's crew stayed there. Still a bit unlikely, but that's the best I can come up with.

 

[G2309]

Absolutely loved it. The only bad thing is reaching the end and knowing there's no more.

 

[Bonzo the Fifth]

I liked Firefly, though I can see why some people would not. It's nominally SF, but that's not really the focus of the show. Like all Whedon productions, it's a character drama with a lot of antiheroics on display.

But then, Firefly and Farscape are by far my two favorite nonTrek SF series (Doctor Who would probably be third), so take that as you will.

 

[JediKnightButler]

I personally quite liked it but then I liked BTVS and Angel and Firefly carried over the same style and writing (and several actors/actresses), so it was much more accessible to me. My only disappointment is that we didn't get more eps. The show IMHO had a lot of potential to last for a few seasons although sometimes, of course, one might argue that it's better to have a show that lasts a few episodes and produces some really good TV time instead of a series that starts off good but goes downhill and then ends up on life support after a season or two- and is unceremoniously put out of its misery. I always thought that a series about Han Solo's pre-Rebellion days would've been interesting to watch and you kind of get a taste about what that might've looked like with Firefly IMHO.

 

[NCC1701]

I have never met a real live human who didn't like Firefly after they watched it.

I maybe up to my first failed Firefly conversion now: my girlfriend's sister. We watched most of Serenity - episode, not the movie - the other night, and she just didn't seem interested. Maybe it will take a few more episodes, but this is the girl who pretty much dismisses any show just because it's set in space. Yeah, I don't get the logic, either

As for Babylon 5, when I watched the first couple of episodes of season 1, I was kicking myself for wasting $50 on a series I was sure I would never watch again. By the end of season 1 however, I was completely hooked. Same goes for my girlfriend, I made the mistake of trying to watch every episode of season 1 with her, which she quickly got bored with; what I should have been doing is skip straight to the good episodes at the tail end of season one

 

[RoJoHen]

I have never met a real live human who didn't like Firefly after they watched it.

I maybe up to my first failed Firefly conversion now: my girlfriend's sister. We watched most of Serenity - episode, not the movie - the other night, and she just didn't seem interested. Maybe it will take a few more episodes, but this is the girl who pretty much dismisses any show just because it's set in space. Yeah, I don't get the logic, either

I wasn't particularly moved by "Serenity" the first time I saw it either. Show her "Our Mrs. Reynolds" and see if her opinion changes.

 

[Sean Aaron]

The first episode didn't really grab me either, I think it was the second or third that drew me in and got me caring about the characters.

 

[I Grok Spock]

The first episode didn't really grab me either, I think it was the second or third that drew me in and got me caring about the characters.

Agreed. I enjoyed it, but I could certainly see why the network didn't want to show it first. Eps 2 or 3 are probably better intros to a casual viewer.

 

[Saxman1]

IMHO the best Sci-Fi show since DS9. If you don't like "forehead aliens of the week," this may tip it: there are NO non-human characters and no, that doesn't spoil anything. It's a Sci-Fi Western and Nathan Fillion is a BADASS in it: forget the smarminess of "Castle," although I love that show, too.

The "Serenity" film wraps things perfectly while still leaving the door open for the future. Great stuff!

 

[Greg Cox]

I liked Firefly, though I can see why some people would not. It's nominally SF, but that's not really the focus of the show. Like all Whedon productions, it's a character drama with a lot of antiheroics on display.

But then, Firefly and Farscape are by far my two favorite nonTrek SF series (Doctor Who would probably be third), so take that as you will.

The western motif can be offputting at first, until you get used to it. I remember a friend calling me right after the first episode aired and asking me, "Is it supposed to be a western?"

She didn't get it.

 

[ITL]

^ I'm no big fan of westerns, but I fecking love Firefly.