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Firefly Marathon on SciFi, September 18th
kulakovich writes, "Hot on the heels of Stargate's cancellation, the SciFi Channel is running an entire season of Firefly starting at 8am (Eastern) on September 18th. This news is fresh from yesterday's posting on the Whedonesque blog. Start making space on the PVR!"
Doesn't anyone that remotely cares already have the DVD?
Start making space on the PVR??? How about buying the damn DVDs and in the process convincing the powers that be there's a market for good SciFi?
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
I know technically y'all like saying 'cancelled' but on the basis that SG-1 ran for 10 seasons, I'd hardly call that 'cancelled'. It's more accurate to state that 'it ended it's run' or 'completed' or simply just 'finished'.
When something gets canned after just the first season (Firefly), then THAT'S 'cancelled'.
-Jar.
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As a foreword, this comment is happily placed near the top so people can see it. It really only has to do with the overall subject.
// commitment] ...
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Okay, so why is this so important to fans that own the DVD, have seen it, or can watch video streams or any other option that would mean they don't have to watch it on TV [regardless of ownership
Advertising.
What is probably one of the biggest parts of financing a TV network is securing advertising that pays well. If you buy the DVD, or watched it before, etc... yes you have made a commitment and helped them out. The problem is the same as with newspapers. They make SO MUCH of their money off advertising they would rather give away the newspapers in some situations to customers who don't want to pay than deal with their issue. Networks work similarly. If the show can't produce good advertising [TV spots in the tens of thousands] and they have one that can [TV spots in the hundreds of thousands] they will do what is financially the smart decision, even if viewers who are watching like the current content.
I could bet a good chunk of money that somewhere up there some people are watching this very carefully to see how it goes. They made a movie that did alright but not outstanding, but... it did good so it shows promise. The DVDs have sold well, but not in bundles... again, good but not outstanding.
What they're probably looking for is what kind of viewership they have during the marathon. This is the kind of event that could tip someone's opinion on their network into saying... hey... lets put together another season. This will get us viewers = dollars.
-TK
Yeahbutwhat?
A show where one episode (Shindig) opens with Mal starting a bar fight with some guys... because they were slave traders?
Where one of the crew is a hero to an entire town of indentured servants because of his (ok, misunderstood) actions? (Jaynestown)
A show where most of the episodes revolve around personal freedom? (River's in Objects in Space, the whores in Heart of Gold, the indentured servants in Jaynestown, Saffron's in Our Mrs. Reynolds (till the end, anyway), Simon and River's in Safe and Ariel, Mal's in Out of Gas, and the list goes on with many moments in every show?)
A show where the entire premise is, arguably, about freedom?
The crew of Serenity were on the losing side of the war, and that's where the similarities end. Comparing Firefly/Serenity to the South in the Civil war is one of the more whacked out things I've ever heard.
My script don't crash! She crashes, you crashed her!
That's because they're not smart enough to realize you can't wage war against something just because it's a bloody noun.
Like a war on piracy?
Or a war on slavery?
The Royal Navy conducted both rather successfully (along with other countries). I admit, neither Fox News nor MSNBC nor CNN recently covered them.
Back to the topic, Firefly is unusual, politically. It's hard to think of an SF show that's that libertarian. Most are either Utopian quasi-socialist/progressive (e.g. Star Trek), or have a strong military background coupled with a government ranging from progressive to conservative, but almost never libertarian (BSG, Stargate, B5...). Many feature a rebellion against a totalitarian regime, (Star Wars) but all the rebels typically want to set up a conventional big (though nicer) government of their own ("The New Republic") rather than just fly free ("You can't take the sky from me")
Firefly suggests, almost heretically, that excessively centralized government itself is part of the problem, despite the good intentions of same.
Holmwood.
Okay, you made a great point about trying to show the popularity of the show by boosting viewership. Unfortunately, I don't have the SciFi channel, so I can't help out. However, a point continues coming to mind:
/., you think I rtfa? Probably was in there, wasn't it?)
How do networks determine viewership? Say a million of us tune in to watch the Marathon, half even stay for the entire thing. What is the process by which the networks discover this fact? I'm trying to figure out how much it matters what show I'm watching if I don't have some sort of Nielson box in my house.
Regardless, I'm very glad that enough of the popularity has gotten noticed so that it can be re-aired. And probably in the correct order, too. (This is