Not only did Fox cancel Firefly too early, but they aired the episodes out of order confusing the audience and ensuring most of them would stop watching the show. They also put the show on Friday night (the death slot) against other popular sci-fi shows. Further they often preempted the show to air sports events. Nowadays you can watch the first season in the correct order including episodes Fox decided not to air as well as the film Serenity that ties up many of the loose ends created by Fox's cancelation of the TV series.
Well imvho I still think humanity as a whole is very sort term focused. Not the better long term focused. Hell if humanity was willing to suffer in the mid term, with the long term welfare of our species in mind a lot of our problem can still be solved. But that's not in our nature for the most part unfortunately.
1, the guy that took over hated the show and wanted it to fail. 2, they didn't air it to confuse people. They aired what they thought were stronger episodes to hook people in.
I completely agree that Firefly was cancelled too soon, due to the extremely limited "vision" of FOX executives (similar to TOS). I loved the series!! As with TOS, there was sooooo much untapped potential here for story development. Shame on FOX for hot only cancelling the show too soon, but for failing to recognize its potential due to their own bungled handling of the show.
Firefly deserved at least a second season. I know we got a movie to help tie things together but it needed more. Still one of my all-time favorite series though.
When Gene Roddenberry first came up with Star Trek, he pitched it as Wagon Train to the Stars, since he started as a writer for TV westerns in the 50s. It's interesting how the parallels worked out. Science fiction has a unique perspective on what the future might be.
Wow. I love this franchise but probably because it has such limited product I never went too deep beyond some BTS material to suss out the details of the setting. Looks like there's definitely some stuff for me to look into on my own. The chart itself opened my eyes to a lot. I thought it was just one solar system with some planets and moons terra formed. It was a lot bigger and more complex than I assumed. Good work as always Orange River.
Gene meant the same structure as Wagon Train. In Wagon Train, you had a set main cast of characters, and every episode took place in a different location, so you had different guest stars. And since every town, pit-stop, etc is different, you didn't have to worry about continuity or the consequences of what occurred, since the Wagon Train had moved on and wouldn't be back.
@@ThommyofThenn so true! There were so many great plot threads and unanswered questions for season 3 to deal with. As far as I know, they were under the impression they WOULD have a season 3 at the time, so these things would have been dealt with. I’m not actually sure if the showrunners ever answered any questions after the show was cancelled. Maybe there’s some answers out there somewhere? But yeah, Really was a great show imo!
About three months after its cancellation I was making toast in the kitchen and was wondering about a specific plotline in the series and had to remind myself that it was still cancelled. The feeling of sadness that hit me actually made me chuckle out loud, because my grief over the loss of the show the same was as with a dead pet. You think you're over it finally, then you absentmindedly go to refill your pet's food bowl months later and the pain hits you all over again.
Thanks for such a great video about my favorite science fiction series. You taught me a lot of background information about the universe that was all really interesting. To answer your questions, my favorite thing about Firefly is the characters. They're all so different and feel like real people who have come together to make a found family. I really like the universe, but I love the characters. It was definitely cancelled too early. I could imagine it going for at least 7 years. I'm grateful for the movie, but it could have been so much more. I hope you make more Firefly videos in the future.
I liked that humans are the only species in the 'verse. The notion that we are very much alone in the galaxy is unique for a lot of sci-fi that I've seen.
If I remember correctly, they wanted the characters to speak Cantonese but they didn't have any writers or producers who spoke Chinese, so they ended up with a mix of Mandarin and Cantonese accents.
Because we can't have nice things like critical thinking. I'll even add to your excellent observation - If we have the tech to make generation ships, why don't we just make orbital habitats and park them around THIS sun? It's not like there is a shortage of every single material resource we could ever use in this solar system. Heck, if they left Earth behind, they also left behind almost 100% of its resources, since the overwhelming majority of those are in the mantle and the core. But let's not tear Earth apart when we can disassemble a useless planet like Mercury or Mars.
@arcdecibel9986 maybe they did all that. Perhaps their building of orbital habitats and using the resources of other planets is a part of their lost history. Maybe a group left Sol because it was overpopulated and a group of them decided to go this other solar system to start over leaving behind their trillions of cousins still in the Sol system.
@@timriggins70I love the idea because you could have other powers outside the verse. Their history was a lie to keep them from ever going back to the Sol system
A very, very good - and promising - first season. And, I loved the ‘Firefly’ movie. Most of the ‘Firefly’ cast have gone on to have exceptional careers, deservedly so. I am not a linguist but the cadence, syntax and vocabulary of ‘Firefly’ is unique, memorable, genuine. After 500 years of language drift, I found the dialogue compelling and believable. Sure, everything wasn’t always “shiny,” but it sure was interesting and exciting. RIP, Ron Glass. You were the “Shepherd” we all need.
This is another great video. It's been so long since I've watched firefly it was nice to finally piece together the lore. I think it was cancelled too soon. It was a show that given the right shot should have had many seasons.
As mentioned elsewhere many times, the show never had a chance to show it's potential. I kind of have to wonder if the TV execs didn't decide that Josh had to be taken down a peg and so they let him create Firefly, then sabotaged it in every way they could. It didn't have a chance, and it absolutely should have been treated much better.
Hey recent fan, been watching through all of your Trek content while playing the FTL multiverse mod. Also got me on a voyager rewatch. Thank you. Firefly would be such a cool universe for a game.
I wish Firefly had continued, but this video made me realize something. Thousands of years later, what if Humanity had become so complacent in this new star system that their own creations drove them off their worlds. Lets call them... I don't know.. 'Cylons'. Could Firefly be considered to be a sort of unofficial prequel to Battlestar Galactica? They even find their way back to Earth to discover it's a ruined, used up world.
Firefly (TV series) 2002 - I just got the 4 DVD set - with all 14 episodes! Joss Whedon had designed the show to run for 7 years, it lasted only 3 months. FOX didn't like Whedon's original two-hour pilot "Serenity". (Movie 2019) It became "The Train Job", 1 of the 10 one-hour episodes aired on friday 20:00. No one knows why FOX aired the show in this order: 02 - "The Train Job" ---[FOX 01 - September 20, 2002] 03 - "Bushwacked" [FOX 02 - Sep 27] 06 - "Our Mrs. Reynolds" [FOX 03 - Oct 04] (NOW SHOW - Oct 11) 07 - "Jaynestown" [FOX 04 - Oct 18] 08 - "Out of Gas" [FOX 05 - Oct 25] 04 - "Shindig" [FOX 06 - Nov 01] 05 - "Safe" [FOX 07 - Nov 08] 09 - "Ariel" [FOX 08 - Nov 15] (NOW SHOW - Nov 22) (NOW SHOW - Nov 29) 10 - "War Stories" [FOX 09 - Dec 6] === SHOW CANCELED BY FOX === 14 - "Objects in Space" [FOX 10- Dec 13] 01 - "Serenity" --------[FOX 11 - December 20, 2002] They aired this 2 hour episode on friday at 21:00... 11 - "Trash" [NOT aired by FOX] 12 - "The Message" [NOT aired by FOX] 13 - "Heart of Gold" [NOT aired by FOX] It has a continuing storyline. I will try to watch the series as FOX had intended to...
I think if Firefly was aired on Sci-fi it probably would have at least lasted 4+ seasons! But, a lot of great shows were cancelled too early; John Doe and The Pretender to name a few.
So, yes, I think Firefly was canceled to early, but that's also not the same as saying I want more seasons of it, either at the time or now. As it is, it's a near-perfect set of episodes that tells a small part of a larger story, and while it would be amazing to actually get more of that story, the near-perfect nature of the 13 episodes we have makes that very tenuous IMO. The Firefly we got is so close to perfect that I am loathe to ask for anything more that might diminish what we were actually given. I'd love to see more, but it HAS to be as perfect as the original 13, and that feels like it's not possible, or at least VERY hard to pull off. And in the absence of more content that equals or surpasses the original, I'd rather not have any more than have something that doesn't quite rise to the level of what we already have. Your mileage may vary, of course ...
I didn't get into Firefly when it was on Broadcast TV. I remember my parents telling me how good it was and I gave excuses not to watch it. It just sounded so silly.. cowboys in space. Yeah. Sure. When the movie came out, I hadn't been in the mood to watch any dramas or police revenge movies. I'm a sucker for Sci-Fi and so I decided "What the hell... i'll go check it out". I came out of the theatre, made a bee line for Best Buy and bought the entire box set of Firefly. On faith that it was as good as the movie. It was way better. I've had hopes that another production group might pick it up and continue. I know that Mal and his shipmates couldn't be salvaged but since Star Trek did so well, FireFly could expand too. Alas, no one took up the mantle. I had seen the comic books come out... twiddled my thumbs hoping to hear a new movie might emerge. No chance. I heard that someone was making a video game...oooh.... nope, fell through... then another group was making a video game.... haven't heard anything more about it. I love that group of characters. I would devour more if I could get more stories out of whoever. It's sad when i've turned to fan-fic and god there are some horrible amateur writers out there. There are a few notables.
Many thanks for this dive into Firefly, much appreciated! I always wonder why Firefly humans didn't just terraform Earth, instead of terraforming distant barren worlds.
Your explanation of the series actually gives me enough background that I would like to try watching it again. As mentioned by other commenters, it was confusing to watch because the episodes aired out of order, so it felt like it came with its own well-known canon that everyone knew but the first-time watchers, which explains why fans would tell me that it makes more sense when you re-watch the series. I tried to hang on but couldn't make it past the second episode.
I love the show and movie. I truly feel that it being canceled before its time and was short that makes it so great. I feel the longer a show goes on the more it suffers from the weight of all backage from its storytelling.
I found Firefly when on a DVD buying binge, I really loved it. A fantastic setting that mixed genres. Archetypal characters that still felt vibrant. All of the characters and actors were great, although Simon Tam was only at his best during the Serenity movie. I'm undecided about the streamlined facial hair...
I really loved Firefly. I watched it when it originally aired, and I bought it and watched it on DVD. But I never realized that all the planets in the show existed in the same solar system. Even though FTL travel was never mentioned, I just assumed the ships must have had a way to travel faster than light because if they couldn't, how could they visit so many planets? Finding a solar system with that many habitable planets seems highly unlikely, but at least such a system is at least possible under known physics. If we found it necessary to abandon Earth, I don't think terraforming Mars or Venus would be the way to go. It would probably make much more sense to build rotating space habitats. O'Neill Cylinders or even McKendree cylinders should be able to use solar panels to generate more than enough energy for the habitats since they could place as many solar panels as required, and those panels wouldn't have cloudy days or nights interfering with power generation.
I recommend checking out Starhunter, a show that's also a space western in the vein of Firefly, but is more in line with Cowboy Bebop, and predates Firefly by 2 years.
Confederates...in space! Seriously, the alliance is depicted as "changing how people think" Yankees and the sympathetic portrayal of the brown coats is reduced to "meddling" by the alliance. No self awareness.
Just to be clear, I actually can't stand Firefly, and your statements are why I believe why Fox cancelled it: there was too much baggage abound within the show.
If it had been just a TV show it would've easily been better and lasted longer. The continued push for tie in everything, play this, read this, there will be a movie killed it. As it stands, I think it's mostly above average but once all the tie in's Sci-fi banked on failed they let it die instead of shoring up the show.
Perhaps the control fetish of the Aliance with regards to the outer Systems was influenced by Chinese Experiences with their northern Neighbors At least that would explain the obcessive Waste of Resources
Firefly was definitely cancelled too early. It still hurts to think of what could've been. I wish that the SyFi channel or some other network would've jumped in to save this show. Joss Whedon had 2 hit shows under his belt and if only he was given time this show would've been a hit. The few episodes we received is proof of that.
I learned about the show after I watched the movie in the theaters, and I enjoyed both a great deal. If there had been a full first season I may not think it ended to early, but only 14 episodes barely wets the whistle. There is however some decent stories in comics and novels (more so the comics IMHO).
Hey, Tyler, another great video. Question for ya, the statue of the black Star Trek Science officer, who is that, and where'd you get it? I'd like one.
There is a SYFY series called Killjoys that always heavily reminds me of Firefly. I enjoy both shows but in recent years Killjoys has become a comfort watch for me with its space bounty hunter story that just kept getting weirder and weirder.
Such a cool show. Also, I myself am a sucker for realistic levels of eco collapse lore, it always gets me, I'm sick like that. ^^' But hey, as you explained, its unfortunately quite effing topical... I wonder how close to collapse the Firefly universe is at the point the show is set. Since many of the old problems persist, just on a interstellar level, it almost seems like its inevitable. It is really notable, also, now that I hear you go over the lore, how much inspiration Starfield actually took from Firefly.
My friends who speak Mandarin say the Mandarin is understandable, but the pronunciation is pretty hilarious. In at least one episode (I think The Message), the creators hired a native Chinese speaker to voice the intercom/public address messages. That would have been fine, but apparently she spoke Cantonese, not Mandarin.
I loved this series and was (still is) angry that FOX didn't have 2 brain cells to rub together to keep Firefly burning thru the skies. Loved the cast and have followed their careers religiously. Especially Nathan Fillian. Now he was the epitome of a Space Cowboy!🌌🤠
In my opinion the most unrealistic part of the show is that humanity survives that long lol. But really firefly is one of the best sci fi shows in the 2000s
Canon??, unless the shows original creators lay claim to a shows specific details, the fan base will do it for them. Once this occurs, do the original creators have the right to complain? NOPE.
So no one gonna talk about his glow up? Na ? Ok Londoninum is the original Roman name for London by the way people OMG ok!!! I will watch firefly again… I’m not sure the crew know they have the Orasi! Onboard :-/ hallowed are the ori!!!! Sex work is legal in Europe right now too by the way
So like. Okay. About 3 weeks before you put out your Expanse video I had finished watching it for the first time. I just watched Firefly & Serenity for the first time... last week. Mr. River, are you reading my mind?
More like FAILfly! I tried, by god (though I am an atheist!) I tried getting into that, I watched it in order of release and in the suggested order and I still think that show is a jumbled mess! Give me Babylon 5 or Farscape or Star Trek TNG any day over this crap!
80's and 90's tv was saturated . 80's with "action adventure" , 90's with a wider variety of the same , but also "done on the cheap" . And while the 80's had a handful of sci-fi series, the 90's also branched out in this genre, again, sometimes "done on the cheap" . Of the few episodes I caught back then, this was my impression of the show . While Trek, B5, Farscape and occasionally Stargate looked outstanding (for the time) , Firefly from what I saw was more in the "Adventures of Young Hercules" category. It existed, but it didn't break out of any of the many Western movies & shows I've seen in the decades before -- in fact, aside from the space stuff, it often looked as a Western rehash ... , in a time when Westerns were long out of fashion . We're Fox right to cancel it ? They cancelled Buffy ... -- a much-much more popular show , so take that with the above for what it was . TV Executives at the time we're ... odd .
would i have liked even 1 more sesaon? of course. glad we got the movie. lightning in a bottle though and those asking for a revival or something are just inviting disappointment
Firefly was great, but considering how BAD the movie was in comparison, I think maybe it was already about to go downhill. Whedon seems a lot like Lucas in the sense that he had one or two good ideas, but everything after that was boat-anchor garbage. Buffy might have been as good as it was because Joss has LESS control than his later stuff.
I think Whedon was always a head up his own ass diva... But where is this revision that the film is "bad" come from? Never heard a bad thing about it from the fans outside of "shipper" laments.
@@while_coyoteNah dude. Have you ever actually talked to other fans about it? I literally have never seen anyone who enjoyed the series call the film "bad". Is it perfect? No. Nothing is and a lot of things I wish it had wrapped up stay twisting in the wind by the end. But it being "bad" sounds like another case of "Internet Iconoclast Syndrome". One day... We'll have a cure. 😂😂😂
@@miguelvelez7221 Other fans can think what they want, but they're wrong. The movie had the chance to save the show, but buried it instead. It's got a completely different vibe than the show, much darker and more unpleasant, not fun and lighthearted, while it simultaneously has too much fan service attempts to work as a stand-alone movie. It's just poorly executed all around.
Found an error (only because I wanted to learn more and googled it) - In BS Galactica, its not the Helios system, its the Cyrannus system. The stars within the quatenary are all prefixed with Helios, but that is NOT the name of the system. Carry on.
I love sci-fi, Firefly was wonderful! You got to love fantasy, just like the fantasy of climate change. I don't know if it's so much as fantasy or just another religion, I'm starting to think it's just religion you got your priests your scripture oh and don't forget canceling those who disagree with you. I'm just glad they put the climate change stuff in a fantasy setting and didn't talk as if itis a real thing.
Not only did Fox cancel Firefly too early, but they aired the episodes out of order confusing the audience and ensuring most of them would stop watching the show. They also put the show on Friday night (the death slot) against other popular sci-fi shows. Further they often preempted the show to air sports events. Nowadays you can watch the first season in the correct order including episodes Fox decided not to air as well as the film Serenity that ties up many of the loose ends created by Fox's cancelation of the TV series.
@@ThommyofThenn it's as if Fox really wanted Firefly to completely fail.
@@ThommyofThenn To me, Firefly really something very unique that you don't see often in sci-fi series.
Well imvho I still think humanity as a whole is very sort term focused. Not the better long term focused. Hell if humanity was willing to suffer in the mid term, with the long term welfare of our species in mind a lot of our problem can still be solved. But that's not in our nature for the most part unfortunately.
1, the guy that took over hated the show and wanted it to fail.
2, they didn't air it to confuse people. They aired what they thought were stronger episodes to hook people in.
They also had a problem with the interracial relationship between 2 main characters.
I completely agree that Firefly was cancelled too soon, due to the extremely limited "vision" of FOX executives (similar to TOS). I loved the series!! As with TOS, there was sooooo much untapped potential here for story development. Shame on FOX for hot only cancelling the show too soon, but for failing to recognize its potential due to their own bungled handling of the show.
Jaynestown is one of my favourite TV episodes of all time!
Shake your head boy, your eyes are stuck.
Hero of Canton, The Ballad of Jayne Cobb.
@@daTribbleMaker “This is hell. I’m in hell.”
We gotta go to the crappy town where I'm the hero!
Firefly deserved at least a second season. I know we got a movie to help tie things together but it needed more. Still one of my all-time favorite series though.
Great video. And yes it was canceled way 2 soon. Loved the world building.
Dude I did miss it. Thanks for the heads up.
When Gene Roddenberry first came up with Star Trek, he pitched it as Wagon Train to the Stars, since he started as a writer for TV westerns in the 50s. It's interesting how the parallels worked out. Science fiction has a unique perspective on what the future might be.
Interestingly, “Trek” is the Afrikaans for wagon train.
Wow. I love this franchise but probably because it has such limited product I never went too deep beyond some BTS material to suss out the details of the setting.
Looks like there's definitely some stuff for me to look into on my own. The chart itself opened my eyes to a lot. I thought it was just one solar system with some planets and moons terra formed. It was a lot bigger and more complex than I assumed.
Good work as always Orange River.
Gene meant the same structure as Wagon Train. In Wagon Train, you had a set main cast of characters, and every episode took place in a different location, so you had different guest stars. And since every town, pit-stop, etc is different, you didn't have to worry about continuity or the consequences of what occurred, since the Wagon Train had moved on and wouldn't be back.
Branching out to Firefly. I like it. I didn't see it when it originally aired, but I've watched it and the movie many times since.
It aged extremely well and most of the effects and cinematography still totally work.
Loved this show when it came it out. Was crushed when it was cancelled 😢
@@ThommyofThenn completely agree! And The Sarah Connor Chronicles left off on such a cliffhanger! 😫
@@ThommyofThenn so true! There were so many great plot threads and unanswered questions for season 3 to deal with. As far as I know, they were under the impression they WOULD have a season 3 at the time, so these things would have been dealt with. I’m not actually sure if the showrunners ever answered any questions after the show was cancelled. Maybe there’s some answers out there somewhere? But yeah, Really was a great show imo!
Cue me at 16, after school one December Friday afternoon: umexcusemewtfisthi?
@@ThommyofThennit’s an anti-Glau conspiracy.
About three months after its cancellation I was making toast in the kitchen and was wondering about a specific plotline in the series and had to remind myself that it was still cancelled. The feeling of sadness that hit me actually made me chuckle out loud, because my grief over the loss of the show the same was as with a dead pet. You think you're over it finally, then you absentmindedly go to refill your pet's food bowl months later and the pain hits you all over again.
Thanks for such a great video about my favorite science fiction series. You taught me a lot of background information about the universe that was all really interesting. To answer your questions, my favorite thing about Firefly is the characters. They're all so different and feel like real people who have come together to make a found family. I really like the universe, but I love the characters. It was definitely cancelled too early. I could imagine it going for at least 7 years. I'm grateful for the movie, but it could have been so much more. I hope you make more Firefly videos in the future.
I liked that humans are the only species in the 'verse. The notion that we are very much alone in the galaxy is unique for a lot of sci-fi that I've seen.
I think part of the problem is that Firefly never had a chance to fall down, so of course people think it was perfect.
Ha, I think you've got a strong point
I watched Serenity in theaters with a friend from Hong Kong. About half way through, she leans over to me and whispers "Their Chinese is really bad!"
I’m sure her future Chinese was really bad too.
Should have leaned over to her and say Most Chinese people have really bad English. Just to have perspective.
Tyler, you are pulling on my heartstrings with this video, man!
Firefly is my favorite Joss Whedon series.
If I remember correctly, they wanted the characters to speak Cantonese but they didn't have any writers or producers who spoke Chinese, so they ended up with a mix of Mandarin and Cantonese accents.
It's not a TV show, FireFly is a way of life
You can't take the sky from me..
If they have the tech to terraform barren rocks into habitable worlds, why didn't they just use it to fix the earth?
Because we can't have nice things like critical thinking. I'll even add to your excellent observation - If we have the tech to make generation ships, why don't we just make orbital habitats and park them around THIS sun? It's not like there is a shortage of every single material resource we could ever use in this solar system. Heck, if they left Earth behind, they also left behind almost 100% of its resources, since the overwhelming majority of those are in the mantle and the core. But let's not tear Earth apart when we can disassemble a useless planet like Mercury or Mars.
@arcdecibel9986 maybe they did all that. Perhaps their building of orbital habitats and using the resources of other planets is a part of their lost history. Maybe a group left Sol because it was overpopulated and a group of them decided to go this other solar system to start over leaving behind their trillions of cousins still in the Sol system.
@@timriggins70I love the idea because you could have other powers outside the verse. Their history was a lie to keep them from ever going back to the Sol system
A very, very good - and promising - first season. And, I loved the ‘Firefly’ movie. Most of the ‘Firefly’ cast have gone on to have exceptional careers, deservedly so. I am not a linguist but the cadence, syntax and vocabulary of ‘Firefly’ is unique, memorable, genuine. After 500 years of language drift, I found the dialogue compelling and believable. Sure, everything wasn’t always “shiny,” but it sure was interesting and exciting. RIP, Ron Glass. You were the “Shepherd” we all need.
1:41 so sorry but For the Emperor and Terra!
This is another great video. It's been so long since I've watched firefly it was nice to finally piece together the lore.
I think it was cancelled too soon. It was a show that given the right shot should have had many seasons.
At least what we do get from this franchise was damn good stuff...
As mentioned elsewhere many times, the show never had a chance to show it's potential. I kind of have to wonder if the TV execs didn't decide that Josh had to be taken down a peg and so they let him create Firefly, then sabotaged it in every way they could. It didn't have a chance, and it absolutely should have been treated much better.
Hey recent fan, been watching through all of your Trek content while playing the FTL multiverse mod. Also got me on a voyager rewatch. Thank you.
Firefly would be such a cool universe for a game.
I wish Firefly had continued, but this video made me realize something. Thousands of years later, what if Humanity had become so complacent in this new star system that their own creations drove them off their worlds. Lets call them... I don't know.. 'Cylons'.
Could Firefly be considered to be a sort of unofficial prequel to Battlestar Galactica? They even find their way back to Earth to discover it's a ruined, used up world.
Great show. Definitely canceled too soon.
Firefly (TV series) 2002 - I just got the 4 DVD set - with all 14 episodes!
Joss Whedon had designed the show to run for 7 years, it lasted only 3 months.
FOX didn't like Whedon's original two-hour pilot "Serenity". (Movie 2019)
It became "The Train Job", 1 of the 10 one-hour episodes aired on friday 20:00.
No one knows why FOX aired the show in this order:
02 - "The Train Job" ---[FOX 01 - September 20, 2002]
03 - "Bushwacked" [FOX 02 - Sep 27]
06 - "Our Mrs. Reynolds" [FOX 03 - Oct 04]
(NOW SHOW - Oct 11)
07 - "Jaynestown" [FOX 04 - Oct 18]
08 - "Out of Gas" [FOX 05 - Oct 25]
04 - "Shindig" [FOX 06 - Nov 01]
05 - "Safe" [FOX 07 - Nov 08]
09 - "Ariel" [FOX 08 - Nov 15]
(NOW SHOW - Nov 22)
(NOW SHOW - Nov 29)
10 - "War Stories" [FOX 09 - Dec 6]
=== SHOW CANCELED BY FOX ===
14 - "Objects in Space" [FOX 10- Dec 13]
01 - "Serenity" --------[FOX 11 - December 20, 2002]
They aired this 2 hour episode on friday at 21:00...
11 - "Trash" [NOT aired by FOX]
12 - "The Message" [NOT aired by FOX]
13 - "Heart of Gold" [NOT aired by FOX]
It has a continuing storyline. I will try to watch the series as FOX had intended to...
I think if Firefly was aired on Sci-fi it probably would have at least lasted 4+ seasons!
But, a lot of great shows were cancelled too early; John Doe and The Pretender to name a few.
So, yes, I think Firefly was canceled to early, but that's also not the same as saying I want more seasons of it, either at the time or now.
As it is, it's a near-perfect set of episodes that tells a small part of a larger story, and while it would be amazing to actually get more of that story, the near-perfect nature of the 13 episodes we have makes that very tenuous IMO.
The Firefly we got is so close to perfect that I am loathe to ask for anything more that might diminish what we were actually given. I'd love to see more, but it HAS to be as perfect as the original 13, and that feels like it's not possible, or at least VERY hard to pull off. And in the absence of more content that equals or surpasses the original, I'd rather not have any more than have something that doesn't quite rise to the level of what we already have.
Your mileage may vary, of course ...
I didn't get into Firefly when it was on Broadcast TV. I remember my parents telling me how good it was and I gave excuses not to watch it. It just sounded so silly.. cowboys in space. Yeah. Sure. When the movie came out, I hadn't been in the mood to watch any dramas or police revenge movies. I'm a sucker for Sci-Fi and so I decided "What the hell... i'll go check it out". I came out of the theatre, made a bee line for Best Buy and bought the entire box set of Firefly. On faith that it was as good as the movie. It was way better. I've had hopes that another production group might pick it up and continue. I know that Mal and his shipmates couldn't be salvaged but since Star Trek did so well, FireFly could expand too. Alas, no one took up the mantle. I had seen the comic books come out... twiddled my thumbs hoping to hear a new movie might emerge. No chance. I heard that someone was making a video game...oooh.... nope, fell through... then another group was making a video game.... haven't heard anything more about it.
I love that group of characters. I would devour more if I could get more stories out of whoever. It's sad when i've turned to fan-fic and god there are some horrible amateur writers out there. There are a few notables.
why must you bring up old wounds
I do agree it was canceled too early. Fox was not giving chance to ANYTHING that would rate bellow a certain viewcount
Many thanks for this dive into Firefly, much appreciated!
I always wonder why Firefly humans didn't just terraform Earth, instead of terraforming distant barren worlds.
Firefly could easily have gone 3-4 seasons possibly more.
Firefly is one of the best series I've ever watched. It never should have been cancelled! :(
Whedon must be a big fan of Outlaw Star given Firefly is basically a live action version.
Your explanation of the series actually gives me enough background that I would like to try watching it again. As mentioned by other commenters, it was confusing to watch because the episodes aired out of order, so it felt like it came with its own well-known canon that everyone knew but the first-time watchers, which explains why fans would tell me that it makes more sense when you re-watch the series. I tried to hang on but couldn't make it past the second episode.
If only Joss Wheton and the writer of "The Fifth Element" got together for an epic film!
I guess you lost a poker game with Dr Beverly
The greatest show that never was, to paraphrase a famous phrase from what could have been one of the greatest sci-fi shows of all time
I love the show and movie. I truly feel that it being canceled before its time and was short that makes it so great. I feel the longer a show goes on the more it suffers from the weight of all backage from its storytelling.
Great tour of the show!
Firefly has been a guide star for me. It so neatly encapsolated my philosophy.
I like how you said ''policy choices by polluting countries'' and then showed Europe, which is the 2nd lowest polluting continent 🤔
It's a stock footage clip of wildfires... this is taking things too literally lmfao
@@OrangeRiver This is serious business 🤡
I found Firefly when on a DVD buying binge, I really loved it. A fantastic setting that mixed genres. Archetypal characters that still felt vibrant. All of the characters and actors were great, although Simon Tam was only at his best during the Serenity movie. I'm undecided about the streamlined facial hair...
Interesting choice of the background music "Rebel Path" of the Cyberpunk 2077 OST while discussing the history of the 21st century!
Excellent content as always!
I really loved Firefly. I watched it when it originally aired, and I bought it and watched it on DVD. But I never realized that all the planets in the show existed in the same solar system. Even though FTL travel was never mentioned, I just assumed the ships must have had a way to travel faster than light because if they couldn't, how could they visit so many planets? Finding a solar system with that many habitable planets seems highly unlikely, but at least such a system is at least possible under known physics.
If we found it necessary to abandon Earth, I don't think terraforming Mars or Venus would be the way to go. It would probably make much more sense to build rotating space habitats. O'Neill Cylinders or even McKendree cylinders should be able to use solar panels to generate more than enough energy for the habitats since they could place as many solar panels as required, and those panels wouldn't have cloudy days or nights interfering with power generation.
I recommend checking out Starhunter, a show that's also a space western in the vein of Firefly, but is more in line with Cowboy Bebop, and predates Firefly by 2 years.
Confederates...in space! Seriously, the alliance is depicted as "changing how people think" Yankees and the sympathetic portrayal of the brown coats is reduced to "meddling" by the alliance. No self awareness.
No subtly either.
Just to be clear, I actually can't stand Firefly, and your statements are why I believe why Fox cancelled it: there was too much baggage abound within the show.
I love Firefly.
This was a great show/movie. Jayne Cobb is THE MAN!!
Yes, it's Adam Baldwin playing himself.
I, FOR ONE, THINK THE CANCELLATION OF FIREFLY IS A *BAD* THING!!!
Always nice to see some Verse stuff!
To me, it was the best sci-fi show ever 🤗
This is Great 😃 💚
Did you ever watch Defiance? I really like it.
Defiance was a curiosity for me, I didn't hate it but never fell in love with it either. Visually great with some interesting elements.
If it had been just a TV show it would've easily been better and lasted longer. The continued push for tie in everything, play this, read this, there will be a movie killed it. As it stands, I think it's mostly above average but once all the tie in's Sci-fi banked on failed they let it die instead of shoring up the show.
Are you familiar with Farscape? I'd really love to see you do a video on that.
Great series and worldbuilding
The Operative is easily in my top 5 antagonists in scifi
I wish the Operative was present at the beginning of the series.
I like Firefly but it wasn't as good as the superfans say it was. But the Serenity movie was awesome.
I've never met anyone who didn't like Firefly after they watched it. I will forever hate Fox for their complete mistreatment of this show
Well, I can tell you I hated it after watching it. I found it to be boring and terrible.
Hands down, cancelled too early, because some suit decided to air shit out of order and put in a shitty time slot for airing.
It was canned too early.
Stargate firefly Star Trek Farscape and Star Wars… my favs
Perhaps the control fetish of the Aliance with regards to the outer Systems was influenced by Chinese Experiences with their northern Neighbors
At least that would explain the obcessive Waste of Resources
Firefly was definitely cancelled too early. It still hurts to think of what could've been. I wish that the SyFi channel or some other network would've jumped in to save this show. Joss Whedon had 2 hit shows under his belt and if only he was given time this show would've been a hit. The few episodes we received is proof of that.
I learned about the show after I watched the movie in the theaters, and I enjoyed both a great deal. If there had been a full first season I may not think it ended to early, but only 14 episodes barely wets the whistle. There is however some decent stories in comics and novels (more so the comics IMHO).
i never got into it but my brother and parents loved it
Definitely cancelled WAY to soon. It should have gone for at least 3 seasons if not 5. 🤘😁🖖🇨🇦
Hey, Tyler, another great video. Question for ya, the statue of the black Star Trek Science officer, who is that, and where'd you get it? I'd like one.
😂😂😂 That's a one-of-a-kind statue of D'Vana Tendi custom 3D printed and hand painted by a fan of the channel
That's dope, thanks for the reply. She looks awesome. I thought it might be tendi, but the lighting threw me off. :P@@OrangeRiver
There is a SYFY series called Killjoys that always heavily reminds me of Firefly. I enjoy both shows but in recent years Killjoys has become a comfort watch for me with its space bounty hunter story that just kept getting weirder and weirder.
is that armour at 1:15 very close to startrooper armour or is it just me lol
Such a cool show. Also, I myself am a sucker for realistic levels of eco collapse lore, it always gets me, I'm sick like that. ^^' But hey, as you explained, its unfortunately quite effing topical... I wonder how close to collapse the Firefly universe is at the point the show is set. Since many of the old problems persist, just on a interstellar level, it almost seems like its inevitable.
It is really notable, also, now that I hear you go over the lore, how much inspiration Starfield actually took from Firefly.
Then again, Firefly took from Starhunter.
Please do an episode on what would have happened with subsequent seasons. Where do you think this was going?
To answer your question, I would have liked to see more episodes. The series ended too soon. I'm glad they made the movie.
My friends who speak Mandarin say the Mandarin is understandable, but the pronunciation is pretty hilarious. In at least one episode (I think The Message), the creators hired a native Chinese speaker to voice the intercom/public address messages. That would have been fine, but apparently she spoke Cantonese, not Mandarin.
I loved this series and was (still is) angry that FOX didn't have 2 brain cells to rub together to keep Firefly burning thru the skies. Loved the cast and have followed their careers religiously. Especially Nathan Fillian. Now he was the epitome of a Space Cowboy!🌌🤠
In my opinion the most unrealistic part of the show is that humanity survives that long lol. But really firefly is one of the best sci fi shows in the 2000s
Canon??, unless the shows original creators lay claim to a shows specific details, the fan base will do it for them. Once this occurs, do the original creators have the right to complain? NOPE.
Hell yeah they messed up cancelling the show! Luckily the movie was fantastic!
So no one gonna talk about his glow up? Na ? Ok
Londoninum is the original Roman name for London by the way people
OMG ok!!! I will watch firefly again…
I’m not sure the crew know they have the Orasi! Onboard :-/ hallowed are the ori!!!!
Sex work is legal in Europe right now too by the way
So like. Okay. About 3 weeks before you put out your Expanse video I had finished watching it for the first time.
I just watched Firefly & Serenity for the first time... last week.
Mr. River, are you reading my mind?
Definitely another Fox fu£k up. Well worth a binge, would have loved the finding Earth, Vamps and Slayers spin off.
I find it hard to watch Firefly since it's basically the Lost Cause myth in space.
Who tf is this beardless guy on my screen??
If he was covering Star Trek he could be Ensign Babyface.
@@jamesabernethy7896haha for real
Such a good show that was criminally mistreated by Fox 😢
I love firefly... one of those very sad 1 season shows of course it was canceled too early!
They cancelled this for Dark Angel which I liked better at the time since I was a kid. Now though I realize firefly is 100 percent a way better show
I recommend Starhunter, which came out 2 years before Firefly.
I just finished the last episode today
More like FAILfly! I tried, by god (though I am an atheist!) I tried getting into that, I watched it in order of release and in the suggested order and I still think that show is a jumbled mess! Give me Babylon 5 or Farscape or Star Trek TNG any day over this crap!
80's and 90's tv was saturated . 80's with "action adventure" , 90's with a wider variety of the same , but also "done on the cheap" .
And while the 80's had a handful of sci-fi series, the 90's also branched out in this genre, again, sometimes "done on the cheap" . Of the few episodes I caught back then, this was my impression of the show .
While Trek, B5, Farscape and occasionally Stargate looked outstanding (for the time) , Firefly from what I saw was more in the "Adventures of Young Hercules" category. It existed, but it didn't break out of any of the many Western movies & shows I've seen in the decades before -- in fact, aside from the space stuff, it often looked as a Western rehash ... , in a time when Westerns were long out of fashion .
We're Fox right to cancel it ?
They cancelled Buffy ... -- a much-much more popular show , so take that with the above for what it was .
TV Executives at the time we're ... odd .
would i have liked even 1 more sesaon? of course. glad we got the movie. lightning in a bottle though and those asking for a revival or something are just inviting disappointment
Pressing here to know more, give me more! Lol
Firefly was great, but considering how BAD the movie was in comparison, I think maybe it was already about to go downhill. Whedon seems a lot like Lucas in the sense that he had one or two good ideas, but everything after that was boat-anchor garbage. Buffy might have been as good as it was because Joss has LESS control than his later stuff.
I think Whedon was always a head up his own ass diva...
But where is this revision that the film is "bad" come from? Never heard a bad thing about it from the fans outside of "shipper" laments.
@@miguelvelez7221 Lol, it comes from watching it and seeing that it is bad. Just watch it, it's terrible.
That film wasn't bad at all and I enjoyed it. Also it's the best send off that Firefly got.
@@while_coyoteNah dude. Have you ever actually talked to other fans about it? I literally have never seen anyone who enjoyed the series call the film "bad". Is it perfect? No. Nothing is and a lot of things I wish it had wrapped up stay twisting in the wind by the end.
But it being "bad" sounds like another case of "Internet Iconoclast Syndrome".
One day... We'll have a cure. 😂😂😂
@@miguelvelez7221 Other fans can think what they want, but they're wrong. The movie had the chance to save the show, but buried it instead. It's got a completely different vibe than the show, much darker and more unpleasant, not fun and lighthearted, while it simultaneously has too much fan service attempts to work as a stand-alone movie. It's just poorly executed all around.
Found an error (only because I wanted to learn more and googled it) - In BS Galactica, its not the Helios system, its the Cyrannus system. The stars within the quatenary are all prefixed with Helios, but that is NOT the name of the system. Carry on.
I love sci-fi, Firefly was wonderful! You got to love fantasy, just like the fantasy of climate change. I don't know if it's so much as fantasy or just another religion, I'm starting to think it's just religion you got your priests your scripture oh and don't forget canceling those who disagree with you. I'm just glad they put the climate change stuff in a fantasy setting and didn't talk as if itis a real thing.
Wooooh Hooo Hoooo Hoo
Yes
The show deserved better.
Cancelled WAY too early and aired in a disastrous way too. Executive execution is more realistic.
I’m hoping Disney renews it
Mores is "mor-ayz".
I never understood the Chinese in the world. Where are all the Chinese people ??
The gaps in Whedon's progressive armor are on full display there.
We see them on many of the core worlds.
Tyler, it's been awhile since I watched a video. You look different. Loose weight (not that you needed to)? Get a haircut? LOL
Ha, just shaved!