Firefly Reconsidered: Why Firefly Isn't "Hall of Fame" Great

[dragoner]

I think the main problem was the lack of a good villain. Realistically, when you are littering jumping around galaxies, the idea that any single entity could be a challenge....would probably have to be so insanely advanced that it would be hard to stop.

The tried using the "left over war machines" angle for a while, but again soulless machines don't provide a very interesting challenge.

Probably what they should have done was just double down on the internal drama. They started to do that but it was a bit split and still felt hollow.

Lou Diamond Philip's arc was tedious, a good actor, just that he didn't have anyone to play off of as written, he always felt temporary. Carlyle vs Ferreira, that too became tedious, and then they tried filling it with actors that just weren't that good. The storyline did feel hollow, the constant battle with the drones boring, it had so much potential it felt like that it just never seemed to quite reach.

 

[Maxperson]

Which takes us right back to the OPs premise.... that shows that aren't finished shouldn't make the hall of fame. And personally I have to agree with that....because as there is a large lists of shows that did end very badly (even when given the proper chance to do so).... it seems doing a good ending is pretty difficult.

It really shows the opposite. It shows that since the vast majority of shows are not allowed to finish, are forced to finish quickly and badly, or have their finishes interfered with by studio execs, the lack of or bad finish should not be held against the show. If you exclude them, you don't end up with a list of the best. You end up with a list of the lucky.

 

[Zardnaar]

Lou Diamond Philip's arc was tedious, a good actor, just that he didn't have anyone to play off of as written, he always felt temporary. Carlyle vs Ferreira, that too became tedious, and then they tried filling it with actors that just weren't that good. The storyline did feel hollow, the constant battle with the drones boring, it had so much potential it felt like that it just never seemed to quite reach.

I think it had to many factor's against it.

Writing, no clear villain, no clear hero/heroes, unlikeable characters, writing, plot, paving etc.

It's telling it lasted two seasons while the others had 10 and 5. I've wanted to do a rewatch but wife vetoed it. We do SG1 and Atlantis every 3 years or so.

 

[dragoner]

I think it had toany factor's against it.

Writing, no clear villain, no clear hero/heroes, unlikeable characters, writing, plot, paving etc.

It's telling it lasted two seasons while the others had 10 and 5. I've wanted to do a rewatch but wife vetoed it. We do SG1 and Atlantis every 3 years or so.

A shame considering how much it had going for it, the writing dithered, that's what did it, I think, they had put together elements that should have worked, except didn't for the Stargate franchise. Though that is probably what kills most shows, and sci-fi gets it the worst because special effects mean SF costs 10 times what a normal show does.

 

[Zardnaar]

A shame considering how much it had going for it, the writing dithered, that's what did it, I think, they had put together elements that should have worked, except didn't for the Stargate franchise. Though that is probably what kills most shows, and sci-fi gets it the worst because special effects mean SF costs 10 times what a normal show does.

Yeah probably mostly in the writers. They had enough talent for a great show.

I remember being enthusiastic to watch it and let down.

 

[Ryujin]

Yes, I think it is Sky in Canada, and Syfy is NBC and Warner Brothers? Who incidentally did Person of Interest. TV is way convoluted, I mean, you can also see all of those people appear in the Hallmark channel made for TV movies, cheesy romance.

In Canada the frequent co-producer of SciFi shows, along with SyFy in the US, was called SPACE. It's owned by the CTV Network (Bell Media) and, as such, was part of a rebranding effort a couple of years back that sucked any individual personality our of SPACE. Or, as it's now known, CTV SciFi Channel.

 

[Ryujin]

Lou Diamond Philip's arc was tedious, a good actor, just that he didn't have anyone to play off of as written, he always felt temporary. Carlyle vs Ferreira, that too became tedious, and then they tried filling it with actors that just weren't that good. The storyline did feel hollow, the constant battle with the drones boring, it had so much potential it felt like that it just never seemed to quite reach.

It was one of those shows that when you saw a bigger name actor, you know they weren't around for long. Rona Mitra lasted what; three episodes?

For me. the premise was fine. The idea of being on a runaway ship, that was part of a galactic effort to seed gates on distant planets, had some legs. Unfortunately I didn't find any of the characters at all compelling, nor really even likeable, and the more that was revealed about back-stories the less I liked them.

 

[amethal]

And I also think that the borrowing of Lost Cause mythology is arguably worse, for me. It may not bother other people who don't notice it or don't care.

I think it probably resonates more with Americans, for obvious reasons.

European history (for example) is knee-deep in lost causes, and apart from a few obvious exceptions (at the risk of Godwin-ing the thread) they often aren't any more objectionable than the forces they were fighting against.

My own cultural "Lost Cause" dates back to either 1282 or 1415, depending on how you want to look at it.

 

[BrokenTwin]

Yeah, the whole "Browncoats are Confederate soldier analogies" never occurred to me until someone spelled it out for that exact reason. Not American, so the cultural reference flew right over my head. But I seriously can't unsee how odd the lack of Asian actors in the show is since it was pointed out to me.
But for me, Firefly's overarching story isn't what interested me. The whole 'hands of blue' bit felt incredibly disjointed from the rest of the series. I loved the show entirely because the core cast seemed to play so well off of each other, and it felt more like a family drama in space than any 'epic sci-fi plot'. I loved all of the main characters, and wanted to see how they'd organically grow and change.
Realistically, do I think Whedon could have maintained that appeal if he was given more time with the show? Not really. But for what we got, it was a good show. And in a way, the fact that it was cut off so abruptly and didn't have time to get bad helps maintain that.

 

[payn]

I haven't heard of Intergalactic; another one that everyone wanted to go on longer was Stargate Universe, which I liked, except I see why it failed, as it was not the Stargate everyone was used too, much darker in tone, and a serial, not episodic.

I loved Stargate Universe, at least at first. Was disappointed they came up with another A.I. super enemy.