matgb | So then, have you watched Firefly?

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So then, have you watched Firefly?

So, last week while she was down, we had one of those "what DVDs to watch" discussions on our one (semi-planned) evening in. It turned out that

snapesbabe hadn't seen Firefly. At all. Now it appears that

tinuvielberen hasn't seen it either (but has now seen the light). This bothered me, y'see, when I first got an LJ, it seemed everyone was a fan, there were Firefly icons everywhere, being a fan seemed like something akin to a cultural norm. Now, of course, I know that's not true, but it sure seemed that way, and for two self-confessed SF fans to have not seen it? Weird. So, poll time:
[Poll #1030452]
Because, y'know, Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, does a proper Sci-Fi series, and Murdoch's Fox network messes him around, but the DVD sales are so good that Universal spring for a mid-budget film anyway? Plus, it's funny. Oh, and one of the opening lines is We're not going to die, y'know why? Because we're so very pretty... Which, y'know, is mostly true. So, via Amazon (UK, don't have the US search installed) the series is £15, the film is only £5.

Oh, and after a bit of pestering, here be a link to my Wish List, which I've started updating again; I used to use it as a handy "to buy" list, but then, y'know, finances collapsed. I guess it makes sense to post it, I'll be 33 in less than five weeks. Ouch.

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Aaah, thank you for reminding me what it was I was meant to buy!!

And I can't decide if I should like the film or not, due to that-bit-that-I-can't-say-because-it's-a-spoiler-but-you-know-exactly-which-bit-I-mean.

It's the first [SPOILER] that pissed me off. I wanted to know more about that character!

Leaf on the wind, or burning village, or summat else? But yeah, know what you mean. OTOH, it wouldn't be Joss if people didn't die, and the amount of firepower they were throwing around someone had to.

I think the whole world thought that one; there's always hope of a prequel or him writing some comics or something, he seems to like doing that.

Also? I'd looked at that icon many times, and only now noticed the juxtaposition, I like that sort of linking, must do it more often.

TBH? Maybe it was because I was tired, but I just thought it was OK.

Order placed.

As was said in the comments at Dr Beren's, it takes awhile to get going; I can definitely see why it got cancelled, a slow build up action series combined with bloody awful scheduling and a weird concept, too confusing for Fox.

We'll watch Heart of Gold (for a nice bit of feminism—sort of, anyway) or Jaynestown for utterly surreal plot. Actually, no, Our Mrs Reynolds. Because you'll love Saffron.

You're not actually getting a choice on this one, just so y'know ;-)

I'm very much in the nay-sayers brigade when it comes to Firefly.

My problem with Firefly is that it was really, really derivative. I tried watching the series (three times!). And it doesn't matter. Within 10 minutes, I knew how whatever episode I was watching was going to end. Every single episode I saw on that series I had seen in earlier (and in some cases much cheesier) scifi series before it.

*meh*

And, I hate to say, but the Browncoats? Made me like the series even less. (My least favorite memory is a Browncoat telling me that I was *obviously* too narrow-minded for not loving all things Firefly.)

That said, I have many friends who are died-in-the-wool Browncoats. I don't hold their obvious insanity against them. [j/k!! j/k!!]

My Browncoat friends and I have gone down the live and let live route. They can watch their DVDs and write fanfiction to their heart's content. They don't make me watch the DVDs or read the fanfic.

And thus, world peace was achieved. *grins*

Yeah, I had kind of gathered that.

Oh, I'm quite happy that people dislike it having seen it—

paulatpingu wasn't impressed when he borrowed my copies, and we normally pretty much agree on shows; it's the SF geeks who haven't seen it thing that mostly bothered me.

And derivative in terms of plot I'll at times give you, but OTOH, how many different plot ideas are there anyway?

But yeah, I've said before in more than a few places that the worst people to have on 'your' side are obsessives and extremists, can be a little too embarassing at times.

Heh; one of the other shows we watched a bit of while she was down was BSG-TOS, I'd forgotten how early some of the really awful episodes were; most Brits have only seen about 12 episodes, because that's what the BBC repeated ad-nauseum, the poor plot-free eps get skipped...

My sister is arguably a bigger Buffy/Angel fan than the IB, so had bought the boxset. And hadn't watched it! until I nabbed it off her and watched the lot in the space of about a day-and-a-half. While its sometimes derivative, (you could tell what would happen to the town of "companions" pretty quickly) there's enough going on, and its a different enough concept from a lot of SF TV that I enjoyed it.

Now if only someone with a big enough budget and a clear enough vision would talk to that nice Mr M. Banks.

Ooh, good choices. When I could only get disc 4 to work, I asked the missus, "do you want the depressing one, the finale one, or the one with the cool chicks in the brothel?" She looked at me like she couldn't believe I was asking such a stupid question.

It does take a while to get into. My housemate and I didn't really see what the fuss was about. But then 'Bushwhacked' was a really creepy, good horror story, and we figured out Inarra's job and that was awesome. And we fell in love with it.

&heart;

Thank you for getting your code wrong on purpose just to make me smile. It worked ♥

;)

* has already brain-bleached those episodes of BSG:TOS *

God, it was terrible.

That reminds me: I have to post part 2 of my "re-watching TOS BSG: Lost Planet of the Gods, Part 2"

Hey! You wanna talk derivative! And crazy fans! I have no room to talk when it comes to Firefly. At all. But in my defense, I was 8. *grins*

But seriously, I get why people love Firefly. I really do. But I also think that it's got that "died too soon" glow around it (i.e., before JW got bored with it and rode the series into the crapper like he did Buffy and Angel) which — IMHO, and in IMHO only — has convinced some critics and fans that the show was a lot better than it really was.

Frankly, I think part of the blame for Firefly's cancellation lies with JW here. He should've sucked up and gone to a small U.S. cable network with Firefly rather than going to one of the "big 6" networks that existed in the U.S. at that time (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, UPN, WB). Hell, even back when Firefly was airing, the U.S.'s SciFi Channel was already producing its own series and just about every U.S. cable channel was airing some kind of scifi/fantasy genre show.

Granted, the U.S. cable channels would've paid him less (a lot less in the case of SciFi Channel), but he probably would've earned the numbers to stay on the air for at least a full 22-episode season — and a very good chance that he would've scored at least one more full season thereafter. If I remember right, Firefly's ratings sucked for a broadcast network. If it was on, say, the SciFi Channel, they would've crowned JW king and carried him around the world on the network's collective shoulders (witness, for example, how Battlestar Galactica is treated on SciFi these days).

Why he went for a broadcast network — especially FOX which has a habit of putting bullets in the brains of shows that aren't insta-hits? (A reputation that FOX had for years prior to killing Firefly) It's mystery for the ages. Seriously.

Yeah, I think I gave the first two a 'too-positive' viewing when they were on, looking back now watching with someone new to it and I can see they're actually not great episodes, I'm thinking out-of-sequence Out of Gas might be a better introduction, not sure though.

Hmm, I guess it shouldn't surprise me that the pair of you like the one with all the pretty girls, even if the plot is a bit too obvious...

I really liked Firefly because I really liked the setting and - as with most Whedon - the characters were people you cared about.
Yes, it was simplistic and in various ways derivative but it was very well done with great production values for the budget. It was good, light entertainment and that's exactly what I need when I get home after work.

For me, it's definitely on par with Carnivale (another sad loss but at least they finished the 2nd Season and with it the first segment), BSG and Heroes.

The great thing about Serenity was that it worked for both die-hard Firefly fans and people who had only seen the film. Fans would get all the inside references but they did a good job of making it accessible to everyone (or at least fans of SciFi and a good story with interesting characters).

I think the concept is part of the appeal; a lot of shows had done 'western in space', but by taking out the western/settler elements (or doing weird things like in BSG:TOS).

This just put them back in as a natural element; the ACW parallels appealed to the history geek in me as well.

Hmm, Culture as a TV series. Um, yeah, so not going to happen. And even if it did, it'd be bad...

I think, overall, you're right; if the series had gone on for too long, it would've become dull, I suspect it had at most two series of plot in it. But it finished far too early, and the last episode was sheer genius in many ways.

I suspect Joss simply believed he had a big hit on the way, and thought he'd get passed Fox's issues simply by being Joss. There's never an ego bigger than the guy who's read his own publicity.

Which is daft given his earlier stated position of preferring shows with 10 committed fans over 100 people who might watch, he knew his ratings would be low but regular. Ah well.

That reminds me

:-D

Yes, yes it was. And, just so you know, there are many near the end that are much worse.

At some point I may devise a drinking game for them; at one point Apollo gets transported by godlike beings and acts as an angel to avert nuclear war. Scarily awful...

Surely you'd need to have done the drinking game BEFORE watching those episodes?

Absolutely; good characters, nice dialogue and decent pulpy entertainment.

And River. And Inara.

Well, probably, yeah, but you normally have to be fairly drunk before agreeing to a drinking game anyway.

Could make for some interesting evenings in the pub anyway.

We're surely not going to have an "are you drunk enough to withstand BSG:TOS" night, are we? We want SOME customers...

Ha! NOW we reach the bottom of it!

Like new BSG, I didn't see anyone in there I could fancy. :(

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So then, have you watched Firefly?

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