Entertainment Weekly rant, help

POSTED BY: oog
UPDATED: Sunday, January 23, 2005 03:49
VIEWED: 5115
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OOG

Thursday, January 20, 2005 6:37 AM

Entertainment Weekly's January 21, 2005 issue (#802) contained a headline reading "2005 Forecast; What's Hot? 174 movies, TV shows, CDs and Books to look for this year".

Big shocker that Serenity is meantioned nowhere in this issue. Not even in the "calendar" section. While, of course, SW: Revenge of the Yawn....er...Revenge of the Sith made it both under Movies (Sequels) and the Calendar.

Any ideas how to write a letter to the editor without coming off as a raving lunatic? Anyone want to help by writing letters to the editor? (ew_letters@ew.com)

_____________________
Great. Another exciting adventure in sitting.
Loni

SHERIDANMOVIEGUY

Thursday, January 20, 2005 8:03 AM

I'll help in any way I can. Premire didn't mention Serenity either. We need to get the word out. I'll help in whatever way I can.

Every episode of firefly is better than most of the movies I see for my profession, and that makes it special.

PAINISSCARY

Thursday, January 20, 2005 11:26 AM

Well, just dashed off a rather verbose e-mail (which I'm sure would get edited down to nothing if it were even printed) to EW re the absence of "Serenity" in their "What's Hot" isssue. Hope it at least came off lucidly. Here it is for your perusal:

Disappointed that Joss Whedon's "Serenity," the feature film continuation of his fantastic but unfortunately short-lived tv series, "Firefly," due out in September, was not included in your 2005 "What's Hot" issue, while guaranteed-forgettable pabulum like the "Pink Panther" remake and "Herbie: Fully Loaded" even rated mentions, however brief or ironic. Is there anyone remotely excited to see either of these films? Do they have huge fan-bases counting down the days to their release?

Fox claimed to have axed "Firefly" because of poor ratings, but we fans of the show (an ever increasing fan-base whose continued support of the show and the DVD's helped, at least in part, to convince Universal to greenlight the movie... well, the fans' support and Whedon's persistence and immense talent) know Fox mishandled the property, and hope that Universal (which already seems far more supportive of the material than Fox ever did) recognizes the full potential of Whedon's "Firefly" 'verse.

The show's blend of the SF and western genres, its insanely gifted ensemble cast, the witty and pathos-filled writing, the engaging themes of family, honor, and of the Everyman fighting the system (sometimes by robbing from the rich and selling to the poor), and the compelling characters (a nine-person ensemble of which every member -- among them a disillusioned soldier-turned-spaceship captain/thief, a preacher, a fugitive doctor, his possibly psychic and disturbed sister, a thuggish mercenary, and a whore -- was a vital and memorable part), combined to create a refreshingly original, consistently entertaining, often hilarious, and profoundly moving series that was cut short far too soon.

While the release of "Serenity" won't entirely make up for not having "Firefly" on the air every season, it'll go a long way in compensating for the absence of any new or continuing Whedon shows from this year's tv schedule. Come EW, you who gave "Buffy" its due with a 3-season episode guide back in '98. Get back on the Joss Whedon bandwagon and give "Serenity" a plug. A cover story on the movie come September wouldn't hurt either! : )

OOG

Thursday, January 20, 2005 5:18 PM

Very nice! Thank you :)

Let us know if you get a response of any kind back from EW.

_____________________
Great. Another exciting adventure in sitting.
Loni

RHYMEPHILE

Thursday, January 20, 2005 8:30 PM

If it does make it to print, it will probably be edited down to something like your first paragraph. They're into quick sound-bitey letters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I've seen life on this planet, Scully, and that's precisely why I'm looking elsewhere."

-- Fox Mulder, The X-Files

SHERIDANMOVIEGUY

Thursday, January 20, 2005 9:22 PM

Yeah. They'll proably post it. Especially if more of us send one in. They seem to like Whedon's work. I don't know why they didn't mention it. They gave the DVD an A for goodness sake.

Every episode of firefly is better than most of the movies I see for my profession, and that makes it special.

OOG

Friday, January 21, 2005 12:21 AM

I wonder how hard that would be to find out which issue that was? That might be good to use in a letter....ask them why they thought so highly of the DVD but left out the movie. I suppose one could still use it without, though. I'll have to keep that in mind.

_____________________
Great. Another exciting adventure in sitting.
Loni

QUICKSAND

Friday, January 21, 2005 12:47 AM

Well, Star Wars has been around over 25 years, so I'd say they earned it. 'Firefly' has been around a little less time, and I'd rather the unsuspecting public gets The Trailer dropped on them, than just a line in a crappy magazine, telling them, "This was based on a cancelled TV show!! You should see it!"

Also of concern is that the calendar in EW listed "Oliver Twist," the next live-action movie from Roman Polanski ("The Pianist"), as having a release date of Sept. 30th. Rats.

ECGORDON

Friday, January 21, 2005 1:56 AM

Here's the letter I sent them:

I've just finished looking through your 2005 Forecast of things to look for this year, and I couldn't help but notice the glaring absence of the film that I am anticipating more than any other this year, in fact more than any film I can ever recall. Come September 30, with the release of "Serenity," the entire world will finally realize what millions of Joss Whedon fans already know. He is a certified genius, and also that Firefly was (and is) an outstanding television series that FOX sorely mistreated. Serenity will fly again, and it will be the beginning of a very profitable franchise for Universal.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

DIETCOKE

Friday, January 21, 2005 3:30 AM

Dang, Oliver Twist opens the same weekend as Serenity? Double Rats!!

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