Netflix's Ted Sarandos Says Firefly has "a fraction of the original audience."

POSTED BY: micjwelch
UPDATED: Saturday, May 18, 2013 05:12
VIEWED: 17111
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MICJWELCH

Thursday, May 2, 2013 1:44 PM

http://www.stuff.tv/news/apps-and-games/news-nugget/netflixs-ted-saran
dos-talks-arrested-development-4k-and-reviving-old?fb_action_ids=10151533848688260&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210151533848688260%22%3A519886984715362%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210151533848688260%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

He says that while fans continually get more passionate, there are fewer Firefly fans every year. I for one had never even heard of Firefly until after the movie was out of theaters, because to be honest the trailer for the movie sucked. I loan out my Firefly DVDs about once a month to someone else who then becomes as big of a fan as I am. Well, almost.

What can we do to convince this guy he's wrong?

REAVERFAN

Thursday, May 2, 2013 1:57 PM

" The Firefly fan is still the Firefly fan from when it was on TV and there’s fewer of them and they’re more passionate every year. Whereas with Arrested Development we’re going to be serving a multiple of the original audience. Any of the other shows we could bring back would be a fraction of the original audience."

That makes no sense to me. I never heard of the show until 2009, when I stumbled upon it while incapacitated and looking for something to pass the time. The comments section was filled with people like myself who'd just discovered it, and like me, wondered how such an excellent show only lasted one season. Lots of them asked when Hulu would show season 2!

You'd think the DVD sales alone would prove him wrong...

TWO

Thursday, May 2, 2013 2:50 PM

When asked about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Netflix's Ted Sarandos said, "That’s one that’ll come up on everyone’s list. She’s a great character. If it was my property I’d do infrequent movies. There’s not enough kick-ass female characters like that."

Would Firefly movies with kick-ass female characters be enough?

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

EVILDINOSAUR

Thursday, May 2, 2013 2:54 PM

I don't even understand what he's saying. It sounds as though he's saying that 1) Firefly has no more fans than when it aired on Fox, clearly false as I'm certain the number of fans that weren't even aware of the show when it was on Fox numbers in the thousands.

And 2) Many of those original fans, were new episodes to become available, would have no interest in watching them...I don't think I even need to explain how wrong that is.

I don't know where his data comes from, but clearly he needs a new source.

"Haha, mine is an evil laugh."

REAVERFAN

Thursday, May 2, 2013 3:21 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by wr_orion:
I'm with ya REAVERFAN. Same here, I JUST got introduced to Firefly and am only half way through the series so far.

I also created an account and commented. Firefly would definitely be a reason to sign back up with Netflix. I cancelled my account about a year ago but would gladly sign back up for something like this.

"Go then, there are other worlds than these."

When I watched the first episode, I was blown away. I made sure to ration it, one a day, because it was that good. I looked forward to it! Then, I watched it again. And again.

I eventually got Netflix for the sole purpose of seeing Serenity. That was a great day. A couple brews, some good Cali medical, and the closure I craved, which made me sad, knowing that this wonderful story was over, when there was still so much to be told. Still flying, indeed!

Arrested Development was funny, but not the kind of show I'd watch over and over again. Dumb, selfish people doing bad things is only funny to me the first time around. Lost interest after a while.

When I saw that it'd been revived, I didn't care. I just wondered why they wouldn't do the same for a show that was superior in every way, and is still picking up fans every day.

REAVERFAN

Thursday, May 2, 2013 8:04 PM

I actually registered on the site and said my peace. I wasn't alone. One person was looking for Sarandos's office address in order to write him.

The guy does nothing to dispel the "out of touch TV executive" stereotype, does he?

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EBFIDDLER

Thursday, May 2, 2013 8:51 PM

Fan base getting smaller?
Would that include fans like me who never heard of Firefly until three years ago?
I think the only issue is publicity. If they make it and publicize it properly (like they didn't do when it was on the air), there will be an audience for this show.
I think there are other issues, and this "lack of fan base" stuff is just what they say to mask the real reasons they aren't willing to go forward with it.

DMI

Friday, May 3, 2013 2:13 AM

This just sounds like a challenge to me. What should we do this time? Firefly watch parties on Netflix? Send postcards that say "We're still here?" Bombard Netflix's facebook page?

-----------------------------
I pray for one last landing,
on the globe that gave me birth.
Let me rest my eyes on the fleecy skies
and the cool, green hills of Earth.

GWEK

Friday, May 3, 2013 1:48 PM

For someone who has mad so many savvy decisions, I'm surprised by the ignorance that this article conveys.

I find it interesting that he draws a distinction between ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT and other "failed" shows -- where none seems to exist. Put our feelings about FIREFLY aside for a moment, there's no evidence to support the assertion that ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT has grown an audience at any faster rate than any other cult show. If he's basing it on netflix numbers, my guess would be that more people *OWN* FIREFLY so they don't need to go to netflix (at a quick, unscientific glance, FIREFLY seems to sell at twice the rate of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT on amazon).

Certainly, Michael Cera and Jason Bateman (among others) have gone on to pretty big movie careers following ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, but neither has demonstrated a particularly strong following or the ability to "open" a movie on their own. Nathan Fillion, though, has similarly expanded his fan base with CASTLE. Joss's star has rise. Certainly, "from the guy who brought you THE AVENGERS" is likely to provide a little more cred with the general public these days than "from the creator of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER" did in 2002.

I find it intriguing that ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT is adding current hot properties, like Kirsten Wiig and Seth Rogen. I'm sure many of them are fans who are excited to be on the show, but it seems like a ploy, if you ask me.

To me, the biggest lapse in the article is addressing WHY shows failed. ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT failed to develop a large audience for two reasons:

1) It presented a fairly unique and non-traditional comedic model, particularly for the time.

2) The characters were not relatable, or particularly likeable.

Now, personally, I like the show, and I think thoese are two of the reasons why. But if those circumstances haven't changed (and I don't believe they have), the show is unlikely to expand it's audience.

Consider the reasons FIREFLY failed in 2002. Although I also attribute it to the adversarial relationship between FOX and Joss (yes, I'm one of the rare folks who lays some of the blame on Joss's subversive nature), two of the biggest business reasons:

1) Bad marketing/premise not clearly explained (easy to fix with better support)

2) Bad timing.

Timing was a key, key, KEY element in the failure of FIREFLY. Joss knows it. In one interview, he says something like "FOX came to me and said, Do you have an idea about something patriotic and straightforward and bright? And I said, I have this dark, complex show about nine pioneers in space living a constant struggle for subsistance."

FIREFLY was about mistrusting the government -- but it came out a year after 9/11, when Americans wanted to strongly believe in their government. FIREFLY is about the poor vs the wealthly, the rights of Big Government and Big Business vs the rights of the individual. Firefly was about what you can hold on to and what the establishment is trying to take away.

My contention is that timing is the biggest thing that did in FIREFLY, and that if FIREFLY had come out a few years later, we'd have had "seven seasons and a movie."

And that awareness is wholly missing from the assessment in this article.

BYTEMITE

Friday, May 3, 2013 6:44 PM

GWEK paints it exactly.

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