Total newb, just watched the entire series - HOLY SH*T

POSTED BY: bogmonkey
UPDATED: Friday, October 30, 2009 07:03
VIEWED: 7305
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BOGMONKEY

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 6:48 PM

A feeling of guilt and regret consumed me after sitting down over a few days and watching this thing from beginning to end.

WHY or HOW did I not see this series when it was on TV? This show is probably one of the best series I have EVER seen, and I say that without exaggeration. To think that if more had been introduced to it, it might still be on.

CAST: Best ensemble cast I have ever watched on screen. Makes Star Trek (in all of it's incarnations) seem absolutely plastic and pathetic in comparison.

WRITING: Best writing in a TV series I can recall. Northern Exposure and Buffy(of course) are up in this realm for me. Compelling stories, but not afraid to show humor and quirkiness in the face of annihilation.

SETTING: This is no polished, unbelievable polyester-suit-wearing, haughty space opera. This feels REAL. The fact that they never really explain all of the backstory is KEY...you can guess that Chinese society and culture took over and can figure out most of the Chinese sayings by the context. Letting the audience figure this stuff out is crucial to an excellent series. You can guess that "Earth That Was" was probably taken out in some stupid war...There are lots of little things Whedon lets in with zero backstory, just to make your mind work backwards and think of all the possibilities.

I am now a Firefly fan FOREVER...can't wait to buy this set for my lown (watched a friends).

BEST BEST BEST BEST

Finding something this new and fresh give sme chills.

Bog

ZEEK

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 6:52 PM

Ah I miss that feeling. I assume you know about the movie Serenity. There are also some comic books out there.

Enjoy the freshness of the series. Once I watched it over an over again I started to just wish for new material.

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 7:15 PM

Welcome to the party!

ASARIAN

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 7:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bogmonkey:

A feeling of guilt and regret consumed me after sitting down over a few days and watching this thing from beginning to end.

WHY or HOW did I not see this series when it was on TV?

Welcome to the tormented souls who long for more!

BTW, you wanna know about real feelings of guilt and regret? I've always genuinely believed I stumbled onto Firefly early 2006, right after the BDM. Until, very recently, I burst a memory cap or some such, and suddenly remembered that someone actually DID introduce mw to Firefly, as soon as 2003 no less! A friend of mine mentioned this new SF series, said it was pretty good, but... I brushed it off, saying SF and Western don't mix or something, and never gave it any more thought. I also (vaguely) recall the name River Tam being mentioned every once in a while (probably on sites, via their viral River Tam Sessions campaign; or fanart). I must have repressed this memory or something, because when I found Serenity / Firelfly (in that order) in 2006, it was completely new to me -- as if I'd never even heard of it before.

So, how's that for regret and guilt? :) Apparently I did not just miss it back then, but totally ignored it! On purpose! Regretful!? Ain't We Just!?

--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam

BYTEMITE

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 7:21 PM

Welcome!

Don't blame yourself about not seeing it, a lot of people didn't. Heck, I've only been around here for about a year now myself.

I'm about to say something that a lot of other fandoms give us browncoats flak about, but Firefly's ratings and cancellation really WAS bad marketing, lack of promotion, and poor decision-making in regards to Fox.

But there's always hope in this verse... Might be teeny tiny, crushed under the diabolical machinery of legal issues and franchise rights, but always hope. Universal and Fox wouldn't have argued over the MMO-RPG if they didn't smell the money in the water they've been missing out on. And Fox's rights expire in 2012, if Dollhouse doesn't come up with any offers for Whedon.

And if you're into fanfic, you can find continuations of the verse in whatever form you like it in the Blue Sun Room.

There's also the Real World Event Discussion boards, lots of debate always going on there and no moderators. We keep it pretty civil, but since it is a political discussion board, the usual obligatory warnings apply.

There's not too much arguing on the rest of the boards, it does come up now and then, but mostly we get along well.

Enjoy your stay.

BYTEMITE

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 7:25 PM

Wow, Asarian, that sounds a lot like my story. I know I saw people on the internet saying a lot of gorramns and I've had a friend who's been apparently trying to get me to watch it for years but I was too thick to pick up the hints.

Saw the movie, liked it and quickly forgot about it. My friend showed me the Serenity RPG book, LOVED it, didn't even realize it was connected to the movie! Forgot about it. After being shown several TIMES. Then I saw Dr. Horrible, started checking around, my friend mentioned Firefly AGAIN, and I finally got a clue!

FLORALBUNNY

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 8:11 PM

Welcome, bogmonkey!
You are #38099 to sign on to our shiny crew here at FFF.net.
Please have a few strawberries and a mug of mudder's milk while somebody finds the key to the closet where the virtual browncoats are kept so you can be issued the proper attire.
BYO slanty gunbelt and pistol.

bun
bastards singed my turtle

SISTER

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 8:17 PM

best. show. ever.
welcome to the crew.

BOGMONKEY

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 8:26 PM

If anyone has any recommendations on the "best" fanfic on this site I would appreciate it. (Author or Titles).

I realize "best" is a subjective term, but I'm talking quality of writing and story solidity in a general "best" sense.

Hell, this thing has me inspired to possibly delve into the Verse (I write a bit)...The possible story arcs are infinite and the characters have only just begun to be fleshed out. I looked at the library for 'Star Wars' style books on Firefly and was sadly dissapointed to see nothing but some graphic novels (which are cool, but don't expand and juicify the Verse like a good novel can).

All through the series I kept saying to myself: "this just can't work...Old West society structure in space..? No way!"...and kept being dumbfounded by how well it DID WORK.

F-ing Whedon is a genius. I've known it since Buffy...and should have known it when this came out and caught it then. NEVER DOUBT WHEDON

Now I'm wondering if I should be watching Dollhouse...sh*t..

B

NIKI2

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 8:41 PM

Most welcome to the 'Verse! Ah, dear, I, too, remember the joy of first viewing...and I, too, envy you. Even tho' I'm also a latecomer (within the past year). how I wish I could see it again from the start!

Like Byte, I first rented Serenity from the video store just 'cuz the jacket sounded interesting. I REALLY liked the movie, but there appeared to be no sequel or anything, so again like Byte, I sighed and forgot about it.

A year later I somehow stumbled across mention of the series on a website somewhere--had heard of it, but thought it was some kind of western about a girl and a horse or something. Rented it, fell in love immediately, joined a fan website for the first time in my life (not this one, but this is the BEST), and learned about Serenity. Rented same...and somehow it seemed familiar. Realized it was the movie I liked so much from a year past! Bought both series and movie and re-watch muchly.

The saga of the Browncoats, how they struggled to keep Firefly alive, how they virtually GOT Serenity made, how loyal they've been for all these years, how loyal the cast has been to THEM, is a long and glorious one. I strongly recommend reading up on it or seeing (if it's for rent), "Fan's Tale of Firefly and Serenity". They did the impossible, and it's impressive...a testament to the fact that there are MANY people like you all over the world who have fallen in love immediately and never want to give up hope of more--or at the very least, want to be with others who share the love.

The appeal is universal, and you nailed all the reasons perfectly. I talked about it incessantly to my husband and our roommate, and eventually "exposed" both. Roommate is in her 50s, most pragmatic person I know, not into movies, not into TV or sci fi. She's ready for her second go-around (also rarely watches anything twice). I'm in my 60s and the love affair will never end for me.

My husband has liked some sci fi in the past and does like westerns, but he's 71 and VERY picky about TV shows/movies he actually likes. After one epi, he refused to watch more than one epi a weekend, wants to eat it slowly because it's the finest thing he's ever seen on TV...and even took up Buffy, to my total shock, and is enjoying it as a "filler" between epis.

He watches each epi of Firefly at least twice--something he doesn't do normally either--and ends each viewing by swearing mightily at the stupidity of TV, where assinine sitcoms last for years and years, yet something as great as Firefly never even made it a season. Sometimes I think he gets angrier that there's no more than he actually enjoys the epi (not true, of course, but you know what I mean by now!).

So it crosses all generations--the son of the accountant in his office, early teens, overheard Jim talking to me on the phone and burst out with "You like Firefly????"...I meet Browncoats and/or fans everywhere I go (I often wear my Serenity or Firefly T-shirts), most recently two days ago in the See's candy store. It's all over the world; if you want to learn more, you'll learn LOTS, like the annual screenings of Serenity which contribute to Joss' favorite charity, Equality Now; the comics (as mentioned); the events; a couple of fascinating books called "Finding Serenity" and "Serenity Found"...and I'm into my third book, "The Psychology of Joss Whedon". The man is fascinating, and has several books written about his accomplishments and thinking--by Phd's and other professionals!

The lead of Firefly, Nathan Fillion, has his own network TV show now, Castle, which many of us follow regularly. There are several threads about it (starting with "Tonight is the night!" in Castle Forum) which include videos from Hulu, etc., showing Fillion dressing as his character in Firefly (Mal) as a Halloween costume on his new show. Browncoats everywhere got a real kick out of it. The cast adored the show and I don't think have ever changed their feelings about it...for good reason!

Please stick around; you'll find tons t