Question about fox screwing up episode ordering
POSTED BY: spacediver
UPDATED: Sunday, November 6, 2005 00:47
VIEWED: 3241
PAGE 2 of 2
I believe there are several factors that led to the decisions Fox made in regard to episode order, and my opinion on one of them might not be that popular around here.
First off, yes they did think that "Serenity" (the pilot episode) was a bit slow and needed more action and humor, and they felt Mal was portrayed too dark and moody. But another factor in their decision to order "The Train Job" might have been that they wanted a one-hour pilot so they could premiere both Firefly and John Doe on the same night.
It is my opinion that after the low ratings for both "The Train Job" and "Bushwhacked" Fox decided to go with "Our Mrs. Reynolds" as the third episode, skipping over "Shindig" and "Safe." That might not have been a wise decision in the context of plot arc and character development, but I'm sure the Fox execs felt the humor, action (and sexual innuendo) in OMR was more likely to generate a favorable response than the other two eps.
There's another thing about the shows original run, that while not specifically addressed by the question in this thread, I would like to mention because it has been erroneously reported by many people at different times over the past three years. Some have said they had a hard time figuring out when it was going to be on because Fox kept changing it's schedule, but in point of fact Firefly always ran on Friday nights at 8pm Eastern time. Not the greatest time slot to be sure, and it was pre-empted several times for sports or holiday specials, once two weeks in a row. I am sure a lot of people thought it had already been canceled weeks before the actual fact, but Fox never moved it to another night.
wo men ren ran zai fei xing.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:You're quite correct. In point of fact, I was one of those fans who thought it had been cancelled before it actually was, and in consequence missed a couple of first-run eps.
Originally posted by ecgordon:
There's another thing about the shows original run, that while not specifically addressed by the question in this thread, I would like to mention because it has been erroneously reported by many people at different times over the past three years. Some have said they had a hard time figuring out when it was going to be on because Fox kept changing it's schedule, but in point of fact Firefly always ran on Friday nights at 8pm Eastern time. Not the greatest time slot to be sure, and it was pre-empted several times for sports or holiday specials, once two weeks in a row. I am sure a lot of people thought it had already been canceled weeks before the actual fact, but Fox never moved it to another night.
Of course, the fact that it was never moved in the schedule hardly excuses the networks' choice of a Friday 8:00PM time slot in the first place. Why would anyone schedule a show to run in the one time slot its target audience was least likely to be watching television?
I know a number of lifelong science fiction fans (who are now rabid Browncoats) who never even knew that Firefly existed until I lent them DVD #1 from my set, more than a year after the show was cancelled. They simply never watched any TV on Friday evenings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ain't about you, Jayne. It's about what they need.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME