SkiFfy = SciFi
What's so great about Firefly?
- Thread starter Mach5
- Start date
SkiFfy = SciFi
It's how some people pronounce "Sci fi" as one word. Sci fi. Scifi. Skiffy.
Sounds much like my experience. I still haven't seen all of Buffy which I find mildly amusing and not at all compelling - likewise its sister show, Angel. They're fine, but rather lightweight.
But Firefly reminded me of TOS back in the day - it was rough around the edges and wasn't afraid of taking a risk, storytelling-wise - a trait sorely lacking in most filmed SF these days. I love the overt combination of Western and Science Fiction, which is cleverly meshed on the show. I found the universe interesting, well thought out and well executed. The characters are engaging, charming and funny. The dialog is often great.
The appeal of the pilot is rather subtle - I got hooked on little details. Kaylee's delight upon opening the box of Shepherd Book's offerings - which you find out some minutes later is a rare commodity, fresh fruit. The scene with the lawman and Jayne, especially the whispered exchange as Mal leaves them alone, "Just scare him." and Jayne's definitive, "Pain is scary." (which still cracks me up), but mostly what I found affecting was the whore giving the preacher absolution at the end of the episode - a very subtle moment that spoke to a fictional universe that actually felt like a world removed from our own, but also strangely medieval/ frontier-like. I liked that mashup of historical values. I liked that the show wasn't afraid to take on sex and religion and make those things a real part of the character's lives.
But I saw The Train Job first, because I watched the original run, and got hooked there on a pretty basic Whedon trope. I thought I had the series all figured out - ragtag band of scavengers piss off danerous space gangster with scary badass henchman who will spend at least the first season pursuing them (a set up not unlike Farscape's - and fairly standard, you know who the good guys are, who the bad guys are and what the conflict is). And then Mal kicked badass henchman through the engine, blowing my expectations and getting a hearty laugh. That's when I knew this was going to be far more interesting than I had come to expect from TV SF.
The next three eps slow things down a tad and are probably the weakest of the entire series, but make it through them to Our Mrs. Reynolds - my sister, a veteran story junkie, who has seen or read it all and is not easily impressed, actually howled with laughter during the "biblical seduction" scene because the dialog was so good - and if you don't like the series at that point, then it's simply not your cup of tea. But if you have any inkling of affection for it then, you should keep going because the writing is wonderfully strong from that point on, straight through the movie.
'Skiffy' is a riff on then Scifi's name (now Syfy)
Thanks guys! Ok, so skiffy is NOT pejorative? I thought maybe it was.
Nah, it's just slang for sf/fantasy stuff.
Nothing really, it's not a bad show, but far from great.
I must be one of the few people on this planet that actually agrees with Fox's decision to not air the pilot first, it was boring and too long, I almost fell asleep twice watching it, some of the later episodes are definitely better. I would have scrapped the pilot entirely, used some of the footage for a montage at the beginning of the first episode and started the show with "Bushwacked". The relevant background information could have been told in 30 seconds: civil war, Alliance won, fugitives from alliance become part of Serenity's crew, creepy reavers eat people, end of prologue.
I liked it because I generally like most things Whedon, although Dollhouse was probably his weakest series. Around that time I kind of fell off Enterprise and never got into Farscape and I think this predated nuBSG, plus I'm a Adam Baldwin fan.
Have you WATCHED scifi channel lately?
Trust me, Skiffy is fast becoming a pejorative.
"Skiffy" is more generic than just a reference to SyFy - "sci-fi" is a slang term dating back quite a few decades now. I like "skiffy" because it blurs the nonsense distinction between science fiction and other fantasy in visual media.
Heck, the very first episode of Babylon 5 I saw was Born to the Purple, a less-than-stellar, non-JMS-written episode featuring a drunken ambassador with silly hair.
Look how THAT turned out.
For Firefly, I didn't like the pilot either. I felt it dragged majorly to get where it wanted to go, and by the time that happened... nothing happened. If it wasn't for the Reavers intervention in the climax I would've felt the entire pilot was a waste of time.
It's not until the series gets going that you see the character interactions, plot points and overall universe start to gel. Out of Gas is an excellent episode. If nothing else, try and get hold of that and have a watch.
*chuckles*
Have you WATCHED scifi channel lately?
Trust me, Skiffy is fast becoming a pejorative.
Actually, no, i haven't. I mean, i catch a show here and there, but it no longer is a staple for me. If i want to watch something 'skiffy' (ha. i love that now) i'll pop in a dvd.
Thanks Dennis. I'm really liking my new word of the day. It works!
Nathan Fillion. I was channel surfing and caught a few minutes of the middle of an episode and my immediate reaction was to wish he had been cast as Captain Archer, despite my post-Quantum Leap adoration of Scott Bakula.
When I discovered there would be a Firefly marathon on SciFi, I took a closer look. It's gritty and smart and the characters take you by surprise. Mal can be a real ass one minute and 20 minutes later he'd do something that explained why the crew was so loyal.
When I was done watching the marathon... I went online and ordered the series with Serenity.
When I discovered there would be a Firefly marathon on SciFi, I took a closer look. It's gritty and smart and the characters take you by surprise. Mal can be a real ass one minute and 20 minutes later he'd do something that explained why the crew was so loyal.
When I was done watching the marathon... I went online and ordered the series with Serenity.
See that would've been a bit of a stalemate, manily because he'd still be Nathan Fillion but he'd be given the standard 90's/00's Trek dialogue to work with.
I've just finished a full rewatch of the show and movie, which reinforced my opinion that the movie didn't quite capture what made the show special. Too downbeat, perhaps, or maybe it was the number of contrivances used to get everyone back together.
Of the show itself, all episodes bar maybe Safe and The Message have a lot going for them. It just has a great combination of wit, humour, camaraderie, pathos, action and drama. It's also quite well plotted out (imo) with Whedon's trademark slow-burn storytelling in evidence. While other shows can take three years to figure themselves out, Firefly feels fully-formed from the off.
I think there are many fans of Jayne, the man they call Jayne!
My kids still crack up whenever that song starts.
Isn't the pronunciation "skiffy" related to the fact that hardcore science fiction fans tend to dislike the term sci-fi? They call it SF.
Anyway, I thought Firefly was a pretty promising show. I wasn't nuts about the early episodes, but some of the later ones were really good and showed that the series had plenty of potential. There was a nice range of characters, who were all quite appealing in their own way, some witty dialogue and enough good plots to make the series worth a watch. After all, it's only short, so it's not a great undertaking to watch.
Anyway, I thought Firefly was a pretty promising show. I wasn't nuts about the early episodes, but some of the later ones were really good and showed that the series had plenty of potential. There was a nice range of characters, who were all quite appealing in their own way, some witty dialogue and enough good plots to make the series worth a watch. After all, it's only short, so it's not a great undertaking to watch.
True, I but think Nathan would have less a lot less trouble with the dialogue. He just struck me as someone who would have handled the role better. Even when Mal was being an ass, he didn't make you want to bitch slap him (which was a powerful temptation for me when Archer would get crabby).
Similar threads
