Of Firefly and StarTrek

POSTED BY: ScottishBrownCoat
UPDATED: Saturday, June 12, 2004 19:52
VIEWED: 7240
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SCOTTISHBROWNCOAT

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 12:47 PM

Hello,
I grew up a Trekker, I met my wife at a Star Trek Convention, so you can say that I owe that show.
The Original series and Movies, then Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, all wonderful programming, and during the middle of the Next Generation series Trek seemed to be at it's height.
However after the end of The Next Generation, and with the average quality next gen movies and the next two Average generic spinoffs (Voyager and Enterprise) I have seen that the Trek world has gone into a downward spiral, and it does not seem to be getting any better. Trek Conventions once EVERYWHERE are truly on a slow but steady decline.

Now I was introduced to Firefly, I see in it, a show with the same magical qualities of the original series of Trek, except with better writing, special effects, and a iron tight Cast of Characters played by the absolute best Actors they could have found.Not that Trek did not have good actors, but you don't see Nathan Fillion ever going.....Over.....the.....top!!!

When Original Star Trek was cancelled they took 10 years to put a movie out, which reinvented the franchise, but by that time it already had a very strong fan base.

We see Firefly today with a strong fan base, and a movie coming out less than 3 years after the show was cancelled, we are on the brink of a real opprotunity here. The same attention the Trekkers have been given in the world of fandom and out of Fandom is the same attention that I see Browncoats getting if we keep our good work going.

I have also noticed some very different attitudes concerning how the Firefly Creator and Crew view US as opposed to how Berman and the stars of Trek view TREKKERS(with the exception of a few great stars from the original series and TNG.)
It just seems that the Firefly family is based more on the love of the Show, AND people, also Firefly brings back the important message of Multi-culturalism, which Trek lost on it's path to commercialism.

What Firefly also brought to the Browncoats was the concept of Religious tolerance and diversity, Shepherd of Buddhist Monk, it is ALL relevant if one wants it to be.
Religon being a topic they did not want to really touch in Trek, well, Whedon smartly adds religion into the Firefly 'verse because he understands Human Nature, and how it truly changes very little.

I think we as Browncoats are just getting started, I see great things for the 'verse of Firefly, but we must work very hard to ensure that a second and third movie can come back, and to convert the masses to this great Family.
So that oneday the Oxford dictionary will have a definition for Browncoat.

Maybe it is just that I was feelin' a might truthsome, but I just can't help but notice this.

Are their any Other Trekkers or former Trekkers who feel the same?

Proudly,
Scottish BrownCoat

----------------------------------
Bwahh!!!!!

LIZ

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 1:04 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by ScottishBrownCoat:
(snip)
Are their any Other Trekkers or former Trekkers who feel the same?
(snip)

Yes. I grew up w/TNG. i used to watch it with my father every Friday night. I even had a Trek uniform and vulcan ears (i was 10). After watching a couple episodes of Firefly (on DVD-- i hadn't even heard about it when it was on the air) i called my dad and told him "You have to watch this show." he borrowed the DVDs and was hooked as well, and he was a Trekker (from back when we called ourselves Trekkies

).

We are at the brink of something great here. Congratulations to all the hardcore Browncoats who made sure this DVD was released and made the BDM happen... and thanks for putting up with us Johnny-come-latelys.

BROWNCOAT1

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 2:15 PM

I don't know that I would really call myself a "Trekkie", though I did enjoy the original series, TNG, and DS9. I definitely was never as enthusiastic about any of the ST shows as I am about Firefly (& the BDM), but I would watch them whenever I got the chance.

To me, there is just a magical quality to everything about Firefly as ScottishBrowncoat mentioned. The writing, acting, the chemistry of the cast, the direction, the sets, etc, all add to the beauty of Firefly.

I may not have been a Trekkie, but I am damn proud to be a Browncoat.

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

MANTICHORUS

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 3:03 PM

Now, that was a real pretty speech you gave there. I wouldn't call myself a Trekkie, but I like watchin' TNG, Voyager, and (opening myself to some flak) Enterprise (it's the pioneer to it that I like).
Out of the three listed, I prefer TNG. Go Patrick Stewart!

-------------------------------------------
"BADGER: You think you're better than other people.
MAL: Just the ones I'm better than."
-------------------------------------
"MAL: Gotta say, doctor, your talent for alienatin' folk is near miraculous.
SIMON: Yes, I'm very proud."

CPTCRCKPOT

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 3:26 PM

I agree, I think Firefly has the potential to become something far greater than Star Trek.

Most of the earliest memories I have are related to Star Trek, of watching the Original Series, or drawing pictures of the Enterprise, or playing Star Trek with my friends during recess (I was always McCoy, BTW). When Star Trek: TMP came out, I begged my mom to take me to see it on opening day, and have seen every movie since on opening day. I've seen every episode of every series, and enjoyed them immensely. Even as I've watched Star Trek decline, I've found things to enjoy about the shows.

Then along came Firefly. I didn't see it when it originally aired. I remember seeing a commercial for it before it aired, and thinking that I should watch it, but could never seem to find it on the rare Fridays when I was home. When it came out on DVD, I started hearing buzz about it, saying that it was good, but I figured it couldn't be all that great, considering how everything on TV (even Star Trek, to a great extent) is pretty much crap nowadays, and if it got cancelled, it must be really crappy. But I kept hearing buzz about it, and about how good it was, so finally I figured I'd give it a look. I rented it via NetFlix, got it within a few days, then left it sitting around for almost a week before watching it. I finally watched it one day after I got home from work, ironically enough right after watching Enterprise. After watching "Serenity", I ordered the DVDs from Amazon. I then preceeded to watch the rest of disc 1, and then disc 2, before taking a quick nap before going to work. When I got home from work, I watched discs 3 & 4. Needless to say, I was very nearly worthless from lack of sleep when I went in to work Friday. I watched them all again that weekend, and when the DVDs from Amazon arrived on Monday, I sent the NetFlix discs back. In my opinion, Firefly is the best show ever. Even better than my beloved Star Trek. It is everything I loved about Star Trek, only better. And while I will always be proud to call myself a Trekker, I am much, much prouder to call myself a Browncoat. So long as Mr. Whedon continues to be in control of Firefly, I see no reason how Firefly could fail to eclipse Star Trek.

No matter where you go, there you are

RKLENSETH

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 5:01 PM

I also see the hints of Star Wars too. I mean when the original Star Wars movie came out it had really bad promotion and all because the studios felt it was going to be a flop. But because of the few fans who saw it when it opened it became the second biggest box office hit of all time. But it was the fans at that time, through word of mouth that made Star Wars.

Firefly had a small, but strong fanbase after being cut off only half a season into its life. If you think about Firefly has made a incredible life. A show that got cancelled after only half a season (14 hours of it) has not only kept a lot of the original fanbase intact but I would say has grown 10 times larger in the year and a half that it has been off of tv. After only being cancelled 3 years it will have a movie that has the potential to break box office records. Look at Amazon.com, 939 reveiws averaging 5 stars and still in the top 100 bestselling DVDs after 8 months of being put out on preordering. Like Star Wars, the word of Firefly is reaching people and bringing them into our world. Like Star Trek, Firefly won't die because it had a few bumps in the road. Things of the quality of Firefly just don't simply disappear without a bang.

I find it funny that last summer when rumors of a DVD being release were coming out that a lot of people said it would never happen. When the DVD did come out the same people said that the DVD wouldn't sale. When rumors of the movie came out in September the same people said that no one in their right mind would make a movie. When the movie was greenlit the same people are now saying that the movie won't do much. Well that is a score we will have to settle in 2005 but I don't have any worries.

Firefly won't die. Because it can't. Like Mal, Firely isn't just going to simply lie down and die when the times get tough. No, it lives on, survives on because what else can it do. Except simply die which it will not.

And remember, "Doing the impossible makes us mighty."

We have done the impossible so far.

Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.

LIZ

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 5:19 PM

Quote:
Firefly won't die. Because it can't. Like Mal, Firely isn't just going to simply lie down and die when the times get tough. No, it lives on, survives on because what else can it do. Except simply die which it will not.

It can't die,you know why? because it's too damn pretty. (sorry, had to go there.)

TOMTBA2004

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 6:32 PM

how odd, i was talking to my frineds about this same subject..this morning during 2nd period (first class of the day) Even though i grew up with star trek mostly because my brother made me watch it, i guess i liked it but was never obsessed with it like i am with firefly. and even with the new star trek movie(the script is still being written, i think) it's safe to say that it's dead. let it go . its time for firefly to rise again...

"lets go to work"

RELFEXIVE

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 7:45 PM

Sometimes Trek can just be so.... stupid.

Stupid characters, badly thought-out situations, ridiculous concepts.

Not all the time. Just... well, most of it.

And don't get me started on all the gos-se time travel.

Mal: "We're not gonna die. We can't die, Bendis. You know why? Because we are so... very... pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die."

GHOULMAN

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 7:52 PM

Nice post ScottishBrownCoat - I agree, It's a pretty simple equation...

The original Star Trek was written by some of the giants of TV and Sci-Fi writing. Peeples, Sturgeon, etc. Star Trek was, for years, thought to be successful not because it was "Sci-Fi" but because thier stories were about PEOPLE.

Now think... what is Firefly about? Of course.

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