Slashdot Mirror
Joss Whedon's Firefly Coming To The Big Screen
lhouk281 writes "According to this article in the Hollywood Reporter, Universal is turning Firefly into a movie. Firefly lives!" This show deserved a chance to run a full season. If this comes out, I'll sure be there opening weekend.
That it totally sweet. LEts see how it turns out
Awww, there is only one beer left and it's Barts.....
So, we like he MPAA and its members today?
Just be sure to wear the gold uniform when you beam down -- you know what happens when you wear the red one.
Firefly is a prime example of how Fox is populated by PHBs. Fabulous show, great concept .. and they show the episodes out of order and at random intervals so the audience just can't get into it. They could have capitalized on Farscape's cancellation [SciFi: A channel for SF fans run by PHBs], but nooooooooo!
"You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister
While we're on the subject, how about a Buffy movie? One that's based on the series, and thus actually good.
I only got to see two episodes of Firefly. Pity, I did enjoy it. It just wasn't on at a time when I could remember to sit down and watch it, and I still have to build a linux PVR... so it got missed.
How many episodes were made, anyhow? It really was a rather entertaining little show. Perhaps a bit too geek-targeted in some ways for the majority of society, but certainly fun.
... "I read part of it all the way through." -- Movie Mogul Sam Goldwyn (and some slashdot readers)
The title says it all... I'll watch firefly, if it is followed by futurama!
---
Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
Anyone know when the first "season" is coming out on DVD?
It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
I moderate therefore I rule!
--
Can we push for lower ticket prices or lower costs to own a DVD?
Or is downloading movies off the internet not a big enough issue yet?
As for the typo....I type with two fingers... and still probably make more money than you hack.....
Awww, there is only one beer left and it's Barts.....
'Firefly' lands in film afterlife
Joss Whedon
By Zorianna Kit and Chris Gardner
The short-lived TV series "Firefly" is moving to the big screen. After taking his "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" feature film and turning it into a successful TV series, Joss Whedon is about to do the reverse with another one of his creations. Whedon has teamed with Universal Pictures to turn "Firefly," a TV cult favorite, into a feature film.
In addition to having adapted it for the big screen, Whedon will also make his feature directorial debut with the project. Plans are to see "Firefly" go into production in first-quarter 2004.
Universal recently acquired the rights to "Firefly" from 20th Century Fox Television, where Whedon's Mutant Enemy Inc. production company has a television deal.
The action-adventure series was set 500 years in the future and centered on a crew aboard a spaceship. The feature version will incorporate the mythology from the show but will take on a more epic feel. Whedon hopes to enlist the entire cast to come back for the feature, depending on their previous commitments, with new characters added as well.
Whedon is producing the film through his Mutant Enemy Inc. along with studio-based producer Barry Mendell. Mendell, a former agent at UTA, used to represent Whedon. Mutant Enemy president Christopher Buchanan is executive producing. Universal production president Mary Parent is shepherding the project.
"Ever since the show went off the air, our fan base has grown even more," Buchanan said. "We've had tremendous outpouring from the U.S. and Canada as well as the U.K., which just finished a run of 'Firefly' over there. Every comic book and sci-fi convention has had a 'Firefly' presence since the show first aired."
For the series, which ran this past season, Whedon produced 15 hours of television, including a two-hour episode. Three shows never aired on Fox but will likely be featured on the series' DVD release, due out in December. Buchanan said fans created such a demand that DVD presales on Amazon.com sold out within 24 hours.
Whedon, repped by CAA, continues to be executive producer of "Angel," which he created. His feature film screenplay credits include "Titan A.E.," "Alien: Resurrection" and "Toy Story."
The IT section color scheme sucks.
Around here they prefer the GNAA.
My god, man. If "Everybody Loves Raymond" (lies! The title is a LIE! I hate that fucking show) can go on for how long now?, then Firefly deserves a run at least as long as Buffy.
But, what do you expect? Great show, great premise, nice twist on typical plotlines, great writing, great "settings", great girls er actors and actresses.. It had all the recipes to be axed.
"Hey, this show is too good. Gotta give it the axe."
Remember, America doesn't want quality. We want convenience and entertainment that doesn't require thinking. Hence, Jackass.
If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
The article says that they sold out Amazon's preorders in a day. How do you sell out preorders? If you're running Amazon, don't you want as many preorders as possible?
Still, sweet!
Now all we need is a Farscape movie or three, and the world will be a better place.
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
"You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister
It's a real shame they had to cancel this show, just as it's long-term plot was getting interesting.
They had introduced the characters and developed the mystery of the doctor's sister until I was really interested in her story. Then Bamn! Cancelled.
Hopefully I learn more about the men with blue gloves from the movie...
This show deserved a chance to run a full season.
A full season? Don't be too generous now. Most good shows don't start to click until at least the 2nd season. Try watching first season next generation, or Seinfeld. It's so wooden it looks like the actors have underwear 3 sizes too small. I liked Firefly, but even if the network didn't, they should give it at least a couple of seasons to bring in some numbers. Even Enterprise is dumping, and they haven't given up on it yet.
heh... I doubt very much that you do.
The lack of any meaningful content in your post is another indicator that you were trying to just bang something out for FP!
Your momma....meaninigful enough?
Awww, there is only one beer left and it's Barts.....
Sorry, I tried to watch it but I just didn't like it. I could appreciate the concept but it wasn't something I could go see at a theatre. It was sort of like a bastard mix of Starhunter and an hour long Skol ad.
Trolling is a art,
By replying to AC trolls you just prove that you're one of them and wanted the logged-in fp. Just admit it.
If we're lucky, they'll have the hot babes in bikinis throughout the movie as they battle Darth Vader and the Borg!
I agree. Fox botched Firefly big time. The best episode was the 2hr pilot. And this was shown in December as the last episode and 3 episodes were only shown. I thought this show ranked high among sci-fi. Joss did have an interesting approach with his western/frontier for the outlands.
What?
"a script from an unaired episode with an hour of special effects, gratuitous sex and fight scenes added"
That sounds like the plot to every movie I've seen in the last 10 years. It'll break all records, no doubt.
I'd much rather see a revival of the "Babylon 5" spin-off "Crusade," than I would "Firefly." "Crusade" had the elements of a great science fiction television series, but much like how Fox screwed over "Firefly," TNT screwed over "Crusade." It was fun to watch Mr. Brady command a powerful starship while it lasted...
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde
So, after giving his Firefly TV series and turning it into an unsuccessful feature film, Joss Whedon is about to do the same with another one of his non-creations?
Make any sense to anybody? These producers sure are a weird lot.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
Doesn't that also describe another amazing and underrated show - Witchblade? I jest, of course.
Linux: Free if your time is worthless.
No, no, no...
You've confused this with the upcoming season of "Enterprise"....
I think about a dozen episodes were made, though not all were aired. A DVD boxset of the complete series will be released on December 9.
got biv?
No one would watch the show when it was broadcast into the comfort of our living rooms for FREE. But yet we're going to run out and watch it at our local theater after paying high ticket prices.
Heck, if it succeeds on the big screen, here's my vote for his next project: Flo the Motion Picture!
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
Sarah Michelle Gellar has been quoted as saying they'll never do a Buffy movie, and that the first one was viewed as a failure. Perhaps they think that'll cause a stigma to any other Buffy flicks.
Personally, I just get the impression she's tired of the role and wants to move on. Maybe if no significant work show up, she'll change her mind.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Firefly yes but Farscape no?! AHHHHH!! :(
*sad*
Everytime I get interested in a program, it gets cancelled, usually without closure. Sometimes the cancellation occurs on a cliff-hanger, like "John Doe". That's a clear indication that the studios have no respect for the viewers; why should I have any respect for them? If they are not going to make a multi-year commitment, why should I?
Firefly, FarScape, John Doe are all recent casualties. I'm pissed. I've decided to drop back, and wait for a few seasons before I start watching any new program. If it doesn't survive, then at least I wasn't impacted. If it's getting good buzz after a few seasons, then I'll watch the reruns or DVD to catch up.
If this means that new shows won't get done, that's fine too. I'm old enough to know there are better things I should be spending my time on anyway (even /. qualifies in that regard). :-)
Can You Say Linux? I Knew That You Could.
"The one that brought us"? Well, no, more like one of the people that worked on the scripts for these movies (so you can think him responsible for whichever parts you most liked or disliked, as you prefer). For the most part, interest in "Buffy" led to some script doctor work for Whedon. However, as with the difference between the original Buffy movie and the series (and differences between ok/good and excellent episodes of Buffy), Whedon's work is much better when nobody else messes with it.
I just hope that the powers at Universal are smart enough not to tamper with things on the Firefly movie. Probably not much of a hope, but it's worth a try.
Fox execs are morons - it's a great show that didn't get a chance to bloom. Crappy time spot, totally out of sequence airing. Glad to see it kicking ass in the UK. But damn those Amazon customers! I want my DVD collection now!
...was it's Friday night time slot.
When I first saw the advertisement for Firefly, I was very excited. But then when they said it would be shown on Friday night, I was bummed. I usually go out on Friday nights.
Of course I could record it, but to be honest I just don't record that often. I wonder if others are like this. There are many shows that I will give a half or full hour of my life to when they are on TV, yet at the same time I will hardly ever record any shows. And I don't know why.
etiquette
\Et"i*quette`\, n. [F. prop., a little piece of paper, or a mark or title, affixed to a bag or bundle, expressing its contents, a label, ticket, OF. estiquete, of German origin; cf. LG. stikke peg, pin, tack, stikken to stick, G. stecken. See Stick, and cf. Ticket.]
The forms required by good breeding, or prescribed by authority, to be observed in social or official life; observance of the proprieties of rank and occasion; conventional decorum; ceremonial code of polite society.
They should put shows like this on the internet, and charge a buck to download and/or stream each episode. At least then, the show can control its own destiny, and the fans can watch it any way they want to.
Hell, I'd pay a buck an episode for it, even if they left the commercials in.
What amazingly good news. Woot! For any who've not yet seen it, be sure to pick up the DVD of the first (and only, grumble) season when it hits the shelves this December. The DVD *will* have the unaired episodes and lots of commentary and gag reels and all shown in the correct order (Fox sucks so bad it isn't funny). Amazon was pre-soldout last I checked. For any who don't know why Firefly didn't make it, one phrase should answer it "Fox are Idiots". The idiots at Fox preempted the show for sports programming more for over half of it's episodes. Then there was the 2-hour premiere which cost something like 6 million dollars. The premiere introduced all the characters and set the story. Fox execs decided they didn't want to show the premiere first, they wanted it to be the 10th episode of the season. and had to be reworked into a "flashback episode" for that context... What a bunch of wankers, but we all know that already. The article says Universal bought a rights transfer from Fox, perhaps they'll never again influence anything to do with it. One can only hope that when the movie is successful they'll give thought to bringing back the show. A movie is nice and all, and it's Great that Firefly is back. But a movie will only give us 2 hours of Firefly a year. Compared to the 15 or more hours a year of Firefly we'd have if the TV show comes back. More = better. WOOT
Other than Jack Valenti (who came to my school, incidentally), who the hell actually likes the MPAA? I get your category 3 (movie fans), but I'm not seeing the first one.
-Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat
C'mon - you actually liked that clap trap? It was like the campiest screenplay he could make was found by some exec who thought it would play well.
What the hell is a western and space fantasy doing on the same page?!
There are 01 types of people in this world. Those that understand binary, and me.
...Fox's "Lame Reality Shows" are:
A- VERY cheap to produce, and...
B- Get VERY high ratings.
Those two things add up to huge profit for Fox. Sci-Fi is, by its nature, expensive to produce, with a fairly limited audience. Fox is there to make money, not make an artistic statement. They're less pretentious than the other networks in that regard. And major networks don't view sci-fi seriously or artistically anyway. The original Star Trek only got on the air because NBC and Desilu thought they were getting a laser shoot-em-up, or as Gene Roddenberry put it, "Wagontrain in Space".
Sci-Fi will always be a harder sell than "normal" dramas or reality tv because of the expense. Rendering technology has made it cheaper, but it's still a long ways off from being cost competitive. It's just easier and cheaper to produce another "When Rabid Ferrets Attack" or "The Gay Show".
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
please
I've found that my posts don't format quite right w/o a sig.
1. Think more like Geisha than prostitute and it'll make more sense. I think the previews and shorts used the word prostitute to try and make it more edgy than it was.
2. Look at the spaceships we fly today. You can't get a good interplanetary and atmospheric craft in one with the tech they used. Building up to a fully industrialized level on a bare planet will take a long time. (If you couldn't carry it with you you had to build it when you got there.)
3. I'll agree on that one.
--- I wish I could hear the soundtrack to my life. That way I'd know when to duck.
Hey, he takes credit for all the films listed in his bio as HIS work. If he didn't want to and wasn't proud of them they wouldn't be listed as HIS WORK.
And that said, Alien Resurrection was tripe. As for Titan A.E... did anyone even see that thing?
-rt
What the hell is a western and space fantasy doing on the same page?!
Too young to remember Battlestar Galactica, eh?
Does anyone watch Enterprise anymore?
Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
That's a clear indication that the studios have no respect for the viewers; why should I have any respect for them?
Firefly the movie is being released by Universal, who bought the rights from Fox. So you can still not respect Fox and enjoy the Firefly movie.
The only thing I'm worried about is whether or not Joss will have enough clout with the studio to make the movie HE wants, not the one that Universal wants. He has a track record of getting screwed over by Hollywood (albeit in the role of the writer, not as director.)
A bit OT, but hey:
Yeah, I've watched some of those - mainly some TV episode stuff to fill in the blanks I missed during the regular season, but I also had a few full-length movies in DivX that I also have on DVD. The quality is not even close.
Sure most movies *looks great* as DivX, but the sound quality sucks ass. The DVD, however, looks fantastic and sounds flawless. Now, nobody expects a DivX to sound flawless, but c'mon - I'd like to hear the friggin' dialogue, soundtrack, and special effects. Sound on 99% of DivX rips is muffled and distorted, even if it is in sync. And at 700-odd MB per flick, why waste the bandwidth d/l'ing?
Yeah, there are gonna be folks who say "people said the same thing about mp3s" but an mp3 album isn't going to be 700mb a track. Freed up a coupla gigs of HDD space lickety split.
1) It's as public as he can do without buying ad time, and the forum seems appropriate. I suppose he could have xeroxed copies and stood on the streetcorner, but most people passing would probably say "huh?" It's not like he's black, it's 1950, and there's a line on the floor of the bus he can sit in front of.
2) You don't have to actually get arrested, as you can't control what the authorities choose to do. You simply have to be pretty much resigned to it. He seems to be taking this approach.
3) He's not just trying to justify his greed in not wanting to pay for content. He's actively distributing older texts that aren't all that popular but which would be legal to copy now if it weren't for the Bono act.
I liked it.
-Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat
A buck an episode, huh? Lets be conservative and guess an episode costs a million dollars to make. So you need a million viewers, and then enough viewers to cover the infrastructure costs for that original million.
This is why there's no "TV over the 'net" like was promised back in the boom days. It just doesnt make economic sense.
Sure, on TV maybe you can get a million people to watch by cramming it between Ally McBeal and The Simpsons. 750,000 of those people left the TV on while they went to take a dump and make some nachos.
Convincing that many people to spend an hour or two downloading it is a whole different story.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
...How'd Joss pull this one off? This property [Firefly] is deader than the parents on *Party of Five*! (props to the Bloodhound Gang)...
"Right now, somewhere in this world, Scott Baio is plowing a woman he doesn't love," - Peter Griffin, *Family Guy*
I tried watching the first episode of Firefly but I simply couldn't get past the blatant similarities (ripoffs?) from the Sunrise Animes Outlaw Star and Cowboy Bebop... everything from cowboys in space to naked girls popping out of boxes... I wasn't sure what to make of it so I never really watched the show again.
But the cult popularity it seems to have gained is really piquing my curiosity. Maybe I should give it another change to prove itself?
Great! Finally a reason to get out of my bunk! : )
.sig:
(You need to have seen the series to get this)
P.S. Notice my
You can't take the sky from me...
For all the people commenting on why channels seem to cancel the best geek shows (firefly, futurama, etc), I have a thought. Maybe geek shows are cancelled because they frequently cost as much or more per episode as mainstream show (due to special effects or whatever else), while having a lower viewership. Additionally, the limited viewership of those shows consists of cynical people who actually find out about products before they use them; having Catherine Zeta-Jones as a spokesperson isn't as much of an influence to us as it would be to a "Joe Millionaire" viewer.
When TV stations gauge the "success" of a show, they are measuring it with respect to their customers; not the viewers, the ADVERTISERS. The sequence goes like this:
* Flashy colors don't drive me to buy something
-> Advertisers don't want to spend money to show me flashy colors
-> TV stations see less profit on the shows I watch
-> TV stations spend less money (read: cancel) the shows I watch
-> I buy Futurama seasons 1 and 2 on DVD
[hopefully in the future]
-> TV stations recognize that there is money to be made on shows that are not profitable from advertising, and begin to release shows CHEAPLY on DVD to begin with.
Stephen King tried this. Charged a buck per chapter for a novel he was publishing online. Said he'd only continue if at least 75% of downloads were paid for.
He never got past the second chapter.
This is the internet. If it can be copied and distributed to a million of your closest friends, it will be, whether its wrong or not.
In short, producers aren't stupid enough to try this. They know us better than that. And don't give me any crap about the Apple store being an example of paid downloads. Here's my example. Kazaa. Which one do you think has more traffic, and by a mile?
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Listings
Gotta get me one of those Blue Sun MindBlasters
I actually liked the show, from thsoe episodes that i caught. Though I have to admit to feeling like there weren't enough Chinese people for a world where some vague form of cantonese is common slang...but I'm digressing.
The strength of Whedon's tv shows seem to come from the continuity driven stories, I know he's worked on the scripts of some good/popular movies (Buffy being the exception), but I don't see Firefly as making a great movie- just a longform episode or something. I don't see what bigger better effects, production value stuff they could pack in to really justify a movie either. So what would it be?
I recall watching the Cowboy Bebop, or Xfiles, or ST movies and mostly feeling like nice long episode, but not really a feature experience.
Badass! You must get all the ladies
Along with the original cast, 3 new members will be added to lure in the casual movie goer. The first new addition will be a stubborn and mean-spirited, yet loveable, robot named "Alvin." The 2nd character will be a 1-2' tall furry creature with a really "cute" name that always seems to get into trouble. The 3rd character will be a "superior" alien-being that will constantly remind the crew of their mistakes and point out the foolish of 80% of the captain's actions. This will help the movie attract more than just the show's 16-35 male demographic audience.
What the hell is a western and space fantasy doing on the same page?!
Yeah, most westerns are about high adventure on the frontier of civilization. Whereas most sci-fi shows are about high adventure on the frontier of civilization. I don't see how they are compatible.
the unaired episodes will purportedly be included to boot.
hm...november is gonna be a real expensive month, DVD-wise...
ed
The real question is, is anyone still *TRYING* to watch it.
Loved the series, sh*tty screening time...
Now, was it just me, or was the theme tune a direct rip off a Jon Bon Jovi one..?
Winton
Firefly is actually a knock off of Starhunter which was a way better show and has started airing in syndication on U.S. stations.
I'm beginning to get really pissed at the TV networks. I live in the UK, and as everyone knows, we get things late. First I spotted "The Lone Gunmen", which was a quality series, and was cancelled after only a few episodes. Mores the shame. Then my long time favourite Futurama got prematurely cancelled. Soon after I found that out, I discovered firefly showing for the first time on UK networks - then about two weeks later I found it had been cancelled. Pretty gutted. Now after reading through these comments, I see that "John Doe" has also been cancelled. That show has only just started to be advertised over here, it starts on Monday and I was really looking forward to it - and now I find it's been cancelled even before I've seen an episode. There is something very wrong at the TV networks, and if they don't get themselves sorted there's gonna be one hell of a backlash.
There was a reason the show was shit-canned. No one wants to watch a bunch of dull yokels in space. (And please: hookers have a revered place in society?)
Starting Monday Space will be showing the entire Firefly run in Canada. Check your local listings and be sure to tune in. Give it a chance, it rocks!
Serve Gonk.
... SHINY!
Ed Wedig
Graphic design services
docbrown.net
From what I remember, and I may be wrong since it's been almost a year since I watched Firefly,
the chinese dialect used was Mandarin, not Cantonese. Very, very, very badly pronounced Mandarin, which may be the source of the confusion.
Everyone repeat after me...YOUR DOLLAR IS YOUR VOTE
There is really only two other solutions. The first is to have adequate "voice" by your strategic position in the industry to force the MPAA (or anyone else for that matter) to consider your views... hopefully you will provide factual evidence and thus focus on education not manipulation. This of course is still a "vote of the dollar" but here you seem to have more vote per dollar (and more dollars, heh).
The other solution is legal. By supporting lobbying and specific laws and politicians you can bring about a legal enforcement of your views. Perhaps you can even claim it is "leveling the playing field" as that often sounds very attractive. Sadly, this leveling is more like what you get from a 20 megaton nuclear detonation at the optimal distance above the surface. That means that you destroy the landscape and people resulting in not only striking out at IndustryX (MPAA here) but will enable shifty politicians and lawyers to use those VERY SAME laws to end up making the situation worse for choice and freedom.
I urge you to vote with your dollar. Sure picketing and boycotting sound nice and give certain people a warm and fuzzy that is not from their latte. However, even if you discount the hypocrisy of many of those people and focus on results you find that in the end you must speak the language of business... MONEY. Boycotting only works in a very well controlled situation... movies are not one of these unless you can get about 30 percent of people to NOT go to, support, buy DVD's, or anything related to movies that could help them.... NOTHING.
Basically, I invite everyone to not justify their actions and instead act on principle. If you are not that against what the MPAA is doing then go ahead and watch as many movies as you want confident in your giving that vote of approval to the MPAA. If however you cherish your freedoms and rights then stop being a coward and do something about it. Spend less time making excuses and calling those who have different opinions then you (i.e. that don't have a problem with MPAA) pig-fuckers and maybe just maybe you will start seeing some change.
OK, firstly:
while you're quite right re: OS-era klingons and samurai, post-OS era klingons are based on vikings. do a bit of research into the culture and it's pretty clear (note the status of music in klingon society).
secondly: the enterprise series premier featured a run-in w/ klingons. and i believe the previous season also included a klingon episode.
however, to the best of my knowledge they have not yet encountered romulans. no, just the annoying temporal cold war.
[grumbles]
ed
OK, you'll accept that lorien is the first one, that the shadows can remain invisible to normal light, that both vorlons and the shadows can have living technology starships, but you can't accept that the drakh, long-time servitors of the shadows, couldn't engineer a plague cloud that can withstand atmospheric re-entry?
the drakh were basically the script kiddies of the b5 universe! to me, the astonishing thing is that it would take a whole 5 freaking years, but hey, YMMV.
ed
Of course, I'm a tool to respond to flamebait, but it should be pointed out that the entire idea behind the original Star Trek was "Wagontrail in space".
It did ok for a few years.
You are totally blocking my view of the wall. - Dogbert
The use of horses on some colony planets was well explained in the series pilot. Unfortunately, the network did not air the pilot until the end of the series.
According to the pilot, the colonization of some planets involved little more than dumping the settlers, some livestock, and some basic tools in the middle of the wilderness. Although some colonies were extermely advanced, with high tech and large populations, many were still barren frontiers with a mix of farmers, miners, and other suppliers of raw materials.
No, but too young to remember Star Wars : A New Hope.
As an investor it is HIGHLY infuriating. (you can include "as an employee" here as well) As I mentioned in a post above... your dollar is your vote. Remember that when you get pissed at the stupidity you witness in business ask yourself if you helped create it.
Oh, and one thing... don't confuse (or let yourself be confused by those who say this) the situation of being angry at a particular programming choice and that of obviously making a bad business decision. I have often been on the receiving end of decisions that were not favorable to me... however it was clear after a bit of thought and observation that I was in the minority. The real issue is when you have your major money maker and cancel it or as mentioned you take ANY show and simply mangle it so that you drive away revenue.
Remember this bit of wisdom by Scott Adams, "Why are stupid managers there? Because they were themselves hired by stupid management" Until you break the chain then this will not magically go away. There is little incentive for managers with business sense. The drive is for buzz and other superficial element compliance. Yet here we have the problem of perceived causal relationships. If a PHB is around and money flows then his PHB will see it as a sign of good management. Trends and actual cause and effect analysis will be ignored.
Personally this failure to do the job of an executive would lead me to fire them. I am glad I am a small company with no bloat. If anyone I outsourced to pulled this crap they would immediately be without money from me.
Just like the TV version, I expect it to flop.
I should not take long after it flop's that the theater for it to be release to DVD.
Then I will do down to the local Hollywood video and rent it!!!
Wise men speak because they have something to say, Fools because they have to say something!!!!
I see your point about the western theme in a space fantasy movie. I agree, and the theme has been heavly borrowed from, yadda, yadda, yadda.
But what you fail to see about my point, is that there were freakin' chaps, hats and covered wagons in this travesty. I think there were also revolvers too, but my efforts to wipe it from my memory may have gotten the best of me.
I'm seriously not trying to be a troll. But i really don't know what the appeal to this show was? Can somone explain it to me, seriously?!
There are 01 types of people in this world. Those that understand binary, and me.
Need I say more?
I watched it, but...
I was willing to:
Most people aren't THAT dedicated to a completly new show.
And BTW, not only were people watching the show when it was on for free, but we also TOPPED OFF THE PREORDER LIMIT for the DVD in one day. Jeez, think about it for one second will ya...
You can't take the sky from me...
I'm going to metamod dilligently hoping to get a chance to blow this moderator out of the water...
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
And those other shows you mention: "gambled the future"? Where have you been? These are reality shows. The genre's been popular for a long time, and they cost a pittance (by Hollywood standards) to produce. Especially American Idol which is just a retread of a British show.
I did think that Fox would give Firefly a decent change, mainly because Fox Entertainment is run by Gail Berman. Back when she was a studio person, she persuaded Whedon to turn Buffy into a TV series, and got him the backing to do it. But Buffy was relatively low-budget, and Firefly was very expensive indeed. I guess that made it a lot of enemies in the network, who begrudged the resources and air time for a show that would take a long time to find an audience, and that would probably not be profitable even when it did.
It's sort of ironic that Whedon's turning Firefly into a movie. He passed up a chance to direct Ironman because he thought that he could have more creative freedom with a TV series. But after watching Buffy's pathetic whinding-down (and re-watching older episodes enough times to see their flaws), I have to think he's better off doing stories that can be told in one sitting.
Not that it matters. I'm still a rabid fan, but I think Joss Whedon's 15 minutes is over. He tells good stories, but he sucks at the political and social negotiation you need to do to make a TV show or a movie.
But seriously, I'd be more excited if someone announced
that they'd continue the series on their network. Instead, we have
"news" that possibly, maybe, the cast will be reunited for
a possible big-screen release.
Maybe.
Sig Applied For
Am I the only person on Earth who didn't like Firefly? (Apparently not, judging from the ratings). Speaking as a big fan of Whedon's other work and previous underappreciated sci-fi series (like Alien Nation), I was very disappointed in this show. The biggest problem for me was that the characters were simply unengaging. Where was the complexity, the dark inner secrets and tortured private moments? Nothing CLICKED, nothing felt genuine. The whole series was as boring as a season of Enterprise (well, maybe not quite that boring).
It wasn't that funny when you posted it on AICN either.
But at least you got me to listen to "Mope" again. That's a funny song.
Gosh, if only there was a programming block showing both Futurama AND Family Guy, back to back! The only thing that would make that more awesome is if it showed anime too!
---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?
Umm, basically it was Cowboy Bebop with live action toys, good looking people, and Joss Whedon attitude.
I also thought Firefly was boring and fake. Although I feel that way about Whedon's other work also. I programmed SciFi out of my TV after they cancelled Farscape, because there was nothing new and good to watch on it.
Alien Nation was one of the most original SciFi concepts to ever make it to Film or TV. The TV show could have been a bit better though. It aged like cheese.
---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?
For example: "If there's one thing the Buffy Powers That Be should have learned by now, it's that you can't stifle demand by choking the supply. When The WB pulled 'Graduation Day, Part 2' off the air in June, 1999, because of Columbine, fans got bootleg tapes from Canada (with creator Joss Whedon's blessing, no less)" (From here)
I.e. Joss Whedon actually sanctioned copyright violation by fans in at least one case (admittedly there were exceptional circumstances).
I LOVE this show. Percy is such a sleazy skanky whore that she's become irresistible to me! More Starhunter!
The bad acting, filming, directing, bad boying, key gripping and producing is also quite humorous.
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
Men or women, it's the dumb gossipy types that love those shows. My gf hates them with a passion, considering them the worst form of tripe on the tube. Who wants to watch dumb, mean spirited deceitful people backstab each other? People who need to feel superior to someone, that's who. Men watch these things too, even straight men.
As for Firefly, (desperately trying to keep on topic) I loved it. It was killed by a poor timeslot and lack of network support. I don't think they gave it a fair shot, but these days, if something's not an instant hit, networks just can it and bring in a midseason replacement. Originality is not their forte.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
I just checked the link in the post. The site is not even close to being slashdotted. Posting the text here is great when it's the only way to read the story, but if you can click the link and give the site a couple pennies, do so.
It's nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand.
It would be damned funny either way. The only question would be whether you got arrested or committed first. ;)
-Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat
SAaB was a better show than Firefly and suffered the same Fox-ian treatment that lead to it's demise. Where is our movie? I guess, we'll just settle for Firefly being resurrected.
Something intelligent here.
The show didn't take itself too seriously, unlike others I could name <cough>Enterprise</cough>. The western theme was tongue-in-cheek to a large extent. But as others have pointed out, 19th-century technology makes a lot of sense from a realism point of view. Projectile weapons are appropriate tech on a world where it's difficult to recharge your phaser. The covered wagon wheels probably had ball bearings, tho.
Seriously, put something into space and I'll love it. I like anything that I can remotely fit into my mind as being Science Fiction- except firefly.
IT SUCKED, AND WAS CANCELED BECAUSE IT SUCKED. STOP SAYING IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN "GIVEN A CHANCE" AND ACCEPT THAT IT SUCKED- BY NO LONGER BEING ON THE AIR, IT MAKES WAY FOR BETTER THINGS. (note that this does not mean that better things have come along to replace it)
HOLY FUCK THAT WAS A SHITTY SHOW.
This is _NOT_ troll, this is _NOT_ flamebait, if you disagree with those facts, TRY POSTING A FUCKING REPLY. The show sucked, okay? Just because a post has the word "suck" in it, doesnt make it a troll or a flame- it is INFORMATIVE or INSIGHTFUL if you absolutely NEED to moderate. Otherwise- FUCKING POST, YOU FUCKWIT
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
it was boring and stupid
Not only did I not LIKE the characters, I mostly didn't care about them.
... yeah." And fixes it.
That's death on TV or movies. I couldn't see any difference between the crew and the assorted bad guys they faced (except the cannibals) and even then the Captain didn't even TRY to help that tortured guy.
Whedon writes some good stuff when he's got others to bitchslap him and say "hey? Why do I like these folks" and he figures "oh
Otherwise his stuff comes off with cold, unlikeable pricks.
Seasons 1-6 of BTVS we good. Season 7* he butchered big time. As for Firefly. I saw it
once and didn't care for it.
* - For those who don't know, Whedon cast the captain of the Firefly ship as BTVS
Season 7 "Great evil's" lackey (a psychotic misgynoist preacher).
Whedon DID write some stupid stuff in Alien Resurrection; made characters act stupid for plot reasons. He DID make Movie Buffy a cheerleader without audience grabbing pals.
... you may hate that but that's the economics behind Colin Farrell and Samuel L Jackson in SWAT.
He's also got talent. But works best when people DO mess with him and bring him back from "wouldn't it be cool."
Cap and ball revolvers in Space? I can see firearms but if you can machine a space ship you can machine an autoloader. Far too much of Firefly was the result of Whedon OD'ing on Civil War stuff, horses in space.
Most likely this project gets cancelled or upgraded into a star vehicle that studios can promote
a) How many chapters was it going to be? He writes pretty hefty books. A buck a chapter may have ended up more than a hardcover. Definitely more than a softcover.
b) How many people looked at a chapter out of the novelty, never intending to pay for it, or even look at the second chapter? I expect that would account for the bulk of the non-payers. The 75% was doomed to failure.
c) I generally don't read King, but I heard that that book wasn't one of his best efforts.
d) Who wants to wait for a week or two between chapters when reading a book? Especially if the author makes no guarantee to ever finish the book? We're all to used to it in the TV or movie series world (and those formats usually are designed to minimize the problems with it), but it is different with books.
__
Do ya feel happy-go-lucky, punk?
haha great screen name.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Witchblade Season Two: Very lame.
I really really really wanted to like Witchblade's second season, but the suckitude was entirely too high for it to continue by the time they finished broadcasting season two's shows.
Face it: Witchblade was put out of its misery.
"You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister
this is a great idea, I would definatley be there. brain: if only a movie were made for Farscape mouth: farscape! farscape! farscape!
Hard Hat Area: Sig Construction Zone
Exactly. Chaps, hats, covered wagons, revolvers with pearl handles, drawling accents, chewing baccy and that horrible twangy guitar music. It was like the human race got wiped out by a comet, and the only ones to get away were die-hard wild west revivalists, on a battlecruiser full of authentic props and musical instruments.
Even beyond the fact that the resulting melee was ludicrous and painful and bizarre, the Wild West was always a pretty annoying setting, so it made the whole show even worse. It was like watching Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel with his crew of Sub-Yokels search the galaxy for moonshine and grits...
Firefly made no money to speak of as a television show. Bad timeslot? Poor advertising? Cruddy story? There are people who would undoubtedly argue all points. However, I fail to see how any show that doesn't make money and gather a following in series Televsion catches the eye of movie producers. They better have some big named stars to draw the crowd.
To know is to have knowledge....to understand is to be enlightened.
Heh. That's the first thing I've seen on Slashdot today that made me chuckle. If you weren't logged in as an AC, I'd put you on my friends list.
Firefly made no money to speak of as a television show.
/. journal for more info on why firefly is so loved despite its early cancellation.
Like I said...
I fail to see how any show that doesn't make money and gather a following in series Televsion catches the eye of movie producers.
It did gather a large following.
In fact, fans even bought an ad for the show in an industry magazine!
Not to mention that as soon as the DVD was announced for preorder it rose in the top 5 of DVD sales on amazon and they stopped accepting preorders within 24 hours because the demand exceeded the amount of DVDs they had to offer.
THAT is how they caught the eye of movie producers.
You can also go read my one and only entry in my
You can't take the sky from me...
The way Fox jerks around the schedules with its shows is one of the best reasons to own a Tivo. I saw all the Futuramas and Fireflys and didnt really realize how randomly they were being aired. why isnt everyone getting on the PVR bandwagon already....
Somebody else mentioned that the omnilovable Raymond gets $1M per ep. But that's certainly the biggest single item in their budget. I don't know all the figures, but I'd guess that even with an overpaid star, ELR costs less to make than half a Firefly episode.
No, he's talking about episode 3x09, "The Wish". The one with evil vampire Xander.
*snif* I miss the series the way it used to be. Too bad the animated version got axed.
--grendel drago
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
Excuse me, why does the idea that the terraforming might be automated explain a bizarre "Buck Rogers" mixture of technologies? What does automation mean in the case anyhow. You remind me of story David Parnass told, of his time sitting on the SDI oversight committee. Whenever an unanswerable technical objection came up the senior General would fix the questioner with a steely gaze, and say, "Yes, but we will be using expert systems!
You say "planets" but IIRC the voice-over at the beginning said that hundreds, or maybe it was thousands, of asteroids had been terraformed.
So, what do you think it would cost to terraform even a single asteroid, the size of Eros? If this stellar system was of comparable size and complexity to our own, hundreds of asteroids would get us down to Eros sized rocks, wouldn't it? A dome to retain the air... Magical gravity generators so our heroes aren't bouncing around like basketballs... How much would it cost? PLENTY! Somebody is going to make that investment, and then leave the colonists to rely on tools as primitive as shovels? And HOW does this make sense?
Maybe these absurdities didn't ruin this work for you. Well, it ruined it for me, and I make no apology for that...
While I grant that Buffy was entertaining light horror/comedy, Whedon's one trick pony recipe of teen angst and sarcastic quips worn pretty thin after three TV series and some dumb movie dialogue. That last thing we need is to be tortured with more low rent shlock from hack Whedon.
Josh Whedon sucks monkey butt. No talent, one dimensional, tasteless cretin. I read an interview where he complained about Halle Berry not delivering his "what happens to a toad when it get's struck by lightning?" line in a sufficiently tongue-in-cheek manner. She delivered it fine, chump. Whedon's not happy unless every girl delivers her lines in smirky teen slayer style
The public got sick of Whedon's monotonous and endless high school hell. Most of his fans were pre-teen girls who eventually grew up and moved on (to such fine fare as "the Bachelor").
And geeks. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Allyssa Hannigan had fantastic geek appeal. Farscape kicks Buffy's pasty ass.
From the opening:
Here's how it is. The Earth got used up. So, we moved out and terraformed ourselves a whole new galaxy of Earths. Some rich and plush with the new technologies. Others, not so much. The central planets, them as formed the Alliance, fought a war to bring all the worlds under their control. Some idiots tried to fight it, among them, myself.
I think that pretty much sums up why they have covered wagons and revolvers.
Whatever her name was. The engineer of the ship, the cute blonde with a wrench in her hands and slightly greasy face, she was crazy cute! Keep her for the movie! I'd watch two hours of just her, thanks, you don't even need the rest of the crew, although the crazy sister character was pretty interesting, and the fact that the pilot and first officer were married.
Actually, now that I think about it, the whole show was rather good, well cast, good acting, decent plots, and some very witty dialogue.
Overall, a pretty decent show. Where do I go to order that DVD again?
Anyhow, the mechanic chick was really cute, did I say that?
Firefly ruelezzz....
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
American's have air conditioning, cars, broadband internet and we've been to the moon. In other parts of the world, things like toilet paper, asperin and purified water could be considered luxury items. What makes you so sure that kind of disparity wont still be around in another few hundred years?
Is nice to see that technology hasn't solved all our problems. We've had 30 years of near Utopian Star-Trek; its nice to see a future sci-fi series thats gritty.
And of the three, I think the third was the real culprit. The show just did not seem like it was worked out very well in advance. Probably because Joss was doing the last season of Buffy, and Angel, and Firefly. It started to come together after the first six episodes, but by then it was too late. I guess you have to hit the ground running.
I think Joss should have waited until Buffy was done, and then started up a new show. He would have had a lot more time to come up with a coherent history and setting, and might have gotten Buffy's old timeslot too.
Jon Acheson
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
Uh, okay...how is this flamebait? Someone's gonna start a flame war over...what exactly? Whether Fox execs are or are not morons? Sheesh, what a waste of a moderation point.
In Australia:
VHS = A$19.95
DVD = A$29.95
Sure, DVDs have extras and crap, but DVDs are actually cheaper to produce than VHS tapes. So they're only charging more becuase it's 'new' technology.
Should you pay more for something just because it is better, or should you pay a price based on a reasonable profit margin above what it costs to produce?
Also, with DVDs outselling VHS tapes by a huge margin, the costs should be coming down even further.
If you are heading out to somewhere new and don't want to rely on a lifeline back to where you come from (or where you come from isn't interested in offering such a lifeline) your only sane choice is to settle on a level of technology that is sustainable, repairable and replaceable on the ground.
That means low tech.
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
*Alien Nation* was one of the most original ideas? Ye gods, dude, it was a cop-with-new-partner-he-doesn't-like movie with a drug mcguffin and a very thinly ... I mean, original Star Trek-level thin ... disguised immigrant-to-this-country subplot. Original means things like Sapphire and Steel (note that I don't say I like or dislike that, I just say it was original) or Twin Peaks. Alien Nation, on the other hand, was almost exactly as original as Automan.
It's called Peacemakers. It sounds interesting; I'd give it a watch if I had cable. Interestingly, the article makes the same assessment that I did: Firefly failed because it combined two genres that people aren't looking for today.
Anybody who lurks around here with the nick "lord bitman" just has to be a pathetic chudwah.
Christ, can't you hear the chuckles of derision?
I really can't.
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
This TV show had to have been one of the worst things I've ever seen.
* As is generally the case, my opinions do not reflect those of my employer.
Nichelle Nichols had turned down the part of "Uhura" but reconsidered when Martin Luther King asked her to take the part - sure she wasn't a main character, but she wasn't a whore or a servant or a drug addict either. It was a positive role model for many young blacks. There was a place for them in the future.
"You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister