[Battlestar]

So my brother law lent me his DVD box set of the program Firefly. No although not a terible series, I can see why it was cancelled. I have seen all but the last episode And jsut cant get into it. It hasnt got me hooked as other shows have before. I am watching the series because I wanted to give it a go right to the end but it has not got me wanting to see what happens next.
Is serenity (the movie of the show) better than the series?

[DLPMaybe]

Firefly was my favourite show on TV when it was being shown. You should get a ban for that post The film was a bit of a let down for me. Still good but less about characters more about action.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by DLPMaybe

Firefly was my favourite show on TV when it was being shown. You should get a ban for that post The film was a bit of a let down for me. Still good but less about characters more about action.

I totally agree with you there DLPMaybe.

3 day ban for Dave-S for not liking Firefly.

[mutamist]

I was utterly hooked from the very first episode - the chemistry between the characters was red hot and the storylines were original and interesting with a mysterious overlying story arc. I only saw Serenity on NYE after wiating months to see it and I thought it was superb - I can see it being a fun stand alone film but as a fan of Serenity it was amazing to have the Firefly crew back on screen again and I hope a second film is made, though as much ad I wont happen I'd love them to carry on with the Firefly series instead.

[crobo]

I just watched the penultimate episode and I am really going to miss this series. At the risk of provoking Dave into homicidal fury it's the best sci-fi series I've ever seen. It's daft at times (a sci-fi western??) but, as noted above, the cast have fantastic chemistry and the humour is just great. If I ever find the exec that cancelled this series....

As a substitute (Dave please take the pills now) is the BSG series 2 DVD a good investment? I was a real fan of series one but we don't have SKY any more. Will my £25 be well spent?

[Nebby]

I thought the new version of BSG was the best sci-fi show I'd ever seen....from the excellent pilot, all the way through season one. Then I saw Firefly.

[Toasty]

When Firefly first aired, I watched the odd show, it didn't make me want to watch it all, the same went for my missus, who's a big Joss Whedon fan. I then gave it another go when shown again on sci fi, but while I enjoyed it I still didn't watch every episode like I have with other shows.

We then got caught in the whole serenity hype thing, so we got the DVD for christmas before watching serenity later this year. My wife enjoyed it more this time round and I will watch every episode eventually, its good but..

[Garrett]

I too could not get my head around cowboys in space.

Originally Posted by Nebby

I thought the new version of BSG was the best sci-fi show I'd ever seen....from the excellent pilot, all the way through season one. Then I saw Firefly.

Then you saw Firefly and what? You liked it? loved it? Hated it?

When I first watched Firefly I thought it started extremely poorly and was very unimpressed with the pilot episode "Serenity" (not to be confused with the movie of the same name). Still I stuck with it week by week watching each episode as it unfolded, expanding the 'verse a little at a time. As the weeks went by Firefly went from what I thought was a poor beginning to very good and by the end I thought it was excellent. I couldn't understand how it got cancelled in the States until I heard they aired the episodes out of order. Ruining all of the character development created from watching from the beginning.

Having recently bought the DVDs for Firefly I was even more impressed on second viewing liking or loving every single episode. I haven't yet seen the movie Serenity but soon will when my DVD arrives in the post. Although I sincerely hope that if and when it's possible Universal will bring Firefly (or whatever it will be called) onto the sci-fi Channel for a brand new series. From reading on the internet I have discovered that it is quite likely that fireflies next incarnation will be a TV movie broadcasting on sci-fi Channel. Perhaps this is how Firefly will live on in the short to medium term until Fox's TV rights run-out?

[Son of Shaft]

Some words from the man himself. http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=17800

First saw firefly on TV and it was OKish watched some eps. But Ididn't see it from eps.1 so wasn't really familiar with what was going on with the characters. So at that time it wasn't a must see series for me. Than later on I got the DVD and watched from beginning to end in 2nights and really enjoyed it. Think the last eps. (with the bounty hunter and his cool 70's anime spacesuit) is one of the best eps.

Afterwards I could see why I liked it. It has lot of simillarities with cowboy bebop, one of my most fav. scifi series.

[Steve_P]

I was hooked on Firefly from Episode 1, a very enjoyable show and a great shame it got axed so early on.

I think Dave needs a spell in the Brig for his lack of enthusiasm for this show

S.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by Steve_P

I was hooked on Firefly from Episode 1, a very enjoyable show and a great shame it got axed so early on.

I think Dave needs a spell in the Brig for his lack of enthusiasm for this show

S.

I'll second that.

[Battlestar]

Guys.
I gave it a go. I really did. I admit that I didnt dislike it. I just thought that it was very average and can understand why it was canclled. After all, in the world of weekly TV shows, The Ratings are king. People would rather watch bigbrother wife swop looses the most weight make over 2 ,than serial dramas these days. It just seems to be the way of the world.

I will however be giving The movie "Serenity" a go if it comes out on rental.

[krish]

Originally Posted by Dave-S

...People would rather watch bigbrother wife swop looses the most weight make over 2...

dunno about that... may be the celebrity version

Originally Posted by Dave-S

Guys.
People would rather watch bigbrother wife swop looses the most weight make over 2 ,than serial dramas these days. It just seems to be the way of the world.

do people who have Sky/cable television actually tune into these reality shows on a regular basis? In all fairness how can you say that these reality shows are more popular when they don't have access to the full range of programming that Sky/cable television offers? If everybody had Sky/cable would they even bother to tune into the likes of EastEnders or Big Brother ?

I gave it a go. I really did. I admit that I didnt dislike it. I just thought that it was very average and can understand why it was canclled. After all, in the world of weekly TV shows, The Ratings are king.

Ratings are King is exactly the problem with television. If a show doesn't automatically get great ratings then it gets cancelled in a heartbeat. The problem with this philosophy is that great shows don't get time to develop an audience to receive those ratings it needs to continue. To be fair Firefly always had its work cut out because it is so original, quirky and unlike most other sci-fi series gracing the screens. People aren't used to new and different ideas. It takes Time to change people's perceptions of things. Had Fox given it a chance the public would have discovered what a gem it is as the characters grow on you and word-of-mouth spread.

The fact it got made into a big-screen movie shows the quality of the show and the following it developed in a short space of time. In these forums alone the numbers of converts Firefly has gained since its DVD release must be fairly high and the word keeps spreading.

I will however be giving The movie "Serenity" a go if it comes out on rental.

By the way it's a case of when the movie "Serenity" comes out on rental not if.

[Toasty]

Interesting small article on serenity future..

[Phil Hinton]

Well I only recently bought the Firefly Boxset after reading all the good reviews and I have to say I am now hooked - call me a browncoat.

I think the problem was that it is too original for todays TV audience who have such short attention spans. You need to let the series grow in it's natural way, yet the US network aired all the episodes out of sync, how was it ever going to succeed when the people paying for it, didn't understand it. The film was a bold attempt to bring the world a snippit of the firefly universe and while you could in theory jump straight in, I still felt it meant so much more after serving my time with the crew. I hope some exec somewhere takes another chance with the show, it deserves the chance to grow.

And anyway, what does Dave S know about Sci-Fi

[Battlestar]

And anyway, what does Dave S know about Sci-Fi

Oh nothing much at all phil, In fact, if you click the MY movies link in my sig, I am sure you wont find any SCi-Fi in there at all

By the way it's a case of when the movie "Serenity" comes out on rental not if.

Some times movies are retail only and have not for rental on the back of them. It is possible that Serenity may be one of these titles. It depends on the distrbutor in the UK. If this is the case Then I wont be buying it straight away and probably wait for it to hit the bargin bins before I see it.

Dave.

[Battlestar]

do people who have Sky/cable television actually tune into these reality shows on a regular basis? In all fairness how can you say that these reality shows are more popular when they don't have access to the full range of programming that Sky/cable television offers? If everybody had Sky/cable would they even bother to tune into the likes of EastEnders or Big Brother ?

I never said I would rather watch a reality show than serial dramas. I defenatly would rather watch Firefly than bigbrother and the like. But with so many shows such as fire fly being cancled before thier time, and no indication of the Reality TV onslaught slowing down, Some one must be watching these types of shows more than decent thought provocking Sci-fi and dramas.

Dave.

[TonyA]

I think the problem here is the channels that show SF shows.

In the UK it pretty much comes down to Sky One, Sci-Fi channel, and Bravo.

All of which are only available on satellite or cable, and with subscription.

This narrows down the potential audience for a show.

Your reality shows are shown on all of the 5 terrestrial channels, plus shed loads of satellite channels too (including Sky One and Bravo).

Therefore, SF shows are already given a minority audience, just because of the channel they are being shown on.

Channel 4 and 5 have tried with US SF shows, but these normally get scheduled at dire times, and as a result get hacked to pieces to be shown in that time slot, and most have been shown on satellite previously anyway.

Firefly never made it onto terrestrial UK TV - therefore this was going to affect the audience figures for the movie.

I bought the box-set on DVD when it was released, and was a fan, but I didn't go and see Serenity at the movies - I'll wait (and I've already pre-ordered it) for it to come out on DVD, and watch it at home.

Firefly was a great series, with great characters, humour, and lots of potential, but I think the problem that most people had was the concept of "cowboys" in space.

Although this added to the "grittiness" of the series, it could also alienate the casual viewer, who could become easily confused with the concept.

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by TonyA

Therefore, SF shows are already given a minority audience, just because of the channel they are being shown on.

I think that there may be a different way of looking at that as I normally assume that if a channel like Bravo or SF is showing something new then it's so poor that the other channels with deeper pockets didn't want it and whilst that is a bit of a generalisation it is more right than wrong.

Sky do tend to pick up better programmes but the terrestrial channels normally have first refusal and don't choke their airwaves with all of the American scifi programmes as they know that the appeal is minority only.

I like scifi and give everything that looks half reasonable a try but Firefly only lasted a couple of episodes with me before removing it from Tivo's season pass.

[Toasty]

Originally Posted by TonyA

Firefly was a great series, with great characters, humour, and lots of potential, but I think the problem that most people had was the concept of "cowboys" in space.

Although this added to the "grittiness" of the series, it could also alienate the casual viewer, who could become easily confused with the concept.

Good comment, I think this is the reason I'm enjoying it more watching the DVD boxset than catching the odd episode on the Sci Fi channel.