Did the terrible theme song lead to the demise of the show?

POSTED BY: KD
UPDATED: Thursday, January 26, 2006 05:15
VIEWED: 26759
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XEROGRAVITY

Saturday, December 10, 2005 4:12 PM

I hated the FF theme song first time I heard it. No big fan of twangy cowboy blues. But, I came to love the show, then I actually absorbed the lyrics in the song, and voila. I'm loving it. It fits with the theme of the show. Imagine if it had been placed to 70's disco music or rapped to a 90's hiphop beat. Or whatever is new and modern. Would it have had that retro-ific feel to it?

I loved the FF theme. When I didn't find it present at the beginning of Serenity, the movie didn't feel like the show. Frankly, Whedon sold out where I'm concerned (and no, that little acoustical ditty at the end of the credits doesn't make up for it). The song should have been the first thing we heard.

Tip of the hat to you Zoic. I am a Trek lovver, and I hate, loathe, and detest the Enterprise theme music. I endured 4 years of that misery hoping the show wouldn't suck as bad as the opening song. It's the dumbest and most suicidal marketing disaster in the history of a 40 year scifi franchise. It felt like Yanni meets Michael Bolton. Only cheesier.

Brought to you by Berman-Braga. The duo who publicly hated their fanbase.

XG

No such thing as gravity. The "Earth-that-was" just sucks.

HAZE

Saturday, December 10, 2005 4:24 PM

They couldn’t use it. Fox owns the theme song. Apparently all they could swing was that little arrangement at the end of the movie. Better than noting.

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Who do you suppose is in there?

THATWEIRDGIRL

Saturday, December 10, 2005 5:14 PM

I haven't really read this thread...most of it. It seems to me we're talking about to different things here: 1) The quality of The Ballad of Serenity, 2) The use of that song as the theme song.

1) Love the song. Everything you all have said about its goodness is true. Great song. Great meaning. Great music.

2) Poor choice of theme song. In the context of Scifi, heck, in the context of westerns, shows should not have a sitcom theme. Words and stuff. That’s Different Strokes and Family Ties and Friends. Traditionally, a successful sci-fi show (and often western) has an instrumental theme. Those that fail tend to deviate from this path. Now, if the ballad had been spoken word, it may have worked.

You may think it’s a silly observation, but watchers have their little idiosyncrasies. We watch for formulas we like. When I hear an instrumental or a spoken intro, I know I’m more likely to watch the show. That’s just the way it is.

I love singing my Serenity Ballad.

www.thatweirdgirl.com
---
"...turn right at the corner then skip two blocks...no, SKIP, the hopping-like thing kids do...Why? Why not?"

XEROGRAVITY

Sunday, December 11, 2005 9:27 AM

Where are you getting this from TWG?

There is no traditional scifi theme music. The Original Star Trek was a weird dip into synth with a chorus of screeching weirdness. The music made the show. You think Shatner getting his shirt torn in battle (show a little flesh) and romancing alien chicks every episode was the beating heart of the show? (ok, well it was a big part of it, but without the weird-ass music it would have never got past the pilot episode).

All the other trek shows were Star Wars-ian takeoffs... great orchestral piece of music with an amazing CGI graphics piece of film art attached. I can't hum the ST Next Gen theme, or the DS9 or Voyager theme, but I can hum TOS. And I've seen every ep of each. Just not very memorable. Enterprise's theme song was torture, a thing you desperately want to forget (like the whole first 3 of the 4 seasons).

I love the whole Trek cannon and the music (minus Enterprise). And strangely enough, I hate the first 3 seasons of Enterprise 10X more than I love the whole Trek cannon. Even stranger, the 4th and final season of Enterprise (God bless Manny Coto and crew), was the best season in all of Trek history. Minus the final episode which was stolen away from them and written by Berman-Braga. They called it a "valentine" to the fans. It gets no odder than that, but then I've been a fan since the beginning.

As an "odd" aside... the absolute coolest music in scifi ever was the background music from the original "...In Search Of". Even blew away the Star Wars music. Just my personal opinion.

XG

No such thing as gravity. The "Earth-that-was" just sucks.

J6NGO1977

Saturday, December 24, 2005 9:20 AM

I wasn't too sure about the theme song myself but after watching the show and a few listens I now love it. It's a song of hope and freedom and pretty damn cathchy as well. When my tedious, corporate, depressing job gets me down I can sing in my head 'I don't care I'm still free, you cannot take the sky from me' and this brings a smile to my face. Like bloody today Christmas Eve and I'm at work :(

Was not the song that created the demise of the show It was the corporate idiots that the theme song is rebelling against.

DAISYCUTTER

Wednesday, January 4, 2006 12:39 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by KD:
I mean, I think Joss Whedon may have a good sense of dialogue but that song is awful.
Can anyone tell me where in the show the movie takes place? Is it just a remake of the episode Serenity or does it start after Rivers and the Doctor have joined the crew?

I'm pretty sure Mal said it has been 8 months since they took River and Simon onboard (somewhere in the movie)

________________________________________________
"When you can't run, you shoot. When you can't shoot, you run a bit more. When, you get shot in the leg, you crawl. When you crawl, you try to bite the shooters kneecaps off. When you are knocked unconcious, well you know the rest."

DAX82

Wednesday, January 4, 2006 12:52 PM

I think the theme song was great. It set the tone for what you were about to see perfectly. I cant imagine how many times ive watched Firefly on dvd, but I know its alot. Since I first saw the show to the present Ive never skipped the theme song.

CHELBY

Friday, January 6, 2006 11:43 PM

Hi there,
I woudl like to know where u got the ringtone for your cell phone, I want it badly. i ove the song o much i have it on my computer. thanks chelby

CHELBY

Friday, January 6, 2006 11:44 PM

Hi there,
I woudl like to know where u got the ringtone for your cell phone, I want it badly. i ove the song o much i have it on my computer. thanks chelby

KERRETOM

Wednesday, January 11, 2006 1:53 AM

First of all I hate country music!

That said, The Ballad of Serenity is stuck in my head! I haven't watched an episode in a week, and I'm still obsessing over the song!

Serenity takes part a year after the first episode. Simon says this when he says, "Kaylee, in almost the year that I've been here, the only thing I regret is not being with you." Or something to that effect. Anyways, he says it's almost a year. (Sorry, seen Serenity once, everyfirefly about a million times!"

"This woman's a witch!"
"Yeah, but she's our witch, so cut her the hell down!"

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