Firefly

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

And that's the stuff that I loved the most. I felt like the show assumed that after a season of watching, I could be trusted to get what was going on, no matter how strange.

The show was nuts. I loved that.

Yup. The show was madness, in a fun way.

I am just rewatching the show, I bought the entire FarScape box.

 

[ssampier]

Just to throw a monkey wrench into the discussion.

My mother, who is 56 years old, liked BSG, too. She doesn't like sci-fi like Star Trek or Star Wars, or military shows, period.

There was something about being a survivor that she liked, I guessed.

 

[Orius]

And that's the stuff that I loved the most. I felt like the show assumed that after a season of watching, I could be trusted to get what was going on, no matter how strange.

The show was nuts. I loved that.

Agreed, I loved the eps that just threw us into the middle and let us watch as things came together.

Yup. The show was madness, in a fun way.

Yeah, Crothian's right. Definitely an acquired tate.

 

[Orius]

Yeah, I'm bumping this instead of starting a new thread.

So Hulu cycled back around to the beginning of the series, and since I have the time right now, I checked out the first three episodes. It's pretty good. Helps that I'm actually watching it in the right order.

I'd still think it would be boneheaded to air the pilot last and the episodes out of order. That's just stupid. How's anyone supposed to understand what's going on?

My assumption was correct. "Serenity", the real pilot, did a decent job of introducing the characters and universe. Good move, Fox, airing that episode LAST.

I had always heard about it being a space western, but...wow. The first episode, they meet up with a sherrif or mayor or something on one of the worlds and her party is nearly all on horseback (except for the guy on the ATV). And they got old West-style guns too. The second episode, they rob a train. This is when they're not flying around in a spaceship, and using tools and weapons that look pretty contemporary. But yet, it actually works.

The look of the series is interesting. There's a lot of used future going on with the Serenity as a whole, but the infirmary looks nice and clean and shiny, the bunks aren't really grungy, and the mess has kind of a homey look to it. It's somewhat unusual to see a single spaceship actually mix styles like this, since most of the time they're either all squeaky clean and shiny or used future, but this also works, it feels more real. The overall universe has the same look, there are really futuristic planets alongside stuff that looks like it came out of the old West and more exotic stuff that looks Chinese or maybe central Asian or Indian or something. Same thing with the people, lots of varied wardrobes. It looks good, gives the show a good deal of depth, or at least a great illusion of one.

 

[IronWolf]

I had always heard about it being a space western, but...wow. The first episode, they meet up with a sherrif or mayor or something on one of the worlds and her party is nearly all on horseback (except for the guy on the ATV). And they got old West-style guns too. The second episode, they rob a train. This is when they're not flying around in a spaceship, and using tools and weapons that look pretty contemporary. But yet, it actually works.

The look of the series is interesting. There's a lot of used future going on with the Serenity as a whole, but the infirmary looks nice and clean and shiny, the bunks aren't really grungy, and the mess has kind of a homey look to it. It's somewhat unusual to see a single spaceship actually mix styles like this, since most of the time they're either all squeaky clean and shiny or used future, but this also works, it feels more real. The overall universe has the same look, there are really futuristic planets alongside stuff that looks like it came out of the old West and more exotic stuff that looks Chinese or maybe central Asian or Indian or something. Same thing with the people, lots of varied wardrobes. It looks good, gives the show a good deal of depth, or at least a great illusion of one.

Welcome to Firefly! I was a late comer to this series as well, quite possibly for the best since Fox messed up the order of shows. I borrowed the DVDs from a friend and then promptly went out and bought my own set. I really liked this series, for many of the reasons you've stated above.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Welcome. You latecomers had it easy. I was on board from the beginning, then got busy with things so I recorded the show to watch later. I didn't even realize they had cancelled the show and missed recording the second hour of the finally aired pilot. The sense of loss was huge.

I'm finally over it (and realized it for certain during the Halloween episode of Castle), but I would not mind if somehow more material was produced.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

The look of the series is interesting. There's a lot of used future going on with the Serenity as a whole, but the infirmary looks nice and clean and shiny, the bunks aren't really grungy, and the mess has kind of a homey look to it. It's somewhat unusual to see a single spaceship actually mix styles like this, since most of the time they're either all squeaky clean and shiny or used future, but this also works, it feels more real. The overall universe has the same look, there are really futuristic planets alongside stuff that looks like it came out of the old West and more exotic stuff that looks Chinese or maybe central Asian or Indian or something. Same thing with the people, lots of varied wardrobes. It looks good, gives the show a good deal of depth, or at least a great illusion of one.

This was all VERY deliberate, and VERY excellent design. Whether it was from the series DVD's or the Serenity movie DVD, there is wonderful behind-the-scenes information and the discussion of the set design for the ship is at the top of the list. It's not just the props lying around and widgets in the background, but the color palette being used as well. Red for the engine room, gold/yellow for the mess IIRC, white for the infirmary, etc.

For example, the messhall has a little flower/vine pattern running along the structural beams that are much like the flowery patterns on Kaylee's bunkroom door, suggesting that it was Kaylee who took it upon herself to do the decoration there since MAL would never do anything so girly. The white infirmary suggests both the necessarily sterile environment of a hospital but also reflects the "sterile" personality of Simon, the doctor. This sort of attention to detail extends beyond set design to world design. Why Chinese, for example? Traveller and other SF rpgs and SF settings have postulated the probability of China becoming a dominant colonizing force. Without ever once mentioning it specifically in an episode or hitting you over the head with it, it is clear that the world of Firefly/Serenity embraces that notion. In fact, they make it a fun and interesting quirk of the show when the characters use Chinese curses and phrases and viewers don't really need the translation.

Yeah, I LOVED the show, top to bottom, and curse Fox for the ignorant mishandling that doomed it.

 

[Deset Gled]

Welcome. You latecomers had it easy.

This is so very, very true. I put more effort than I care to admit into watching Firefly. It was on such a horrible time slot on Friday nights. It also came on after "John Doe" *shudder*.

I also can't decide to laugh or cry at the number of people that I told to watch it who refused to, or watched one/part of an episode and said they hated it, and who now gush over it and claim to be huge fans. They ask "Why did such a great show get cancelled?", to which I reply "Because you never watched it!".

 

[Orius]

Well, Hulu's episode loops finally got around to "Objects in Space". So now I've seen the whole series.

I've occasionally made snarky comments before about Fox's "handling" of the series like this one:

I think it's best described as Fox: the station that gives Sci-Fi a chance in the most half-assed bassackward method imaginable and then wonders why it fails. Or see also: Firefly.

Such statements were made in ignorance based mostly on heresay with my own disrespect for Fox filling in the gaps. I have to say though that these comments hit pretty close to the mark, Fox's fumbling of this series is something a sci-fi fan should find a bit irritating. I'm not really particularly angry about it, because I was prepared for a short series. It's kind of disappointing that we didn't see more, because there was still a lot of mystery behind River, and the previous episode set up an unresolved plot thread. There is the movie, the local library has 4 copies apparently (three currently being borrowed ), so I requested a reservation on one. They also have some book that ties in with the movie with notes on production or something, so I figured what the heck and requested that too.

 

[Plane Sailing]

personally I didn't like the movie much - I felt that in an attempt to tie up some plot threads it mishandled them badly. I prefer to live now with my 'might have been' in my head