Firefly/Serenity. Why is this show cancelled again???

POSTED BY: FireFlyhooked32
UPDATED: Saturday, September 24, 2005 05:59
VIEWED: 7204
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FIREFLYHOOKED32

Monday, September 12, 2005 1:23 PM

Good Morning Everyone,

My husband and I were told by a friend of his to check out Firefly on DVD. My husband said it was scifi. So we checked them out of Netflixx. OMG!!! I am so hooked. What the heck was everyone thinking when this was cancelled? I think lack of sponsership and advertising because if I knew about this show when it first came out. I would have never missed it.
How can we get Mr. Joss Whedon to reconsider bringing back the magnificent cast back to TV? I mean who cares if its not on Fox they can always hand it over to TBS or TNT.
I am personally sick of Reality TV and loved having a chance to experience what real tv is about. Firfley has humour,personality,magnificent special effects and a cast that everyone can relate to. Loved them all. Wouldn't change anyone.

So why is this cancelled again?

Debs32MD

BROWNCOAT1

Monday, September 12, 2005 2:36 PM

Welcome to the site & the fanbase Debs32MD.

You're question is really the $64,000.00 question isn't it? One all of us here have been asking since the show was cancelled back in '02. My answer would be this: Fox didn't know what they had when they were given Firefly. They mishandled it, preempted it for baseball, aired the episodes out of order, and seemingly did all they could to insure it failed. The show never got a chance to find its niche, and so they pulled the plug.

Their loss though. Universal saw the gold mine that was Firefly based on the DVD sales, and greenlighted the movie "Serenity" which comes on Friday, September 30th. When the movie is a success, and the figures start rolling in on the comics, the novelization, the Visual companion, and the action figures, it will be the fanbase & Universal that will get the final laugh.

Welcome to the site again. Make yourself at home.

__________________________________________

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Fans:

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/richmondbrowncoats/

http://www.richmondbrowncoats.org

CITIZEN

Monday, September 12, 2005 2:57 PM

Why was it canncelled...
hmmm...
*racks brain*
[[]HATE_FILLED_RANT[]]
Because FOX is composed of short-sighted ignorant little buerocratic morons, who couldn't understand the show so pulled the plug? They have no problem (as far as I can see) understanding some vacuous moron humilliating themselves and parading their stupidity on TV. Probably cause thats pretty much who they are, but in suits.
FOXs network slogan:
To destroy good TV... Raising the ignorant!
[[]/HATE_FILLED_RANT[]]

Still, its sweet to see a group of people sharing one thing...
I mean, it must be hard, a single brain-cell between the lot.

Just my two penneth worth...

Zen Buddhist to the Hotdog Vendor:
"Make me one with everything."

EMBERS

Monday, September 12, 2005 3:39 PM

because Fox resented the fact that Joss wanted a Western theme (they wanted Star Trek)
they put it on Fridays, during baseball season,
so it was pre-empted half the time...
but just to make sure you didn't get into it,
they played the episodes out of order....

frankly I don't know what else they could have done to destroy the show more...

plus they (the suits at Fox Television) tore out Joss' heart, which is REALLY unforgiveable...

JADEHAND

Monday, September 12, 2005 4:35 PM

Welcome aboard.
My take on the answer to your question:
Poor Marketing.
The ads that FOX aired (hey, there were a few)for Firefly just before it aired (out of order) did not represent the show. If the ads had done a better job of getting across the true sense of the show, I like to think more people would have watched. Strangely, I think if all the people who have come by the boards in the past 2 years and asked "Why was this cancelled?", had been watching , it might not have been. The ads were too few and didn't draw enough viewers.

Visit WWW.Marillion.Com for a better way to live
"Dreaming the dream that only the sleepless know."

CANTTAKESKY

Monday, September 12, 2005 5:38 PM

Welcome to the fan club!

Your questions have been asked for the last 3 years on this board by everyone who fell in love with Firefly (everyone here). Come to think of it, Haken should really put it in a FAQ. We're only going to get more and more new fans asking the same question after the movie is released.

Why was it cancelled? One answer is poor ratings (2-4 million viewers) vs. the cost of production (I heard $2 million per episode). The other folks before me explained why the ratings were poor despite the quality of the show.

How can we get it to come back on TV? The short answer is that it can't. Because of legal contract stipulations, Firefly cannot be picked up by another network for something like 10 years. The actors have indicated it is unrealistic for a cast that is 10 years older to return to the show. Having said that, Firefly does live on in the Big Damn Movie that is coming out on Sept 30 called Serenity. Be there and make sure all your friends are there. If it makes $80 million worldwide, we get a sequel or two. Firefly also continues in a comic book called Serenity, and I have heard mention of a possible animated series.

The little TV show we love is no more. They killed it and made sure it was good and dead. Joss, the creator, took Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a box office dud, and resurrected it as a TV phenomenon. We are all counting on his taking Firefly, a TV dud, and resurrecting it as a box office smash. The cast has been optioned for a trilogy on the big screen. We're all doing our damn best to make sure this trilogy happens.

Can't Take My Gorram Sky

CANTTAKESKY

Monday, September 12, 2005 5:43 PM

I hate it when it double posts. Sorry.

Can't Take My Gorram Sky

THIEFJEHAT

Monday, September 12, 2005 5:53 PM

For 3 years now I have heard that question asked and asked again. Firefly was one of those great things what was utterly wasted and it was a sad heartbreaking thing to watch.

Here are the primary reasons why the show failed:

1. Joss crafted the pilot episode to engage and explain to viewers his vision. Like many people on here, I think the pilot episode is one of the 3 best episodes of them all. I place it behind Objects in Space and before Out of Gas. However, after fox watched it they were not as thrilled. They had expected starships and phasers and other trite themes that have been rehashed again and again in Trek. They were unable to wrap their minds around Firefly. In the end they ordered Joss to remake the pilot and decided not to air the real Pilot. That is why the air date for The Train Job is the earliest date. You can see this if you look on the reverse side of the case for disc 1 in a Firefly DVD set. The Fox execs wanted a fast moving action adventure episode as the open for the show. So that's why people saw a train heist first. The problem was that many people didn't understand what they were seeing. Without the real pilot to explain things, viewers were left wondering who these characters were...questions like "Who is River" were valid because her presence on the ship isn't understood right away because you didn't see her in the box. Ultimately, many people that tuned in were...well...turned off. The fault of this can be layed squarely at the feet of Fox.

2. The marketing campaign for the show was weak. As I understand it, only 6 commercials aired. The result was that most people never new it existed.

3. It aired in a horrible time slot: Friday night at 9:00pm. The general demographic for the show was not around to watch a pilot. I mean...I fit the demographic perfectly and I know what I was doing on friday nights in sept of 2002. RPG'ing and going to drinking parties.

So the end result was this:

**Of the entire potential fanbase only 10% ever saw ads or knew the show existed.
**Of that 10%, only a fraction wanted to watch TV on Friday night at 9:00pm.
**Of that smaller fraction many people were put off by The Train Job and didn't stay around to watch Bushwacked the next week.

So when ratings slipped, Fox pulled the plug on the show that they themselves sabotaged.

Do not fear me. Ours is a peaceful race, and we must live in harmony.

VENA

Monday, September 12, 2005 9:33 PM

Welcome to the fold.

The reason it was given an early death? F*X

Now you know why I use F*X as a dirty word. Short of Family Guy, I refuse to watch that network to this day.

Because I am an American. And what does an American want? Democracy? Capitalism. I want to sell out and settle down. For one day only, it's a blue light special on Aisle Three. My wormhole technology... and a free set of steak knives... for all the tea in China. And anything you can imagine to pay me... welcome to my cold war.

ENGINEANGEL

Monday, September 12, 2005 10:38 PM

Quote:

Why was it canncelled...
hmmm...
*racks brain*
[HATE_FILLED_RANT]
Because FOX is composed of short-sighted ignorant little buerocratic morons, who couldn't understand the show so pulled the plug? They have no problem (as far as I can see) understanding some vacuous moron humilliating themselves and parading their stupidity on TV. Probably cause thats pretty much who they are, but in suits.
FOXs network slogan:
To destroy good TV... Raising the ignorant!
[/HATE_FILLED_RANT]

well,
that's it in a nutshell (which is what FOX is -- a nutshell).

and by the way for all those doubters out there who are saying that "Firefly" will never come back and that it is a dead cause, i'm very disappointed in you.

. come on, when have Joss's fans ever given up?! I know i haven't through out the years and i know other fans haven't since there is now a movie coming out (sept. 30th -- woo hoo). FOX is a stupid peice of gossa - we agree on that. but the fact that they even gave 'Versal the rights to firefly gives me hope.

I am particularly disappointed with CANTTAKESKY.

Quote:

written by CANTTAKESKY
How can we get it to come back on TV? The short answer is that it can't. Because of legal contract stipulations, Firefly cannot be picked up by another network for something like 10 years. The actors have indicated it is unrealistic for a cast that is 10 years older to return to the show.

well, with that additude we can't get our beloved show back. CANTTAKESKY, i am telling you that if we don't try and look at things from every aspect that "they" (the "they" that everyone talks about, but no one knows who everyone means) "they" WILL take the sky from us.

and please CANTTAKESKY, don't call firefly a TV dud. it doesn't matter if it didn't flourish on fox, Firefly is NO DUD.

Now let me clear a few things up:

1) the contract FOX signed prohibited anybody to make "Firefly" the tv series for 10 years. this contract began 3 years ago. this means that we have 7 years in the ORIGINAL contract to go. these seven years will be filled up by the trilogy of firefly films. i am not saying that they might be filled up by a trilogy of firefly films because fanatics like me and my brother and my father will not let firefly die. we are going to see the movie at least 4 times each and are working on gorilla marketing and converting people to firefly. i am sure millions of other fans are now and are planning in the futureto do the same.

2) i would also like to stress that contracts can be changed. (hence the words "Orignal contract" in the paragraph above)

3) there is no stipulation in the contract that strides against making tv series based on "serenity: the movie".

4) while i agree that actors have been indicating that it is unrealistic that characters will come back in 10 years for another try at the series, might i just say that my previous points stand. There is also the possibility that after a trilogy of movies, the actors might decide that firefly can pick up where the movies left off. All of these actors haven't said outright that they won't be coming back, and Nathan Fillion has said that Firefly "represents the best of all worlds ... and that it will forever will be the best job i've ever had." I'm sure that many of these actors would love to continue this series, even in later years. they had tons of fun working together.

so i want to stress we can still have our series back. Just keep flying!!!

listen to THE SIGNAL ... the only podcast made completely for the tv series "Firefly" and the gorilla marketing of Serenity ...
THE SIGNAL ... listen to it and live by it travelers!!

(Grrrrrr...Arggggg)

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