Firefly

The short-lived TV series Firefly is moving to the big screen. After taking his Buffy the Vampire Slayer feature film and turning it into a successful TV series, Joss Whedon is about to do the reverse with another one of his creations. Whedon has teamed with Universal Pictures to turn Firefly, a TV cult favorite, into a feature film. In addition to having adapted it for the big screen, Whedon will also make his feature directorial debut with the project. Plans are to see Firefly go into production in first-quarter 2004. Universal recently acquired the rights to Firefly from 20th Century Fox Television, where Whedon's Mutant Enemy Inc. production company has a television deal. The action-adventure series was set 500 years in the future and centered on a crew aboard a spaceship. The feature version will incorporate the mythology from the show but will take on a more epic feel. Whedon hopes to enlist the entire cast to come back for the feature, depending on their previous commitments, with new characters added as well.

Ever since the show went off the air, the fan base has grown even more. There hyas been tremendous outpouring from the U.S. and Canada as well as the U.K., which just finished a run of 'Firefly' over there. Every comic book and sci-fi convention has had a 'Firefly' presence since the show first aired."

For the series, which ran this past season, Whedon produced 15 hours of television, including a two-hour episode. Three shows never aired on Fox but will likely be featured on the series' DVD release, due out in December. Buchanan said fans created such a demand that DVD presales on Amazon.com sold out within 24 hours.

Whedon, repped by CAA, continues to be executive producer of "Angel," which he created. His feature film screenplay credits include "Titan A.E.," "Alien: Resurrection" and "Toy Story."

That's AWESOME news I love that show! Why do TV stations cancel good shows and keep the crappy ones?

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'Cause reality shows are dirt cheap to make, so it doesn't take a helluva lot for them to make money.

And shows like Firefly, a special effects-laden series that's quality but doesn't get the numbers, get the axe. Plus, the network played the show dirty by airing episodes out of order (!). It ain't right, but that's the way it goes.

It took me a bit to get used to Firefly--the odd mix of Western and sci-fi played havok with the dialogue until the actors settled in--but I ended up loving it. I'm glad Joss is making a film--hopefully, we'll all get some closure.

And figure out just what the hell the deal is with those blue-gloved guys. And River.

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You were a demon and a lawyer? Wow. Insert joke here."

That reminds me...anyone still remember The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. with Bruce Campbell ?

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(signature space for rent)

Ah, that was a great show.

As was Jack of All Trades. Cripes, what corn.

You're dangerously close to Relic Hunter and Xena : The Warrior Princess with this one.

I know. I love 'em all.

You'd love it here. Two local terrestrial cable channels are full of it.

I've just now exposed myself (hah!) to the Firefly series and the Serenity movie.

I actually have a lot to say about it but I'm kind of tired and don't feel like going there right now. Consider this a place marker.

The short version is that I liked it A LOT!

I'mna be watching this soon, myself. Deadwood is next... then Firefly.

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Review: Cabin in the Woods 8/10

That was a show that died way before its time. It got screwed with the time slot that it was put in, and the fact that it was a Sci-Fi show that started showing just around the time of reality television. The movie is as good as the show too. I wish that the Sci-Fi channel would have originally gotten their hands on it, it would still be going strong if they had.

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"As I was walking up the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today,
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I watched the series on DVD. At first I was hesistant on it and didn't think it would be good or survive, well I was right about one of them.

This show was too smart for TV, IMHO.

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Suspect's Reviews

Ugh. *grimaces* I thought I would like that one, and couldnt make it through the first episode. It was really raw. In a bad way. Im so glad I didnt just buy it (for $99 no less! Thank god!). You have to tell me what you think of it if you watch it!

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Does anyone know where I could get sheet music of the theme song? It's called "The Ballad of Serenity".

I'm chiming in here seven months after the last post in this thread. Just got done borrowing Yoda's DVD set of "Firefly" and I too really love it now. I had a hard time with the painfully stereotypical ensemble cast (one of every sort of character with no overlaps) and the encapsulated episodic nature of the show (with only *some* ongoing story arc) ... but by the last episode, I was very sad there weren't any more to watch.

I do have the "Serenity" flick on DVD right now from Netflix, so I'll be watching that in the next day or so.

I'd definitely be watching this show if it were to be somehow revived.

I have a love/hate relationship with the theme song, though. Love it. Hate it. At the same time. Usually because I wake up in the middle of the night and there it is in my head. (Doesn't help that I watched too many DVD episodes in a row -- the down side of watching TV series on DVD.)

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I was a bit conflicted over the theme song, too. It's pretty, to be sure, and fits right in with the "sci-fi western" angle, but it's a bit subdued and feels "bigger" than the show. That is, while the universe of Serenity feels vast and real, the one in Firefly feels smaller and more managable. This is probably due to the contrasting size of the budgets and even the physical screens on which I first saw each, I imagine.

I think the series, had it been picked up for a second (or even third) season, would have widened its scope, after it had finished establishing its world and characters, which was pretty much all it had time for during its run.

The theme song feels sort of timeless. Almost fable-like. Apparently it's supposed to be about Mal, a little tidbit that caused me to like it a great deal more, if only because I like the idea that what he does (in Serenity) at least becomes legendary to the point at which a song is written about his life. This is one of the reasons it feels too "big" for the show.

Anyway, glad you dug it. How do you feel about things now that you've seen Serenity? Dunno if it'd be more appropriate to post your thoughts here or in the appropriate Serenity thread, but I'll try to remember to link one to the other, or something.

Like Jayne's song in Jayne'stown?

That was a pretty hilarious episode (Jaynestown).

After seeing Serenity (the movie), I'm scratching my head a little bit. It was a lot more action-packed, a lot bleaker and subtler, and the humor wasn't as rapid-fire. Also, the beginning of the movie felt like they were trying to reintroduce us to all the characters again, and yet it was clear the plotline was picking up where it left off after the series ended. I found that a bit jarring, but then again, I watched everything back to back without much of a break, so that may have highlighted the differences a little too much.

I was a bit stunned when Wash died ... and how. (Definitely my favorite character -- hadn't realized he was also the Dread Pirate Steve -- was it Steve? -- in Dodgeball.) Then I realized that no, it was right that at least ONE character is ONE movie die suddenly, without any time for a big mushy goodbye speech between him and Zoe. One moment he was there; the next he was dead.

Bummer, though.

Also, the movie itself was all about the River storyline (which, I realize was a main gist of the series, but not nearly so much), and so, once that played out, the movie ended. The series was more about Mal's adventures with his ship and his "freelance" work, with River and Simon being tangential parts of that every so often.

We also never got the full background of Book's background, which I very much wanted to see.

In the added features of the Firefly discs, Joss Whedon said that, when they made the movie, they wanted it to be a movie that a TV exec could watch and then say, "Hey, this was great -- we should make this into a TV series!"

I think he succeeded in that. It's just a darned shame that hasn't actually happened (again), though...

^ My friend, who is normally very rational and ignores speculation and hearsay claims that Book was some sort of Imperial general during the attack on Serenity Valley but I haven't actually seen evidence of that well, anywhere

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Evidence or not, that certainly makes a great deal of sense. Best theory I've heard yet. Mine was always that Book was an assassin, or something of the sort. Probably something similar to the Operative in Serenity. But I like your friend's explanation more, because it'd spark a lot of interesting conflict.