Loved this review and all the comments afterwards. I also loved the fact that this is someone who wasn't a fan of Buffy or Angel because a lot of people feel that you're of course going to love Firefly if you love Joss Whedon's other two shows. This might give those who don't like Buffy or Angel a reason to now give Firefly a chance. Of course, I can't comprehend how anyone can't love Buffy or Angel but to each his own.

Firefly Flanatic | January 28, 21:51 CET

Great review, though some of the comments afterwards left me seething with anger and annoyance. I know not everyone can be a fan of Joss's work, but some people have such short-sighted, ridiculous opinions that it drives me nuts. For example:

"It had this weird Wagon Train thing going on too which wasn't particularly clever. And, DUDE, what's the point of doing a futuristic space show with no aliens??!? I mean WTF?"

Oy.

MindPieces | January 28, 22:44 CET

Oy, indeed. Teeth gnashing time. Ah well, not everyone can be so lucky as to embark on the wondrous journey of enjoyment that is watching shows in the Whedonverse.

Otherwise a great reading experience. Does anyone think that the folks at Fox who were responsible for pulling Firefly are reading any of the great press out there about the DVDs? And all the five star reviews at Amazon, etc.? Not to mention the selling like hotcakes factor? I know that it all comes down to dollars and cents for the network suits, but then again, why keep Tru Calling on when it suffered such terrible ratings upon debut? Why pull Firefly and not Tru Calling? It seems like there must have been something else at work regarding Firefly, and if that's the case, I'm hoping that somewhere, someone at Fox is eating humble pie. I'm probably being naive.

I'm late to Firefly, so forgive me for asking something that's probably already been discussed ad nauseum, but does anyone know if Gail Berman was at least partly responsible for pulling Firefly?

phlebotinin | January 28, 23:25 CET

No worries, I gave those "no aliens?!?!" whiners a thorough thrashing. Politely, and with as much sense-making logic as I could muster, of course.

Joss was very vocal about the no-aliens deal prior to and during Firefly's debut episodes. I remember a decent number of people who either said they wouldn't watch it or were very wary of it due to that component. I wonder, had he not bothered to mention it (and refrained from going into detail about his "I don't believe in aliens" stance), if more viewers may've checked it out and gotten hooked despite their bias.

Kris | January 28, 23:26 CET

I don't have a link for this so I'm just going to mention it. But NAKED News, the show with nothing to hide reviewed Firefly (with a nice naked man). They loved it, giving it 4.5 Naked Ns out of 5 and dutifully blaming Fox. Maybe the nest anchor will be Mal.

Hembie | January 29, 01:07 CET

I don't have exact quotes but from what I understood from reading interviews, Gail Berman did't fight very hard to help Joss keep the show on Fox. But she wasn't in charge so maybe her hands were tied. I think also that shows like Tru Calling are being given a better chance at surviving because of all the back lash of Firefly being cancelled. Fox came out and admitted they screwed up the handling of Firefly and had said they were going to try and handle things differently, like not premiering a show during the baseball playoffs and constantly pre-empting it.

I'm also sure they are very aware of how well Firefly is selling because they own the rights to it and are the ones raking in the dough. You'd think they'd be interested in resurrecting the show just for that reason alone but I believe they sold the rights to it.

Firefly Flanatic | January 29, 07:43 CET

If you will allow me a rant. I've got a theory about why great shows like Firefly and Farscape have trouble finding mass acceptance. Star Trek. I mean if there is a brand name for science fiction in the casual viewers mind, it is Trek. 6 TV series, 10 movies, record albums, countless books, comic books, toys, posters, magazines, conventions and Lord knows how many pop references. After almost 40 years of Star Trek being in the public eye is it any wonder that people are conditioned to look at science fiction on TV & in the movies based on the Star Trek model? That said, so what there were no aliens?
Anyway, sorry for the rant.

NOLA64 | January 29, 08:05 CET

It's all so bloody sad. Fox finally made the commitment to produce AND broadcast one of Joss Whedon's TV series. Joss said it would be a space adventure, albeit one heavily influenced by Westerns. Fox, no doubt, expected a rollicking adventure series filled with that trademark Buffy/Angel humor.

Well, they didn't get it. Rather than appreciate what Joss DID give them, they fussed and fretted and tinkered, and tinkered some more, thinking, "Oh sweet mother Mary of God, we're losing $2 million bucks an episode on this thing. We're never gonna get it back." And once the Suits (TM Robert Blake) decided they were never going to break even, they cancelled the show, making the airwaves safe for cheap broadcasting fare like "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance."

In hindsight, the Suits were idiots. Because if the Firefly DVD sells approximately 750,000 copies (conceivable!), Fox would have made back the cost of producing the first 14 episodes. And we're not including advertising. Or other secondary merchandise. Or foreign broadcasting. OR syndication. Fox was sitting on a big pile of money, they mistook it for a beanbag--and threw it out. I do not weep for them.

cjl | January 30, 02:50 CET

Yes, they are idiots at Fox, but I'm afraid that the Suits elsewhere are no different. They never figured out what the heck Firefly was so they couldn't come up with a viable way to market the show. The WB has the same problem with AtS. They promote their other programs with alot more gusto and frequency. With AtS, they make do with the basic teasers scattered around the schedule. I don't even watch much tv but it feels like I'm bombarded with promos for shows like One Tree Hill and Reba all the fricking time!

It drives me crazy that the WB doesn't capitalize on all the critics' Top 10 lists that AtS made for 2003.

In hindsight, it seems to me that marketing Joss' shows will always be a network nightmare. He defies simple categorization. What can the suits do? Well, they could preview it for critics who are known fans of his shows and build buzz for it the way indie movies are promoted.

punkinpuss | January 30, 04:43 CET