Why Fox really cancelled Firefly...

POSTED BY: wesleywyndham
UPDATED: Tuesday, October 19, 2004 19:09
VIEWED: 6423
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WESLEYWYNDHAM

Saturday, October 16, 2004 8:47 PM

Isn't it obvious? Serenity doesn't have any guns. No fancy laser blasters, torpedoes, energy shields, cloaking devices etc etc...

Instead of Battlestar Galactica-type dogfights in space, the crew have to use their wits to get out of nasty situations. Trickery, negotiation, even outright surrender are employed rather than just relying on a trusty laser cannon. It's all about guile.

This concept was obviously too radical for the TV studio executives to handle.

I can't think of any other space-based TV show where the main spacecraft wasn't weaponed-up and itching to shoot something every episode. Well, maybe Thunderbirds. And Dr Who. But that's it.

In my book that makes the whole premise much more beliveable. Serenity is a cargo ship, not a battlecruiser.

David.

DELIA

Sunday, October 17, 2004 12:53 AM

Pretty sure there's a thread on a similar topic somewhere, but I don't have time to find it.

Moya on Farscape also doesn't have guns. I know there are others, but I can't think of them. Like I said, there's a thread somewhere.

___________________________________________
Angel: People who don't care about anything will never understand the people who do.
Hamilton: Yeah, but we won't care.

BALTIMOREBROWNOAT89

Sunday, October 17, 2004 1:02 AM

I think you made a good point. Cause all the netwos now, are looking for either reality shows or shows where in every episode somebody gets their a** kicked or getting blown up. But that is an understanding reason for them to cancel the show.

BaltimoreBrowncoat89

WESLEYWYNDHAM

Sunday, October 17, 2004 8:41 AM

I never really watched Farscape all that much -- didn't remember about it until after I'd posted.

Didn't they give Moya an energy shield at some point in the series though? And they had Aeryn's fighter ship on board... and then Moya gave birth to Talyn, a genetically-engineered living gunship.

I take your point though.

"My food is problematic."

CYBERSNARK

Sunday, October 17, 2004 3:27 PM

The shield was more trouble than it was worth. There was also D'Argo's Lo'la, with it's big-ass gun.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

ZOID

Sunday, October 17, 2004 4:35 PM

'snark:

...whatever Lo'la wants, Lo'la gets.

Sorry. Damned Yankees...

(Show)Tunefully,

zoid

SERGEANTX

Sunday, October 17, 2004 4:41 PM

Absolutely. The whole thing that made the premise so special was no-doubt part of Fox's difficulty with the show. I think they wanted 'Buffy in Space' with some super space slayers fighting intergalactic monster aliens to save the galaxy.

When they got a character based drama about a makeshift family struggling to find its way -- I guess they just couldn't imagine how they'd sell that.

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

WESLEYWYNDHAM

Sunday, October 17, 2004 5:06 PM

Yes, given the success of Buffy and Angel I think they may have been expecting something similar. What they actually got was much, much better though. And I say that as a long-time fan of both series and owner of all the DVD sets...

"War Stories" in particular just blew anything I'd seen on Buffy or Angel into the dust. It was more like a combination of "Heat" and "Reservoir Dogs".

David.

"My food is problematic."

ANNIK

Sunday, October 17, 2004 6:21 PM

Yep ... the typical TV fare these days seems like something out of the old Second City TV days (SCTV, the birthplace of hosers Bob and Doug McKenzie):

"Yep ... blowed 'em up good. Real good! Yeah!"

Cheers,
Annik
... my sister's a ship. We had a complicated childhood.

SOUTHERNMERC

Sunday, October 17, 2004 6:31 PM

This topic has been done to death, but I have to say that there is one show on network TV that isn't below the low standards typically employed there. I'm talking about the ABC show "Lost." Holy cow, a show that takes its time revealing the mystery? Characters that you actually CARE what happens to them? Plenty of backstory on the folks who crashed? Holy moley! Someone was listening! We got us a genuine TV drama! AND IT WASN'T CANCELLED THREE EPISODES IN!

I may feint.

Jayne: "You got yourself lookin' mighty hideous!"

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Why Fox *really* cancelled Firefly...

Why Fox really cancelled Firefly...