It's reset each month, I think. I still don't get how Gunsmoke is right behind Firefly, like -- there must be a hidden fandom.

gossi | March 29, 20:46 CET

If you know any Bonanza fans, get them to watch Firefly. Xena fans too especially Serenity and Buffy.

Anonymous1 | March 29, 20:48 CET

Same goes for Gunsmoke etc. Basically, anybody who has a TV needs to see Firefly. Yeh. That's it.

[ edited by Anonymous1 on 2007-03-29 17:50 ]

Anonymous1 | March 29, 20:49 CET

It isn't reset every month.

You can use the timer program at http://www.usbmicro.com/misc/ to help cast your Firefly votes specifically for this web site and a few others. The program reminds you every hour for the TV_Vote site.

[ edited by Flyvote on 2007-03-29 18:01 ]

Flyvote | March 29, 20:55 CET

So this isn't really a good gauge on what is the 'Best TV Show of All Time' but which show has fans with the most time on their hands and internet access? Like American Idol, this kind of 'contest' doesn't really mean much.

Rogue Slayer | March 29, 21:00 CET

Well, it shows Xena fans are more organised and obsessive than Firefly fans, yes. But then Xena went international, had many seasons and even a musical episode, so I'm not surprised.

It reminds me a bit of Lost. Push the button..

gossi | March 29, 21:04 CET

I liked Firefly a lot. Do I believe it's the second greatest TV show of all time? No.

kdavid323 | March 29, 21:11 CET

Not really an all-inclusive list--too much scifi/fantasy.

themayor | March 29, 21:16 CET

Just curious. Do most Firefly fans really believe that Firefly was better than Buffy?

I find that hard to believe, but it looks like it's true.

Xane | March 29, 21:18 CET

I think that most people who came to Firefly without ever watching Buffy do absolutely think Firefly is better than Buffy. I have a hard time picking which one is better because they really focus on completely different things. I would pick Firefly over season one of Buffy anyday and twice on Sunday.

TamaraC | March 29, 22:01 CET

I voted for Firefly cause it's in the running but I honestly feel both Buffy and Angel were better shows; in fact, I always rank Firefly 5th on my favorite list behind Buffy, Angel, Forever Knight and Dead Like Me. I just started watching Xena, almost through the first season...it has appeal and it's a lot of fun but it's not Buffy!

Calledon | March 29, 22:02 CET

I suppose it depends what one means by "better." I think the average Firefly episode is better than the average Buffy episode. I think the entirety of Buffy is better than the entirety of Firefly. I think the best Buffy episode is better than the best Firefly episode.

Septimus | March 29, 22:09 CET

I definitely like Firefly better. I saw Buffy and Angel for the first time last year (all episodes of both thanks to a friend of mine with every DVD set) after seeing Firefly first a year earlier, and I'm definitely a bigger Firefly fan.

VeryVeryCrowded | March 29, 22:18 CET

Xane why do you find that hard to believe?

I absolutely agree with Septimus. I really believe that the first and only season of Firefly was much better than the first season of Buffy. Compared to the whole of Buffy though is another story. Even then it would be a close call. (Though significantly less close if I ignored most of the last season as it was my least favorite.)

Though had Firefly continued and gotten better with subsequent seasons the way Buffy did then I'd be having a much different conversation where my answer would be an unequivocal yes.

[ edited by war_machine on 2007-03-29 19:21 ]

war_machine | March 29, 22:21 CET

Firefly is my all-time favorite show, and Buffy is just not my cup of tea. So if by "better" you mean enjoyable, then yes, Firefly is better for me personally. It may come down to those of us who like to read sci-fi but not fantasy; Buffy and Firefly are really in different genres. Or it may come down to Firefly being more appealing to an older generation.

erico | March 29, 22:40 CET

I thought Safe and Shindig were pretty much ordinary, nothing too special. Out of Gas, Serenity and Objects in Space were spectacular though. Stronger than the Buffy season one episodes.

But Buffy season one has the edge over Firefly (but then it was only half a season).

Angel well... That's my favourite Joss show.

Simon | March 29, 22:47 CET

Battle on Xena! That Warrior Princess always gets my vote!

SpikeBad | March 29, 23:03 CET

Ulalalalalalalalala, yeeeeaahhhh ;). Still got a lot of love for 'Xena', whenever we talk about the shows Buffy paved the way for it's often forgotten that 'Xena' may well have done a bit of paving her own self (the show started two years before the Buffster hit the small screen).

I agree with war_machine in that if 'Firefly' had 7 seasons as BtVS did I suspect it'd be my favourite, I just find the basic theme more interesting and I probably identify with more of the characters more closely too.

But as we all know, it didn't and so, to me, there's not really enough material to judge fairly.

(like Buffy though I thought even 'Firefly's weaker episodes - for me probably 'Heart of Gold', 'Safe' and 'Warstories' were still better or had better parts than the best of a lot of other shows and the best episodes were up there with the best of any show, ever. For me that'd be 'Out of Gas', 'Objects in Space', 'Serenity' and maybe 'Shindig' which I thought brought a lot of Mal's contradictions to the fore as well as being really funny)

Saje | March 29, 23:21 CET

FYI. You can actually vote for several shows at one go, so you don't really have to pick between your favorites.

AlanD | March 29, 23:32 CET

Now you tell us...lol! Actually, my fault for not reading "one or more"! OK, so I'll be voting for all three from now on!

Calledon | March 29, 23:37 CET

I should also add that yes the whole thing is silly and kind of pointless, and once could say it was all just an evil ploy to pit different fan groups against each other in order to drive up advertising revenues at the site, EXCEPT, the only advertising I can see is for an online yarn store, which I'm guessing is just a friends/family thing, and for a few novel's (self-published?) by the site owner, in which case I say more power to the guy for coming up with such a clever way to attract traffic, and for not trying to milk it for ad revenue.

AlanD | March 29, 23:52 CET

I guess I find it hard to believe simply because I have been Buffy obsessed for almost ten years now, and can watch these episodes over and over, and talk about it excessively on the internet, buy action figures and magazines etc. with no end in sight. And trust me, I'm not particularly happy about it.

Firefly to me was a blip. Obviously there are a lot of people that feel differently but seeing as how it was so short, it's just hard for me to believe that there could be as big or as passionate an audience for it as for the Buffyverse.

I watched the whole dvd of Firefly, saw Serenity a few times, but have no need to watch any of Firefly again, and never got sucked into the fandom in any way.

I guess I just always assumed that most Firefly Fans were Buffy fans first, who also loved Firefly, but I am beginning to think that may not be the case.

I would love to know what the acutal numbers in the two fandoms might be, and also what the gender, age, and various other factors were. Whether the majority of Firefly fans had never watched Buffy or Angel.

Alas, I'm pretty sure there is no way to get accurate statistics so I guess I will just go on wondering.

Xane | March 30, 01:39 CET

You'd be surprised. Right now I think there's far more active Firefly fans online as there are Buffy fans and they are just as passionate.* Offline, there's probably more Buffy fans than Firefly ones.

But at the end of the day, we've got people liking a show and chatting about it. So size really doesn't matter. And yes I did type that last sentence with a straight face. Demographics would interest me more.

*Though it will be interesting to see how the online Buffy fandom will look in a few months time when new posters start coming in as a result of buying the comics. Could be a big shot in the arm for the fanom, in the same way that the release of Serenity boosted the Firefly fandom.

Simon | March 30, 02:25 CET

Do I think Firefly is better than Buffy? Oh hell yes. Buffy was too cheesy for me.

leiasky | March 30, 03:58 CET

Yes, this list has tremendous credibility. Of course, Hercules is one of the 40 best shows of all time. Oh, and Trapper John, M.D. changed the face of television much more than M*A*S*H did.

My favourite show is Firefly, which I think hit its stride with an immediacy (i.e. in the first episode) that I have never seen, with the exception of my second favourite show, the UK Office. Buffy and Angel are fantastic (and probably my 3 and 4, although M*A*S*H and The Simpsons and others are high on the list), but the average episode quality of Firefly is, I think, through the roof in comparison to the other two.

EDIT: Oh, and I was a Buffy fan first. Firefly just seems to be Joss' magnum opus. So far.

[ edited by WilliamTheB on 2007-03-30 04:43 ]

WilliamTheB | March 30, 07:40 CET

Firefly is like nothing else. After I fell hard for Firefly, I tried Buffy and Angel, and liked them. They are nothing like Firefly, it's quite a unique experience (I'm writing this as I'm watching Heart of Gold on Universal HD:))

mei_mei | March 30, 08:08 CET

There are a bazillion sci-fi shows that ran much longer than Firefly that are total crap--so be careful in making assumptions that show length somehow equals quality or the ability to inspire love in a fan base.

We have, what, perhaps 14 hours total screen time when you add up Firefly and Serenity (taking out commercials)? That's about the running length of the six Star Wars movies, and look how large that fan base is.

erico | March 30, 08:35 CET

I always go the feeling that at least half of the core Firefly fans at the OB had never seen a single ep of Buffy before Firefly.

TamaraC | March 30, 11:00 CET

I grew up watching Buffy and Angel. I loved them. But Firefly brought me to new heights. I agree with the person who considered "Firefly" Joss's magnum opus thus far.

In fourteen episodes and one film, the 'verse brought me to the more philosophical depths and poignant emotional highs and lows than the entirety of all sevens seasons of Buffy did. And damn did Buffy tug on my strings, so you can imagine how powerful Firefly is for me.

I love Buffy. It's special to me. But Firefly is my number one.

Carmencita | March 31, 06:39 CET