How did you discover Firefly? by danharlow

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

How did you discover Firefly?

POSTED BY: DANHARLOW
UPDATED: Tuesday, August 30, 2005 18:08
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VIEWED: 4989
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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 7:17 AM

Hello

I am sure many of the people on this board were fans of the show when it was on air so I feel bad that I was not a part of Firefly from the beginning. I had heard of the show when it was being broadcast, but just barely. I think I remember reading somewhere on some back page of some magazine or newspaper that Firefly was an excellent show but it never really got my attention. Of course part of me is glad I did not have to endure the pain of cancellation but events like that do bring communities together and great things can happen.

The real shame is that the studio did such a poor job of pushing the show. With so much talent that Joss was able to muster and his own credibility riding high from Buffy one would think the studio would have tried harder to get the word out to people like me who do not normally watch television.

Alas, the show came and went and I was unaware of pretty much the entire series. Until ...

A friend of my roommate owns the DVD set and has loaned it out to everyone who is even remotly interested in the show. We decided to take him up on the offer after seeing the trailer for Serenity. That trailer really caught my eye because they seemed to be focusing more on character and story then on action. I have worked in movie theaters for years as a projectionist and have seen literally thousands of trailers so I know what to look for in them. Serenity for me just stood out for all the right reasons and it looked like it was not your standard "action, sci-fi fluff".

A few weeks later we got ahold of the DVD set and planned to spend a few weeks watching a few episodes at a time just like we did with the original Battlestar Galactica series. Well two days later we were done with the DVD set and we were both hooked. I love this show and am very excited for the film.

I was lucky to have a friend who owned this DVD set and I am buying it as well so that not only can I watch it over and over again but so I can loan it out to my friends for them to discover as well.

What a great experience! I am so glad I found something to really get caught up in and I am glad there is such a great community out here to discuss the show and to be part of something special.

I don't know if there are any older threads pertaining to how anyone else discovered the show, if there are I apoligize, there's just alot of threads to read through :) but I am interested in learning how any of you found the show since, in my opinion, the studio did such a terrible job promoting the series to the general public.

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 7:36 AM

ODDNESS2HER

It's been covered before, but what the heck:

Already being a Joss Whedon fan, I had heard the buzz about his upcoming show. I was one of those who watched every episode Fox aired, for all the good it did.

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 8:33 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

I caught the show from the beginning, though I must admit that the "Train Job" left me trying to figure out who was who & why they were on the ship on the first place. Of course we have Fox to thank for that don't we?

When Mal kicked Crow through Serenity's port engine I burst out laughing and was hooked from that point on.

__________________________________________

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Fans:

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/richmondbrowncoats/

http://www.richmondbrowncoats.org

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 8:34 AM

INDIANABANZAI

Saw the commercials, caught the first episode after a baseball game on FOX (Giants/Cardinals, I think), liked what I saw, watched the next couple of episodes and I was hooked.

So yeah, Browncoat since the premiere.

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 8:50 AM

AUROTER

Recent browncoat. As in, this year. Someone mentioned it to me, but they didn't have time to go into details. I heard the word "Cancelled" and figured it wasn't really all that great. I was new to Buffy and Angel at the time, having only seen a couple of random episodes which I wasn't terribly exited about it.

Anyway, my girlfriend forced me into it and I've loved it ever since. It was of course followed up with Buffy and Angel and Joss Whedon has become God.

______________________________
you can't take the sky from me

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 9:06 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Because one friend of mine in particular was a huge Buffy/Angel fan, I couldn't escape hearing about Joss Whedon. When I heard of this thing called FIREFLY he had coming up in the fall, I figured it was worthy. I mean, space hookers? C'mon!

I freely admit, it didn't completely grab me at first ( thanks for airing the Train Job first, Fox

), but I stuck with it. Through the baseball playoffs and everything, I became totally hooked.

Right away, I knew it was different than anything I had seen before. A show set in the future, w/ out green alien babes, tribbles or light sabers had no hope of being any good, right? It was far better than 'good', it was phenominal!

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 9:08 AM

STILLSHINY

Allow me to testify! *waving white hanky tent-meeting style*

My conversion story is kinda basic. I watched the show from the first episode. I was actually hooked by "The Train Job" It's funny I've heard this episode catch so much flack, I loved it. I actually liked the fact that Mal & crew were not "Heroes in white hats." They were just plain thieves, I didn't care why. But then to see the development of character & conscience by the end of the episode really drew me in. I kept watching till the show was ripped from the air.

Months later I was at a friends house & he was showing me episodes of Farscape on his computer. I asked him if he could try to find Firefly for me. It became a steady occurance. We'd meet up at church, say our typical greetings and then he would hook me up with a CD of my next Firefly episode.

My wife & I would sit infront of our old archaic PC and watch them. This system was so slow that the audio sync was about 5 seconds off. It was more like watching a slide-show with dialog. Still we loved the show. I then became a regular here on FFF.net. And bought the DVD's as soon as they hit the shelves. I tell everyone about Firefly & Serenity.

I love Fireflyfans.net. I'm here daily. I love this community of folk.This is my second home.

The greatest influence of Firefly on my life has been the phrase Find a crew, find a job, keep flying. When life gets difficult I fall back on this thought. My wife is the greatest crew a captain could ask for. I've got a job. It may not be the greatest but it's a job, and I do my best. And finally, no matter what happens you just keep moving forward, You don't give up, you don't quit. You keep flying. It may not sound like much, but it's enough.

"We had ties that could not be broken, except by the passing of time. Like a rock. A broken time rock. And you're very special to me, my broken time rock people." - Nathan Fillion

Stillshiny's Shop - I'm thinkin we rose again

http://www.spreadshirt.com/shop.php?sid=4728

Listen to "The Signal" www.serenityfirefly.com

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 9:16 AM

SHORNY

Firefly Saved my Life

Ok not really but during Firefly’s run, I was working 11 hours a day 6 days a week at a job I hated. It was a really bad time for me and Firefly was the one hour of joy in my otherwise tragic life (ok I did have Buffy, but it's just not the same).

My first episode was “The Train Job”, but I only saw the second half of it. When Mal Kicked Crow throw the engine I knew this was a great show. I spend the next year kicking myself that I missed the pilot because I was lost as to who everyone was on the ship and why River was crazy. I kept seeing Fox’s advertisements with “a girl in a box” so I just assumed that everyone else in the world had seen the pilot and I was the only idiot that missed it. I never heard it was canceled and would hurry though my work every Friday hoping Firefly would be on (I’m getting a little misty now just thinking about it). It was not until the DVD came out that I found out that I was not the idiot- Fox was.

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 9:31 AM

HJERMSTED

Thanks to Buffy and Angel I was already a rabid Whedonite (Whedonist, perhaps?) when Joss started talking about his new show on Fox.

This here website sprang forth from Haken's loins and thus I began tracking the pre-production of Firefly. When The Train Job finally aired, any doubts I had about the show or the premise itself were quickly squandered. The characters resonated with me immediately and I even loved the story of that very rushed first-to-be aired episode.

Honestly, when Shindig and Safe originally aired I found them a little disappointing (though now I love them both of course!) but then the show did something odd.. it kept getting better and better! Each episode amazed me and then blew away the previous episode (which had also amazed me). There were no lulls for the rest of the show's broadcast life (for eight or nine eps in a row... not even my previous all-time fave shows ST:TNG and Twin Peaks could make such a consistency claim).

Next: I salivated like Pavlov's dog at the thought of a possible Firefly DVD set. Yes there was a time when we didn't know for sure that a DVD set would happen! What ulcerous times those were.

Now: I salivate like the aforementioned Pavlovian pooch at the thought of Serenity (which I have NOT been fortunate enough to see yet) and the rest of the trilogy which will most certainly follow.

All in all... a lot of glandular exercise. Thanks Joss!

Stay gold!

Matt

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 10:16 AM

BARNSTORMER

Quote:
Originally posted by BrownCoat1:
I caught the show from the beginning, though I must admit that the "Train Job" left me trying to figure out who was who & why they were on the ship on the first place. Of course we have Fox to thank for that don't we?

When Mal kicked Crow through Serenity's port engine I burst out laughing and was hooked from that point on.

__________________________________________

That was exactly how it was for me. I'm always hoping for a decent SciFi show to come around thats got some "Grit" to it. I was'nt at all sure about Firefly while watching "the train job" until Mal made Crow into pate'. I saw that and after the shock wore off, said, "Yep, I'll tune in next week". It was just to good.

Am I a Lion?... No, I think I'ma tellin' the truth.

BarnStormer

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 10:52 AM

STAKETHELURK

This looks like a good place to finally de-lurk and join the conversation.

I caught the FOX adverts back in the summer of 2002 and was morbidly intrigued, especially since it was “from the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” I’d seen some Buffy (in fact, it turns out I’d seen much of the second and third seasons in Spanish while I was out of the country), but was surprised that they’d make a big deal about it. So I tuned into “The Train Job.” I was hooked by the trailer, but the show didn’t go from ‘good’ to ‘brilliant’ until Mal kicked Crow. Sheer genre-subverting genius.

I didn’t know the show was in trouble until I read a blurb lamenting its cancellation in a newspaper. More than a year later, after I became a big Buffy/Angel fan, I was researching Whedon online and found this place. I also simultaneously heard about the movie and about Angel’s cancellation. That was an unusual day…

Been lurking here ever since.

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 11:19 AM

VISITINGMYINTENTIONS

Confession: the first time I saw Firefly, I walked away half through the episode.

It was last fall when I first heard of Firefly: "Joss Whedon's canceled space-western". Now, the "Joss Whedon" was a strong incentive for me to see the show. I loved Buffy and after seeing OMWF, I knew Joss was a genius. ...Still, "canceled" made me slightly hesitant: if it was canceled because it was bad, then why see it, and if it was good, did I want the heartbreak of knowing it was so abbreviated? I wasn't sure that few episodes would be enough to develope the characters or plot. TV. I knew, had a tendency to be bad (the only other show I watched up to that point was Buffy, and I hadn't been a fan until it came out on DVD), and even Joss could screw up. In any case, the folks who had the Firefly popped it in and started watching Jaynestown. I disliked it immediately (for some reasons which I still believe are valid), and even when it came to the River/Book scene, which I could tell was supposed to be funny, I didn't have any background on the characters, so I was just slightly confused. To this day, partially as a result of that experience, I'm slightly put off by Jaynestown.

It wasn't until half a year later that Firefly came up again. My boyfriend had had it leant and recommended to him by a friend of his, so we sat down to watch it. Twue wuv, as they say.

The moment I knew I'd never escape again was the dinosaurs. After having proselytized a bit, I have found that if they don't fall head over heels for that scene, they are unlikely to feel strongly about the show.

Poor Buffy. She's never got the same attention from me since.

---------------------------------------------------
Early: Where'd she go?

Simon: I can't keep track of her when she's NOT incorporeally possessing a spaceship, don't look at me --

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 11:42 AM

DIEGO

I don't watch t.v. regularly, but I fortunately have a television filtering device in my father. He compulsively records all sci-fi (regardless of quality) and saves the tapes up for when I come to visit him. To humor him, I usually watch a few tapes even though I'd rather not spend my whole visit catching up on a season or more of some show I might not even have heard of. I tried Firefly when I was down for Thanksgiving during their one season, and was immediately hooked. I then brought the tapes back home to infect all my friends.

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 11:43 AM

CALLYGAL

Quote:
The moment I knew I'd never escape again was the dinosaurs.

Me too! Rented the first disc of the boxset because I loved Buffy and Angel but missed Firefly on UK Sci-Fi Channel. And as I collapsed into giggles (and heard my Dad laugh beside me) as the camera moved out from Wash's face onto the dinos, I knew it was love. Think I've come onto ff.net every day I've been able since then!

I'm not nice. I'm just highly susceptible to guilt

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 11:44 AM

PSYCHICRIVER

Hey there! Well, Firefly was recommended to me by a good friend that I met in a Buffy forum. She kept telling me how good it was. I was a big Whedon fan...so one day in November, I bought the set!

And a few episodes in, I was in love! And I registered here! I finished the set in just over 2 days...then I was excited for the film...then it was delayed.

I've converted 8 people since...and between them, they've all converted at least one themselves. So thats 16 more browncoats (and 16 more bums on seats in theatres for at least one showing of the bdm) from one persons recommendation. And if you add me in, that 17, and about 10 more showings!

PsychicRiver

"Two by two, hands of blue."

"We'll take care of each other. I'll knit!"
"I swallowed a bug."

Summer Glau to me - "You are so photogenic."

Me -

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 11:50 AM

SERENITYPUNK

I went to starfury fusion last year, and had no idea what firefly was or who was in it

so im stood in the queue for nick and emma photos and there is this guy on the stage doing his Q&A, and he was hilariously funny and really cute, this was nathan fillion.

i just though oooh caleb

so went to his and some girls auto sessions for the hell of it, turned out to be jewel, summer and nathan.

I got told in no uncertain terms to go buy the boxset and educate myself to the verse

thank you mr fillion, you made me see the error of my ways!!

have been a fan ever since

=================================================
Carol
Pirate Steve defines the word cool.....
http://www.freewebs.com/serenityshindigs/index.htm - big damn shindigs
Matt & Carola - King and Queen Of Firefly Quoteage Texts

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 11:56 AM

R1Z

I saw one of the few promos that Fox aired prior to airing the series.

Saw The Train Job and loved it (figured I'd figure out all the relationships as I went along.) I remember watching Safe, Shindig, Out of Gas, and War Stories. It was really hard because the local paper is not good at keeping up with pre-empts in the tv schedule. Often it would say Firefly would air, and what would be on would be baseball.

I distinctly remember thinking, "The way Fox is jerking this one around, it's never gonna last. They'll cancel it." And I was right.

Finally wised up and taped the pilot when it did air. Watched it when the mood took me, commercials and all, for about 18 months. (Good on slow winter Sunday afternoons.)

One day I had a flash and decided to check and see if it had ever been released on DVD, and thus discovered the whole "phenomenon".

I've tried to make up for the lost interval ever since, by passing my dvds around, donating a second set to the local library, etc.

To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks. --Robt. Heinlein

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 12:52 PM

LADYSHELLEY

I'm a very recent convert, like in the last month. I am probably the only person in the 'verse that has never seen an episode of Buffy, so the name Joss Whedon meant nothing to me.

I had had whispers in other fandoms about this new, cool sci-fi show, but when I tried to find it, no love.

A friend though was a huge fan of the show and kept after me to see the DVD's and I finally broke down and stuck them in my NetFlix list. Watched the first disc, fell in love, went out and bought the DVD's that weekend.

Lady Shelley
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.redhawke.org

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 1:22 PM

R1Z

Quote:
I'm a very recent convert, like in the last month. I am probably the only person in the 'verse that has never seen an episode of Buffy, so the name Joss Whedon meant nothing to me.

OK, True Confessions time.

I STILL have never seen an episode of Buffy, or Angel. Vampires just do nothing for me.

And (ducking) I had never heard of Joss until I really started looking into Firefly/Serenity.

Do I get any points for being a diehard sci-fi and Brisco County Jr. fan?

To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks. --Robt. Heinlein

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 1:53 PM

JACQUI

To be honest, I was never that interested in 'Firefly' when it first came out. I think the words 'space cowboys' scared the living daylights out of me.

I was (am) a die hard Buffy/Angel fan and I was really kind of bitter that he had passed on these shows to spend so much time on another one.

I have a friend in the US who'd send me the new eps of Buffy/Angel and just happened to send me Firefly with it, 'cause he thought I might like it.

The 'verse was against me: the video quality from NTSC to PAL was poor, grainy and hard to follow, the episodes (I now realise) were out of order and confusing. I gave up on it.

I write the episode guides at a little website and having nearly completed Buffy/Angel I figured I *should* do Firefly, I mean - just 'cause I don't like it, doesn't mean other people don't right? So I was waiting for the DVDs to go on sale.

Skip ahead to this year and my birthday, my fiance wanted to know what his friends can get me and I had no idea. Eventually I just told him the Firefly DVDs and be done with it.

I watched Serenity (hey, this isn't too bad, it's kinda quirky), The Train Job, Bushwhacked (oooh, I think I like this show), but it wasn't until Shindig (Hey! You can't be mean to Kaylee! You made her SAD!) that I knew I loved it.

I watched it in one weekend, forced my fiance to watch it and then my mother and then my friends - that's four times over two weeks. I've become the Firefly dealer for my inner circle. I'm currently converting my sister.

*~*~*
"Your toes are in the sand."
"And your head's up your..."
"Hey!"

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 4:21 PM

BUMMA

One of my friends got me hooked on Buffy and Angel, and when I heard that Joss Whedon had a new sci-fi series coming out I was really looking forward to it (Sci-fi AND Joss whedon - sounds great!) even though I knew it had already been cancelled.
I thought I would probably enjoy it, but I was unprepared for the complete wonderfulness of Firefly! The many, but so individual characters with all their secrets, the trademark Joss snappy banter, the whole premise of the show was fantastic! I was totally hooked from the very first minutes of the pilot episode and I looked forward to every episode each week and then watched the late night repeat as well. Thank god Sci-fi UK aired the series in order. One week I forgot to watch the repeated episode (I think it was "The Message"), and I literally cried with disappointment, even though I had only watched it a few hours earlier...
When the DVD set finally came out, it was the only thing I wanted for my birthday. Thankfully I got a multi-region dvd player as well (thanks L!) just so I could watch my beloved show over and over!
I'm counting the days until Serenity opens in the UK....

all I got is that dumbass stick sounds like its raining

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 4:48 PM

JUMPY

The awsome Scott Kurtz writes a webcomic and comic called PvP (Player vs Player). He did a series of comics which you can find here:

http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20040316
http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20040317
http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20040318
http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20040319

They have been posted up before in other threads here but in case anyone hasn't seen them you should!

That's where I first heard of firefly! And I've always been very appreciative of that fact. These days I check his site everyday (not just cause of that, he's a very funny guy).

He's since made other mentions of serenity and firefly:
http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20050510

As well as some news posts but they're too big to post here :P

As I said he is a funny guy and cool to his fans so if you haven't seen his comic definitely check it out.

__________________________
There's no show I'd rather see, than the one with Serenity.
You can't take the sky from me...

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 6:08 PM

OURMRREYNOLDS

Friend of mine had the DVD set and showed me the end of the Train Job. I was hooked. Went out that week and bought the box myself.

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