So much for a great show. Firefly gets the axe. by JCWang

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

So much for a great show. Firefly gets the axe.

POSTED BY: JCWANG
UPDATED: Friday, December 13, 2002 13:41
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VIEWED: 7160
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Thursday, December 12, 2002 12:21 PM

USA Today is reporting that the end has come. I had the opportunity to hear Joss Whedon promote this show in San Diego in August and I know I winced audibly when he said it would be on Fox. I never believed for a second that they'd give it a fair shot. I can only hope that another network will step in (SciFi?) because it was the best 3-month-old show I've ever seen. Ugh.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2002-12-11-shows-santa_x.
htm

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Thursday, December 12, 2002 12:55 PM

KURUKAMI

Do we have a source other than that little table on USA Today's site? No offense, but I'll wait until I hear from either Joss or one of the Fox execs -- my guess is that USA Today heard about the potential hiatus and is calling it dead before the coffin is closed.

"I'm not dead yet!"

History doesn't always repeat itself. Sometimes it merely shouts "Weren't you listening the first time?!?" and lets fly with a club.

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Thursday, December 12, 2002 1:08 PM

GAHERIS

Now I'm very sure that firefly isn't axed... yet. I agree with Kurukami that it might be a jump to conclusions because I heard that Firefly will be moving to a different timeslot. I did not get this news from the press, but rather somewhere closer to the source. I'll wait until Fox says Firefly is axed before I'll believe its gone. Keep up hope and let's stay posted.

-Gaheris

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Thursday, December 12, 2002 1:11 PM

NOVAGRASS

Sorry to say, USA Today isn't exactly the most reliable of news sources... though, it becomes clearer and clearer that the show won't be going forward... this is just the first bit of info, and it may be the first nail in the coffin... though, I'm not going to say it's a sure thing.

--Dylan Palmer, Pretentious Bastard at Large--

"Oh my god, I'm a hack!" - Joss Whedon

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Thursday, December 12, 2002 1:18 PM

RHEA

Quote:
Originally posted by Gaheris:
Now I'm very sure that firefly isn't axed... yet. I agree with Kurukami that it might be a jump to conclusions because I heard that Firefly will be moving to a different timeslot. I did not get this news from the press, but rather somewhere closer to the source. I'll wait until Fox says Firefly is axed before I'll believe its gone. Keep up hope and let's stay posted.

-Gaheris

Agreed. When Fox says it's gone, I'll believe it. And not until.

(the smilie is for USA Today)

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Thursday, December 12, 2002 2:13 PM

HJERMSTED

I saw that article in USA Today and laughed. There's no way they'd have that information before the main Fox board or this one.

Many reporters are confusing "hiatus" with "cancelled". Gary Levin, the USA Today reporter responsible for today's article has confused the two words. Let's each send him a dictionary with the two words highlighted, shall we?

Last rumor out of Fox (via AICN -- www.aint-it-cool-news.com) was the network is awaiting the returns on December's episodes of Firefly and is discussing moving the show to Thursdays at 8pm. They seem to like the show but can't de-program themselves from the old Nielson way of thinking.

mattro

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Thursday, December 12, 2002 2:43 PM

SNOWSPINNER

Also, note that they list "Fastlane" as teetering, despite the fact that it was picked up for the season...

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Thursday, December 12, 2002 10:03 PM

AABH

It's up on the boards over at fox... And Adam Baldwin posted a very sad post... Some of the reliable folks on the fox board are confirming it...

It's sad to say, but I think it's over for Firefly and Fox

So now it's time to rally at the flag and get Sci-Fi to pick it up!

---Aabh

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Thursday, December 12, 2002 10:28 PM

TIMMINEARNET

Sadly, Tim confirmed the news this evening. FBC has not picked up the show. They have committed to running all of the episodes that have been shot (including the one Tim is currently directing).

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Thursday, December 12, 2002 10:50 PM

SILVERADO

http://www.timminear.net

I don't have words.

Silverado.

_________________________________________________

"You had the law on you, criminals and savages... half the people on the ship have been shot or wounded including yourself, and you're harboring known fugitives."

"We're still flying."

"That's not much."

"It's enough."

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Thursday, December 12, 2002 11:36 PM

ALLRONIX

It's 1am on a worknight, but I'm sitting here, listening to Bon Jovi and writing a letter. It's a little long and rambling, but cope.

Fifteen years ago, I went looking for Silverhawks, and instead stumbled on a little-known and very well-done cartoon with characters that burned into my memory, and forever changed my writing style.

That little show, Galaxy Rangers, boasts a small and dedicated fandom. Tapes are scarce, worn, and degraded from many years of use, but I still can recite the opening narration from memory...

"In 2086, two peaceful aliens journied to Earth, seeking our help..."

It was one of three cartoons that made a fusiuon of genres that have a hell of a time mixing - Wild West barfights and sci-fi ray guns. Blend it with light cyberpunk and a large dollop of fantasy, then add 4 wonderful characters - a charming computer hacker, an archeologist/mage from parts unknown, the survivor of a disasterous genetic engineering project, and a captain who kept it all together even as much of what he had known fell apart.

In late 1996, after a disasterous exit from DS9 fandom, I find a trace of it on the web, and a small mailing list. Eventually, I build a good page for GR and get a notice from my guestbook. Robert Mandell, the show's creator, had been nice enough to drop by...

"Thanks for the support. The making of the series was a labor of love, which means it was a financial disaster. But this is a series that won't quit. So never give up."

Well, it turns out that Joss Whedon can now sit across a saloon table with "Sir Robert" (as us GR fans call him) and discuss labors of love that were financial disasters, Nielsen ratings that never showed, and their tortured captain characters.

Firefly is dead.

USA Today ran it, the FOX boards are confirming it (Adam "Jayne" Baldwin posted there). And "Joe Millionaire" is snuggling right in and is sure to be a dandy little hit with all sorts of people cooing how "romantic" it is.

The coldest comfort I can get is that I will never see Mal and crew shoved into an airlock and killed by Bad Plot Gimmick, as was the fate of FOX's "Lone Gunmen" after their spinoff croked and the X-Files had gone past the point of corpse. I won't see a bad episode with my favorite characters dying needlessly called "poingant" and a "treat for the fans."

When my brother-in-law showed me this little gem, I was astonished and insantly hooked. I must have bored my family silly with my talk of it. And at work, I am scratching out a novel-length adventure. All the while, I have been talling myself that I never should have let myself watch, never become attached to these characters or their world. This series was a lost cause and I should turn away before I got disappointed again.

On so many levels, I fight for lost causes every day. I don't dare share my frustrations and fears on political boards (united front and all that). I have friends and family who worry about me being "disappeared" or killed for my political beliefs and activist work. I try to go out there and risk my neck for my convictions, and even as I grab my sign, attend my meetings, and send my weekly letters to Congress that I am fighting for a lost cause. Politicians work for those who line their pockets, protesting is seen as a quaint relic of the '60's, and the majority of people would either call me a filthy traitor, a nutjob...and usually both. I also have losing battles in my personal life - a mom who has cut herself off from the rest of the clan, despite all my pleading for reconcilliation, a job I dislike but pays the bills...and fanfic, the hobby I resort to so I can express my emotions and entertain...

Now, I feel like even that comfort is gone.

I'm certain you'd like a little cheese to go with this whine, so here it is...

By canning this show, I've lost quite a bit of faith. It wasn't just the show, either. It was my hope that something...ANYTHING had a hope in hell fighting the odds these days. To be proven wrong once again (and so often) just hurts all the more.

The scene I was working on tonight - Mal and Inara contemplating the odds of a jailbreak to get the rest of the crew free. The odds look bad, the ship and crew look doomed. Mal's trying to tell Inara to back off while he makes a seemingly-futile attempt, and she won't have it.

"You're a Companion. There'll be oter ships, other crews," he said.
She put her hand on his, stopping him from starting the engine. "But not another Serenity."

Right now, I'm wondering if I can believe in those characters (or in the idea of success against the odds) enough to make that scene work.

Maybe I need to scrap it. Scrap the whole thing.

Co-founder of the Evil Writing Crew - causing hell, one hero at a time!

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Friday, December 13, 2002 11:44 AM

SENSOU

Hey people, don't be giving up just yet! It's Christmas/Hanukkah, time, the time of miracles remember? (Did I just say that out loud?Ack!) Firefly will come back, somewhere. No network with half a brain could fail to see its potential. The very worst that could happen is it gets picked up by some cable netowrk at two am or some insane time like that, but it will come back, as long as it has fans.

Sensou
Never believe that a small group of dedicated people cannot change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

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Friday, December 13, 2002 1:41 PM

INVISIBLEGREEN

Oh crap. I just realized what today is, too. I blame the calendar.

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