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Firefly: A Special Feature
Philip B. Gaines writes "Philip B. Gaines announces the completion of an independent multimedia commentary project, "Firefly: A Special Feature", a DVD based on the FOX television series created by Joss Whedon. A free examination copy of the project is available for those willing to provide feedback about this media experiment. "Firefly: A Special Feature" is a 3.5 hour multi-module review of Whedon's innovative space western series. The interactive review features a variety of interpretive and analytical components--all intended to further discussion of this seriously underappreciated show. The bottom line of the project is dialogue, not promotion. If you have seen "Firefly" before and found it intriguing--or even if you haven't--this project will make you think, argue, and perhaps even learn a bit. For "Firefly: A Special Feature", I have acted as writer, video/sound editor, and media producer, working with complete independence from the producers of the show or anyone else whose influence might bias the analysis. Plans are underway to do this kind of project again, so I would appreciate feedback on all levels. See the website for a formal description of the project Email pbgaines@pbgaines.com for a copy of the DVD."
perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)'
Mm. If it's wrong to want slashdot to have news instead of unpaid ads - then I don't want to be right.
How many angry readers will you censor by modding them down until you realized that you placed a disguised advert as an article?
.
"Advertising pretending to be news... again..."
If it's interesting to people, so what?
"Derp de derp."
There were actually 13 episodes. The first 10 were aired in the states, while the last 3 were in the UK. Fox has to be blamed for its low Neilsen ratings since it aired the episodes out of order which probably confused the audience.
This is a test. This is a test of the emergency sig system. This has been only a test.
Uhm...I'm not sure what you mean by that but:
1) Fox doesn't show 7th Heaven. That's WB
2) MWC ran for 10 years, which is a long time for any show. Not sure if it was cancelled or they just ended the series.
3) Fox also shows the Simpsons, which is decidedly not family-friendly.
4) Temptation Island, Joe Millionaire, "When X Attack!", "Strangest X ever caught on tape!"
...Science Fiction shows ever put on television (imho). At first, I didn't think I could get use to the "space cowboy" feel, but this show was absolutely fantastic. It was a much more realistic look at what a potential "space wandering" humanity could become (when comparing to something like Star Trek). The cast and acting was great, the episodes, plots, and storyline, all very intriguing. It still completely shocks me that Fox took it off the air. Several friends of mine and myself still wallow in frustration as to why it ever got taken off the air.
I highly recommend picking the series up on DVD, available at Amazon Dec.9.
java guy, tech blog...
An "analysis" written by fans - or even worse, a fan - is generally guaranteed to be uncritical garbage. As far as I'm concerned if you're going to produce/consume masturbation material about a show/series, stick to fanfics stay away from slashdot. This seems like a good place to start for Philip and Hemos .
---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?
'Space Above and Beyond', which was quite an excellent SciFi show, it lasted something like one and a half to two and a half seasons before having the plug pulled on it.
It used revolutionary (for television) special effects for the space scenes. If I am not mistaken, I believe that it was the first to use computer generated graphics for the entirety of the space scenes, from the large cruiser/carrier the space marines were using to the sleek starfighters that that marines were using...
The stories were rather compelling as well. Especially with the whole back history of the clone warriors and the human-looking androids. It's to bad that they ended the whole show as it was beginning to really grow... (I feel that most shows take a good two to three seasons to really get their legs and start running...)
If you ignore the other uses of a tool, does that make the tool less useful, or you less useful?
it was decent scifi and so a lot of slashdot readers were instant fans, myself included. the universe was not the sanitary one of star trek nor the mystical one of starwars. it was a universe where technology hadn't been humanities savior, and there was enough of it to see that it probably never would. the universe had limited resources: fuel, food, etc. the universe required the characters to be people who did what it took to survive. this allowed for them to be interesting characters without requiring they be jedi or android. the firefly's crew was made up of prositutes, priests, and even the captain killed at least one "bad guy" in cold blood. i didn't watch every episode, but the few i caught i really enjoyed.
One of the unaired episodes of Fire Fly is on Space tonight at 8pm EST it's called Trash.
Space is a Canadian Si-Fi\Fantasy Station.
Never Underestimate A Human Being
1. Unlike Star Trek, Farscape, and Battlestar Galactica, there was no sound in outer space.
There are more differences, but I only need one to show that you didn't think very hard, so I'll stop there.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
It is too bad about "Firefly" not receiving the support it needed from Fox, because I've noticed something about ALL of Whedon's series. The first season is just the setup.
If there had only been one season of "Buffy," no one would remember it now. The first season has some good lines and is solidly done, but what made the show special was how Whedon developed the characters and situations he'd established in that first year.
"Angel" was much the same. The first season set the ground rules, and then he started to screw with them.
I enjoyed the episodes we saw of "Firefly," but what I really miss is seeing how it would get fiddled with, as the series progressed.
Make a man a fire, and he's warm for a day. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
What makes Firefly worth watching is that it's a well written, well acted, and well-directed show, featuring production values that were about as good as you are likely to see on TV, and story arcs which were entertaining to follow.
That said, there were differences. Firefly paid much closer attention to physics than any TV sci-fi I've ever seen, and had a very rich back-story that easilly stands up against B5 or Farscape. It was certainly an order of magnitude better than either of the last two Star Trek series to emerge from Paramount. When the DVD set comes out next month, borrow it from a friend or something and see for yourself.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Philip was kind enough to send me a copy of his DVD project a week and a half ago, and while I have yet to finish watching what is unarguably a massive project, everything I've watched so far is fantastic commentary. He exhibits extremely strong character analysis (essential for any discussion of Firefly) and is acutely aware of a plethora of layered subtleties in the show that I somehow completely missed, even having rewatched the episodes time and time again. Pay (if he's asking for money at all) whatever he's asking for material and/or S&H, because the project is well worth it. What I've watched of the DVD I've walked away from having an even greater appreciation for Firefly, and I didn't think that was possible.
Hopefully someone "up there" (that is to say, Whedon) will notice Philip's exemplary work and integrate it into the mythos somehow, because it deserves nothing less. Highly recommended.