The Firefly Curse???
POSTED BY: Micronaut
UPDATED: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 09:46
VIEWED: 7758
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Um...as others have pointed out, its just the nature of the industry... if you look at the start of a new season how many "new shows" are put onto the airwaves.... after thbe midway point how many of those new shows are around, and at the end of the season how many less has remained. Thats just how it is, only a few shows make it, and even then, they may last 1-2 seasons... oh and dont forget that there is a huge amount of pilots that are shot, but not picked up
And sean maher? look at his imdb profile pre-firefly... he was in 3 cancelled shows before... I think...
Prakash
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I agree. Unlike the tv of my parents' generation, today it's all about the most amount of money you can make the quickest - at least that's what it seems like to me. Make lots of money immediately, then you continue the show.
It's like the Oscars and the Emmys and such - tv execs are out of touch with what people really like.
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I think my original point was, despite our following of the BDH respective careers so closely and despite TV being a harsh industry, there seems to be an inordinant amount of disaster attached to some of these folks in the post-Firefly TV world...
I'm not saying that statistically there is anything to this "curse" concept (it's way too early to make that connection), but rather that on a cursory level, there does seem to be a trend. I noticed this the other day when Day Break was cancelled - boom, another Firefly alumni is out of work... and when the announcement of Tim Minear and Nathan Fillion's new series came across the 'Net, I found myself wondering how long this one would last. So, I looked up some resumes and did a little cross-checking, and it does seem that when it comes to TV, our heroes are indeed Browncoats, with all that the appellation entails...
Hopefully, this is not the case... at least not for long. I'd still love to see a direct to DVD series... if B5 and Stargate can go direct to DVD, if more shows than ever can be seen through iTunes, if DVD sales are making most of Hollywood's money, then there is hope that someone will see that there is still life in the old ship...
Quote:
Originally posted by kurya:
Um...as others have pointed out, its just the nature of the industry... if you look at the start of a new season how many "new shows" are put onto the airwaves.... after thbe midway point how many of those new shows are around, and at the end of the season how many less has remained. Thats just how it is, only a few shows make it, and even then, they may last 1-2 seasons... oh and dont forget that there is a huge amount of pilots that are shot, but not picked up
And sean maher? look at his imdb profile pre-firefly... he was in 3 cancelled shows before... I think...
Prakash
_________________________________________________
Much work remains to be done before we can announce our total failure to make any progress...
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But our point is, it only seems like an inordinate ammount because you (and the rest of us) are paying so much attention to them. The casts of other cancelled shows don't seem to have such a bad track record because you aren't paying any attention to them.
Look up Robert Urich's resume of cancelled shows. No one from our 'verse is in his ballpark in that regard.
"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."
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Robert Urich was also around for a looooong time... he's bound to have a few dead shows... as will most actors after a while... but Firefly has been off the air for only 4 years... and by my count (admittedly, a little weighted in one direction), the cast plus three crew have racked up 18 kills between them in that time... that's a lot of dead shows for only 12 people...
So, the thing would be to compare the cast list from some other 4 years dead show and see if those survivors have left a similar body count behind after only 4 years... any suggestions? Are there any other curses out there?
Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
But our point is, it only seems like an inordinate ammount because you (and the rest of us) are paying so much attention to them. The casts of other cancelled shows don't seem to have such a bad track record because you aren't paying any attention to them.
Look up Robert Urich's resume of cancelled shows. No one from our 'verse is in his ballpark in that regard.
"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."
_________________________________________________
Much work remains to be done before we can announce our total failure to make any progress...
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Yes, but some that you count were pre- Firefly, so don't really apply. And others were ended intentionally, rather than cancelled (like Buffy). That makes the actual number a whole lot more resonable. Adding in one-off appearances on other shows makes the number even iffier (like Alan on Arrested Development - if you're going to count shows that are eventually cancelled later, then you my as well count every job they ever get, becuase they will eventually end).
"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."
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Also, let's face it, a single appearance as a guest is a bit statistically unfair.
www.cpfc.org - my life
www.nbhs.school.nz - my work
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Ahh... well, part of the mystique of a "curse" is that it causes damage near and far, both subtle and gross... my logic (if I actually employed any in the writing of the original post, which, I admit, was somewhat tongue-in-cheek) is that the whims of the "curse" have caused more damage than normal chance and fate... For example, Buffy may have ended by choice, but there were rumors of an eigth season reprieve before the final axe fell (Charmed for example, was over at the end of the 7th season, yet, was pulled - mistakenly, if you ask me - out of the firing line for an eigth season; Stargate was axed several times, yet kept coming back; Arrested Development was kicked around like a junkyard mongrel, yet managed to survive anyway) - however, when the alums of FF became involved, then the curse took over and the fate of the show was sealed... Who knows... maybe Buffy would have had another season or two if the Firefly curse hadn't affected it... Maybe Stargate would have gone for an 11th season if the curse hadn't shut down their wormhole... maybe Wonderfalls would still be going if the Firefly curse hadn't shut off the waterworks... Maybe Summer's involvement hasn't killed any shows yet... but if there is a Firefly curse, then maybe the writing is on the wall for both The 4400 and The Unit...
That's the nature of curses... they are mean, whimsical spirits... sparing one, while slaying another... and they can only be appeased by righting the wrong that created them...
Now, if only we can get some executives to believe this... 
Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
Yes, but some that you count were pre- Firefly, so don't really apply. And others were ended intentionally, rather than cancelled (like Buffy). That makes the actual number a whole lot more resonable. Adding in one-off appearances on other shows makes the number even iffier (like Alan on Arrested Development - if you're going to count shows that are eventually cancelled later, then you my as well count every job they ever get, becuase they will eventually end).
"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."
_________________________________________________
Much work remains to be done before we can announce our total failure to make any progress...
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Interesting thread.... not because I believe there is a Firefly curse, but because I think we have hit on the primary reason many of us are here. Regular network programming is a wasteland, at least for me. Someone said the networks are out of touch with what the masses want. Well... I do not consider us, at least from an entertainment standpoint, to be part of the masses. Firefly might have never appealed to the masses. It was too intelligent, too deep, at once both tragic and comical and the characters were sometimes heros, sometimes villains, always unpredictable, much like real life don't ya think. I believe the actors were more like us as well and got caught up in the stories they were telling. That and sites like this serve to keep it alive. Nothing would tickle me more than to see the o-cast return for a renewal of the series. Failing that a movie to DVD deal or some such... hey, how long has Star Trek survived? The o-cast was making movies LONG after the series was over. Keep hope alive...
Morbid and Creepifyin I got no problem with...
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I wouldn't say all network TV is a wasteland. Lots of it, sure, but that's always been the case, and always will be. If you factor cable series into the mix, I think that TV is as good now, or better, than it's been in my lifetime.
I can think of close to a dozen high-quality shows that have been airing new episodes in the last year, and there are a lot of shows that I hear great things about that I just have not had the time to check out.
Off the top of my head, I consider these all to be very good, if not top-quality shows: Battlestar Galactica(my fav right now), Deadwood (recently ended 
, though not cancelled), Sopranos, The Shield, Rescue Me, Bones, Heroes, Studio 60, Rome, and South Park (still great). That's just off the top of my head, and doesn't count shows I havn't really seen (or don't watch regularly) like Lost, Nip/Tuck, Dexter, The Wire, 24, Big Love, Weeds, Veronica Mars, Ugle Beatty and Dr. Who.
Sure, not all of those shows are going to appeal to everyone, and there's still no shortage of crap (but remember the old rule: 90% of everything is crap), but there's a lot of good stuff out there, if you have the time to watch it. Or do like me - skip it all and get it on Netflix.
But I think it's a pretty damned good time for TV. It'd be all the better if Firefly were still flying, but it could be a lot worse.
"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."
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