Five Characters... by Lexan

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Five Characters...

POSTED BY: LEXAN
UPDATED: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 04:55
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VIEWED: 1762
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Sunday, January 14, 2007 9:37 PM

Hi. I'm new to the site and this is my first time posting here.

I've always wandered, ever since I first watched 'the making of firefly' documentary what Joss meant when he said he had originally intended for the series to have five characters instead of nine. Did he mean he created four new characters after realising the series would benefit from a larger cast or had he not known who the characters were when he thought there would be five characters?

If he did know, has he ever told us which five characters (of the nine who eventuated) were always meant to be part of the series? Does anyone know?

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Monday, January 15, 2007 4:51 AM

DONCOAT

I've never heard any elaboration on this comment. It would make a great question for a Q&A panel at a convention (assuming Joss participates).

If I had to guess, I'd imagine that the original five characters were Serenity's crew -- Mal, Zoe, Wash, Jayne, and Kaylee. The additional four would be the passengers (Simon, River, Book) and Inara.

But that's strictly my own interpretation. I could be way off. For example, the originally-conceived five could have been composites of the eventual nine. (Imagine a Zoe who had been experimented on in an Alliance academy!) Or the whole conception could have been different, with Serenity being a smaller ship that needed fewer crewmen, thereby combining (say) Wash and Kaylee.

Oh, and welcome! Nice first post. Somehow you've been assigned a low member number (under 10,000, where other new folks are currently getting numbers around 24,500), so you can pretend you've been around forever! Anyhow, I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay on this friendly old tub.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm pointin' right at it!

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Monday, January 15, 2007 5:20 AM

THATWEIRDGIRL

Hrm. Good question. I just assumed it was the crew since he kinda used the Resurrection crew has a model. Anybody know?

I second DonCoat's suggestion of asking it at a panel.

---
Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."
-- Charlie Brown

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Monday, January 15, 2007 6:29 AM

ZZETTA13

I'm no writer but originally I assume that starting a show with 5 charaters instead of nine gives the writer more room to introduce other ppl into the mix,later. As Joss and company began the writing task maybe it became an easier intransition for the story if other ppl were among the crew. Therefore having other characters on Serenity a bit sooner and far a longer stay.

One thing I can say about the series is that I can pop in any disk and play any eps and be thourghly entertained without having seen or know anything of the show. That's how well it draws you in and how quickly you become interested in the characters. It does help to know the background but it isn't a must. I just feel that as the stories were written the cast grew. Saffron, Badger and Niska would have gotten much more airplay ( which would have been great) and the show could have went on for many seasons.

JMO, Z

PS: Shows like Smallville and Lost also have a huge cast.

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Monday, January 15, 2007 7:23 AM

PURPLEBELLY

AFAIK Whedon has not said that the original concept called for five out of the eventual nine characters. Presumably the orginal five were something like principled veteran, unprincipled mercenary, cute teen, fugitive, covert protagonist; to my eyes, the smaller cast makes Firefly dangerously close to Starhunter.

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Monday, January 15, 2007 9:00 AM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

DonCoat mentions a composite of Wash/Kaylee- that's logical. Inara is too much a part of Mal's psyche to not be in the original concept.

But look at OMR- Wash and Kaylee are repairing the console together. and OoG, Wash crawling out from under.
I think there's a third example somewhere, too, but Wash is part fix-it-guy.

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Monday, January 15, 2007 5:10 PM

OUT2THEBLACK

Quote:
Originally posted by NewOldBrownCoat:

DonCoat mentions a composite of Wash/Kaylee- that's logical...

But look at OMR- Wash and Kaylee are repairing the console together. and OoG, Wash crawling out from under.
I think there's a third example somewhere, too, but Wash is part fix-it-guy.

Waylee Kashburne--Serenity's hotshot hermaphrodite Pilot/Mechanic . I dunno...Somehow it just doesn't quite seem the same...

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Monday, January 15, 2007 6:06 PM

RCAT

Didn't Joss say in one of the comentaries that Jayne wasn't originally intended as a permanent character but changed his mind during writing?

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Monday, January 15, 2007 7:13 PM

RHYIANAN

Yes, I believe the original plan was to have him die at the end of Ariel.

I'm a leaf on the wind

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Monday, January 15, 2007 9:18 PM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

Quote:
Originally posted by out2theblack:

Waylee Kashburne--Serenity's hotshot hermaphrodite Pilot/Mechanic . I dunno...Somehow it just doesn't quite seem the same...

( Covers eyes) " OHH, THAT"S NOT RIGHT !eyuggh! "
( Peeks thru fingers) " Does do something for the Hawaiian shirt tho'."

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Tuesday, January 16, 2007 4:55 AM

DONCOAT

Quote:
Originally posted by NewOldBrownCoat:
Quote:
Originally posted by out2theblack:

Waylee Kashburne--Serenity's hotshot hermaphrodite Pilot/Mechanic . I dunno...Somehow it just doesn't quite seem the same...

( Covers eyes) " OHH, THAT"S NOT RIGHT !eyuggh! "
( Peeks thru fingers) " Does do something for the Hawaiian shirt tho'."

Hey, some people juggle codpieces.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm pointin' right at it!

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