Any hope for Firefly?

POSTED BY: millernate
UPDATED: Saturday, October 19, 2002 19:15
VIEWED: 18608
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MILLERNATE

Monday, October 14, 2002 12:24 AM

I have to ask: Is there any hope for Firefly? With a 3.3 rating in week three (baseball game or not) the situation would indicate no. That is simply because it is completely and utterly impossible for a show to build ratings through word of mouth in the age of cable (which would be why no show has since the massive cable migration that started circa 1995). This show badly needed to open with a truly great episode (sort of like Buffy did) but instead opened with a show that was barely decent. You can blame it on the network shelving the pilot (though The Detroit Free Press's Mike Duffy, one of the few credible TV critics, called the pilot "murky and dull") or not but cancellation at this point is not a matter of if but when (unless a miracle turnaround, unheard of with this form of TV dynamic, occurs, which it won't). So my point is 2 fold:

1. Can anyone conjur a situation in which Firefly could conceivably be renewed.

and

2. If not then place your bets here as to when the ax falls (me? I choose after the eighth overall episode, just like with The Tick live-action).

Nathan
"It looks like a great adventure...That's what it is; that's what it feels like. When I saw the pilot, it was really engaging. It was exciting. It was unusual. It threw me off every now and then. I think people will be grabbed by it." - Ron Glass, on the pilot, during an interview with the Indianapolis Star

WILLIAM

Monday, October 14, 2002 1:30 AM

I wasn't gonna reply to this but here it goes, I've sorta given up really. Firefly is certainly a show with alot of potential, but with the Friday death night slot, and at that weak time. Things won't improve unless:

Fox shows the show later at 9pm

Gives the show a full season, if people know this, they're more incline to watch something that'll last.

More advertisment

show repeats on other networks, or on same network, but different night and time slot, this will draw in more viewers, if they can choose when they want to see it

Fact is, unless Fox knows that they shouldn't be expecting great ratings (the Friday death night), the show is doomed.

JAYNESGIRLFRIEND

Monday, October 14, 2002 2:11 AM

Just call me Pollyanna, but I believe that this show is going to succeed!

Okay, it'll be axed after the original 13 ep order has been shown. If we're really lucky.

"I was gonna get me an ear, too." - Jayne

DELVO

Monday, October 14, 2002 2:14 AM

One of those conditions has been met; Sci-Fi is going to start re-airing it.

Doesn't this website seem to be a LOT of trouble to go to for a show that everyone expects to get killed, especially since the website was around before it even started?

JERRY

Monday, October 14, 2002 11:29 AM

For the show to still have a chance, it needs to show improved ratings immediately. The next two episodes will probably determine whether Fox leaves it on the air through sweeps or not. If they don't, it's effectively dead. If they do, then as long as it is running it still has a chance to find more viewers.

JASONZZZ

Monday, October 14, 2002 4:51 PM

It would be a lot of trouble if this website was build solely just for the purpose of this topic. There are lots of reusable parts and there are other forums within this site that talks about other things as well...

Quote:
Originally posted by Delvo:
One of those conditions has been met; Sci-Fi is going to start re-airing it.

Doesn't this website seem to be a LOT of trouble to go to for a show that everyone expects to get killed, especially since the website was around before it even started?

HJERMSTED

Monday, October 14, 2002 8:26 PM

According to a recent Zap2it.com article, "Our Mrs. Reynolds" (the third Firefly episode to be shown) was the highest rated episode to date: 4.3

I've been watching the baseball playoffs on Fox and they're most certainly promoting the show, so Fox appears to be behind it.

However, if Fox relies solely on the Nielson numbers, they're going to end up canceling a lot of good shows prematurely including this one. Nielson viewers (of which there are only 1,000 or so official Nielson "families") tend not to watch sci-fi. If Fox really wants to know how many people are watching Firefly, they need to pay attention to Tivo records (if they exist), internet buzz, word of mouth, and letters they receive directly from viewers and give those greater weight than the decrepit Nielson results. C'mon the only thing older and more useless than the Nielson system is the US Electoral College (and look what that brought us).

Fox knows Fridays are dead for them. It is unreasonable for Fox to expect a rating much higher than what the show is already receiving. The 18-34 demographic tends to go out on Fridays for they are cooler than the brainless twits who stay home and chuckle over America's Funniest Home Videos. Fox doesn't need that audience. Firefly is over their heads anyway. On Fridays 18-34 year olds are out waiting in line to see the latest big budget film to come out (some produced by Fox), enjoying live music or being sociable. If they are truly cool their VCRs are set for Firefly which they will watch at a more convenient time.

Firefly is an excellent show (so far) from a creative team with a proven track record. Mutant Enemy / Whedon has a rabid built in audience which cannot be said about many shows (not even X-Files!). If Fox lets the show hit its stride, everything else will take care of itself. The audience will find the show. Fox just needs to relax and let it happen.

mattro

MALCOLM

Monday, October 14, 2002 8:57 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by millernate:
I have to ask: Is there any hope for Firefly? With a 3.3 rating in week three (baseball game or not) the situation would indicate no.

Yes, there is hope. And even better, there are viewers -- not a huge audience, but enough to build on as a foundation. If you look at most of the "cancelled/waiting for the axe" shows (e.g. PUSH, NEVADA), their first episode had their highest rating and then the ratings fall off substantially week-by-week. FF started off with a middling number and has held up quite nicely with a drop of 10% from episode 1 to episode 2 and then a hold (given the baseball preemption in LA/NY) for episode 3. [/f]

Quote:
1. Can anyone conjur a situation in which Firefly could conceivably be renewed.

A. Post World Series, the show begins to build on its current audience and JOHN DOE holds or builds.

B. "Jaynestown" + "Out Of Gas" = "Must Tivo" TV.

C: The FF drinking games catch on with the college set sending FF into the top 20.

D. AMERICA'S FUNNIEST VIDEOS viewers finally tire of watching Daddy get hit in the balls with a wiffle ball bat, errant tennis balls, misfired model rockets... who am I kidding, the show's been on for 15 years, some people will never get tired of it. Maybe PROVIDENCE viewers?

Quote:

2. If not then place your bets here as to when the ax falls (me? I choose after the eighth overall episode, just like with The Tick live-action).

I'd be really surprised if it doesn't make it until at least Christmas. (They've got that big, expensive pilot sitting on the shelf and Fox is too cheap to completely scrap it!)

Call me an optimist, but I think its a keeper.

-MBS

ZILL222

Tuesday, October 15, 2002 12:30 AM

I admit I am a taper. I go out and tape( used to be farscape but now)firefly.

You got to have faith

Remember, dropping 500 ft is not a big problem unless you are 499 or less ft above the ground

NOVAGRASS

Tuesday, October 15, 2002 2:27 AM

Umm... there's no reason to believe that it won't be renewed.

My reasoning: Week 1, Firefly won the coveted 18-49 demo.
Week 2, Firefly won second in the 18-49 demo. It also did not lose as many viewers as either Fastlane or John Doe.
Week 3, Similar to week 2.

Firefly's ratings haven't been through the roof, I'll give you that, but they haven't necessarily been bad. I belive that Fox has faith in Joss, actually, as silly as that might sound. He's proven himself capable of building a ravenously faithful audience in the past (something that neither Ben Edlund of The Tick, or James Cameron of Dark Angel had done on television before), and I fully believe that Fox will stick with Firefly for at least one entire season. Plus, there haven't been any rumors started *anywhere* that Fox is considering cancellation, which is very surprising to me.

My final reasoning: Gail Berman. Gail has a personal relationship with Whedon. She knows what he is capable of, and I have little doubt that she is at least a tiny bit biased (in Firefly's favor, that is). As long as Firefly's ratings don't become absolutely hideous (they're only mediocre right now), I belive we'll see at least an episode 22.

One final thing... It's really bad that you guys are being so pessimistic. If the fans are this ready to throw in the towel, it's not sending a good message to Fox AT ALL. We need to be supportive, and we need to stop all of this "oh, it has no chance in Hell" crap.

--Dylan Palmer, Pretentious Bastard at Large--

"Oh my god, I'm a hack!" - Joss Whedon

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