COULD they relaunch the series in 10 years? by danfan

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

COULD they relaunch the series in 10 years?

POSTED BY: DANFAN
UPDATED: Monday, July 26, 2004 11:24
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Friday, July 23, 2004 6:13 PM

I have seen the comments (from the cast) that Fox put a poison pill into the sale of Firefly to Universal… it can’t come back to television for 10 years.

So the consensus of the crowd here has been, “OK, make three great (and hugely successful) movies, then relaunch the series after a decade!” But is that really possible? Part of the strength of the story that we were being given by Joss was the dynamic of these specific people at this specific time in their lives. There was mystery to be solved with Simon/River, Inara, and Shepherd Book. There was character growth to be had with Mal, the Wash/Zoe marriage, and Jayne. What would happen to the family if its heart (Kaylee) were emotionally damaged in some way? In a weekly series, they could develop these story threads gradually and we could see them develop and resolve. Then as they resolved these threads, they could introduce new ones that dovetailed with the threads just resolved… and it would be seamless. We saw this happen several times over on Buffy and Angel.

But that cycle has been broken. Suppose we get 3 movies over the next 10 years instead of a series. That will be about 6 to 8 hours of storytelling (instead of 100 to 200 hours of storytelling). Then if the series is restarted in a decade, where do they start it? Where does it go? Mal, 10 years older, still bitter and dark… still flying a tramp smuggler? Inara, 10 years older, still plying her trade. Jayne, still struggling to define some humanity in himself? Won’t it feel artificial and unrealistic?

Or alternatively, they try to do what Star Trek did when faced with a very similar problem (first movie came out a decade after the series ended). With all of the actors obviously older, heavier, more lined, they couldn’t show them all still together on the same starship, holdin’ all the same jobs, scootin’ around the galaxy showing the youngsters how it’s done. So instead, Kirk was an admiral and everyone else was a commander. And they had to cobble together what (to me) seemed like fairly weak rationales for why commanders would all walk away from their duties and take up jobs that they left behind 10 years earlier.

In this scenario, Firefly is relaunched with an older Mal, who’s resolved some (many?) of the issues he had in the original series. And he embarks on new story threads that we haven’t been gracefully led to. Same for the other characters. Would it feel somewhat jarring?

These are just some fairly downer thoughts I’ve been entertaining. I fully expect to see one or more hugely entertaining, thought provoking, and beautiful movies. And I would LOVE to see a new series at any time. But I wonder how they could pull it off after 10 years…

What are your thoughts?

Danfan

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Friday, July 23, 2004 7:07 PM

ILLBEINMYBUNK

Sadly, i doubt in ten years that Joss and the whole cast will want to do a tv series. Theyll prob want to move on to other projects. ten years is such a long time. in my dream world Serenity makes so much money that Fox, being the profit whore they are, figure out some deal to bring Firefly back to tv while at the same time Universal puts out the movies. So lets make sure Serenity hits 300 million :)

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Friday, July 23, 2004 7:24 PM

NEROLI

Call me a cynic, but I really do believe that Fox could be bought out at the right price if anyone was willing to pay it.

The Old Broad Monkey

http://p221.ezboard.com/bfireflyfanficawards

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Friday, July 23, 2004 10:33 PM

OUTSIDER

Quote:
Originally posted by Neroli:
Call me a cynic, but I really do believe that Fox could be bought out at the right price if anyone was willing to pay it.

I think so too. It is to FOX's benefit right now that they wait and see how successful the movie is. The DVD sales were tremendous (for an axed show) but they can only prove so much. But if a movie makes a ton of money, FOX might be persuaded to see that there is a new - and larger - audience for a Firefly or Serenity TV series.

And if, heaven forfend, the BDM is not that successful, FOX can sit back content that they made the right call when they cancelled the show.

Which is basically my roundabout way of saying we all need to make sure that the movie is successful as it can be. Assuming, of course, that people would rather see the cast back on weekly TV than they would in a series of movies?

Something to think about.

------
"Today we were kidnapped by hill folk, never to be seen again. It was the best day ever."

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Friday, July 23, 2004 10:59 PM

PURPLEBELLY

Before deciding what is going to be the content, perhaps we should discuss what the economic model of tv is going to be in ten years time? Will be possible to produce scripted, crafted tv series at all?

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Saturday, July 24, 2004 12:07 AM

DOUBLESHINY

One word : cryogenics

Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!

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Saturday, July 24, 2004 2:49 AM

NWUKSTEVE

I guess in 10 years time we'll have "Firely: The Next Generation".

Seriously, as much as I would really, really, REALLY love to see Firefly back on TV, I doubt it will happen. I'm just hoping that we get 3 movies, which, as Joss might say, is not a crazed pipe dream.

(sorry if anyone thinks this post is a bit negative)

Whadyall order a TV series you don't want for?

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Saturday, July 24, 2004 4:33 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

The key to the whole thing is the success of the BDM. Then all bets (and contracts) are off, and anything could happen. IMO, if the series is not relaunched within three years time, it will not happen, mainly because all of the actors will be highly sought after for many other film projects. But, if a deal can be made after the blockbuster success of the BDM, then we could see the series return either just before (ideal) or just after the third film.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Saturday, July 24, 2004 5:01 AM

PYROPHORUS

Why relaunch it to television?

Television is a sespool of crap, latelly anything good seems to be cancelled and thrown out. Crap thats cheap to produce seems to remain and its spreading.

I'm seriously thinking of getting rid of cable and just living off the dvd's I get and downloads of good tv I can't get in Canada.

Now, Joss seems to be into doing new things and pushing the edge. So why not, after the three BDM's, continue the series on a month to month release of smaller budget movies straight to DvD. The production cost would be just as little as the tv show, and they could produce it as you would produce a miniseries. They could still advertise on tv, and it would get around fox's evil hold.

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Saturday, July 24, 2004 5:43 AM

PURPLEBELLY

And giving up your tv doesn't actually hurt. I've not had a tv in the house since 1984, and still became aware of Firefly somehow. Of course, if no-one had a tv ... So, thanks everyone

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Saturday, July 24, 2004 10:07 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

Quote:
Originally posted by Pyrophorus:
I'm seriously thinking of getting rid of cable and just living off the dvd's I get and downloads of good tv I can't get in Canada.

And where will DVDs of good shows come from if talented people like Joss abandon TV?

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Saturday, July 24, 2004 11:20 AM

PURPLEBELLY

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
And where will DVDs of good shows come from if talented people like Joss abandon TV?

That's the sort of discussion I was trying to encourage with my previous post; my approach was probably too European.
So, is there a market for a short season of, say, six tv shows expanded to, say, thirteen for DVD release? I think of this as the Wonderfalls model as that at least has a completed arc, unlike Firefly. If this can break even for ideas that don't reach sufficient audiences for extended series or movies, it may provide an alternative to the existing 13/22 weeks or bust. I am only guessing, because my homeland's market is very different - small, poorly funded, plagued by reality tv ...

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Saturday, July 24, 2004 11:43 AM

MISGUIDED BY VOICES

Quote:
Originally posted by PurpleBelly:
So, is there a market for a short season of, say, six tv shows expanded to, say, thirteen for DVD release?

My guess would be we might see more of the HBO model for the future - smaller runs, big gaps inbetween seasons. Less investment for the broadcaster if the show doesn't work (and more incentive not to pull the plug after 3 episodes), and enables you to get the real cream of the crop of actors who can also go and do movies as they have more free time - a 22-24 episode season essentially seems to take up 8-9 months of the year, which is why some many people become typecast doing them.

As to whether we will ever see Firefly back on TV, I'm willing to give up on that - I'll take another story in the universe run by Minear and Whedon if they wish to do it, but I'm hoping that Serenity launches all these guys careers - Tudyk is on the cusp right now, and the other have to have a more than decent shot.

Serenity has to open big, because we all know that a few weeks later Star Wars will steal all the oxygen at the box office, but wouldn't it be cool if reviews of SW were able to hark back to a few weeks prior, when they saw a decent SF movie with heart and soul, and not just explosions and CGI monsters?

"I threw up on your bed"

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Saturday, July 24, 2004 11:50 AM

CARDIE

I think all parties involved decided that a Firefly movie franchise was possible, but there wasn't any way that Firefly could be viable on television. All those pesky negotiations came off because there had to be a consensus among Fox, Universal and Mutant Enemy that Firefly would be transformed into a big screen rather than a small screen property. Browncoats seeing the BDM numerous times could make it a $100 million grosser and still not provide the basis for Nielsen ratings any higher than it was getting on FOX.

Once Star Trek went to the movies and had a big success, they didn't immediately do a new television series with the original cast. They kept making movies, which were so successful there was a spinoff tv series about ten years after the first film. Whether the Firefly 'verse is as congenial to that model, only time will tell.

A new tv series starting up ten years from now with the original cast as there original characters would never work, imo. Besides, Joss may be a big film director by that time and not want to go back to TV. Or he could have developed two or three other series during that decade. I'll be grateful for the 6-8 extra hours when we could very well have had none.

Cardie

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Saturday, July 24, 2004 2:04 PM

DANFAN

The comment regarding the cast becoming too big for series TV ("Tudyk on the cusp...") feels dead right. As soon as I read that quote, I thought of the cult 1984 movie "The Adventures Buckaroo Bonzai Across the Eighth Dimension." Folks had wildly different opinions about the movie, but the makers of the movie clearly had sequel on the brain when they made it. The closing credits said something like "coming soon: Buckaroo Bonzai vs. the World Crime League" or something like that. The sequel never materialized.

One reason may have been the small crowd, cult appeal of the film. The other reason was probably the relatively non-famous cast at the time: Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum, Ellen Barkin. Christopher Lloyd. By the time a sequel could have been mounted, these folks had moved beyond cult films into mainstream fame in the later 80's. The cost of getting that cast back together would have been too much for a cult sequel to a cult film.

We may be witnessing the start of the same thing. With a couple Joss Whedon scripts and the talent the cast brings to the table, they may all become too famous (i.e., expensive) for television.

If so, it couldn't happen to a more deserving crowd in my opinion...

Danfan
"The sun is riz, the sun is set...
And here I is, in Texas yet."

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Saturday, July 24, 2004 4:41 PM

PYROPHORUS

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
Quote:
Originally posted by Pyrophorus:
I'm seriously thinking of getting rid of cable and just living off the dvd's I get and downloads of good tv I can't get in Canada.

And where will DVDs of good shows come from if talented people like Joss abandon TV?

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

If you read my original post fully, DvD's of good shows could simply be released straight to dvd in miniseries format.

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Sunday, July 25, 2004 10:46 AM

MISGUIDED BY VOICES

Quote:
Originally posted by Pyrophorus:
If you read my original post fully, DvD's of good shows could simply be released straight to dvd in miniseries format.

Not sure that the economics support it - every TV shopw is made at a loss AFAIK, with the money made back if and when it hits syndication - the fact that studios are waking up to the DVD potential of even "failed" shows like Firefly may soften these numbers.

Worrying thought - you have a cult show with a big fan following, but it isn't doing the stellar numbers you want - on the evidence of Firefly and (probably) Wonderfalls, you can actually generate a more profitable outcome by Sh**canning the show and releasing a DVD with missing episodes.

"I threw up on your bed"

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Sunday, July 25, 2004 12:59 PM

SERENITYSMECHANIC

Okay, so I've been thinking about how the series could come back and this is the best I could do.
First, the BDM has to be a great success, not just profitable but blockbuster. This would cause excitement all around the halls of NBC/Universal. With that there would be the possibility that they would be willing to spend a lot of money to buy the Firefly contract from Fox. If they were to do that then they could start redeveloping the series. They then would have a few options show the show on NBC, Sci-Fi, or USA. This is just my opinion but I don't think the show would survive if it ran on NBC, so that takes that out. I would not want to send the show to Sci-Fi for a number of reasons- they have a tendency to interfere with shows to make them appeal to the "geek," they seem to cancel the better shows they have, etc. This leaves USA, which I believe would be a great place for the show, because 1. they have proven that they can make good shows already and give them (for the most part) the advertising they deserve and 2. they from what I can tell don't interfere with creative vision. Another good thing about being on USA would be, and don't get mad about this, that our beloved show would have seasons of 14-18 episodes, which we know for a fact is a good amount of time for the minds behind Firefly to tell a good story. Even though I hate that the show is over, I like the way Objects In Space ends the show because it gives the sense that one chapter has closed(the everyone finally becomes a working unit chapter), and another one(the one where some of the questions get answered) is going to start.

I'm going to stop my rambling now and hope that all makes sense to everyone.

Serenity- the quality of being clear and free of storms or unpleasant change; shining bright and steady; marked by utter calm and unruffled repose or quietude

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Sunday, July 25, 2004 6:11 PM

PYROPHORUS

The only problem with it becoming a blockbuster is that they would not want to release a new series, they would simply milk out more movies (which isn't alltogether bad). Of course with movies theres a 1 to 3 year gap between them.

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Monday, July 26, 2004 1:50 AM

ANOTHERFIREFLYFAN

I'm hoping that we won't have to wait that long. But my belief is that the series would pick up where the movies left off, in Firefly time, not in real life time. So it won't be 10 years later in the verse. Maybe a bit later, but not by that much.

Now we just need to put the cast into cryogenic freezing to prevent aging when they aren't working on the movies.

~AFf

Keep flying

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Monday, July 26, 2004 4:24 AM

CHRONICTHEHEDGEHOG

At Comic-Con, Joss pretty much said they're not bringing it back as a series. It'll be movies or nothing.

check out my WIP firefly roleplay system at www.estador.co.uk/firefly

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Monday, July 26, 2004 5:28 AM

FEMALEJAYNE

If the cast will play I will watch. It's possible to play in ten Years because of the Movies, the movies could cover some pretty good things. Like it or not, Everything in the Verse will NOT be fine in ten years. They may have another war to rid themselves of the allience. That would bring a good story line in. Mal and the others could be carrying supplies to rebel forces. There are many possibities but for it to be possible we have to support them and let them know even in ten years WE WILL WATCH WOOT!!

With Hope because love is nothing without hope.

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Monday, July 26, 2004 6:14 AM

LEXIBLOCK

Quote:
Originally posted by chronicthehedgehog:
At Comic-Con, Joss pretty much said they're not bringing it back as a series. It'll be movies or nothing.

Yeah, because now they get the big saleries they can't be bothered about that tv

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Monday, July 26, 2004 11:24 AM

MISGUIDED BY VOICES

Quote:
Originally posted by LexiBlock:
Yeah, because now they get the big saleries they can't be bothered about that tv

Which I have to say is fair enough. Here's hoping that as a result of Serenity, the cast and crew get offered the good scripts a few steps earlier, have the freedom to take the best jobs offered and not the ones to pay the mortgage; they'll deserve it.

"I threw up on your bed"

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