For those hooked from the start, what was it like? by iluvyosaffbridge

CASTLE

For those hooked from the start, what was it like?

POSTED BY: ILUVYOSAFFBRIDGE
UPDATED: Sunday, August 9, 2009 12:32
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Saturday, August 8, 2009 7:11 PM

I got hooked on Firefly years after the fact. I actually didn't see the series until a couple of years after the BDM. I plowed through the series in a weekend. Then re-watched all episodes that had commentary. Then I re-watched the series again.

Then I watched the BDM. After the opening sequence when the "Serenity" title card fades up, I had massive chills. But I couldn't help but realize that I missed out big time on the full emotional impact by not being on board from the beginning.

So my question for those that were Browncoats from the beginning, what was it like to see those years of rabid dedication rewarded with a major motion picture?

P.S. I just realize that I posted this to the Castle area of the forum. If a Mod wants to move this to the proper area, that would be fine.

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Saturday, August 8, 2009 7:41 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

I wasn't there from the beginning, but I'd imagine for those who were, Firefly's cancelation must have felt like a punch to the solar plexus. I guess I was lucky, in a way - by the time I heard about the show, I already knew that it had been canceled. Even knowing that, it was still hard to watch the show without getting a little choked up by the end, knowing it was gone far too early.

So when I heard that there was a movie coming out, I was more than just a little thrilled. And I was there on opening day, first showing at the local theatre. And I went back and saw it again with another group of friends that night.

Mike

Sweeping generalizations are always wrong!

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Saturday, August 8, 2009 8:00 PM

FREMDFIRMA

Awesome, I was actually kinda hooked the instant I saw one of the rare promo blurbs for it, just by coincidence and it reminded me a bit of a few Traveller gaming campaigns.

So, I hunted it up, and found this place.

And then it aired, and went from awesome, to frustrating (eps out of order, pre emption, timeslot) to Oh-my-gawd-NOOOOOoooooo! (cancellation) and then finally to sorrow...

And then, something happened, a little magic from all of us browncoats who just would not, could not, accept defeat no matter how hard the alliance stomped on us.

And yep, we got a movie, big screen major motion picture - and while I personally wasn't all that impressed with it per se, the glory was still there, cause we done the impossible, and that makes us mighty!

And comics, and merch, and STUFF, yay!

We're still under the radar mostly, but we're still here, cause that's who we are, yanno ?

-Frem

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Sunday, August 9, 2009 3:29 AM

ECGORDON

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

I have to admit that I wasn't totally hooked from the very beginning. First off, The Train Job was not as good an introduction to the 'verse as Serenity would have been, plus due to a vcr screwup (either mine or the machine's) I missed Bushwhacked. The third episode aired was Our Mrs. Reynolds, which I did love, so that's when I was hooked.

It was very frustrating to suffer through the pre-emptions, and confusing because of the mixup of the episode order. When they finally ran the pilot it had most of us scratching our heads and wondering what it was that FOX did not like about it. Unfortunately, they had already decided to cancel it at that point. I've enjoyed and lost many shows over the years, but this was the first that struck such a cord that I felt it was a personal affront for it to have been canceled.

We kept getting tidbits of rumors about a dvd release, and then the possibility of a movie, that it was easy to keep our hopes up of an eventual revival of the series (something I still haven't completely lost hope for).

As for the BDM, I saw it in a rough cut pre-release screening in Austin on May 5, 2005 (Nathan and Ron were in attendance), then again on June 23. I saw it four times in its opening weekend, plus five others during its run, and bought the dvd as soon as it was released, and I had done the same with the series dvds in 2003.

As far as I'm concerned, Firefly is still the most entertaining television show I have ever seen, and even though I don't hold the BDM in as high regard (it's just my third favorite SF film btw), I've watched both so many times I've lost count. I now own both on Blu-Ray too. I truly do believe in my signature line, which is Mandarin for "We're still flying."

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Sunday, August 9, 2009 4:07 AM

DMI

Expired, forgotten, spoiled rotten.

I was hooked from almost the very beginning (I missed Train Job but just happened to be flipping channels on the next Friday night and caught Bushwhacked) and I have to tell you, it was a a feeling of "what is this? Where did this come from?" I was still in high school then and hadn't been a fan of buffy or angel. I grew up on Trek and Star Wars but Firefly was something so new, so powerfully good and totally original I just...watched. There was nothing else to do but sit back and be absorbed by the stories.

So for that whole fall semester I blew off friends on Friday nights and watched Firefly. I was totally addicted. And like a true addict, pissed when it didn't come on. I hadn't gotten involved with the online fan base and didn't know what was up with it being aired out of order and missing nights. But I loved what I got and drooled for more. Then the final episode aired, "Serenity." I didn't think it was the original pilot put on out of order, I just thought it was a two hour special flash back to how it all started. I drank it up like I was watching the best movie of my life, easily comparable now to some of the epic BSG episodes like Exodus Part II, Daybreak Part II and Pegasus. It was awesome and then it was gone.

I finally turned to the internet but didn't search very thoroughly in my moronic youth (I think now that there were years when I just didn't think). So when I couldn't find anything on the F*x homepage I gave up. My mom told me it must have been cancelled in her typically jaded way (she insists that if she likes it, it gets cancelled).

All thats left was forgetting. I didn't watch much scifi in that period and there was an obvious void in that area of my life. Several years later and ten months before the new BDM was slated to come out I was wandering through a Border's trying to figure out what to with the $50 my Grandma just gave me for Christmas when I finally saw it, the Firefly DVD set, and I decided in an instant to buy it. I was ranting to my girlfriend at the time how was a little exasperated with me that after an hour of trying to find me something I wanted I just saw this thing out of the corner of my and bought it. But I'm raving, 'I saw this show two years ago, it was the best thing ever, then it fell off the face of the planet, HOLY SH*T UNAIRED EPISODES!'

After that I hooked up with the movement here on fireflyfans.net and suddenly had a ton of new friends calling me milkman. Like ecgordon, It was a roller coaster ride with a lot of frustration between the joys of seeing Firefly and Serenity but something that really snuck up on you. I saw the BDM 11 times in theaters and thats probably low for a browncoat.
-e

A blog on the struggles of an unpublished writer: http://www.blogiversity.org/blogs/dmi/default.aspx

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Sunday, August 9, 2009 4:22 AM

DARKJESTER

I was another one (like Frem, ECGordon and DMI) who was lucky enough to have my heart broken by Fox - saw some of the promos the previous summer, watched every week (except for Ariel, then I almost had a panic attack when I discovered my VCR didn't tape it) and was half the time disappointed by baseball and the like.

I found this place 2 months after the DVDs came out, and for literally years (even after the movie) I checked here several times daily for news of the 'verse. The rumors were always there - Joss says he's talking to studios, Nathan says don't give up hope, Alan says the whole crew would sign on in a heartbeat...

Then there was a flurry of talk over about 48 hours, culminating in the announcement the BDM had been green-lit. I twirled in my chair, yelled, waved my arms, did the snoopy-dance with my feet...

Photos from the set slowly came to light, as well as personal anecdotes from fans who were extras in the film. Fan groups banded together to make a banner that was sent to the set and arranged for Firefly-themed cakes to be delivered to the crew, and pictures of both were posted here. There was really a small sense of ownership and participation in making the movie, and Joss and everyone else involved encouraged it.

I was lucky enough to see one of the pre-screenings in Chicago (got Summer's autograph too!). Now THAT was an experience!! First time I'd been to any kind of Firefly gathering in the flesh. Almost like a rock concert in a theater. Everyone dressed up, laughing at the same spots on-screen, gasping together, yelling "NO!!!" and screaming together...

We all knew how special Firefly was, and getting a movie really seemed to vindicate our passion and belief. We all seemed to know people who had been condescending or outright mocking in their attitude towards us and our failed little TV show.

All that being said, I still prefer the series to the movie. Serenity is still one of my favorite movies, but I'm a Browncoat because of Firefly.

MAL "You only gotta scare him."
JAYNE "Pain is scary..."

http://www.fireflytalk.com - Big Damn Podcast

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Sunday, August 9, 2009 5:59 AM

GWEK

It was awesome and excrutiating at the same time. It was like a tempestuous summer fling that you just know is go to end.

Even from the earliest episodes, there were rumors that the show wouldn't be renewed, so there was always a shadow hanging over it... and to some extent, I think that made it all the more exciting.

The pre-empted episodes, the episodes airing out of order, the uncertainty and chaos... I think it's hard for people who weren't there from the beginning to understand the whirlwind.

Speaking for myself, I don't think I've ever been more emotionally invested in a TV show. Part of that is the fact that I think FIREFLY is probably the best-written show I've ever seen, but part of it also comes from the fragility and impending tragedy.

In the early days, we Browncoats WERE the crew, knowing that our little dream could come crashing down at at moment.

And, of course, it did, unfortunately. When FOX finally aired the pilot (AFTER word had come down that the show was cancelled) and Mal gives his final speech to Simon (about how we're still flying. and that's enough), I'm not ashamed to admit I was more than a little misty. Heck, almost seven years later, that scene still chokes me up.

www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."

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Sunday, August 9, 2009 8:33 AM

ECGORDON

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

It was the height of irony that "We're still flying...that's enough" from Mal was the last line of dialogue we heard in the original broadcasts.

Here we are seven years later, and you know what? He was right!

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Sunday, August 9, 2009 10:22 AM

OPPYH

I thought The Train Job(1st episode on tv) was pretty good. I was on vacation when the second episode aired. I watched "Bushwacked" at my Hotel room, and fell in love with the characters, and "the verse".

After I watched "Ariel" with a friend(who also watched it from the start) we were just speechless. Both of us being sci-fi fans, agreed this was the best series we had ever seen and looked forward to "Fox Friday" nights with so much anticipation it was unbearable.

Fox ended the run with the two hour pilot. I watched it, and nearly cried(I already knew it was canceled at that point). Fox replaced Firefly withe "Fastlane" which made me hate Fox even more than I thought possible.
TV like Firefly doesn't happen. Shows that good are just never made.

I watch shows now, and the ones I watch I like quite a bit. Compared to Firefly though, they are absolutely nothing.

Speaking for myself, it was a devastating, heartbreaking experience.

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Sunday, August 9, 2009 12:32 PM

MANGOLO

I had a big chip on my shoulder before Firefly came out. In 1999, my friend and I were busy developing and then pitching a show around Hollywood. Our co-writer had dubbed it the anti-Trek and our show had no aliens, just folks struggling to get by on their flying hunk of junk. By the beginning of 2002 we had a lot of interest and MTV wanted to buy the show outright- we wouldn't sell. Then the promos started for Firefly. I was pissed. The marketing people for Firefly had basically stole our pitch. Some of their press releases quoted our pitch materials. Articles were written about Firefly being the anti-Trek breakthrough. I was devastated. So, I watched my first episode with wanting to hate it. Wanting to say that it was a piece of gorram luhsuh (Yes, our pilot script was full of swearing in Chinese too).

But Firefly was too good, the characters too endearing, dialog too snappy, witty, and quotable. I was hooked. I spread the word. I got everyone of my friends watching it. When the DVDs came out I shared those with other friends. I was in awe. I truly thought that this was not only the best sci-fi show, but the best television series ever.

Instead of being a hinderance to our work, it became an inspiration.

When Firefly was cancelled, we changed our tactic and started working on a feature film based on our TV idea. Because if a show as good as Firefly can't work for these TV executives, we didn't stand a chance!

Now we have come full circle. It looks like (unless our distributor disagrees) we are casting Gina Torres for the lead in our movie.

I still hope we all can get Firefly back to flying. Peace yall.

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