Firefly

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

In theory, I would watch another show set in that world, because I liked the little universe he was setting up. But that cast was phenomenal and accounted for a lot of what I loved about the show.... so it would be approached cautiously at best.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Some columnist--I forget which site--was suggesting that the way to do it would be the occasional TV movie. It could be made between seasons, so the leads were all available. It wouldn't require the budget commitments of an ongoing series. And it would do phenomenally well when later released to DVD.

I could certainly get behind something like that, if done halfway well.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Some columnist--I forget which site--was suggesting that the way to do it would be the occasional TV movie. It could be made between seasons, so the leads were all available. It wouldn't require the budget commitments of an ongoing series. And it would do phenomenally well when later released to DVD.

I could certainly get behind something like that, if done halfway well.

Where do I sign up to contribute happy thoughts towards this idea? I believe sufficiently and will clap my hands enthusiastically.

Actually, I think a LOT of visual media would be well-served to go a similar route. Star Trek would also work well that way. Not as much need for big-budget WOW as a feature film, leaving room to do some thoughtful sci-fi like a handful of the best Next Gen episodes.

 

[EricNoah]

I saw the movie, thought it was so-so, got the first disc of the series on Netflix, it didn't grab me. But who knows, maybe someday I'll be ready to give it another try.

 

[Fast Learner]

Eric, it really takes off at about episode 5 or so. It didn't really catch me until then, at which point it had me by the throat. I definitely suggest giving the second disc a shot.

 

[Orius]

(and I have to say - why did drek like Andromeda survive while Firefly didn't?)

Because Andromeda was syndicated unlike Firefly, so it wasn't subject to network exectutive stupidity. Plus network executives are morons, so they don't get sci-fi. Besides, Andromeda was good until Sorbo started getting creative control.

I have no idea if Firefly was any good - I plan to check it out on Hulu once I get done catching up on all the Highlander episodes I missed - but really, even if I end up hating the show, 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?

That is I'll be checking out on Hulu as soon as they cycle back around to the beginning. Why the heck does this show have only 5 at a time? (Yeah, I understand it's based on how much the copyright owners want to share, but really there's only 13 episodes, and it's been off the air for a few years. Why dribble them out?)

 

[Fast Learner]

They dribble them out so people will continue to buy DVDs. Worked on me.

 

[TanisFrey]

Andromeda, every year during the first few episodes of the season they hit the reset button and erase almost all of the gains the heroes made the previous season. GRRRRR......

 

[Mark]

Why the heck does this show have only 5 at a time? (Yeah, I understand it's based on how much the copyright owners want to share, but really there's only 13 episodes, and it's been off the air for a few years. Why dribble them out?)

It feeds on impatient people who can be spurred into going out to purchase the boxed set.

 

[roguerouge]

BSG has SFC, and Firefly did not.

For all that I've questioned SFC, and don't watch the channel anymore, that was the advantage. If Firefly aired on SFC, it may have had a lower budget (though BSG did alright), but I've little doubt it would have aired longer.

To be a little controversial, I think Whedon was a little overconfident if he thought the numbers Buffy/Angel were bringing in (~4m viewers) would float on any major network. Shows pulling in those numbers are routinely canceled. I suppose he was hoping for a big hit on a major network, and felt Firefly was it.

Now, going back to Fox for Dollhouse was flat out crazy, IMO.

To get Buffy on the air, he had to give a commitment for three other series with Fox as the distributor: Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse. He's now free to go to another network. But he was not crazy; he was under contract.