Firefly DVD Set Released

Richard M. Nixon writes "As previously reported the DVD set for Joss Whedon's ill fated Western/Space Opera is now available. The DVD has all 11 episodes that aired, 3 episodes that didn't air, commentary on 7 episodes, and lots of bonus features including Joss singing the Firefly theme. It would make a nice Christmas gift for any Whedon fan who has not already run out and bought it. If DVD Sales are good enough, could we see a second season?"

Comments

Josh who?

[Keelor]

If you're going to misspell the creator's name, please don't mention it three times in the article.

Or, you could just get it right and call him Joss Whedon. Either way.

Re:AHHHH!!!!

[koganuts]

Well, Joss has a sense of humor about its inclusion:

There's some crazy person singing the theme song, which, I can't stress enough, people should just avoid that particular extra. It was never meant to be heard by anybody. ... Yeah, that'd be me. I threw it down. I was like, OK, I'll just throw it down so they know the chords and then we'll get some great old blues singer to sing it and it will be cool. And they were like, "Let's put it on the DVD." And I was like, "OK." And then I listened to it. I was like, "I must die now [laughs]." I can't stress this enough--not a singer. ... But the embarrassment is outweighed by the fact that I love this show as hard as anything I've loved, and to have it exist on the DVD shelf and in perpetuity is such a great thing for me.

Re:Maybe a movie?

[thegrommit]

For some additional background on the series, Cinefantastique has an episode guide with comments from Joss Whedon and Tim Minear.

Re:What's so good about Firefly?

[AKAImBatman]

1. Excellent characters
2. Amazing story development
3. Best special effects, bar none
4. A space captain who isn't a wus. (e.g. In the pilot, a bad guy is holding the teenage girl captive while evil space cannibals are approaching. The captain arrives in the middle of the hostage situation, and instead of negotiating, he - without missing a step - simply shoots the guy, picks up his body and throws it out the rear cargo entrance so they can take off.)
5. NO FSCKING "techno babble". No bloody deflector dishes, transporters, hyperspace gizmos, exotic particles, gravity wave engines or anything else.
6. No sound in space.
7. Soft title music that gets stuck in your head and won't let go.
8. An interesting back-story. (e.g. the episode "Out of Gas")
9. You can't take the sky from me...

Go to suprnova.org (no typo) and download "Our Dear Mrs. Reynolds". You'll be hooked, I guarantee. :-)

Firefly

[Anonymous Coward]

I heard that Firefly was going to be a western in space. Sure enough, when I watched the first episode, it was about the gang robbing a train, western style. I thought my worst fears were realized as this is the type of science fiction I hate most.

Take any western and change the indians to aliens. Changes the horses and stagecoaches to spaceships. Presto! You have instant sci-fi. I felt that way through exactly one episode. By the third one, I was hooked on an amazing show.

It looks to me like someone at Fox wanted to sink the show. You run it on Friday night (kiss of death), show the worst episode first, and then don't bother to show the first episode until much later in the season.

FWIW, for So Cal Slashdot readers...

[koganuts]

Joss Whedon and several members of the cast and crew are scheduled to appear at the LA Comic Book and Sci-Fi Convention (yeah, the convention will be full of geeky fans, but check the list of past convention guests and you have to admit that it's pretty damn impressive, and the admission price of $7.50 can't be beat either) this coming Sunday to promote the DVD, and Fox will have them there for sale for $25.00:

Joining JOSS on stage at 1:00 P.M. will be TIM MINEAR (Writer), BEN EDLUND (Writer-also creator of THE TICK Comic Book), Stars NATHON FILLION (CAPTAIN MALCOLM "MAL" REYNOLDS), GINA TORRES (ZOE), ADAM BALDWIN (JAYNE), RON GLASS (BOOK "THE SHEPHERD"), and MORENA BACCARIN (INARA). Fox Home Entertainment will have GREAT PRICES on DVD's at their table at the Convention! Fox will have the FIREFLY COMPLETE SERIES DVD COLLECTION on sale for just $24.99. They will also have BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Season One-Five for $34.99. ANGEL Volume One and Two will be on sale for $34.99. X-2: X-MEN UNITED will be on sale for $14.99, and X-FILES DVD's will also be on sale.

It'll be interesting to hear his thoughts on the TV series, on FOX network execs, the DVDs, and the upcoming movie project (which contrary to recent reports, has a very long way to go). Plus if you go, you'll have a chance to rib Joss on singing the theme song. :)

The Chu shie fook executes at the Fox network

[Richard M. Nixon]

First, the swearing is as lame as it was in Farscape.

I haven't seen Farscape so I don't know about its swearing. The swearing in Firefly was actually Chinese. Joss's idea was that in the future the only two superpowers that survive are the United States and China, and thus everyone knows both English and Chinese. (But reserve the Chinese for the swearing for the ease of the audience I assume.)

Incidently, the /. editors cut one sentence from my statement: The Chu shie fook executes at the Fox network were Sha gwa to cancel this show. And I thought that was the sentence that would get this article posted :)

The cool thing about swearing in Chinese is that they could get away with saying stuff that the censors would otherwise never allow. It is kinda like Kenny on South Park, where you can read between the lines to guess what they said. Except in this case you could potentially look up what they are actually saying. The downside is the actors were not exactly fluent in Chinese and people who are would probably not understand them.

Second, the commercial breaks are very obvious. Looking at most of them, it would take very little to make the transitions a little smoother.

I think Joss did this deliberately. At least in the pilot (the real one that didn't air until the last broadcast) after a shot of the Reavers' ship he wanted a pause for tension. He said they couldn't have 2 seconds of black, because the computers would automatically cut to commercial. How he got by this is he used the darkest gray that wouldn't trigger the cue for commercial.

And one of these days, I will figure out whether Inara or Kaylee is hotter.

I guess that depends on whether you like geek girls. Kaylee is clearly a geek. And she looks hot with engine grease on her face. :)