Whedonesque : Comments on 6781 : Firefly Reruns Join The Sci-Fi Channel's Friday Line-Up on July 22.

I am completely shocked.

Well I'll be. That AICN poster was right after all.

Wow. Just......WOW. This is FANTASTIC.

(Can't help the all-caps. Please pardon. Too excited. Will cease and desist now.)

phlebotinin | May 20, 01:51 CET

Makes sense. The movie is done by Universal, SciFi is owned by NBC-Universal. Nice promotional tool there...
-Joe Kavanagh

cyberjoek | May 20, 01:53 CET

Holy cow! And Shiny!

lycoming | May 20, 01:56 CET

cyberjoek: we don't sign our posts here at Whedonesque. The user name takes care of that for us.

I'm assuming we'll see some brand new trailers for Firefly. Be interesting to see what approach Sci-Fi will take. I'm also assuming 20th Century Fox will reissue the DVD boxset in some new shape or fashion.

Simon | May 20, 02:02 CET

I am soooooo glad this is happening because I have never seen Firefly and I have always wanted to see what all the hype is about. I didn't want to buy the DVD box set until I saw a little bit of what it's all about. (Although I'm almost certain I will love it because it comes from Joss!) It's also kind of cool that it will be on SciFi because that was the channel that originally got me hooked on BtVS.

LadySings1 | May 20, 02:09 CET

HUZZAH!

Willowy | May 20, 02:09 CET

Fantastic news. WOW.

orphea | May 20, 02:11 CET

Shiny! I am just floored. Really great news.

Angela | May 20, 02:17 CET

This is so weird that this news came today! I've been waiting for my friend to get a DVD player and I just e-mailed and asked her if she's gotten one yet so she could borrow my DVDs. She e-mailed back that she still doesn't have one! Of course, after seeing this I quickly e-mailed her back and asked her if she has Sci-fi! But if she doesn't, I guess I'll just have to make myself sit through them on Scifi so I can tape them for her. The things I do for my friends! ;^)

Firefly Flanatic | May 20, 02:21 CET

This is incredibly good news! (Nice Deadwood-y "HUZZAH", Willowy, BTW)

D'ya think all the eps will show? In proper order? Without being preempted by baseball? Without getting cancelled 3 shows shy for Fastlane? Oh. My. Goddess.

m'cookies actual | May 20, 02:32 CET

What great news!

Succatash | May 20, 02:40 CET

I have to assume that Universal wants people to get interested in Firefly so, hopefully, Sci-Fi will air in proper order. This is great news!

spikeangellover | May 20, 02:44 CET

I am so happy about this! I haven't seen Firefly yet and can't afford the DVD's, this news just made my day.

supersymetry | May 20, 02:45 CET

If they start showing all 15 episodes on July 22 and continue to show them in order every following Friday, then by my calculations, we will only see the first 11 episodes before Serenity comes out in theaters. Wouldn't it make scence to start airing the series a month earlier on june 24, so that we can finish seeing the entire series before going to see the movie in theaters?

SpikeBad | May 20, 02:57 CET

Yow! Excellent. Great marketing strategy.

electricspacegirl | May 20, 03:01 CET

Dawnie's been a busy girl. Further down the page there's mention of an upcoming Lifetime movie starring Michelle Trachtenberg.

Note to self: Must get co-workers to watch Firefly.

m'cookies actual | May 20, 03:05 CET

Thanks m'cookies, you a fellow "C***s****r?"

;)

Willowy | May 20, 03:07 CET

You betcha, Willowy.

m'cookies actual | May 20, 03:19 CET

Ehhh... yeah... One could say that that's a pretty good spot there... Yeah... I'm still sort of baffled by these news... It's pretty freaking awesome actually... Yeah... Thank you Sci-Fi...

Djungelurban | May 20, 03:33 CET

Not really Spikesbad because if you look at it in the overall, you know most of the die hards will be there opening weekend and at least the following weekend to keep the box office numbers a float. By having a few episodes to air after the release date you ensure a few more weekes of talk time about the movie and series, plus the potential for more people going to see it in the theatres after the first couple of weeks. So it's actually a brill plan on their part.

RavenU | May 20, 03:36 CET

I guess that sort of makes scence RavenU. I suppose it would be good for them to keep the buzz going about the film after it's released. However, I personaly want to see the entire series before the release of the film. I just may have to get the DVD so I can see all the episodes before seeing the movie. Thank god for Sci-Fi.

SpikeBad | May 20, 03:39 CET

*Deleted cause I was just dead wrong and really tired, sorry :)*

[ edited by Djungelurban on 2005-05-20 01:52 ]

Djungelurban | May 20, 03:45 CET

This is terrific news! Brilliant marketing plan for the BDM, and I'm personally thrilled to have it finally rerun for the first time in the US.

BTW, it's 14 episodes (counting Serenity as only one episode). It's funny how often people seem to get the number wrong.

Woot, my first post. Been trying to join this site for nearly half a year now! Thanks for finally re-opening membership. :)

AnotherFireflyfan | May 20, 03:55 CET

What excellent news! That will definitely help the movie... and people too cheap to buy the DVDs!

PurpleYoshi | May 20, 04:08 CET

I agree with PurpleYoshi, but it may also convince people to get the DVD set. Now, when will we see Wonderfalls?
Better yet, how much of the nude scene from "Trash" will we see? Hopefully, all of it, since it will be on cable

impalergeneral | May 20, 04:23 CET

BTW, it's 14 episodes (counting Serenity as only one episode). It's funny how often people seem to get the number wrong.

Hello again, AFf ;p But the actual quote on it is "15 hours" of firefly, not 15 episodes ;p

Bayne | May 20, 05:16 CET

We ought to print out some flyers with the FF on SciFi info and hand 'em out to folks in line for StarWars...

Shiny_ | May 20, 05:18 CET

I am so thrilled about this, and I think the timing is great, they'll start running Firefly right after the first comic book comes out, and we'll have a lot more flans to join in the fun next September!
I was going to cancel cable for the Summer, but I guess now I won't!

embers | May 20, 05:43 CET

Booo yaaaaa! :D *happy dances*

Lunakitty | May 20, 06:52 CET

Yay, I've never seen it.

twiggy | May 20, 07:28 CET

Love for Sci-Fi Channel.
This is great. 8-)

Revello | May 20, 07:30 CET

This is wonderful news. Now I don't have to lend out my DVDs to anyone! (I get very worried when I look over and they're not there on my Whedon shelf.)

And I'm oddly excited to see the previously unaired episodes with commercials at the act breaks...

WindTheFrog | May 20, 07:50 CET

I'm also thrilled about this just because people who missed the boat the first time around but have since heard of it and aren't the type to buy dvds now have a chance to view it free (and hopefully in order)!!

Firefly Flanatic | May 20, 07:53 CET

Fantastic! I don't have cable myself, but lots of my friends do who haven't seen FF yet. I expect they'll be tuning in to see what I keep harping on about, now there's no excuse for them not to.

Wouldn't it be wonderful (marvelous!) if the series does so well (and the film takes off accordingly) that we get a Serenity trilogy and a rebooted series on Sci-Fi? Let me dream...

Wiseblood | May 20, 08:07 CET

That would be the best news ever! We can dream can't we??!!

Firefly Flanatic | May 20, 08:16 CET

Very cool news. It's a shame the TV's run probably won't be finished in time for the movie though. Unless they double up on episodes some weeks. But even if "Serenity" is aired in its full 2-hour pilot form, that still only leaves 9 more Fridays before September 30th.

Ah well, maybe some of the new fans seeing "Objects in Space" a few weeks later will help keep the box office up for a while longer.

Kris | May 20, 10:57 CET

I just realized this is a great way to get my dad to check out the show. I offered to loan him my DVDs, but he apparently doesn't know how to work the DVD player. Huh? Anway, he loves sci-fi, but I've just never been sure if he'd take to Firefly because he's a religious man, and he may have trouble with the moral grayness of the show. Oh, yeah, and a hooker in space. But this way he can check out the first episode, decided if he likes it or not, and go from there, without having to stress over working the DVD player.

I have another friend whom I've been dying to share the series with, but he's really busy. I'll tell him to Tivo it. I know he'll love it because a year ago I told him the premise and he was like "space hookers? Im in love already." Hee.

Shiny!

electricspacegirl | May 20, 11:38 CET

Great news! I was just talking to a young Star Wars fan about Serenity, and encouraging him to get the Firefly DVDs before the movie comes out. Now I can tell him to catch the show on TV! Joss must be so pleased. Finally he's with a company that seems to be doing everything it can to showcase his work, instead of canceling it. Cheers to Universal-NBC-SciFi.

palehorse | May 20, 12:22 CET

palehorse, my thoughts exactly. It's a relief that Joss is finally getting the respect he deserves. More power to him. It can only lead to bigger and better things. Yay for Joss! and yay for us!

electricspacegirl | May 20, 14:01 CET

I KNEW IT!
I told my boyfriend a few weeks ago, "Huh. Universal owns NBC/Universal. They own SciFi. I bet Universal buys Firefly rights from Fox."
Now Firefly's on SciFi!!!

April | May 20, 19:40 CET

Good.
Very good!
I never saw Firefly since I had not discovered the works of Joss at that time. I have been "struggling" trying to decide if I should buy the Firefly box or not.
This is great news!

Jonas | May 20, 20:32 CET

I'm confused by April's post - does this mean that Universal now owns the rights to Firefly? The article said something about "repeat rights". Can anyone answer this?

Firefly Flanatic | May 20, 21:01 CET

Times change. My friend Kuzbah had the following to say about SciFi picking up Firefly:

Just wanted to add, while I'm happy that "Firefly" gets this chance to expand its fan-base, I can't help thinking of the Sci-Fi exec I sat next to at a convention panel a few years ago. It was right before the "Firefly" premiere, anticipation was high, and there was general grumbling that it was being treated shamefully by the FOX network (which it was- the stories of exec-ordered editing/reshoots and out-of-sequence airings had already come out.) Anyway, this Sci-Fi rep said he'd seen the two hour pilot and found it "unwatchable" and "boring," and agreed with the FOX decision to edit it down to one hour.

Now, how much do you want to bet that Sci-Fi is going to trumpet the original two-hour premiere "as it was meant to be seen."

God, sometimes I hate TV.

When I asked to asked her if was ok to quote her, she added the following.

It was at the 2002 Jersey Devil Con. He also claimed the Sci-Fi channel was offered "Firefly" before FOX (which is doubtful, but you never know) and passed on it after seeing the pilot. That's when he described it as "unwatchable."

All in all, a very interesting insight into the shifting attitudes at the Sci Fi channel.

Simon | May 20, 21:08 CET

I bet you're right that they'll promote the Hell out of the fact that it will be shown in the order it was meant to be shown in. And thanks for that insight, it was really interesting.

Firefly Flanatic | May 20, 21:30 CET

How short-sighted of them, of all of them, that didn't believe in Firefly. That just grates my cheese to no end. But, you can't stop the signal, baby. "We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty." And "no power in the 'verse can stop us." That's all I have to say.

electricspacegirl | May 20, 22:36 CET

I'm very excited to see this is happening. I sent an e-mail off a few weeks ago asking if the Sci-Fi Channel was planning on doing this, since they were in the UK. I never got a return e-mail, but I'm very glad they noticed people would be interested!

Illyria | May 20, 23:33 CET

"Unwatchable?" The two hour pilot was "unwatchable?" That is just extraordinary to me. I think it's a brilliant pilot. How can tastes be so different? I know, I know, people's tastes differ wildly all the time. Thanks for posting your friend's comments, Simon. Fascinating, if irksome. I'm hoping that the SciFi rep in question won't in any way be involved in the run of repeats. Firefly deserves the gold star treatment at this point.

Does anyone remember reading that SciFi passed on Firefly after Fox terminated it because Firefly was "too science fiction-y?" Or did I dream that?

phlebotinin | May 21, 00:05 CET

I remember that, phlebotinin, but I never knew if it was really true.

Speculate at will: SciFi's Schedule shows Firefly at 7pm on July 22 (between Stargates), and at 6 and 7 pm on July 29. It doesn't yet say which episodes are being shown, but that means the pilot can't be first. This all may change later, of course, but Sci Fi would be bloody stupid to show it out of order again.

zencat | May 21, 00:17 CET

If Firefly is once again aired out of order, my head will explode.

I am baffled by "unwatchable". I want to assume that someone working for SciFi would be a SciFi fan, but I suppose that's not necessarily the case. I could understand (sort of) someone saying, "it's not for me", or "bored me to tears", while that person understood that others would enjoy it. But just "unwatchable"?!?

Angela | May 21, 00:31 CET

Regarding the two episodes on one night... I think when Sci-Fi aired the series over here in the UK - in the correct order - they would show the previous week's episode before the new one. It looks like they are following a similair plan which would explain why the first week only has one episode and hopefully doesn't suggest any Foxmology going on.

Also, everyone I lend the Firefly DVDs to seems to enjoy them, even people who don't normally give anything sci-fi a go. I hope this means we'll get our trilogy when the movie does well!

CLeW | May 21, 01:00 CET

It's all about the money. Universal have the same owners as SciFi. SciFi may have turned down or sneered at Firefly in the past but if their owners tell them to show Firefly because it will sell more tickets for Serenity, they have no choice but to do it. Lets be honest here, it's not been done as recognition of Joss' talents or giving fans a second chance to see the series. It's all about getting bums on seats.

I think this is Universal's phase three or four of the promotional campaign for Serenity. Give me another month and I'll identify the ins and outs of it all.

Simon | May 21, 01:08 CET

Wow, I am stunned by the 'unwatchable' quote. I have shown the pilot episode of 'Firefly' (I mean 'Serenity' but not to be confused with the movie) to a lot of friends and family, and they have all been hooked completely. Not only do I consider it totally watchable, and a great intro to the characters, but it sets up a lot of mini-cliff-hangers that were ruined when Fox showed the series out of order. I certainly hope that since Sci-fi is willing to run the series, they are willing to run it in the correct order.
At any rate I am thrilled with the announcement, and the timing: we'll get all kinds of new fans for the comics and it will all build excitement for the up-coming movie.

embers | May 21, 01:36 CET

The person who said it was unwatchable could've just been saying that because, at the time, it was on a rival network.

Zencat, the way that looks, it does look like they will be airing them out of order. Maybe it's time everyone starts e-mailing Sci-fi and telling them to make sure they air them in order!!

Firefly Flanatic | May 21, 02:10 CET

I do remember when the show aired that Fox made a bunch of comments about the pilot didn't have enough action in it and was too boring in parts. I remember sitting in stunned, seething anger when I finally got to see it and it was brilliant!

Firefly Flanatic | May 21, 02:12 CET

Why can't they split up the 2 hour pilot? Joss said on the commentary that the first part of the episode ends when Mal opens the box.

[ edited by eddy on 2005-05-21 09:32 ]

eddy | May 21, 08:30 CET

Zencat, the way that looks, it does look like they will be airing them out of order. Maybe it's time everyone starts e-mailing Sci-fi and telling them to make sure they air them in order!!

I must have missed something...the way what looks? The release schedule as it's been announced so far? I don't see how that indicates a FOX'ed-up (I know, how clever) airing schedule, but I will admit, we are in some ways quite spoiled here in Canada. Much unending praise goes out to The Space Channel for airing all 15 episodes (sorry, AnotherFireflyfan, I'm technical that way) uncut and in-order, for, gosh I can't remember how long it's been - maybe a year, likely longer.

However, Firefly Fanatic, you do have a good point - a pre-emptive email campaign from fans to Sci-Fi would not be amiss, just to make sure they get it right.

Btw eddy, on Space they do split up "Serenity" Parts 1 & 2 into 2 episodes, right at the moment you specify.

gorramit | May 21, 08:55 CET

eddy - don't want to sound picky as I've seen Firely myself - and I know it's not technically a spoiler since the series has already aired - but there might be a few people who haven't seen it yet (and are about to read this thread) who would appreciate it if you re-worded the last few words to read 'when Mal opens the box' or something similar.

I it ends with Mal going "ugghh" but you don't see the contents till the second half/episode.

purplehazel | May 21, 11:18 CET

Sorry about that. I just edited it although I knew what was in the box before seeing the episode. All because of Fox's awful promotion. They suck.

[ edited by eddy on 2005-05-21 09:33 ]

eddy | May 21, 11:32 CET

May 20 2005