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Sci-Fi Channel Picks Up Firefly

Posted by samzenpus on from the best-show-ever dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Firefly, a science fiction series that was canceled midway through its first season on Fox, has found a new home on the Sci Fi Channel. Fans of the cult-hit series Firefly will be pleased to learn that the show has been picked up by the Sci Fi Channel--just two months before the release of Serenity, a Universal Pictures film based on the series. Looks like they'll be airing all the ones we've already seen, plus 3 that never got aired the first time around. A bonus - They'll be seen in the correct order."

64 of 406 comments (clear)

  1. Will there be more episodes? by Banner · · Score: 4, Interesting

    That's what I'd like to know. Maybe if Serenity does well in the theaters?

    1. Re:Will there be more episodes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      When negotiating for the rights to make a Firefly movie, Fox's contract specifically says that Joss can never bring the tv series back in any form. It did not, however, preclude additional feature films.

    2. Re:Will there be more episodes? by stfvon007 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Loophole:
      A new feature film every week on Sci Fi! :D

      --
      All misspellings and grammatical errors in the above post are intentional and part of my artistic expression.
    3. Re:Will there be more episodes? by Rei · · Score: 2, Funny

      I wasn't going to discuss his character, but if it's a lecture you want, I've a few very catchy ones prepped...sin and helfire... one has lepers.

      --
      Did he just go crazy and fall asleep?
    4. Re:Will there be more episodes? by Rei · · Score: 5, Funny

      Whedon: We will rule over this time slot, and we will call it... "This Time Slot".

      Fox: I think we should call it... your grave!"

      Whedon: Ah, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!

      Fox: Ha ha HA! Mine is an evil laugh...now die!

      --
      Did he just go crazy and fall asleep?
    5. Re:Will there be more episodes? by jdbo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Can you cite something on that? I thought I had read that the contract specified a 3 film commitment (i.e. the studio could make up to 3 films if they wished to), subsequent to which the show could return to the air (if anyone wanted to pick it up, that is)

    6. Re:Will there be more episodes? by RufusFish · · Score: 3, Informative

      Having just watched the entire series on DVD recently, I think the story has given 4 distinct clues to the fact he's something other than 'just a shepherd':

      1) In the first episode, he has a small monologue about what he's experienced during his first few days aboard Serenity, in which he says something to the effect of 'the captain just shot the man I swore to protect, and I'm not sure I feel bad about it'

      2) In the episode where Book gets shot, the alliance refuses to treat him until they take a look at his identity card, at which point they usher him through without a question. Mel questions him about this later and how the alliance doesn't show that kind of attention to mere shepherds but Book defers answering with an 'I'll tell you later'-ish comment.

      3) As mentioned above, in the bounty-hunter episode, Jubal Early says 'That's not a Shepherd'.

      4) One episode (I can't recall which), Book goes into great detail about the weapons they're about to use -- something a simple Shepherd probably wouldn't know.

      It's obvious that Whedon was doing a slow build in revealing the character, but he was definitely building the foundation for Book in the first season beyond his role of 'the preacher'.

    7. Re:Will there be more episodes? by Oinos · · Score: 5, Interesting

      When negotiating for the rights to make a Firefly movie, Fox's contract specifically says that Joss can never bring the tv series back in any form. It did not, however, preclude additional feature films.

      Actually, when Fox picks up a television program the contract that they make everyone sign says that Fox owns the broadcast rights to the series for ten years. This is Fox's idea of controlling what is shown on TV. If a show doesn't pan out the way Fox thinks it should, they can it, and no one else can pick it up. There was no stipulation about feature films in the broadcast contract, that's why Joss decided to take the story to the big screen.

      If the Sci-Fi channel is showing the series, they would have had to buy out the broadcast contract from Fox. Assuming that the show pulls in some decent ratings, I wouldn't be surprised to see Joss writing a new season and production starting as early as this fall depending on availability of the cast.

    8. Re:Will there be more episodes? by Txiasaeia · · Score: 4, Funny
      In other news, Joss Whedon announced his latest series "Bumblebee." A group of renegades are on the run from Feeble OXygen Corporation, led by Commander Melvin ("Mel") Richardson, a former officer in the Packers Independence Flotilla (i.e. the "Green Skins"). Other memorable characters include Chloe, the steely (but feminine) first mate that served under Commander Mel during the Independence war, Oregon, the wisecracking pilot whose won the heart of Chloe, and Mary Kay, the loveable grease-monkey-cum-sweetheart whose bubbly cheerfulness is her trademark.

      Although actors such as Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Gina Torres, and Jewel Staite have signed on to the show, Whedon denies that the show has anything to do with his previous sci-fi drama, "Firefly." "They're two completely different insects!" Whedon said in a telephone interview. "They're both sci-fi shows, so there might be some similarities in that regard, but otherwise they're completely different. Promise!"

      Sources have confirmed that Whedon will be singing the theme song for this show too, containing the lyrics "Can't never take away my blue clouds, y'hear?" Look for "Bumblebee" in Fall 2006 on the Sci-Fi channel.

      --
      Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
    9. Re:Will there be more episodes? by jfisherwa · · Score: 2, Informative

      Not necessarily -- Cartoon Network picked up Family Guy and Futurma, but the new episodes of Family Guy are for Fox. I think it's more of a licensing agreement.

    10. Re:Will there be more episodes? by fm6 · · Score: 3, Interesting
      If the Sci-Fi channel is showing the series, they would have had to buy out the broadcast contract from Fox.
      Not at all. They could have simply bought permission to show the episodes once or twice. I would be very much suprised if Fox let all broadcast rights go for the amount of money Sci-Fi Channel can afford to pay. Note that Sci-Fidoes not have deep pockets any more. They did back when they bankrolled Farscape, but then their parent, Vivendi Univesal, went thoroughly bankrupt. Ever since then, they've refused to look at any big-budget project.

      Of course, Firefly doesn't cost that much to make. But before Sci-Fi can make more episodes, they have to get Fox's permission, 'cause its their property. If Fox holds out for more than Sci-Fi can pay, that's the end of it.

      You're saying, "But that's stupid! Firefly isn't making them any money for Fox sitting in a vault!" Perhaps. But media companies sit on properties all the time, and never give them up cheaply.

    11. Re:Will there be more episodes? by hawk · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'd say there's a reasonable chance that we might have a revival of Star Trek proportions on our hands. :-)

      *shudder*

      You mean that all of the original episodes get wiped out in an inane time loop???

      hawk

  2. Awesome... by brxndxn · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think it's about time networks start to realize they need to have a 3-season investment, at least, in order to establish a larger viewership. All these reality TV shows score big on their first season and then never add up once the hype is gone.

    Also, changing the time every week and having them be interrupted by the 'MJ verdict' doesn't do much for people trying to set up a schedule around the shows. Ya, people have Tivo.. but then again, the networks aren't targeting those people anyway.

    --
    --- We need more Ron Paul!
    1. Re:Awesome... by mattdm · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think it's about time networks start to realize they need to have a 3-season investment, at least, in order to establish a larger viewership. All these reality TV shows score big on their first season and then never add up once the hype is gone.

      Which do you think is cheaper: a dozen new hyped-up shot-on-video minimal-effects minimal-EVERYTHING reality shows, or a 3-season investment in developing the fanbase for a quality show?

    2. Re:Awesome... by AoT · · Score: 2, Insightful

      But what was the last reality show you watched in reruns?

      --
      A blog about stuff.
    3. Re:Awesome... by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "I think it's about time networks start to realize they need to have a 3-season investment, at least, in order to establish a larger viewership. All these reality TV shows score big on their first season and then never add up once the hype is gone."

      Actually, they do realize it. The reason why 3 seasons is a magic number is because they end up with enough episodes to make money off of the airing of reruns. For them to cancel it when they did, they probably ran across some VERY bad numbers. Perhaps they realized they could spend that hour on a show that was more likely to succeed. Perhaps the ratings just weren't what they wanted given the cost of making the show. Perhaps a new fad came along that they really wanted to tap into.

      It's hard to say. Sci-fi, however, is notoriously difficult to hold on to for a long period of time. It's expensive (compared to a reality show, for example) and, let's face it, sci-fi doesn't have the mass-market appeal we'd like it to. Shows like Star Trek and BSG are the exceptions, not the rules.

      Yes, these shows get unfairly dumped. However, you have to remember that TV's a business, not an art form. It's a business built on the whims of a constantly changing mass-market audience. The original Star Trek series, for example, wasn't all that popular. Years after it ended, the 'space race' happened, and suddenly there was interest again. A few years later, bam, Star Trek: The Motion Picture came along. *That* wouldn't have happened if not for the success of both Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third kind. (It was quite a shock that either of those movies did so well.) It wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that the numbers these guys use to figure out of a show is worth the risk or not are about as accurate as a Magic 8-ball. With the millions of dollars involved in producing a show like FireFly, I can't say I'm all that shocked they'd pull out when they did.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    4. Re:Awesome... by ceejayoz · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why would they care?

      They can make ten new seasons of a reality show for the cost of that single season they're running reruns for.

    5. Re:Awesome... by Bishop923 · · Score: 3, Informative
      The original Star Trek series, for example, wasn't all that popular. Years after it ended, the 'space race' happened, and suddenly there was interest again.
      <nerd mode="anal-retentive">
      Actually The original series ran from 1966-1969, during the final 3 years of the "Space Race"
      </nerd>
    6. Re:Awesome... by Keeper · · Score: 2, Insightful

      For them to cancel it when they did, they probably ran across some VERY bad numbers ...and I bet showing the episodes out of order, frequently pre-empting the show with sports, and placing it in the worst time slot on tv had nothing to do with it... /me wants to shoot Fox execs

      At times I wonder why they even bothered producing the series in the first place.

    7. Re:Awesome... by ErikZ · · Score: 2, Insightful


      Normal Sci-fi sets require a lot of design, complex building and dramatic lighting.

      Firefly outdoor scenes:
      a brothel in the middle of the desert.
      A tent.
      A rock in the middle of a desert.
      A reusable western town.
      A corral...For cattle.

      Fraiser may save on the cost of the scenes, but I'm sure the actors and writers salaries make up for it.

      --
      Democrats or Republicans. They are both taking us to the same place and they are not afraid of us anymore.
    8. Re:Awesome... by Dzerzhinski · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Television drama is an art form. Television broadcasting is a business. Television production straddles these two sides. There is always a little business in art, and there is often a little art in business. But the screenwriter can't forget that he is paid to be an artist, and the network executives can't forget that the commodity they deal in is art. And you can't forget that Fox torpedoed Firefly from the beginning. The first episode aired was the second (or third, if you count the pilot as a two-parter) episode of the story. I had tuned in to see the series begin, but the second ep was a pretty shitty introduction to the series and I was turned off. It wasn't until long after it was pulled off of the air that I watched the rest of the series on a friend's recommendation, and now I am a pretty rabid fan of the show (Watched it back-to-front three times, own the DVDs). I am willing to bet they lost what could have been a big chunk of their base this way. I am sure they had reasons, but this turned out to be a poor business decision.

      --
      Never trust a physicist further than his DeBroglie wavelength.
    9. Re:Awesome... by ajs · · Score: 3, Funny

      "generic non-descript cargo hold."

      It had a cat-walk, too. That's all futurish. And in one episode they opened something that had dry-ice steam floating off of it.

      "generic non-descript infirmary."

      Hey, they had needles in there... and... and stuff!

      "generic non-descript kitchen (with garage-sale furniture that has been bolted to the floor so that it doesn't float around in low-g settings"

      Ahem! "Space bolts"!

      "generic curtain-filled room for the space-hooker's quarters."

      Oh, and I supposed you think you can just saunter down to Better Whores and Brothels and pick up a bolt of Companion Cloth! That stuff was so 400 years ahead of it's time!

      "generic dashboard-looking cockpit with plastic dinosaurs scattered here and there."

      Dinosaurs! Do you hear yourself? Dinosaurs! The things died out millions of years ago, and yet through the magic of television they were brought back to us, just to "decorate a set"! My gods, how wastefull is this Joss Whedon guy?!

    10. Re:Awesome... by Bazzargh · · Score: 2, Funny

      NanoGator: The original Star Trek series, for example, wasn't all that popular. Years after it ended, the 'space race' happened, and suddenly there was interest again.

      Bishop923: Actually The original series ran from 1966-1969, during the final 3 years of the "Space Race"

      He wasn't talking about our space race, dude. It was the one on Vulcan.

    11. Re:Awesome... by orac2 · · Score: 2, Informative

      What was interesting about the Firefly sets (according to the DVDs) is that it was designed in such a way that most of the lighting required for shooting is built into the set already. Combined with the deliberatly 1970's style cinematograohy (lens flares, shots which would be considered under- or badly- lit by today's standards), and the fact that the Serenity was built as two huge (for the upstairs and downstairs areas) contigious sets complete with ceilings, this meant that shoots could be done a lot quicker (and therefore cheaper) than one would expect for a sci-fi show.

      --
      "Just once, I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't immune to bullets." -- The Brigadier, Dr. Who
  3. old news by brian0918 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Fans of the cult-hit series Firefly will be pleased to learn that the show has been picked up by the Sci Fi Channel."

    Correction: were pleased to learn... over a month ago.

  4. Tell them I ain't coming back. by VonSlatt · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You can't take the sky from me . . .

    --
    The Steampunk Workshop
  5. Misleading by Knara · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Looks like they're just airing the original episodes in-order to help promote the upcoming movie (not a bad thing, mind you). When I hear "picked up" in relation to a TV show, I usually associate it with "making new episodes".

    1. Re:Misleading by ajs · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Speaking of the upcoming movie, I hear that, after 3 instant sell-out sneak previews, the studio is considering re-thinking their plan to hold on to it until the fall to avoid competing with the memory of the Star Wars movie.

      Everyone I've heard from who saw the sneak preview (fan or not, regardless of if they'd seen the series or not) really enjoyed it. I think if anything could convince Fox to sell the series rights to the Skiffy channel, the reception this movie is likely to get is probably it.

  6. New? by Zeebs · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I know there was something about and agreement between fox and Universal(was it?) about no more tv. Damn I got my hopes up for about 10 seconds when I read the headline, but no mention of new eps. Damn again.

    --

    Happy Noodle Boy says "F###ing doughnut! Mock me? You fried cyclops!!"
    1. Re:New? by AKAImBatman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I wouldn't give up just yet. Sci-Fi picked up both Sliders and Stargate SG-1, and poured quite a bit of development money into both. Plus, the amount of money they spent of Battlestar Galactica and the Farscapre Mini-Series (another cancellend show, remember?) shows that the Sci-Fi channel will most certainly make new episodes if they smell money.

      So everyone with a Neilson device, make sure you turn on every episode of FireFly! We need to make Sci-Fi think that FireFly is the hottest show since the original Star Trek got cancelled! ;-)

      --
      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
    2. Re:New? by indifferent+children · · Score: 2, Funny

      Apollo banging Starbuck? You're sick. I'll admit that I haven't watched BSG in ~20 years, but I think I would have remembered that kind of funny business.

      --
      Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it. --Mark Twain
    3. Re:New? by Xibby · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You forgot to mention that Farscape was cancelled by Sci-Fi itself. Bad example.

      After how many seasons of get Crichton, sexual tension, we're so screwed (x3), narrow escape, it was quite possibly time for Farscape to end. Going from weekly to ocasional mini series was quite possibly a very good idea.

      Now if only you could get Sci-Fi to stop spending their money making "original" pictures and stick to what they do well...

      --
      I'm going to go back in my box and will think within the limits of my box: MS Sucks Linux Good I read too much Slashdot.
  7. oh, *reruns*. by mattdm · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Okay, that's nice and all, but man that headline got my hopes up. Oh well. This'll probably be good for the few potential Firefly fans who haven't already seen the show yet are avid Sci-Fi channel watchers -- but for the existing fan base, it's not that exciting. I mean, who *doesn't* already have the DVD set?

    As I understand it based on random internet rumor, Fox has the TV contract for approximately until the MP3 patent expires. So, if things go well with the Serenity movie this fall, we can maybe hope for a few more movies in the coming years, but no more TV series in the reasonable-at-all future.

    1. Re:oh, *reruns*. by NoodleSlayer · · Score: 2, Informative

      Sci-Fi channel did buy the exclusive rights from Fox though!

      http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.php?id=31 260

  8. Picked up? by ErikZ · · Score: 3, Insightful


    When I see "Picked up" I think "Own it and is developing new shows."

    It's nice that they will be getting more FireFly awareness out there. But they're just popping in the dvds into a player and broadcasting it.

    Not too impressive from where I'm sitting.

    --
    Democrats or Republicans. They are both taking us to the same place and they are not afraid of us anymore.
  9. Re:what by aussie_a · · Score: 5, Funny

    whats next, updates on "where is the cast of cheers now?"

    Ted Danson is in San Diego

    Shelley Long is in Fort Wayne

    Kirstie Alley is in Wichita

    Nicholas Colasanto is in Providence (the place, not the show)

    Rhea Perlman is in Brooklyn

    John Ratzenberger is in Bridgeport

    Oh fuck. That's where they were born. Screw it. You can look it up yourself to see where they are.

  10. Woah... by MagicDude · · Score: 4, Funny

    First news that the Super Mario Brothers Super Show is being released on DVD, now this. Next think you'll be telling me is that they're bringing back crystal pepsi. Oh damn, just thinking about that makes me feel tingly...

  11. Join the Browncoats, see Serenity by Lynchenstein · · Score: 2, Informative

    ...and maybe, just maybe we'll see more of Firefly than the first 1/2 season.

    Browncoats: http://browncoats.serenitymovie.com/serenity/

    It was a great show that Fox in its short-sightedness cancelled way WAY too early to tell if its was going to be a hit or not. I have the DVDs and share them with as many people as I can in hopes that they will see the quality of the writing and acting and get hooked. Now that the show has been picked up for broadcast in the 'states again this should help the word get out.

    BSG is being called the best sci-fi on TV right now, and Firefly (IMHO) was the best sci-drama I've ever seen.

    Watch the series and if you like it, go see the movie.

    ../end evangelical post

  12. Serenity and Firefly.... by tenchiken · · Score: 2, Informative

    There will not be a TV series if Serenity does well. Rather there will be two more movies as most of the actors are under contract for all three.

    They have the option of doing a TV series at some point in the future, but only after the movie has been out for some period of time.

  13. Firefly Won't Be Returning To TV by WombatControl · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...at least not for a long while.

    Universal produced the show, but as a condition of picking up a series, a network gains the exclusive first rights to air the series on television. The rights to Firefly are still held by Fox, and Fox has expressed no interest in transferring those rights back.

    Universal retains all the other rights, which is why Serenity got made, but unless someone's willing to cough up a very large amount of dough, it's unlikely that Fox would let their first-run TV contract drop.

    1. Re:Firefly Won't Be Returning To TV by grungebox · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Couldn't have put it better myself. I mean, look at Family Guy. That thing was sitting pretty at TBS and Cartoon Network in perpetual rerun land for a looooooong time till Fox got off their duff, listened to fans (and DVD sales numbers) and ordered new episodes. I imagine Firefly will suffer the same fate.

    2. Re:Firefly Won't Be Returning To TV by AaronStJ · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What you said flatly contradicts the story, as well as news posted on scifi.com itself saying the episodes will air on fridays, starting July 22nd. So somehow I doubt you're correct.

      --
      Stupid like a fox!
    3. Re:Firefly Won't Be Returning To TV by colinferm · · Score: 2, Informative

      Universal had nothing to do with the TV show. It was produced by Mutant Enemy a division of Fox Television and released on DVD by Fox Home Video. Universal purchased the *movie* rights.

  14. For the love of God and all things holy. by bucky0 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Please, let there be more episodes done. A friend of mine casually showed me the pilot movie (she bought the DVDs). Two days later, I had watched them all and craved more. I'm gonna echo everyone else's sentiment that I really wish that more of this would be on tv as opposed to whatever crap reality show is undergoing it's 15 seconds.

    --

    -Bucky
  15. Oh, juh jen sh guh kwai luh duh jean-jan! by Mateorabi · · Score: 4, Funny

    Too bad the FOX execs were a bunch of BUN tyen-shung duh ee-DWAY-RO the first time arround.

    Give the show to a network that knows what it's doing and appreciate what it has got.

    --
    "You saved 1968." - Ms. Valerie Pringle to the crew of Apollo 8

  16. Must be warmer... by VivianC · · Score: 2, Funny

    This Sci-Fi must live somewhere warmer than Chicago. We won't be picking up any fireflies until later this month.

    I guess I'll go read the article now....

    --
    Viv

    Gmail invites for ip
  17. Re:What? by hoka · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I didn't know what it was, in fact, I posted a question about it when a Firefly article came up and I was modded -1 Offtopic. Not everybody can get cable television or can be up to date on bloody everything, just don't assume everybody is the same as you. We are a very diverse group of nerds.

  18. Spoiler by RickPartin · · Score: 2, Funny

    River is made out of chocolate!

  19. Gag reel by H_Fisher · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Bonus, you get all the extras, like the gag reel, and the behind the scenes stuff.

    Actually, the *full* gag reel is floating around on the 'Net. It's about 2x longer than what you saw on the DVD, and contains quite a bit of profanity and one bit (a play on the opening credits) that would have been hard-core copyright infringement had it gone on the commercial DVD.

    It's quite amusing. You can find it floating around p2p land, and I'm sure there's a torrent out there.

    1. Re:Gag reel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      You say: "Those 3 hours I'll never get back."

      Slashdot says: "Trogre's Latest 24 of 1137 Comments"

      I wouldn't worry about the three hours if I were you :-)

    2. Re:Gag reel by theoddbot · · Score: 4, Informative

      Try http://fireflyfans.net/feature.asp?f=42.

      Just wait till I've finished downloading it :)

  20. Re:what by Rei · · Score: 2, Informative

    Firefly has a huge fan base. Myself included; that's why I took the time to make fortune-mod-firefly :)

    --
    Did he just go crazy and fall asleep?
  21. Re:the obvious question by Hidyman · · Score: 2, Informative

    On DVD of course.
    That's what brought Family Guy back.

    --
    You can't take the sky from me ...
  22. Re:No clue... by techno-vampire · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Would you be interested in a well written show with good acting? That's what Firefly was, and I've heard the movie is the same. I'm not a fan of the show because it's Sci-Fi, but because it's good, and I doubt I'm the only person who feels that way.

    --
    Good, inexpensive web hosting
  23. #22 at present. by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Currently #22. For a DVD released in December 2003, that's pretty goddamn impressive.

    If it's not worth it to Fox to bring back something this popular, then the economics of television production are seriously fucked.

    --grende drago

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
  24. Re:the obvious question by sangreal66 · · Score: 4, Informative
    I have to respectfully disagree and say that it was [adult swim] on cartoon network. They aired it for years late at night, rebuilt the fanbase, and then Fox suddenly "changed their minds".
    It was both, actually.
  25. Re:What? by ceejayoz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If people got that obsessed over Enterprise, they should this show.

    I think a lot of the people who obsessed over Enterprise did so because of the words "Star Trek" before it.

    You could make "Star Trek: Dog Turd" with a static shot of (literally) a pile of crap and you'd get people fighting cancellation, but the same folks would look at Firefly and go "wtf no technical manual? no technobabble? lame!"

  26. Pass by trawg · · Score: 4, Interesting

    After reading the overwhelmingly positive ejaculations about this series on Slashdot and a few other places, I thought I'd check it out. It was described as a 'space western' in one thread I read and that was the phrase that stuck in my mind.

    When I heard the phrase 'space western', I imagined that it was a bit more metaphorical - like, it was the Space Rush days and everyone was getting out into space, it was rough and tumble, and all that jazz.

    However, I was (somewhat unpleasantly) surprised to see that it was simply that - a western, set in space. That was pretty much it.

    I didn't dig the main character; I thought he was bland and boring. I hated the swearing in Chinese; after watching Deadwood I find just about everything else is completely boring if its sanitised for a G rating. The sexual tension between the main character and the 'companion' is like, straight out of a highschool TV series, dude. The only common thread throughout the whole story was the doctor and his sister, which didn't progress enough to keep me interested. Token lesbian scene was a bit lame, too.

    Special effects were nice and some of the scripts were vaguely entertaining; the character of Jane (Jayne?) was the only one that I really WANTED to keep seeing.

    Anyway, I'm sure this comment won't see the light of day as it seems everyone else on Slashdot digs it, but that's my 2c.

    1. Re:Pass by hexgrid · · Score: 2, Funny

      So, what, you found it so uninteresting that you watched the whole series?

  27. Is everybody kidding? by BlakeCaldwell · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Firefly was one of the best shows on TV the past few years - I'm especially surprised there's so much negativity here over it...

    the whole cowboy theme -- if you watch past the 4th or 5th episode that's all explained -- the alliance terraforms then drops civilians on the planent with nothing...

    Plus, it's intentionally cheesy at times.

    I highly recommend the show -- okay, there's one or two stupid (A-Team hokiness) episodes, but overall a great series.

    keep in mind too that they originally played out of order, so the storyline didn't really fit. Hopefully the movie will renew interest and get a second season in the works... Although the movie will probably be lame...

    oh well

  28. A stronger clue in a scene that was cut by dsplat · · Score: 2, Interesting

    For those of you who have the DVD set, go watch the scenes that were deleted. There's one where Simon is looking up some information about Serenity. Book explains it to him. Watch the scene.

    --
    The net will not be what we demand, but what we make it. Build it well.
  29. Forget Neilsen, it's all about TiVo by raitchison · · Score: 2, Informative

    So everyone with a Neilson device, make sure you turn on every episode of FireFly! We need to make Sci-Fi think that FireFly is the hottest show since the original Star Trek got cancelled! ;-)

    If there's even a single person with a Neilsen device who is a regulary visitor on /. I'd be surprised

    What we need is for TiVo users to give this show three thumbs up and set their season passes to record the show. And of course not opt out of the anonymous data aggregation that TiVo does.

    Networks are fast discovering that this data is just as if not more valuable than the Neilsen data because it has a MUCH larger sampling pool combined with the fact that TiVo users are more likely to have disposable income (more valuable for advertisers)

  30. Re:Scifi's Priorities by Harlockjds · · Score: 2, Interesting

    >MST3K : Cancelled because the show couldn't bring in more ratings, or because it was too expensive

    People caught on to how much they were making on MST3K and raised the price for useing their old movies. Not to mention the cast was getting burned out.

  31. I didn't watch it because. . . by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I had no idea when it aired and didn't bother to check.

    I didn't watch an episode of Buffy until second season. If it weren't for friends with video recorders, I'd never see anything. And these days, without a television in my life, this is more true than ever before.

    Doesn't mean Firefly wasn't good. It just means it wasn't marketed very well. That slack has been picked up with the DVD release. It's going to do fine.


    -FL