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Independents Push For Second Firefly Season
ovanklot writes "It seems that Brilliant Screen Entertainment is looking to see if there is an audience for a second season of the science fiction show FireFly.
From the article: 'It's possible that subscribers may choose one of three playback options; monthly DVD deliveries, TV On-Demand using your cable or satellite provider, or computer viewing via Streaming Download.'" They are asking folks to fill out a short survey to gather demographics for support in their efforts to get Fox to release the show to them. The site also stresses that they want neither money nor confidential personal information.
The absolute best fans can hope for at this point is a straight-to-dvd 2nd season release.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Seriously - do these guys have any standing, any connection, any track record that would lead anyone to suspect that they could actually produce the show? And do they have any connection with Whedon and company that would indicate that Whedon would *let* them produce it?
I've never seen Firefly and I probably wouldn't be that interested in it, but I'd rather encourage people to fight for what they want, than sit back and spout pointless cynicism.
But, this isn't the way the broadcast world works. You aren't going to find any execs making decisions out of the kindness of their hearts. The only way they would sell the rights would be if someone made a large enough offer and I doubt this group can come up with that amount. Not to mention how Whedon would feel. Last interviews I read he said the Firefly universe was done for him. Also, an amateur production or even low budget might do more harm than good in the eyes of Fox so they might not let it go for that reason as well.
I don't see this as anything more than a larger level fanboy effort.
You mean like the one that managed to get a major motion picture created from thin air?
This is the age of large level fanboy efforts actually gaining traction.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
After they killed the best character in the series, Wash, in the movie, I suddenly stopped caring about firefly altogether. I even gave away my DVDs of the original series because I was so disgusted.
Just my $0.02.
Is that if Fox brings it back, the bunch of idiots will make money. I really hope they release it to someone else with more sense.
-All that is gold does not glitter - Tolkien
www.ra
To me, this is another problem with copyright. I understand their control over the original eps, and they should get to keep those, but copyright needs a "use it or lose it" clause. If Fox is unwilling to use their "copyrighted" story-universe to make programming, they should have to give it up after a few years.
Just nitpicking here but I'm tired of people ragging on TV. People, mostly geeks, complain about how TV is just pure crap but then in the next breath they talk about a TV show they just bought on DVD. Ugh. So you don't hate TV for all of it's content obviously. But I will agree that about 1% of TV shows are "lowest common denomonator" that a majority of people can enjoy. So that leaves another 99% and of that you may like a huge chunk of it but obviously a sizeable piece of all TV is going to be "crap" to you. You can't win them all. Especially when there's hundreds of channels with about 12 hours per day of programming.
Channels serve a useful purpose to me. When I want to be "entertained" and I don't want to stress my already-indecisive brain, I just turn on the TV and "see what's on". I _hate_ hovering over a stack of DVDs and trying to decide what sounds appetizing to me at that moment. This is the same reason I prefer "radio" (sat. or mp3 streams) to playing straight mp3s or cds.
I rather let somebody do the deciding for me most of the time. Which of course freaks out anybody that is a control freak. Just relax, and say it with me: Everything will be ok.
Which also brings up that in the DVD method, titles need to be selected and paid for (either by renting or buying) before you watch them. I'm more of a try-before-you-buy chap.
I'll keep my TV thanks.
I just wasted your mod points! HA!
Yeah, well, I _hate_ advertising as much as you _hate_ digging through CDs and DVDs. I guess it's all in what you _hate_ and how much you _hate_ it, huh? Or did you expect everybody to feel as you do? God, I hope not; that's pretty shallow.
Guys, while I absolutely love the series, I dont' think it'll happen either. WE aren't just looking at the idea of Joss Whedon coming back into the picture (especially while getting moveis like Wonder Woman) but think about the time span since the series. Do you really think they're going to be able to get all the actors back into the series? and will the chemistry be the same? What I wouldn't mind seeing and would be a possibility is maybe the same universe but another cast, with writers like Tim Minear on it again it could be doable. But frankly there's never going to be the money for it. After cancelling Angel right before it's last season was to wrap up when it was the top show on the network Fox pretty muched showed it's ineptitude.
I think it's sorta the opposite. 99% is lowest common denominator stuff (more viewers that way, right?) and then 1% is good.
Against stupidity the Gods themselves contend in vain.
I have seen some of it, and I found it awful, but I'd *still* like to see something like this happen because:
1) I'm not the only person in the universe - just because I don't like something doesn't mean that I should be opposed to other people having it, especially since...
2) I don't have to watch it.
3) This type of model - DVD subscription or something - might get applied to something I *do* like.
4) It's kind of funny when people who are fans quote the show at me and I look at them blankly - fans are always surprised when they discover that someone like me is a non-fan.
So good luck.
Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
I watched Serenity without ever having seen an episode of Firefly. I loved the movie and went out and bought the series on DVD. After watching the series, I watched Serenity again and was surprised at how disappointed I was with the movie. With no prior experience with Firefly, Serenity was great. However, after being spoiled by the original episodes the movie doesn't cut it.
I think this says more about the quality of Firefly than it does about Serenity. I haven't talked to anyone that has seen the movie that didn't like it, but none of them actually watched Firefly to compare it to.
after the end of the movie, it seems pretty clear that a season 2 would be pretty pointless. I mean (not to spoil anything, but) there's almost nothing left at the end-literally.
I wrote in my profile that I consider a 40-minute episode of Firefly at least as valuable as a full-fare ticket to a movie, which would make a 22-episode season of new shows worth about $200 to me.
There are thousands of people like me out there. The signal will not be stopped.
-- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
The whole point of Galactica is that it doesn't try to make the future look, well, futuristic. A lot of Sci Fi series go to great lengths to create this complicated, detailed future world, and then have nothing left over to tell an interesting story. In Galactica, the "sci fi" aspect is merely a vehicle for the story. Aspects of the world that aren't pertinent to the story are kept from distracting from the main point. People wear ties because the clothing of the future really isn't important, and doesn't deliver any meaning to the story. Their leader is the "president", because that's what we can relate to. She could have been called "chancellor" or "director" or whatever, and it wouldn't make any difference, or add anything to the story. "President" shows that she's the leader of a formerly democratic society, and that's all that needs to be said.
The real reason to watch Galactica is for how it deals with people and society. There are a lot of interesting themes going on in the show. Some are fairly conventional (eg: tensions between military and civilian leadership), but are considered in an unconventional context. Others are less conventional (eg: Cylons hate humanity, yet at some level want to become more human). It's a very interesting drama, that just happens to be in space.
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
Why piss with airtime - when the real money is in DVD sets and rentals?
make the DVD set HDTV widescreen...
and reencode it in iTunes for people who just want to 'pod it, at a slightly lower cost.
Big fans will get the HDTV DVDs,
slight fans will grab the pod versions.
The video quality of the next iPod should be better, by the time they got a whole season shot.
Will it turn a buck?
I donno...
I have no problems with TV... I have problems with TV networks.
The big boys (ABC, CBS, NBC) don't produce the shows I want to watch (with very very rare exception). FOX produces shows that I want to watch, but usually cancels them after they:
A- Switch the timeslot at irregular intervals
B- Preempt it for Baseball/Football/Awards Show
or C- Show the show out of order, confusing everyone who's actually paying attention.
This is just wild speculation, but maybe these shows (that do so well on DVD) would do better on TV if they were given an ounce of respect by their network...
just a thought
--Jimmy
You say,
=======
Channels serve a useful purpose to me. When I want to be "entertained" and I don't want to stress my already-indecisive brain, I just turn on the TV and "see what's on".
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Exactly why so many "crap" shows make it big. When average Workin' Joes comes home from their 9 to 5, they don't want intellectual giganticism. They want something that they can just flow with and not have to think about.
And I can speak to this from firsthand experience: When I was working 12 hour shifts (as it happened, on TV and film sets!) I'd come home on Friday night, turn on the TV, and there were Baywatch and the Dukes of Hazzard and suchlike.... Predictable, tolerably pleasant, just enough plot to pretend something actually happens -- and exactly right to relax and unwind by, put my feet up and have a beer and let my brain drift off to sleep.
[Side thought: one has to wonder if part of why some people find their jobs so stressful is because they've never learned how to really relax after work.]
Now, I wouldn't pay money for any of those shows on DVD, but they serve their purpose. They're massage therapy for the brain -- you relax and let them do their thing.
Conversely, I'm quite willing to buy DVDs of shows that have captivated my interest. And yes, those take a proactive desire to concentrate on what I'm watching -- so while they're a lot more intellectually *entertaining*, they're not necessarily great for relaxing after a long day at work.
BTW this is why my everyday-use MP3 list is "every bloody thing I own" all randomly mixed together -- no need to decide what I want to hear; it'll all come by sooner or later, just like radio.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
It would be awesome, but the biggest problem is that they lack advertising. That is, "24" sold brilliantly on DVD, but only after a season of what you could think of as hour-long infomercials for it.
A season of Firefly would cost over $20 million to put together. To make that up would take a hell of a lot of marketing, which is even MORE money.
Now, for Firefly that marketing is already done. But if that show hadn't been on TV, and if it didn't have the already-well-known Joss Whedon behind it, nobody's going to gamble tens of millions of dollars on it.
But I'd love to see somebody try it for smaller, cheaper shows. Something without special effects could perhaps produce a half-season (13 episodes) for under $1 million. That might conceivably attract investors.
I don't necessarily hate TV itself, I more just hate the way it is run these days. It's very distracting to have the action interrupted every 30 minutes for 10-15 minutes of advertising. Networks seem incapable of keeping shows on at a consistant time throughout their run, with gaps in the middle of seasons and shows run out of order, and even then they leap all over the schedule so you have to be eagerly monitoring your TV guide to make sure you don't miss it.
If they didn't have the advertising (charge more for cable!) and would keep a show on at a consistant time every week for an entire season I wouldn't mind so much. However, since TV can't provide me with the viewing experience I want, DVD makes a much better alternative, and one I'm certainly willing to pay for to get the ability to control my own viewing schedule and to watch entire episodes uninterrupted at my leisure. The only thing it's lacking is the ability to try the first episode before plonking down the cash for the rest; I took that gamble for Firefly at Christmas and it was worth it, but it'd be nice to be able to buy online an episode to watch before I decide whether I want to buy the DVD. From what the captions on TV shows have been telling me recently, some shows are now available for download on iTunes, which is a start.
I just love the user comment on the IMDB site:
:-) Well, it doesn't!
What was FOX thinking?!, 10 October 2003
It really says a lot, doesn't it?
FOX must have the greatest talent scouts in the world, but the worst executives. "Firefly" is the best example. It was simultaneously the best new show, the best western series in decades, and the best sci-fi show on TV (and coming from a die-hard Trekkie, placing them above "Enterprise" is saying something). They didn't have a single bad episode, and some were spectacular. The premise, the characters, the plots and the dialogue were all top-notch. And FOX cancelled it without even really giving it a chance.
Judging by the 96% of people who found that comment usefull, the author probably is not alone. Having a poll done to see if there's an audience is a great marketing move. It'll attract die hard fans to the TV if they'll air it, and it will attract free promototion for the station on various news sites/papers (e.g. slashdot). Brilliant! Even if the show is a complete disaster the move is really a good one (from a business/marketing perspective).
Thanks for humoring me.
I've since been told that if I were to start with the first episode instead, I'd like it more - something about a train robbery? - because it shows more of the "real" show.
Yes, that is likely the case. The pilot, while intended to introduce the characters and the setting, also set out to convey the laid-back Western attitude of the Southwest United States -- very much the attitude of most frontiersmen, which these characters are. I can see how that would seem glacially slow to someone not used that.
The later episodes didn't deal with that much, mostly because they had to tell a story in a shorter amount of time, and so the slower pace was sacrificed to move the story along. I watched the pilot last, and found it to be very enjoyable, because I was already familiar with the characters, and it was nice to see their origins on screen.
I've also found that the vast majority of shows, regardless of genre, don't really "work" until about the 4th or 5th episode. By then, the writers are familiar enough with the mythology to work within it, and the actors are comfortable enough with each other to make things seem more natural. This is why I am so disappointed when shows are cancelled after only 3 or 4 episodes; they never even had a chance to succeed.
As to the question of Joss Whedon's dialog: my guess is that his dialog style is strictly a "love it or hate it" proposition. Personally, I have never really enjoyed the dialog in his other shows (Buffy and Angel), but for some reason the dialog in Firefly struck a chord with me. This is not Star Trek, where everyone is highly educated at the Starfleet Academy before they are let anywhere near a starship. The crew of Serenity are more like truckers: their speech is crude, colorful, and full of colloquialisms, which, this being 500 years in the future, will be nothing like ours. I like it, but others will not. A similar phenomenon is the dialog in Aaron Sorkin's Sports Night. I find it very difficult to listen to, since the rapid-fire delivery seems very contrived, silly, and way too rehearsed. However, lots of people swear by it, and enjoy it very much.
My suspicion is that if the dialog style bothered you, you will not enjoy the rest of the series. However, I would encourage you to watch it anyway (or a few episodes, at least), and give it a proper chance. Joss Whedon's strengths lie in his ability to develop a character over many episodes, and create a wholly convincing mythology for his characters to exist in, continuity included. Both of those require the viewer to see more than one episode to appreciate.
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