Serenity, sweet Serenity... sniff, sniff

from JoeUser Forums
HBO is running one of my favorite movies tonite (and earlier in the day), based on one of my all time favorite TV series -- shortlived though it may have been -- Firefly. The movie was appropriately named Serenity, as that was the name of the ship, ooops make that "boat" that the crew of pirates/robin hood types went flying around the 'verse in as they pulled odd jobs and tried to make a living wage.

I've written about Serenity in the past, and a bit about Firefly also. It was a great series, and a great movie. Sadly one that many people seemed to have missed or ignored along the way.

I still bump into people that tell me they've never seen the show, nor the movie, and though I wish I could say I was surprised, I'm not. The TV series was handled badly by FOX (airing shows out of order, and airing the show on a bad television viewership night). The movie got slightly better treatment, but because many people had never heard of the show there was just not that much interest in the film.

In anycase, I watched a bit of the film earlier as I didn't notice it was on until late. Now I have my TiVo box recording a copy, even though I have the movie on DVD. I can't start watching the movie without being terribly sad that the many stories that could have been told about the crew and the ship will never come. I wish I could enjoy the pleasure of many more episodes along the way, and lots of adventures to watch and enjoy.

Not to denigrate the Star Trek franchise, but the crew of Serenity could have given those folks a run for the money if they had just a bit more support from the network(s) along the way.
19,659 views 14 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
This sentimental tear is for you Joss Whedon, Nathon Fillion, Gina Torres and friends.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
Gee, here I was wondering what the heck did I do now?...ROFL....I have such a big head!!


I agree with you though. It's sad that the movie and the series didn't get the respect it deserved. I love Gina Torres, she's so fierce and what ever she does is good! Maybe there will be hope that one of those hapless network, newer cable channels will want to do more? We can continue to bite our fingernails or just wither away with the memory of it. Wah!
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
It was the greatest, bar none, sci-fi series ever made. Too bad we only got half a season.

I believe that it was one of the most believeable, likeable casts on TV (and on the big screen). It's what the future will really be like, not some homogenized Star Trek version of things.
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
Shiny!
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
I watched last night, my first viewing. Well-written, great dialog. I was very impressed.
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
I watched the movie after reading one of your articles here and I enjoyed it EXCEPT the way the captain talked drove me crazy. I then watched the shows on SciFi but the way the captain talked drove me crazy.
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
It's a western, locomama. Don't you get tired of shows where the plot takes place vast distances away in space and time and yet everyone talks just as we do?

You can't travel more than a few hundred miles without dealing with new accents and vernacular here on Earth. Yet for some reason people on the outskirts of civilization out in space should talk the way we do? Ponder how the people on the outskirts of civilization here spoke in the American frontier as opposed to the city dwellers, and I think you'll understand why the captain talked that way.
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
It's a western, locomama. Don't you get tired of shows where the plot takes place vast distances away in space and time and yet everyone talks just as we do?


Baker, I see your point but it still drove me crazy.
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
Baker, I see your point but it still drove me crazy.


Nathan Fillion also has -- at least in the characters I've seen -- a certain way of "speechifying" his dialogue. Actually, I'm thinking he'd fit in incredibly well in an Aaron Sorkin show of just about any type if given the opportunity, but that's neither here nor there.

I enjoyed Mal's (his character in Firefly) character a lot. He was certainly flawed, but he cared deeply about his crew and those that depended upon him. That was something that the movie Serenity brought out very well and expounded upon from the TV series. The series introduced some of those traits but didn't flesh them out for us. Of course that wouldn't have been easy in just a dozen or so episodes of a TV series, but I give Joss Whedon credit for trying.

I remember a few episodes fo Buffy the Vampire Slayer that Nathan Fillion was also in and admired the intensity he brought to his role there. Same writer though (for the most part) and many of the same properties in evidence in his role there.
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
Same writer though (for the most part) and many of the same properties in evidence in his role there.


But decidedly creepier . . .
Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top
I remember a few episodes fo Buffy the Vampire Slayer that Nathan Fillion was also in and admired the intensity he brought to his role there.


I liked him better as Caleb.
Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top
I saw a couple episodes on a Sci-Fi channel marathon a while back and was hooked. I bought the series and movie on DVD and absolutely devoured them in 2-3 sittings.
Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top
Firefly is on scifi as we speak. It's nice to have a job where I can watch TV when I want.
Reply #14 from JoeUser Forums Top
Firefly is on scifi as we speak. It's nice to have a job where I can watch TV when I want.


Over on Bravo's BrilliantButCancelled.com web site there are tons of comments, as there have been in other places, with suggestions that NBC/Universal (parents of SciFi Network) would be well served to bring the crew of Firefly/Serenity back in some way, shape or form.

I'd love to see a series of made for TV movies, or perhaps some special mini-series type events for Firefly. Even with some of the original cast missing for assorted reasons (including events portrayed in the movie), the stories that could still be told are important and would be great fun to see.

I don't know if it would ever happen. I'm hopeful, but doubtful, about such things happening. There are too many people out that pooh-pooh the series and it's growing (slowly but surely) legion of fans. It would be a great thing, and something I'd pay money for. For that matter, if a network like Showtime had taken up the cause and picked up the series, I'd have been one of the first in line to hand them my money for the monthly subscription.

Of course I've said the same thing about great shows like Arrested Development (when it was on and still a possibility for appearing on another network) and nothing became of same.

Some network executives are just too stupid to hold the jobs that they have, yet somehow they do hold them and fans of quality TV shows -- especially SciFi type shows -- are left longing.