Sci Fi Wire Poll: Would you pay to watch Firefly? - Firefly&Serenity

Aren't they scared we're gonna screw up the poll and have it pulled?

To answer the headline's question; Yes, I would pay to see Firefly, I already have.

But I said "depends" for a pay-per-view season 2...depends entirely on Joss. In my book, No Joss = No Firefly.

alexreager | January 31, 04:48 CET

It will be interesting to see which "cult" show tries this type of pay-per-view model first. Within the next 1-3 years, somebody is going to give it a shot. I would love that show to be Firefly, but my gut tells me it will be some show I care little to nothing about.

As long as the show had the original characters and it was at least produced by Whedon, I'd pay handsomely for a season 2.

Shakespeare | January 31, 04:54 CET

This poll does seem like deja vu. The topic is certainly not going away! I agree with Shakespeare that it seems like somebody will try pay-per-view soon, and it could be Firefly, but unless FF2.0 comes from Joss -- not so much. ;-)

billz | January 31, 05:10 CET

Yes, reading this makes it seem to me that it is very possible that the poll will be skewed again. How many times do I have to tell those people, this is not a time to split yourselves into differentiated factions. Wear both coats, remember?

As for the previous incident I must say the following:

As much as I like the James Marsters Army and the Independent Squad, there were better issues to fight about at that time. Wire-tapping? Nuclear Weapons? The SAG Awards??

Investing your money in a shady juncture so it's possible that there is a small chance that you will be able to watch space westerns on your Video iPod? Bad idea.

The work of Joss Whedon deserves so much more than that. If Firefly/Serenity is going to continue, it should be big (at least reachable on the U.S. television airwaves in a non pay per view format).

Anyway, that's my two cents. Now I'm going to run before a crowd of people angrily chase after me.

[ edited by Gwendolyn Post on 2006-01-31 03:28 ]

Gwendolyn Post | January 31, 05:15 CET

Why would it be skewed? The poll is all about format--the three responses are TV, PPV, or not sure. There aren't any response options for "I'd rather wach reruns of Gilligan's Island" or "Only after they bring back Farscape."

Perhaps it was intentionally designed to elicit no real controversy, who knows. At any rate, it's an Internet poll, not market research. So, for those who might be doing market research:

* $2/episode for downloading is fine, but give me better resolution than iTunes currently has.
* On top of that, I'd pay $40 ($50 list, fine) for a full season (20-26 episodes) on DVD.

(Oh, and that's for Joss, Joss' choice of crew, and Joss' choice of cast. It should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway)

[ edited by jclemens on 2006-01-31 03:43 ]

jclemens | January 31, 05:26 CET

Ok, not skewed. Just a lot of people arguing over the right (or wrong) way to bring it back.

Gwendolyn Post | January 31, 05:38 CET

No. To be blunt, while I would pay for a DVD release if it was priced well enough, I was not enamoured enough to pay for each episode. It was good, but very disappointing for how everyone talked up the series.

Gouki | January 31, 05:44 CET

Believe it or not, you can see three episodes of Firefly at a time on Comcast On Demand for three bucks a pop. So, if you just want episodes burned on homemade DVD's without commentary, that would work.
But I think it's too early to "subscribe" to TV shows the way you can subscrobe to magazines. I'm just not sure if there's enough people who'd pay for it, and have the technology to use it. Remember, iPods are very expensive.

impalergeneral | January 31, 05:58 CET

I'm with Gwendolyn Post on this one.

Damn. Now that's a sentence I never thought I'd utter. :)
(Not re the poster... re the character)

cronopio | January 31, 06:14 CET

Tired of polls, i want it to happen already.

ChosenOne5376 | January 31, 06:16 CET

I would do anything for more Firefly, even fight Spike for the Mountain Dew.

nna_funk | January 31, 06:25 CET

Also tired of polls and such. People just leave it alone! Joss will do what he does in his good time.

Isn't this poll referring to Underhill, by the way? Gah.

Relight | January 31, 06:33 CET

Isn't this poll referring to Underhill, by the way?

Of course.

The One True b!X | January 31, 06:40 CET

I actually saw this poll earlier on today and decided against posting it here. I was the one responsible for posting the previous Spike/Serenity/Wonder Woman poll here and decided that i didn't want to be partly responsible for pissing off the people at Sci Fi Wire a second time in a month! :D

WhedonTrivia | January 31, 06:51 CET

Good grief, will the Underhill thing just die already. It's not going to happen. PPV TV will probably happen eventually. A resurrection of Firefly/Serenity in some form might happen. But this thing? Is not going to happen.

That said, I agree with jclemens. I'd pay for more Jossverse gladly - as long as Joss remains in control of it.

zencat | January 31, 07:11 CET

I hate downloading, but I'd cheerfully kick out $100 for another season of Firefly on DVD.

Ocular | January 31, 07:11 CET

I'd happily pony up $1.99 per episode of Firefly. If they could get a million and a half other people who thought like I did, Joss would have a decent-sized budget to do each episode. And I bet they could get a million and a half people to agree to chip in $50 for their share of a full season of Firefly. Hell, if people were buying up tickets en masse for two hours of the movie, what would they do for 22 hours of the show?

BAFfler | January 31, 07:13 CET

I'm willing and more than happy to pay $200 or more for a new full season of Firefly if that's what it takes, as long as Joss is in charge.
But as for this Underhill guy making it happen? Don't think so.

Syren | January 31, 07:33 CET

With Joss?

Oh, yeah, I'm there.

Chris inVirginia | January 31, 07:50 CET

Yeah... gonna have to echo what most of you have already said. So long as Joss has the reigns, I'm all for it! Not sure I could go quite as high as some said on the price, but I'd gleefully pay $100 for a new season on DVD/PPV or about $4-5/episode *g*

[ edited by satine79 on 2006-01-31 06:20 ]

satine79 | January 31, 08:18 CET

If I had the money, $100 or more for a season sounds great...but being a public school teacher makes that a impossibility. I know that Season 2 as a buyer's PPV won't really happen, but even so, guys, stop jacking up the pretend price! You'll drive me into pretend poverty! =)

BAFfler | January 31, 08:35 CET

I'd pay for anything by Joss, but if it was a Firefly Season 2 without Joss?

That's iffy.

Emma Frost | January 31, 09:09 CET

Isn't there a time limit on Fox's ownership of Firefly for purposes of television distribution? And when that runs out does it not automatically revert back to Whedon? Does anyone know the actual legalities and logistics of this?

I sincerely believe Underhill means well, but he may be inadvertently making it MORE difficult for the idea of a "firefly season two" to achieve fruition in any incarnation. There IS an audience. There's no denying that. The question is, is that audience able to generate enough revenue to cover the cost of it all? The demographics of the Browncoats may not be chartable, but I doubt many of us are literally made out of money.

And I fear with both Universal and Fox having their hands in the COOKIE jar, not to mention Whedon himself and perhaps even Underhill if his Quixotic chasing of windmills actually registers into the game somehow, there's just not enough dough to go around for making these cookies.

[ edited by ZachsMind on 2006-01-31 07:41 ]

ZachsMind | January 31, 09:40 CET

If Joss is there, I'm there. I'd pay over a hundred dollars if I have to.

Harmalicious | January 31, 09:52 CET

I have to agree with everyone in saying that the Underhill project will likely never get off the ground. (Though I would pay for another season!)

What I really want is another season aired on regular TV. And with the WB and UPN both having a good history with Joss's shows, I think it would be a smart idea for the new CW to pick up Firefly. (If they can get the rights from Fox.) They could pair it with Veronica Mars, or even Smallville. I think fans of those shows who are unfamiliar with the 'Verse would easily get hooked.

faeryflower | January 31, 10:06 CET

(Oops. That'll teach me to post while reading more than one thread at a time.)

I'd pay for more Firefly, but I'm not made of money. If it was organized as a subscription-type thing, anywhere from $50 - 75 for a full season seems reasonable to me. I'm sure they'd want all that money up front, though, which is problematic if you're an individual spreading limited resources around on many fronts.

It seems logical that Joss would be the perfect person to take on such a project. He's proven capable of stupendously improbable feats before, which is why I doubt anyone else would be able to muster the backing to make this happen without him. It's a lovely thought. I just don't see it happening anytime soon.

I also see the argument against paying for TV, but I agree that someone somewhere is going to try this and succeed. That will pave the way for everyone else. I can't help but think how cool it'd be if one of Joss's projects was what launched a new way of watching TV.

[ edited by Wiseblood on 2006-01-31 09:38 ]

Wiseblood | January 31, 11:21 CET

I think the Sci-Fi channel might be interested in relaunching Firefly/Serenity and I think this is what this poll is really about.

Zoic_Fan | January 31, 11:23 CET

Where is the Tim love?

IrrationaliTV | January 31, 12:15 CET

I'd totally pay for this but only if Joss is NOT involved.

Heh, made you look. To me that point is moot. If Joss isn't involved in some way (even if it's just overseeing and/or vetoing scripts) then it isn't Firefly. Pretty much that simple.

And Zachsmind, i'm feeling out-on-a-limby so i'm gonna just go ahead and say that none of us are made of money. Literally ;).

Saje | January 31, 13:20 CET

They pulled the plug on "Cult"? Damn I was looking forward to that.

And that's a badly phrased poll with some silly choices.

Simon | January 31, 13:53 CET

Woah, ZacksMind is back! Nice to see you posting here again, ZachsMind.

I already have payed to watch Firefly. And Serenity. And Serenity and Serenity and Serenity. Like 10 x Serenity I believe. So I'd pay to watch more Firefly. I don't know about On Demand since that would mean getting cable. Oh, hell, you all know I'd get cable if there was a Joss show on it. I'm already considering ordering it just to appease my new BSG addiction.

electricspacegirl | January 31, 14:37 CET

We already have "subscription TV". It's called Pay Cable. There are no ads on HBO, but they put out some absolutely amazing product. How? Subscriptions, baby. (It's a shame that HBO or Showtime didn't pick up Firefly. Especially Showtime. Then we wouldn't be having this conversation.)
Hell, I wish I could afford HBO. Or an iPod for that matter. But tht shite is expensive, and as much as I love Firefly, I'm not gonna be trying to "buy" an individual TV show's episodes. Saje, you got that right: everyone here ain't made of money. $50 for a season of ONE show? Damn, Wiseblood! You got it like that? Can I come live with you? ; )

I think the Sci-Fi channel might be interested in relaunching Firefly/Serenity and I think this is what this poll is really about.
Zoic_Fan | January 31, 09:23 CET

Really? Why would you think that, Z?
Rest assured, Sci-Fi wouldn't be using a poll to find out if that would be feasible. They'd be using hard numbers, which they'd get from Nielsen and other sources. Not a poll on their website.

[ edited by AmazonGirl on 2006-01-31 15:41 ]

AmazonGirl | January 31, 17:40 CET

And that's a badly phrased poll with some silly choices.

Pretty normal practice for them.

The One True b!X | January 31, 18:03 CET

If Joss/Tim were involved, yes. For any project of theirs really, but if they weren't - no thanks.

The Do That Girl | January 31, 18:40 CET

I have to just say my 2 bits here. I love the show and the movie to death, and I wouldnt mind paying for a season of Serenity(remember it ain't Firefly anymore), but I would really prefer to see it(or rather have it) on tv. Even if its on HBO or Showtime. I don't get either channel here in Canada, but I know that if it gets aired on either of those channels, it will be aired on other channels(maybe even the Space channel), it just means that it will be aired later. I don't know if its the same in the US.

If it airs on tv, people outside the fanbase would check out the show (if properly marketed *cough* *cough*), but if its on a subcription basis, well people aren't made of money, and the browncoat fandom is not big enough to support such a possibility. PLus I can't help but feel there will be a bit of stigma attached to it "It's obviously not good enough since they can't even have it on tv". I know that is not the case at all, but I am sure other people might feel that(like straight to DVD movies...). And it would be kind of important of what people's perception of it is, if we want to the fandom to get bigger.

kurya | January 31, 19:27 CET

Where is the Tim love?

Oh, sorry. I've been hording it. Sit by me and I'll share.

Allyson | January 31, 19:34 CET

I would pay to see a season 2 of Firefly pay per view, only on the following conditions:

1) Joss is in charge 100%, his vision, his cast.

2) The downloads (whatever distribution model is chosen) are of a higher quality then what iTunes puts out. I want to be able to watch this on a 1080p TV with out compression artifacts all over the place.

I do no know the size of the Firefly/Serenity fan base, but assuming an ~ $2million per episode budget, and a fan size of ~1 million, a price of $1.99 per episode would not be unheard of. Honestly, if the quality was as good as I would like it (1080p) then I could see something as high as $3.99 an episode which would make a season of 24 episodes cost ~$96.00.

If that was only for download, and then a DVD set came out for $70 bucks then we’re talking about up to $70 million dollars, if not more (from new fans) .

Course for a big studio that is pocket change, but for an indy startup that is a good deal of cash. Course that also assumes the near impossibility of Fox signing over the rights of Firefly to an Indy studio (probably has a .000000000000000000000000000000001 % chance of happening.)

kishkumen19 | January 31, 20:42 CET

I doubt the Firefly/Serenity fanbase is one million. If it was the box office performance for the movie would have been stelar.

If I were to hazard a guess. Those who are genuine diehard fans and who would do anything to see it again - 10,000 to 15,000 (that may be on the high side). Those who wouldn't mind seeing it again, somewhere around the low 100,000s.

Simon | January 31, 21:45 CET

We already have "subscription TV". It's called Pay Cable.

I bought a DVD player solely to be able to watch Buffyverse. That was before I knew about Firefly. I would certainly pay for other seasons of anything Joss Whedon either on as a few dollars pay-for-view or as a DVD collection. I would not pay the extra amount per month it costs to get premium cable service (and I only get basic because it's part of my internet subscription) since I don't have any interest in the rest of their products - if it were on HBO or some other subscription channel I'd just wait for the DVDs.

barboo | January 31, 22:34 CET

Guess I should've been clearer I was talking about a new season on DVD (though I do believe this type of direct-to-viewer distribution would alter/advance the conventional TV delivery model), if it was Joss-crafted. (TM is wondrous, yes, but if we're talking -'verse, JW is what comes before the hyphen; if Joss sanctioned TM as showrunner, that would certainly be OK with me).

Yes, the sum I proposed may sound outrageous (and is somewhat to me as well, Amazon Girl's flattering offer notwithstanding ;), but I'm already paying that amount for DVD seasons of past shows. I don't have cable currently and don't really want it, but I'd gladly pay for a new series on DVD if I could reasonably expect the same quality I've come to appreciate from JW & Co. in the past. It's of Joss's fault I even consider such a price; he makes me to do the crazy!

Wiseblood | January 31, 23:27 CET

Damnit, yes. I'd pay. I'd pay quite a bit.

phlebotinin | February 01, 00:19 CET

Yes, I would also pay.

Madhatter | February 01, 01:37 CET

Who needs a soul anyway?

Anusien | February 01, 01:58 CET

phlebotinin?

Madhatter | February 01, 01:58 CET

You called, Madhatter? Or are you saying I need a soul? (I do have one, thanks.) Me confused.

[ edited by phlebotinin on 2006-02-01 01:04 ]

phlebotinin | February 01, 03:02 CET

TamaraC and Allyson : more Tim love coming your way.

I would pay (and have over and over) for more Firefly/Serenity with Joss and Tim in control. (Our Mrs. Reynolds and Out of Gas - 2 of my favorites)... plus current cast (including Wash and Book in some form).

Would I pay in advance - yes if the above holds. But deep down I would prefer having the show on TV as a weekly fix ;)

coolpeace | February 01, 04:31 CET

*waves to Kurya*

coolpeace | February 01, 04:32 CET

phlebotinin is one of the most soulful creatures I have ever had the great and everlasting pleasure to know!

Chris inVirginia | February 01, 05:57 CET

Aw shucks, CiV. What a lovely thing to say. Right back at you, in spades. It's great to know a wonderful whedonesquer like you in person....especially you, who are probably the most successful Whedonvangelist of all time. Take note, folks. This man has probably turned more clueless folk into Joss-lovin' folk than any other person alive.

phlebotinin | February 01, 06:11 CET

"Whedonvangelist"...thanks, phlebotinin, but I daresay you overestimate....I do what I can.

But, "whedonvangelist"...I used to say I engaged in "Buffyvangelism" because it rhymed with evangelism, but, yes, it's not only Buffy...and lots of folks have come around because of Firefly, so, yeah, "Whedonvangelism" it is.

Chris inVirginia | February 01, 06:25 CET

January 31 2006