Should I Watch The Episodes In Chronological Production Order Or By Air Date Order?
POSTED BY: FilmCritic3000
UPDATED: Friday, March 28, 2003 22:34
VIEWED: 5921
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I believe the production order listed IS the intended viewing order. Whedon shows tend to be linear in character development. Whedon's other shows are presented in the production order and I don't see why Firefly would be any different.
If Firefly is watched in the order of the third list (identified by you as the 'intended' order), the character development and narrative flow of the show becomes very choppy.
I wish I still had the link, but I remember reading that the early order of Firefly's presentation was switched around (possibly by Fury) at the behest of the network. Fox wanted more sci fi and less western. You'll notice the production order (which I maintain is the intended order) is heavily western early on.
And, yes, Fox itself is the creator of the "previously on..." and "on the next Firefly..." bumpers at the beginning and end of each episode. Why do you think they make the episodes look so cheesy?
Believe me, and I'm sure it'll come out in the DVD set whenever we see that... Fox did more to the sequence of Firefly than show 'Serenity' last.
mattro
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Quote:
Originally posted by PhysicsChick:
I had thought the "Previously on..." segments were put together by Fox to remind everyone what they had shown, since they left such large gaps between some shows (ruttin' baseball).
No, the "previously" clips are done by ME (specifically, Lisa Lassek, the editor), and are technically considered part of the episodes. FOX has nothing to do with them. However, you are right that FOX does do the promotional advertising for "Firefly," but I guess that part's pretty obvious.
Quote:
Originally posted by PhysicsChick:
Where did you see that Tim Minear had changed the order? I would love to see a reference on that claim...
What you want to check out is Tim Minear's Cult Times interview from December. He spends most of the time talking about "Angel," though. The reason he pushed back "Shindig," was because it was such an offbeat episode (from the Godess of Comedy, Jane Espenson), and to air it third while trying to build up a following might have and been so good. And "Safe" was pushed back because it takes place directly afterwards.
And I'm assuming that "Objects in Space" aired instead of "Heart of Gold" because it was a Joss episode, and it was thought that it could get better ratings than a non-Joss episode. At this point, the ratings would have been a crucial thing. (This part is all my speculation, because the interview took place before all this.)
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Quote:
Originally posted by Hjermsted:
If Firefly is watched in the order of the third list (identified by you as the 'intended' order), the character development and narrative flow of the show becomes very choppy.
As I said earlier, I believe the opposite is true. "Ariel" seems to take place directly after "Safe."
I believe what you are directly referring to is the Kaylee/Simon moments in "Jaynestown" and "Safe." These could really happen in either order, though, and pretty much the same thing happens in both:
1.Kaylee shows a sign of affection towards Simon. (In "Jaynestown," the reverse also happens.)
2.Simon says/does something to piss Kaylee off.
3.Their relationship is temporarily broken.
Quote:
Originally posted by Hjermsted:
I wish I still had the link, but I remember reading that the early order of Firefly's presentation was switched around (possibly by Fury) at the behest of the network. Fox wanted more sci fi and less western. You'll notice the production order (which I maintain is the intended order) is heavily western early on.
Umm...David Fury never worked on "Firefly." I suppose the episode switching could have been influenced by FOX, but it wasn't done by FOX. Another point of interest is that "Jaynestown" was a very Western episode, yet its position wasn't changed.
Quote:
Originally posted by Hjermsted:
And, yes, Fox itself is the creator of the "previously on..." and "on the next Firefly..." bumpers at the beginning and end of each episode. Why do you think they make the episodes look so cheesy?
Umm...no; well, yeah.
Cheesy? I really like the "previously" montages...Joss uses them for all his shows.
Proof that FOX doesn't make the "previously" segments (which are part of the episodes):
Have you ever watched a syndicated episode of "Buffy", or any other show with a complex storyline...Did you notice that the "previously" segment was the exact same as in the original airing?...You didn't think some affiliate station produced it, did you?
Quote:
Originally posted by Hjermsted:
Believe me, and I'm sure it'll come out in the DVD set whenever we see that... Fox did more to the sequence of Firefly than show 'Serenity' last.
I suppose the only way to settle this is to see what order the episodes come out in when released on DVD, and even that won't necessarily give a definitive answer.
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Quote:
Umm...David Fury never worked on "Firefly." I suppose the episode switching could have been influenced by FOX, but it wasn't done by FOX. Another point of interest is that "Jaynestown" was a very Western episode, yet its position wasn't changed.
My bad. I meant Tim Minear, of course...
I'm guessing the reason 'Jaynestown' (a heavily western episode) was moved up in the order was because it featured Adam Baldwin, the only member of the ensemble who could be described as "a known quantity"... other than Ron Glass.
mattro
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