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I just got through watching a TV series I bought as a boxed set. Apparently I missed the entire series when I was oversea's. I have to say it just screams SH roleplaying and I was extremely surprised it didn't make it. It is better than Enterprise or Voyager ever hoped to be. Anyway it is called Firefly and only has about 14 eps. Just thought I mention it.

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I also just got done watching it. Too bad it didn't survive the ratings game. I didn't have so much fun with any series since Babylon 5. (Funny, when it first aired, I saw the train robbery episode and wasn't impressed.)

 

The setting would work really well as a SH backdrop. I don't like the modern-day guns, but I understand that there were probably budget constraints. I also didn't much like the western feel. The characters are what really pulled me in. Jayne was the best! Vera rocks. I also thought River could have been a fun character to see developed ("Two by two with hands of blue.")

 

As a Star HERO setting, it is perfect. Lots of shady deals. An oppressive monolithic government (with cool ships). Lawless outposts. There are even secret societies and other organizations for character concepts. Overall, a fun idea to work with.

 

Sigh. Item number 472 on my list of "Someday I'll...."

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It's great to hear from some other folks who enjoyed Firefly. I was very sad when it got cancelled last year. There are rumblings that Joss Whedon is now trying to turn the story into a feature film, kinda the exact opposite he did with Buffy.

 

It is funny that you enjoyed Firefly but didn't enjoy the Western aspects to it. If you listen to Joss's commentary on the DVDs, he believes the Western influence goes to the core of Firefly. It's not just wearing boots and saying ain't.

 

Either way, I really enjoyed the show too and there have been other threads on here before about what we know exists in the Firefly universe and what we don't know. The hard question to answer when the show was on the air was whether the setting was interplanetary or intergalactic. From listening to some of the commentary, I now think the whole show was set in one solar system. The Alliance controls the core worlds, and folks like Captain Reynolds can and his crew make their living out on the fronteir worlds, further away from the Alliance. But, this is up for debate. :)

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FF

 

The western aspect made perfect sense once I got to watch the episodes in order. Fox apparently had it destined to fail right off the bat. They show them out of order - and there is a continuity in them so that screwed with it right there. THEN to make it worse they plop it down on Friday evening when most people in the age group they're after are off enjoying a weekend evening not watching the tube!

I didn't care for FF too much when it was on, but having gotten to watch the DVD set, in order things make SO much more sense.

I wish UPN would pick it up or something. There were so many unknowns with the characters. Oh well - rumor is that there may be a movie coming. Can only hope.

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I watched the series when it was on and loved it. I also bought the DVDs to refresh my memory.

 

There have long been rumors about a possible movie based on the series. Apparently, Joss Whedon & The cast actually want to do it, but as time goes on they will drift off into other projects.

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Originally posted by Rigel

The hard question to answer when the show was on the air was whether the setting was interplanetary or intergalactic.

 

I haven't listened to the commentary, yet, but my impression is that this takes place over an inhabited region of several star systems -- leastways, being in one system would seem awfully cramped to me. But, I can certainly the other point of view, too. :)

 

I loved the show, even more now that I have the DVDs and can see the series in the order it was meant to be seen. Curse Fox to the deepest, darkest pits of Hades for mishandling and then cancelling it. :mad:

 

And I can easily see this as a Heroic-level Star Hero game.

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Originally posted by Rigel

I

It is funny that you enjoyed Firefly but didn't enjoy the Western aspects to it. If you listen to Joss's commentary on the DVDs, he believes the Western influence goes to the core of Firefly. It's not just wearing boots and saying ain't.

 

Well, I should rather say that the Western aspects were transparent. I didn't not like them, but I really didn't go "Hey, Louie l"amor in Space! How cool is that!" either.

 

The Core worlds fit right into the setting just like the East Coast states did with the old west. They are the civilized, technologically advanced part of the setting. The outer worlds are the frontier, where local robber barons make the law. And space is No-Man's Land where one could run across "bloodthirsty injuns" (ravagers). It all makes perfect sense within the context of the setting.

 

The really interesting part is that, despite the Western cultural references, the tech was pretty modernish in appearance and application. If I were to compare it to the old west, I would say that the setting would be towards the end of the old west, when automobiles and telephones started to creep into the mix.

 

I wish there could be a movie, or better yet, a revival in the series. While I didn't listen to the commentary, I did watch the special features. In the 10th Character, only once or twice did one of the actors refer to Serenity as a set. Most of the time, they called it a ship. They obviously enjoyed working on the project and it showed in the quality of the characterization. I wonder if there are any Firefly advocacy groups on the net.

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I wasn't too excited when I saw the first episode broadcast. But I gave it a few episodes and it grew on me fast. If they had openned with the pilot and played them in order I would expect the series to have done a lot better.

 

If you haven't seen the series yet it is well worth buying / renting / borrowing from a friend the dvd set.

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I've heard it said that SciFi doesn't really embrace the idea of "outer space" sci fi. I was rather surprised that they even bothered with the remake of Battlestar Galactica. I guess emasculating many of the original characters was enough of a compromise to get them to commit. :)

 

I'll also bet that all them guns were a bit too politically incorrect for a channel that glorifies the utter uselessness of one of the most efficient personal weapons available.

 

Not that I have a beef against SciFi or anything.... :)

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I liked the episodes that I watched. But it got confusing with the continuity. Though I have to admit during the first episode i watched that I couldnt help but think about the anime shows Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star.:D (2 of my favorite animes by the way). Talking about how it relates to the west. The way they talked about some of the character getting displaced after losing the war made me think of how some of the rebels felt when they came home after the Civil War. (I am a little bit fuzzy on memory as this was a while ago when this was on).

 

But Sci-fi not liking "outer space" sci-fi? They just cut out half their subject potential right there.

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IMHO, Firefly was probably the best sci-fi show to come out in years. Stardreck SG-1 is a load of cliches (if there really was a Stargate, the fighting by the US MILITARY to get access to it would make any Gou'ld invasion look minor in comparison), Enterprise is boring, and I kind of gave up on Buffy when the angst levels got way too high.

 

Hey, any show that's 30th in sales on Amazon.com can't be wrong.

 

Hm...perhaps an official Firefly RPG, HERO 5th based?

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Yep, the Fox Execs wouldn't know a good show if it crawled up their legs and bit them where it hurts. Showing them out of order, and showing the bloody pilot episode as the series finale was a truly idiotic maneuver.

 

As far as the Slugthrowers, the best reasoning I've seen for them being there is that you don't need a serious technological base to construct them. Lasers require a lot of infrastructure to create the technological base needed to build them. Of course, their six-shooters looked like they had a lot more than six chambers in them...

 

I read today that the movie is inching forward, and they're looking to start filming later this spring.

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Originally posted by Caped Crusader

 

As far as the Slugthrowers, the best reasoning I've seen for them being there is that you don't need a serious technological base to construct them. Lasers require a lot of infrastructure to create the technological base needed to build them. Of course, their six-shooters looked like they had a lot more than six chambers in them...

 

Actually the thing that made me like the series was the clash between modern and primitive. The Core worlds were high-tech while the colonies degraded down to using draft animals. It makes perfect sense, to me anyway. Like CC said in the quote, the fringe worlds don't have a strong enough infrastructure to support very much tempremental technology so they would rely on things they could make or repair themselves. Draft animals are perfect, they breed, work and you can eat them. Slug throwers are the weapons of choice since you can always make new powder and bullets. Of course the guns used by the Serenity's crew were a step above our modern weapons, not only in rounds before reload, but there was a distinctive energy build-up when they were charged/readied/cocked.

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Draft animals are perfect, they breed, work and you can eat them

 

Or as Jayne says, "If wishes were horses, we'd all be eating steak.":D

 

Yeah, I really loved the show. I can't afford DVDs right now, but I'm getting them as soon as I can.

 

FOX is evil. And the sci-fi channel has turned into "crappy horror channel" I mean, I love the movie Tremors as much as anybody, (and more than anyone who doesn't love Kevin Bacon's butt) but the whole channel has become what would happen if ESPN said, "ew, stupid sports. Only dumb jocks like sports. Let's show crocheting instead."

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  • 2 weeks later...
Originally posted by badger3k

I haven't seen the show at all, and really haven't watched anything else from Whedon, so I have one question before I think about looking at it - how does the writing compare to the aliens movie?

Assuming you are talking about Alien4 (that Whedon has a credit on), it's LEAGUES better than Alien4.
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