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Firefly Premieres Tonight
fm6 writes "Firefly, Joss Whedon's 'anti-Trek drama' premieres tonight, on Fox, 8 E/P. I normally despise hypespeak, but this time it's the only language that fits: this is groundbreaking, mind-boggling, totally original. I've seen a bootleg of the pilot (which, unfortunately, the network is holding back) and I promise you this is the most geek-friendly SF you've seen in a long time. Yes, more so than Star Trek and B5, and way past Star Wars. I've never seen the future so skillfully, realistically, and lovingly portrayed. Here is the Official Site and a leading fan site." This is the single new show this season I have added a season pass for to the old Tivo. But I'll probably watch it live. This looks like it could be as good as we hope.
I'm really looking forward to this.. Whedon is brimming with talent, and he's really hitting his stride recently. If anyone can breathe new life into sci-fi TV, I believe it's him. He said he used Buffy as a sort of "film school" for himself, and you can really see his art and technique flourish from season 1 to season 4.. then he started putting more energy into Angel. It'll be interesting to see what he can accomplish now with a fresh start.
"Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
No? Well, then, I guess this show doesn't "realistically" portray the future.
Might be a good show anyway, though. :-)
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es, more so than Star Trek and B5, and way past Star Wars.
Not to geek out here but:
I always thought of Star Trek being much more fantastical and silly than the Star Wars movies. Star Wars had interesting politics (revolutionaries vs an empire), no teleportation beams, gravity/flight dynamics, death, drama, etc.
Star Trek always came off, at least to me, as more Joe Sixpack friendly with its sexy aliens, Kirk's unstoppable libido, uninspired sets, and lackluster storylines. Even TNG has a lot of this plus they made the set look more like a corporate office than a military ship.
Perhaps the poster take issue with the religious and paranormal aspects of the force. I'm as non-religious (some would call me anti-religious) as they come, but as an element in the film the force works perfectly and the films would be worse off without it. ST could write off the vulcan mind-meld thing and no one really care or probably even notice.
Is it a cool future of gadgets and super powerful, helpful AIs, antigravity, alien societies, incredibly advanced technology from mysterious lost races, see-thru tank tops, holographic projection and bionic augmentation,
No. No aliens, no latex in 'Firefly,'
or a dark future where a relative of GW's is still running the rights of the consumer^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H citizens into the ground?
No, if it fits into any existing category, it's "Western", actually.
Idealistic. You have a valid point, but if Firefly rejects idealistic conventions, it could be said to be realistic, if only because the characters behave true to the nature of people. I guess it depends on your point of reference. Star Trek, with its multicultural cast, and prime directive, etc. was idealistic. Compared to Star Trek, Firefly is realistic. Compared to "real life", its just a TV show.
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
I dislike the implication that comes with lumping Star Trek together w/ Babylon 5. While I like Star Trek, it was very inconsistant, had a tendancy to recycle the same plots over and over, and has many one-dimentional characters. B5, OTOH, had levels upon levels of plot, amazing character development, and was entirely self-consistant -- first episode to last. Plus, they had a great musical score, and even had believeable physics in the space battles. If Firefly can be better than this, wonderful -- but I think you'd have to work real hard to make a sci-fi (or any other genre) TV program better than Babylon 5.
A valid point. I was kind of stuck for a proper adverb. What I was trying to say was that the feel of the show is very real. There's a scene in the pilot where Shepherd Book is wandering through a spaceport. The place is full of ordinary life: people going back and forth on foot, bicycle, horse, and flying car; there are children perched on piles of cargo and vendors cooking and selling food from crude stalls. He stops and peers up at the Serenity, which is towering over him. We see it from his POV: it does indeed look like a giant firefly beetle, and there are other spaceships and aircraft going back and forth in the background. The sense of reality is quite disconcerting!
This has to have been one of the worst sci-fi (not even science fiction) shows I've ever seen.
Inconsistent, pointless, and juvenile.
Random observations:
Let's see, in four hundred years they haven't invented anything better than 20th century shotguns and four wheelers (powered by internal combustion engines no less).
Stetsons and dusters?
Train robberies?
Frankly, as far as "retro" science fiction, "Earth 2" did a better job of presenting a "frontier" ambience.
Final score... Ugh!
* As is generally the case, my opinions do not reflect those of my employer.
I'm curious as to how you got so hot on Firefly. Is the pilot better than the first episode? Here's my synopsis of the first episode: cowboy movie in space, to the max; cartoon-level bad guys, clownishly scary but not particularly amusing; entire plot telegraphed ahead of time in the most obvious ways; mystery set up for future episodes like a clay pigeon shoot. I guess I could do with a little less obviousness.
Some of the CGI was nice though, and it was well-produced overall. There didn't seem to be any actual plot holes, which is always a bonus. But in general, I got more of a kick out of the PS2 commercial that aired near the beginning of the episode, than the show itself. I'd say it's watchable, if you're not expecting too much. I wouldn't be raving about it.
Actually, I'm having more fun watching the show after it, John Doe. At least the whole plot hasn't been given away yet, 20 minutes in.
I have learned through the years that the first few shows and sometimes the first season isn't always that great. I guess it's partly having the cast and writers finding a groove that makes the show work and also getting to know the characters. A good example is Seinfeld, which I now practically associate everything in my life too. [i know, sad, but what I can say]
... damn, I don't know anyone's name, but that was funny. Oh great, now I sound like a freakin' Chris Farley sketch. Anyway, having him slur the lines being half doped was pretty humorous.
I wouldn't say the first episode sucked, in fact, there were some pretty good scenes.
1) The captain kicks the big "russian" dolt into the engine. That was just classic and a refreshing change from the typical captain that would have just let him go
2) When they drugged
3) Not sure what she does yet, but the hot hair brushing chick.. keep it coming.
All in all, I'll definately watch it again, especially if they have those great cgi shots in between. I think next time I'll TIVO it though so I can skip past those annoying commercials.
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