Chronological Order of Episodes.

POSTED BY: jewelstaitefan
UPDATED: Sunday, November 27, 2022 02:47
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JEWELSTAITEFAN

Monday, June 16, 2008 6:26 AM

There has been some comments recently indicating confusion about the sequence of Episodes.
It has been stated by Joss that the order of Eps on the DVD set is how he currently intends for them to be seen. However, it was not always like that, referring to the last half dozen Eps.

Here is a chronology of the filming and broadcasts of the Eps as occurred during the (sadly) only season, I have not seen it posted before. The Episode number refers to the sequence Joss states, and which are on the DVD set.
Please post corrections if known.

December 2001 - Firefly greenlighted, Fox orders 13 Episodes.
Jan 2002 - preproduction begins.
Feb & Mar - Cast announced.
Mar 12 - Morena hired.

FILMED ------------------ DATE ----------- AIRED

First day shooting w/full cast - 20 March.
Pilot Serenity (rejected 3 May)
Train Job script finished - 16 May

----------------------- June-August - Teasers broadcast with Smash Mouth music.

Ep1 The Train Job ----- 8 July
Ep2 Bushwhacked

Ep3 Shindig ----------- 2 August
Ep4 Safe ------------- 27 August

Ep5 Our Mrs. Reynolds
Ep6 Jaynestown ------- 11 September
---------------------- 20 September - Ep1 The Train Job (4.1)
Ep7 Out of Gas ------- 22 September
---------------------- 27 September - Ep2 Bushwhacked (5.47)

Ep8 Ariel - 3 October
------------------------ 4 October - Ep5 Our Mrs Reynolds (4.87)
----------------------- 11 October: baseball
Ep9 War Stories ------- 16 October
----------------------- 18 October - Ep6 Jaynestown (4.3)
Fox orders 3 more Eps, total of 16 - 25 October.
----------------------- 25 October - Ep7 Out of Gas (4.38)
Ep12 Heart of Gold - 29-31 October

------------------------ 1 November - Ep3 Shindig (4.28)
------------------------ 8 November - Ep4 Safe (4.68)
Ep13 Objects in Space - 12 November
----------------------- 15 November - Ep8 Ariel (4.49)
Fox approves 2 of new scripts for production, total of 15 eps.
----------------------- 22 November: Rerun of Adam Sandler's "Happy Gilmore"
Ep10 Trash ------------ 27 November
----------------------- 29 November: Brady Bunch in the Whitehouse.

------------------------ 6 December - Ep9 War Stories (3.85)
Ep11 The Message --- 10-16 December
Fox Cancels Firefly --- 12 December
----------------------- 13 December - Ep13 Objects in Space (4.08)
Final day of filming -- 20 December
----------------------- 20 December - Pilot Serenity (4.2)

Never originally aired: Heart of Gold, Trash, Message.
------------------------January 10 2003 - Fox series Fastlane moves from Wednesday to fill Friday slot previously held by Firefly.
------------------------September 19 2003 - DVD set ranks #1 on Amazon.

Emmy Awards for period when Firefly aired recognize Pilot Serenity for Best Special Effects, even tho F*x could not recognize it until after cancelling the series.

As I understand it, after the Pilot, and then the second Pilot (The Train Job), they were approved for Episodes up to Ep8, which was Ariel. Adam has been asked if he thought Jayne would get killed off in Ariel, and he commented they couldn't kill off Jayne because by that time the audience feedback from the airings showed Jayne as the most popular character on the show.
October 11th Firefly was not aired, pre-empted for baseball.
Next the network approved another 3 Episodes, and they kicked off with a return engagement of Michael Fairman in War Stories (9th Episode filmed), then came Heart of Gold (10th Episode filmed), and Objects in Space (11th Episode filmed). The network said they needed to avoid that pesky "western" theme in the shows, and then Joss & Tim delivered Heart of Gold, which they could never get aired. These 3 Eps were in the can, done filming, and they were on to other Eps.
By that time, the network had approved another 3 Episodes, and again they kicked off with a return engagement, this time with Christina Hendricks in Trash (12th Episode filmed), then Message (13th Episode filmed).
During filming of The Messag

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 7:26 AM

I also noticed that Trash, which Tim had mentioned they addressed the Ariel betrayal of Jayne, was the first Episode filmed following the broadcast of Ariel.

YINYANG

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 8:25 AM

The chart as you have it confuses me a little, so I'm going to break it up to see if I understand it.

Order Filmed
Serenity (1)
The Train Job (2)
Bushwhacked (3)
Shindig (4)
Safe (5)
Our Mrs. Reynolds (6)
Jaynestown (7)
Out of Gas (8)
Ariel (9)
War Stories (10)
Heart of Gold (13)
Objects in Space (14)
Trash (11)
The Message (12)

Order Aired
The Train Job (2)
Bushwhacked (3)
Our Mrs. Reynolds (6)
Jaynestown (7)
Out of Gas (8)
Shindig (4)
Safe (5)
Ariel (9)
War Stories (10)
Objects in Space (14)
Serenity (1)

That's really interesting. I might watch the episodes in the order they were filmed, to see how that changes things. It won't make a huge difference, though, because it's only the last four that are mixed up. And then, just for kicks, I might watch them in the order they aired, to get a feel for what it might have been like to watch the show in 2002.

You know what's really weird, though? The IMDb listing for Firefly episodes shows that Heart of Gold, Trash, and The Message aired in the summer of 2003. IMDb is wrong sometimes, though, and I was under the impression that those episodes never aired at all.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303461/episodes

Once a lurker, always a lurker.

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 9:19 AM

Your lists seem to be correct.
I was trying to show the interactivity of the airing and filming.

Some references show air dates for the 3 orphans. I usually think these refer to "first broadcast" which may have been on SCiFi or syndication, and on varying caliber of network.
I don't recall when the FF DVDs were released, and that maybe used as "air date" too.
I think it's safe to say they never aired on F*x.

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Friday, June 20, 2008 6:21 AM

Also remember that scene 6 of the broadcast version of Objects in Space was removed from the DVD version of OiS, and can be seen on the deleted scenes portion of the special features. That is the scene where Mal and Inara are talking about her leaving, and removed because with the reearranging of Episodes it no longer made sense after the later filmed scene in HoG "I'm leaving". Numerous commentaries have mentioned that HoG scene was the last ever filmed on the original set, after all of The Message was done.

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Monday, June 30, 2008 9:38 AM

After successful recovery operations of my DTI copy, added a few things I had planned, to fill out the picture better.

WYTCHCROFT

Monday, June 30, 2008 4:43 PM

does the filming sequence definitely mean anything though?

i don't know enough about jos's preferred working methods - was buffy always filmed in airing order? i doubt it - but maybe it was.

BSG is filmed in sequence.

Dr Who still is not and never was.

Do you yourself have an order preference?

i think Objects ends the show on a lovely note - but The Message does too -

and HOG pre-figues Those Left Behind - and thus the BDM - very directly.

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Tuesday, July 1, 2008 6:29 AM

I prefer the original sequence filmed, unless there was an intentional backtrack. The post-cancellation rearrangement of the last 4 eps does not thrill me, and the Message was the best ending the show could have - just as Pilot Serenity was the best beginning the show could have had (rather than the final Fox broadcast).
Most eps clearly reference past eps. Some shows are not sequenced with episodes, Firefly is, and Joss intended for it to have overarcing storylines, character arcs, not merely episodal story arcs.

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Friday, March 20, 2009 7:23 AM

I finally found that the Friday night slot Firefly held was filled by Fastlane, switching from it's previous Wednesday night slot, starting on Jan 10, 2003.

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Thursday, April 23, 2009 6:27 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by yinyang:

That's really interesting. I might watch the episodes in the order they were filmed, to see how that changes things. It won't make a huge difference, though, because it's only the last four that are mixed up. And then, just for kicks, I might watch them in the order they aired, to get a feel for what it might have been like to watch the show in 2002.

Once a lurker, always a lurker.

How did that go for you? Remember to watch scene 6 of OiS when watching in filmed order.

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