Firefly - ? Movie? Why? How?

[SBN]

Ok, let me first say, this thread is not meant for any Firefly fans. I do not mean to get in to a flame war....




With that said, let me start with this question; How can they be making a movie off of a series that got cancelled due to decreasing viewership each episode only last less that half a season? Even more this show was hyped quite well because of the shows creator. I watched a couple episodes and was dumbfounded by how bad it was. Ok, shows get off to rought starts. Early Seinfelds are nothing like later seasons, same for Simpsons. So I watched a few more episodes and was appalled by how bad this show was.

Now they are making a movie? Whats next a NYPD Blue theatrical musical? I was kind of excited a while back when I heard after Stargate ends they would be making another film. Never came to be though. There are a lot of shows I would like to see in the theater. Farscape would look great on the big screen. But Firefly? Did someone make a faustian deal or what?

[Manic]

I'm a Firefly fan, but I'll let all of your comments on the show's quality slide by. You know what they say about taste. One man's trash is another man's treasure, one man's ceiling is another man's floor, a fool's paradise is a wiseman's hell, never run with... scissors?

But the DVDs did sell quite well, and the fans were quite upset with the show's cancellation. Even the creator and actors were upset that the show was cancelled on them. Universal Studios heard about the hype, approached them, and they said yes. It's as simple as that.

Besides, I'd like to think if MTV's Jackass could make a movie, why not something not totally made out of crap?

[Elwe Singollo]

I'm a Firefly fan, but I'll let all of your comments on the show's quality slide by. You know what they say about taste. One man's trash is another man's treasure, one man's ceiling is another man's floor, a fool's paradise is a wiseman's hell, never run with... scissors?

But the DVDs did sell quite well, and the fans were quite upset with the show's cancellation. Even the creator and actors were upset that the show was cancelled on them. Universal Studios heard about the hype, approached them, and they said yes. It's as simple as that.

Besides, I'd like to think if MTV's Jackass could make a movie, why not something not totally made out of crap?

I 100 (and ten) percent agree, i liked your little saying too, haha...

Your comment on Farscape looking good on big screen, although i 'maybe' the only one thats thinking this, i don't think it would, i could easily say watching Farscape on the big screen would be like watching a straight-to-video movie, which on the other hand can be good and bad...

But look what happened to the Star Trek series, it got cancelled in its early year(s), and it made a movie, and look at it now, there has been multiple movies, and like tons of spin-offs that came afterwards because of the success of that movie.

[blufeenix]

I read an interview with Joss Whedon today and he said how Universal were allready on board for doing the movie before the DVD Release

I read a review for it today from aintitcoolnews from the standpoint of someone who hasnt seen the series and he loves it, Like some1 else said I'll let the comments slides due to ppls tastes being different but I have to say I really can't wait for this one.

[Melyanna]

Fox treated Joss Whedon and the rest of the Firefly cast and crew like crap. They put it up in the 9 PM slot on Fridays when (I believe) Stargate moved to SciFi in the same time slot. They didn't market it properly, and they kept preempting it for things or moving it around. It was no wonder the viewership dropped out: they couldn't find the bloody show anymore.

It wasn't a bad show. Nearly everyone I know who's seen more than one episode of it has said it was the best thing to happen to television. Too bad Fox didn't see it that way.

And as a consolation prize, we Firefly fans can take comfort in the fact that the show which replaced it lasted all of three episodes before it was replaced with some reality show.

[Matt G]

Hey - Dark Angel was in Firefly's slot before hand and that got toasted way too early. Other than 24, I don't think Fox know what they're doing!

[David85]

Maybe no one watched the show because Fox completely screwed everything up.

I'll take another example from Fox. Family Guy's rating were decreasing more and more, no one knew when it was on. It got canned, the DVD sales were so high they were going to make a DVD movie, but Fox wanted it back because they wanted more episodes to sell on DVD.

Futurama was almost the same thing, the shows were still great and guffy, no one knew when it was on because Fox is dumb, so it was canceled.

Maybe Simpsons is still on because people know when it's on, it's been on the same time for all their lives. The show sucks, but people know when it's on.

And 24 is terrible. One day a year the United States is under attack by terrorists. It's the same lame crap over and over. I'm waiting for them to do the 9-11 24 season.

[DownFallAngel]

The Simpsons have gotten significantly worse year by year. I was hoping that they'd stop at Season 13 like they promised, but they didn't.

I'm just waiting for the Family Guy series return and the Family Guy movie due out next winter.

[LordAnubis]

I'm a Firefly fan, but I'll let all of your comments on the show's quality slide by. You know what they say about taste. One man's trash is another man's treasure, one man's ceiling is another man's floor, a fool's paradise is a wiseman's hell, never run with... scissors?

But the DVDs did sell quite well, and the fans were quite upset with the show's cancellation. Even the creator and actors were upset that the show was cancelled on them. Universal Studios heard about the hype, approached them, and they said yes. It's as simple as that.

Besides, I'd like to think if MTV's Jackass could make a movie, why not something not totally made out of crap?

Hey, Jackass was an awesome movie and a great series. Not as good as viva la bam, but still...

[Jarnin]

Fox, like all television networks, are businesses. The number one reason why they canceled Firefly was due to the "reality show" invention, which turns out is a game show with the same contestents doing different stuff each week. So-called reality shows are extremely cheap to produce, which means the network is making a larger profit margin per advertising dollar. Sitcoms are the next cheapest show to buy, so that's why you see so many of them on.

Firefly was probably costing Fox about 1 million dollars each episode, which is also about what SG-1 and Atlantis episodes cost. However, have you noticed that Fox is the king of reality programming?

Firefly was on the wrong network. Fox tried to bring it on as a competitor to SG-1 and didn't know what to do with it. They played the episodes out of order. They moved it to different time slots on different days at least twice, and this was only after like 12 episodes being shown.
This was all happening at about the same time as Fox was picking up more and more reality shows to become the "King of Reality Programming".

Coincidence? I think not.

Look at their lineup of shows this week and you'll see what I mean:

Monday:
The Swan = Reality makeover show.

Tuesday:
The Rebel Billionaire = Reality extreme show.
House = Dramatic detective show.

Wednesday:
That 70's show = sitcom.
Quintupletes = sitcom.
Nanny 911 = Reality advice show.

Thursday:
The OC = Evening soap opera.
The OC = Evening soap opera.

Friday:
Movie of the week.

Saturday:
Cops = Reality cop show.
Cops = Reality cop show.
Christmas Special.

Sunday:
That 70's show = sitcom
Malcom in the middle = sitcom
The Simpsons = Animated sitcom
Arrested Development = sitcom
Malcom in the middle = sitcom
King of the Hill = Animated sitcom

The point is, Fox isn't a great network with solid programming, it's a business that's just in it for the quick money.

Back to topic, Firefly was a decent scifi show that got screwed by Fox. That's why Universal is producing their movie; Universal saw that it was a good show, had a decent fanbase, and the price was right. If the series sucked, they wouldn't be making a movie of it.

[David85]

The Simpsons have gotten significantly worse year by year. I was hoping that they'd stop at Season 13 like they promised, but they didn't.

I'm just waiting for the Family Guy series return and the Family Guy movie due out next winter.

Wasn't the movie canceled a long time ago?

The said they were going to do a new TV show with a french talking fish, that was just like Family Guy, and then a Family Guy DVD movie. Fox wanted more shows, so wasn't the movie and the new show canned?

Thursday:
The OC = Evening soap opera.
The OC = Evening soap opera.

There is only one episode of The OC, the show after it is North Shore.

[DownFallAngel]

Wasn't the movie canceled a long time ago?

The said they were going to do a new TV show with a french talking fish, that was just like Family Guy, and then a Family Guy DVD movie. Fox wanted more shows, so wasn't the movie and the new show canned?

Thursday:
The OC = Evening soap opera.
The OC = Evening soap opera.

There is only one episode of The OC, the show after it is North Shore.

No. The made for TV movie, Wish Upon A Wienstien, is not the same as The Family Guy Movie and Family ReUnion.

[Jprime]

Wish upon a Weinstien was an episode that was deemed too anti-semitic to be shown on tv (although it was recently aired), not a movie.

[Jprime]

The other show Seth Mcfarlane was working on was 'American Dad', an obvious Family Guy ripoff with little to no original material. The pilot episode has been available for download on LOADS of sites, and now many have lists of the first ten episodes so they must be working on it.

[Manic]

The other show Seth Mcfarlane was working on was 'American Dad', an obvious Family Guy ripoff with little to no original material.

If Seth McFarlane made both shows, can one really be a rip-off of the other? That's sorta like saying every Peter Engel show (Saved By the Bell, City Guys, Hang Time, USA High, California Dreams) are ripping one another off.