Did the terrible theme song lead to the demise of the show? by KD

TALK STORY

Did the terrible theme song lead to the demise of the show?

POSTED BY: KD
UPDATED: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 19:15
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VIEWED: 22671
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Tuesday, November 8, 2005 4:38 PM

does it make much difference, if it was done for the newbies or not?

now all i need is a big gun and a "very fine hat"...

Reavers ate my homework

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Tuesday, November 8, 2005 4:51 PM

JOSSISAGOD

Not a gorram bit!

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Tuesday, November 8, 2005 5:09 PM

REDREAVER

that's what i thought.

now all i need is a big gun and a "very fine hat"...

Reavers ate my homework

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Wednesday, November 9, 2005 4:54 AM

MISSKITTEN

Quote:
Originally posted by fray101:
What's more pertinent perhaps, as raised in one of the essays in "Finding Serenity" is that Joss was taking a risk creating a western when there's little interest in those anymore.

Joss is a guy who loves risks, I mean, back when he was making Buffy, people kept telling him, they loved the dialogue and *that* was what made it a great show, so not long after he made "Hush" an episode with most of the portion not having any dialogue at all.

I love that about him, he doesn't safe out on anything, he goes the full length to do what he wants to do and not been afraid to challenge himself.

And I too love the theme song, have from the start, and I'm a girl that usually *hates* country music. And I mean hate with passion. But I *love* that song... lol

*~*~*

"Joss, if you kill him now I'll stuff a compression coil up your ass sideways!"
~ Kaylee, "Serenity in 2000 words or less"

Kaylee's the perfect woman!

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Wednesday, November 9, 2005 5:34 AM

LUCKYSPENCER7

granted, I didn't like the theme song the first few times I heard it, but there are worse themes and their shows go on to be terribly successful. 'course I don't watch these shows, so I don't have a lot of examples, but Dawson's Creek comes to mind...

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Wednesday, November 9, 2005 9:01 AM

REDREAVER

Quote:
Originally posted by misskitten:

Joss is a guy who loves risks, I mean, back when he was making Buffy, people kept telling him, they loved the dialogue and *that* was what made it a great show, so not long after he made "Hush" an episode with most of the portion not having any dialogue at all.

now see, that just makes me want to watch Buffy....

now all i need is a big gun and a "very fine hat"...

Reavers ate my homework

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Saturday, December 3, 2005 12:20 PM

CBY

On the theme question: I don't think it had a bad effect as the "Enterprise" theme had on that show for instance. The latter was just misplaced - the Firefly-Song was not.

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Saturday, December 3, 2005 12:26 PM

VIOLETRIX

i didn't like the song at first, but it really grew on me. i love it now.

now it could be argued that enterprise got cancelled because of a bad theme song. that was messing with tradition.

http://violetrix.blogspot.com

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Saturday, December 10, 2005 5:35 AM

TRAINEEALTERNATE

First time I heard it, I couldn't figure out what was going on; a folk-sy, almost romantic song stuck in what was advertised as an action-comedy...it just didn't make sense.

When they started discussing survival philosophy and seriously creating individual characters, it started to make more sense. The song's itself is a little out of place, but it fits with rest of the musical interludes and the mood of the show.

---------------------------------------------
"Pretty lights...angels.... [thud.]"
"That's why I never kiss them on the mouth."
"When do I get to get sexed up?!"
"This is my most favorite-est gun..."
"Y'mean she's a witch?!" ...." She's in Congress?!?!"

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Saturday, December 10, 2005 5:55 AM

HAZE

I tried doing an Irish Ballad version of the Ballad of Serenity once. It was interesting. It ended up being quite long with all the “TaaaAAaaaAAaake myyy Looooove, TaaAAAaaAAake myyyyyy Laaaand” stuff but the lyrics fit nicely.

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Who do you suppose is in there?

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Saturday, December 10, 2005 6:12 AM

XEROGRAVITY

I hated the FF theme song first time I heard it. No big fan of twangy cowboy blues. But, I came to love the show, then I actually absorbed the lyrics in the song, and voila. I'm loving it. It fits with the theme of the show. Imagine if it had been placed to 70's disco music or rapped to a 90's hiphop beat. Or whatever is new and modern. Would it have had that retro-ific feel to it?

I loved the FF theme. When I didn't find it present at the beginning of Serenity, the movie didn't feel like the show. Frankly, Whedon sold out where I'm concerned (and no, that little acoustical ditty at the end of the credits doesn't make up for it). The song should have been the first thing we heard.

Tip of the hat to you Zoic. I am a Trek lovver, and I hate, loathe, and detest the Enterprise theme music. I endured 4 years of that misery hoping the show wouldn't suck as bad as the opening song. It's the dumbest and most suicidal marketing disaster in the history of a 40 year scifi franchise. It felt like Yanni meets Michael Bolton. Only cheesier.

Brought to you by Berman-Braga. The duo who publicly hated their fanbase.

XG

No such thing as gravity. The "Earth-that-was" just sucks.

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Saturday, December 10, 2005 6:24 AM

HAZE

They couldn’t use it. Fox owns the theme song. Apparently all they could swing was that little arrangement at the end of the movie. Better than noting.

--------------------------------------------------
Who do you suppose is in there?

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Saturday, December 10, 2005 7:14 AM

THATWEIRDGIRL

I haven't really read this thread...most of it. It seems to me we're talking about to different things here: 1) The quality of The Ballad of Serenity, 2) The use of that song as the theme song.

1) Love the song. Everything you all have said about its goodness is true. Great song. Great meaning. Great music.

2) Poor choice of theme song. In the context of Scifi, heck, in the context of westerns, shows should not have a sitcom theme. Words and stuff. That’s Different Strokes and Family Ties and Friends. Traditionally, a successful sci-fi show (and often western) has an instrumental theme. Those that fail tend to deviate from this path. Now, if the ballad had been spoken word, it may have worked.

You may think it’s a silly observation, but watchers have their little idiosyncrasies. We watch for formulas we like. When I hear an instrumental or a spoken intro, I know I’m more likely to watch the show. That’s just the way it is.

I love singing my Serenity Ballad.

www.thatweirdgirl.com
---
"...turn right at the corner then skip two blocks...no, SKIP, the hopping-like thing kids do...Why? Why not?"

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Saturday, December 10, 2005 11:27 PM

XEROGRAVITY

Where are you getting this from TWG?

There is no traditional scifi theme music. The Original Star Trek was a weird dip into synth with a chorus of screeching weirdness. The music made the show. You think Shatner getting his shirt torn in battle (show a little flesh) and romancing alien chicks every episode was the beating heart of the show? (ok, well it was a big part of it, but without the weird-ass music it would have never got past the pilot episode).

All the other trek shows were Star Wars-ian takeoffs... great orchestral piece of music with an amazing CGI graphics piece of film art attached. I can't hum the ST Next Gen theme, or the DS9 or Voyager theme, but I can hum TOS. And I've seen every ep of each. Just not very memorable. Enterprise's theme song was torture, a thing you desperately want to forget (like the whole first 3 of the 4 seasons).

I love the whole Trek cannon and the music (minus Enterprise). And strangely enough, I hate the first 3 seasons of Enterprise 10X more than I love the whole Trek cannon. Even stranger, the 4th and final season of Enterprise (God bless Manny Coto and crew), was the best season in all of Trek history. Minus the final episode which was stolen away from them and written by Berman-Braga. They called it a "valentine" to the fans. It gets no odder than that, but then I've been a fan since the beginning.

As an "odd" aside... the absolute coolest music in scifi ever was the background music from the original "...In Search Of". Even blew away the Star Wars music. Just my personal opinion.

XG

No such thing as gravity. The "Earth-that-was" just sucks.

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Friday, December 23, 2005 11:20 PM

J6NGO1977

I wasn't too sure about the theme song myself but after watching the show and a few listens I now love it. It's a song of hope and freedom and pretty damn cathchy as well. When my tedious, corporate, depressing job gets me down I can sing in my head 'I don't care I'm still free, you cannot take the sky from me' and this brings a smile to my face. Like bloody today Christmas Eve and I'm at work :(

Was not the song that created the demise of the show It was the corporate idiots that the theme song is rebelling against.

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Wednesday, January 4, 2006 2:39 AM

DAISYCUTTER

Quote:
Originally posted by KD:
I mean, I think Joss Whedon may have a good sense of dialogue but that song is awful.
Can anyone tell me where in the show the movie takes place? Is it just a remake of the episode Serenity or does it start after Rivers and the Doctor have joined the crew?

I'm pretty sure Mal said it has been 8 months since they took River and Simon onboard (somewhere in the movie)

________________________________________________
"When you can't run, you shoot. When you can't shoot, you run a bit more. When, you get shot in the leg, you crawl. When you crawl, you try to bite the shooters kneecaps off. When you are knocked unconcious, well you know the rest."

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Wednesday, January 4, 2006 2:52 AM

DAX82

I think the theme song was great. It set the tone for what you were about to see perfectly. I cant imagine how many times ive watched Firefly on dvd, but I know its alot. Since I first saw the show to the present Ive never skipped the theme song.

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Friday, January 6, 2006 1:43 PM

CHELBY

Hi there,
I woudl like to know where u got the ringtone for your cell phone, I want it badly. i ove the song o much i have it on my computer. thanks chelby

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Friday, January 6, 2006 1:44 PM

CHELBY

Hi there,
I woudl like to know where u got the ringtone for your cell phone, I want it badly. i ove the song o much i have it on my computer. thanks chelby

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Tuesday, January 10, 2006 3:53 PM

KERRETOM

First of all I hate country music!

That said, The Ballad of Serenity is stuck in my head! I haven't watched an episode in a week, and I'm still obsessing over the song!

Serenity takes part a year after the first episode. Simon says this when he says, "Kaylee, in almost the year that I've been here, the only thing I regret is not being with you." Or something to that effect. Anyways, he says it's almost a year. (Sorry, seen Serenity once, everyfirefly about a million times!"

"This woman's a witch!"
"Yeah, but she's our witch, so cut her the hell down!"

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Wednesday, January 11, 2006 10:29 AM

JERASTREN

Quote:
Originally posted by KD:
I mean, I think Joss Whedon may have a good sense of dialogue but that song is awful.
Can anyone tell me where in the show the movie takes place? Is it just a remake of the episode Serenity or does it start after Rivers and the Doctor have joined the crew?

I must say that I really enjoyed the 'Ballad of Serenity', it's one of the best tracks on the soundtrack CD (Along with the music played at Tracey's funeral...so sad)

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Monday, January 23, 2006 12:55 PM

SHINEY777

I love the theme music. Can't get the gorram thing out of my head. It soothes me.

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Monday, January 23, 2006 1:07 PM

QUEENOFTHENORTH

I am a self-proclaimed country music hater. That being said, I adore the Firefly theme and sing along with it all the time. So does my cousin. But anyway, I don't think theme music affects a show's viewers. There is such a thing as a mute button for the credits.

"I'm having one of those things - a headache with pictures."

"Of course I'm right. And if I'm not, may we all be horribly crushed from above somehow."

Like books? Go to this thread: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=14862
to find out how to buy mine!

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Monday, January 23, 2006 1:38 PM

LOOTZEE

Quote:
Originally posted by Daikath:
It still aint as bad as..

'It's been a long road, getting from there to here, i't's been along time but my time is finally here. I can feel the change in the wind right now, nothing is in my way and they are not gonna me hold no more, no they are not gonna hold me down. Cuz I got faith the heart.'

Etc

Yes that is bad but I am old enough to remember the theme to the movie BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25th century

it started with "far beyond this world we known far beyond the star......"

thank god the drugs block out the rest

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006 7:15 PM

RIVER6213

I loved the Firefly theme song from the moment I heard it to now.

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