What’s the element of success for Firefly

All of the above...

Firefly just had that right mix. The characters are great, but made even better by that actors that played them. Can you really imagine someone other then Fillion playing Mal? What about someone else playing Jayne, or River?

It was set in the future with all kinds of fantastic technology yet focused on a ship without those sleek amenities. Things like touch screens are cool, but deep down everyone like a good button. Serenity felt real because of this. I think every Browncoat can imagine walking through the ship much more then walking through one of the many ships named Enterprise.

Most of all it was about people who were doing the things we all do everyday, get by. They were not looking to save empires or anything like that. They were just going from one day to the next.


I do not fear God, I fear the ignorance of man.

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Originally posted by m52nickerson:


Most of all it was about people who were doing the things we all do everyday, get by. They were not looking to save empires or anything like that. They were just going from one day to the next.

I do not fear God, I fear the ignorance of man.

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You are SO correct with the above.

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Originally posted by barlong:
We are all here for the same thing, but what made us so emotionally attached to this specific SCI-FI theme?

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I think part of it was that we all knew it had to be heading somewhere, both as a plot and as characters, and also it was that they were kinda fighting back in their own little way against something they couldn't let go of and I think many of us only wish we could fight back. And there was the whole breaking of traditions with having a mixed race couple and a female spaceship mechanic, the portrayal of a character with a mental disorder (which we don't do a lot), the decriminalization of sex, a Captain who doesn't pretend to be so freaking perfect!! and that these people actually have LAYERS, like REAL peple do....

And they threw in a joke once in a while too! I don't know how many shows I've quit watching because they got sooo serious that I couldn't relax enough to enjoy them... So many writers don't understand that comedy diffuses tension and helps you relate, and that is one thing that Joss gets where others don't...

And it helped redefine our rediculous expectations for a sterile future of spaceflight... I mean synthahol??? Where's THAT get fun???

But overall, I think they just did "cool" well. It's a whole basketload of eye candy.

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Joss is a genius and I think his latest project Avengers will give him the credit he deserves.

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Can you really imagine someone other then Fillion playing Mal? What about someone else playing Jayne, or River?

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Technically I can, but Nathan, Alan, and Adam would have major sad face. We're talking King Lear level tragic poutiness.

You can not withstand that amount of puppy eyes from them. You can't.

Seriously though, someone asked Nathan and Adam this very question in an interview recently, and the reactions they had, the thought had clearly never even occurred to them that someone else could play the roles. They were not only kinda flat-footed and shocked by the suggestion but seemed almost genuinely a little hurt. They managed to recover a bit, say something supportive, but it looked like it was hard for them.

So, if there's ever a continuation or even a reboot, I think it should be them. And you know, Mal might've been around fifty at the time of the story depending on what you believe, and considering the genre of the story and the characters themselves there's no reason they couldn't be a little more crusty. Except Wash, he wouldn't wear grizzled well on his personality, and some of the other characters might have to be updated for the age difference as well, but we can think of something.

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For me, it's the characters, and the setting - and how Joss and Co. play with genre conventions.

I like all the actors, no doubt - but Ive never really been able to really get into any of the shows they've been on since, so they alone are certainly not the draw for me.

"Goram it kid, let's frak this thing and go home! Engage!"

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Originally posted by m52nickerson:
All of the above...Firefly just had that right mix. The characters are great, but made even better by that actors that played them. Can you really imagine someone other then Fillion playing Mal? What about someone else playing Jayne, or River?

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Not really - but that's becuase they're who I associate with the character. Had someone else gotten a given role, say if NPH had been cast as Simon, well - HE'D be Simon for me, and Sean Maher would be just some dude I couldn't imagine in the role.

"Goram it kid, let's frak this thing and go home! Engage!"

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Not that anyone asked, but Joss Whedon has a reason why Serenity is not a regular comic while Buffy Season 9 and Angel & Faith are regular as clocks:
"Despite requests from fans, Joss Whedon has stated that Serenity is unlikely to be released as a regular publication series.[34] He believes that the pacing and storyarc structure he created for Firefly would work poorly as a regular series, and unlike the monthly-issued Buffy Season 8, Serenity does not have the wealth of background material generated by seven seasons of television to draw from.[34] However, Dark Horse senior editor Scott Allie wants to produce new miniseries on a more regular basis, reducing the three-year wait between Those Left Behind and Better Days.[34]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_%28comics%29#Reaction

Joss' actual words about why there aren't Serenity novels and monthly comics:

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Publishers Weekly Comics Week: What’s it like taking something from screen to comics?

Joss Whedon: It’s complicated, with Serenity particularly. It’s easy with Buffy in a way because again it’s a pop idea, it could have been a comic book before it was a movie. Serenity doesn’t really lend itself to that in the same way. You can tell fun, compelling stories about it, but you have sort of an ensemble drama that you’re making into a comic book, so you have to find stories that are gonna move in a different rhythm than Buffy stories.

With Serenity and Firefly, you couldn’t do a regular monthly comic the way you can with Buffy because their life isn't [event after event] in the same way. I know that’s strange because we did do a TV show that was not monthly but weekly, but it lends itself to these stories that we tell in a few issues that we really think out beforehand.

Whereas Buffy, maybe because it was on for so many years, already has its own "Marvel universe" attached to it, with hundreds of ancillary characters and situations, so it’s easier to build that kind of story. With Serenity, you want it to feel more like a novel than a straight-up superhero comic.

Publishers Weekly Comics Week: Are there more Serenity comics planned ?

Joss Whedon: Scott [Allie, Dark Horse editor] was definitely like, “Can we not wait three years in between comics next time ?” I’m like, “I hear where you’re going with that.” It is definitely contingent on us having time and finding a particular story. With Buffy, I have an overarching story and I can do anything I want in that. Obviously, like I said before, Serenity doesn’t work that way, so it has to be right. It’s not simple. And the dialogue is very easy to get wrong. Luckily [co-writer Brett Matthews] worked on the show, so he really understands it, but it’s hard to make sure—you can’t take a wrong step with that or it won’t work. Hopefully, we’re not doing that with Buffy, either, but it’s a little more delicate.

The difference also with Serenity is I have more trouble letting it out of my hands. Buffy I ran as a show, and obviously Firefly had a writing staff, a great one, but, for example, with novels—they’re like, “[Let’s do] Serenity novels !” The idea of somebody else writing a Serenity novel, I can’t handle. [But] there are 10 Buffy novels.

Publishers Weekly Comics Week: Do you think that’s because you had more time with Buffy ?

Joss Whedon: I think so. If anybody wrote a Serenity novel right now, it would be the only thing apart from these comic books, which come out very rarely—that there is to say about Serenity. If something’s going to be said about Serenity, it’s going to be said by me. It’s too close to me still. It’s the child that never got to grow up and go to college.
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/new-titles/adult-announcements/ar
ticle/6675-whedon-can--t-get-enough-serenity-.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20090415090750/http://www.publishersweekly.
com/article/CA6497916.html?nid=2789
www.whedon.info/Joss-Whedon-Buffy-Tv-Series-Comic.html

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The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash live

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Not really - but that's becuase they're who I associate with the character. Had someone else gotten a given role, say if NPH had been cast as Simon, well - HE'D be Simon for me, and Sean Maher would be just some dude I couldn't imagine in the role.

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Doogie Howser: The Psychic Assassin Frontier Case Files.

Actually, he'd probably be pretty good.

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