View Full Version : Firefly Coming to DVD
Babel-17
14-Apr-2003, 23:58
http://slashdot.org/articles/03/04/13/1337242.shtml?tid=129
Firefly Coming to DVD
Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday April 13, @11:06AM
from the insert-mandarin-quote-here dept.
Kaypro writes "According to the scoop over at Ain't it Cool, it seems that Fox has decided that there's not enough viewers to keep the Firefly series on the air, but somehow there's enough fans to make money off DVD sales. Go figure. Included in the set will be the entire season plus unaired episodes and the original pilot in full 16:9 format. Extras I assume are included as well. No release date has been set as of yet." The missing episodes will be nice. In order will be nice. Such a good show. The last couple of episodes were just awesome.
I'm posting this here at Beyond3D as I know there is at least one avid fan of this now defunct series. This also gives me the chance to thank that person for "pimping" the show in his sig. Because of that I got interested enough to search for the episodes and I was finally able to see them all.
Very nice stuff imo. It's freshness outweighed the bit of "cheese" it had and there were many great elements to it.
Dave Baumann
03-Mar-2005, 11:13
Hey, Old thread from the dead, but someone lent me the DVD the other week and I’ve got to say this is one of the most enjoyable programs I’ve seen for a long time – characters, scripting and humour are very well done. Big shame that they cancelled this. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to wait for “Serenity”.
K.I.L.E.R
03-Mar-2005, 11:16
Why was it cancelled?
What season was it cancelled on?
I love FF. :(
Hey, Old thread from the dead, but someone lent me the DVD the other week and I’ve got to say this is one of the most enjoyable programs I’ve seen for a long time – characters, scripting and humour are very well done. Big shame that they cancelled this. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to wait for “Serenity”.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
03-Mar-2005, 11:54
Why was it cancelled?
What season was it cancelled on?
I love FF. :(
About two thirds of the way throught the first season - it didn't even complete one series before the TV company junked it. IIRC, the DVD has the extra episodes that were made but not aired.
The series is already on DVD, I saw it for sale in Blockbuster today not far frome where I live (Sydney, Australia) while I was waiting for my pizzas a couple of shops away. I nearly bought it but I had second thoughts as I've only seen parts of episodes and never whole episodes.
Mariner
03-Mar-2005, 12:55
Why was it cancelled?
The usual reason. Clueless 'suits' who are only interested in their own jobs and think their bosses will appreciate perceived savings.
Personally, I wasn't too taken with it to start off with (some sloppy science in there) but it did develop into a quite enjoyable programme and I was disappointed to see it disappear.
When you think of some of the trash which has loads of series, it really does make you wonder what's going on in TV-land...
Isn't it awesome? We never saw it when it was on TV (this would be part of the problem), but love the DVDs. Very American post-Civil War cowboy era in space, with a Chinese twist. Really cool. I kept expecting to hear "I'm a good ole' Rebel" show up in the soundtrack at some point.
It's a crime that Joss Whedon doesn't have a show on TV right now. Tho I suspect part of the reason for that is he does scifi/fantasy and refuses to do them on the cheap. . .and doing them well requires more money than your average sitcom because of the special effects, costumes, makeup, etc.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
03-Mar-2005, 16:26
It's a crime that Joss Whedon doesn't have a show on TV right now. Tho I suspect part of the reason for that is he does scifi/fantasy and refuses to do them on the cheap. . .and doing them well requires more money than your average sitcom because of the special effects, costumes, makeup, etc.
But look at how much money you make from a serious fan base. You sell the show all over the world, as well as the DVDs, the mouspads, the books, the spin-off series, etc.
london-boy
03-Mar-2005, 16:55
I must say, i was THE BIGGEST Buff+Angel fan, but Firefly just freaking bored me to hell and back. Not sure why it just didn't do anything for me...
It's a crime that Joss Whedon doesn't have a show on TV right now. Tho I suspect part of the reason for that is he does scifi/fantasy and refuses to do them on the cheap. . .and doing them well requires more money than your average sitcom because of the special effects, costumes, makeup, etc.
But look at how much money you make from a serious fan base. You sell the show all over the world, as well as the DVDs, the mouspads, the books, the spin-off series, etc.
The question is tho, *who makes the money* for that stuff? The network or the production company? Look at the pricing, and popularity, of Buffy and Angel DVD's. . .they do very, very well, and are very reasonably priced. These two factors have a direct relationship. . .do the networks who aired those shows share in that, and to what degree? If they don't, then they have to make their nut off the original airings and production costs are a significant factor.
We'd love to have the Bab5 DVD's, but won't pay the price they want. . .yet we have all seven seasons of Buffy and all five of Angel.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
03-Mar-2005, 17:32
The question is tho, *who makes the money* for that stuff? The network or the production company? Look at the pricing, and popularity, of Buffy and Angel DVD's. . .they do very, very well, and are very reasonably priced. These two factors have a direct relationship. . .do the networks who aired those shows share in that, and to what degree? If they don't, then they have to make their nut off the original airings and production costs are a significant factor.
Depends on the contracts ie who has the rights to what sorts of merchandise, syndication, etc. On the whole, the network studios like Warners or Fox make the big money, because they stumped up the cash to get the series made in the first place and have screwed everyone else on the contracts as much as they can.
Remember it was only a few years back there was all that strike action because the studios weren't paying actors residuals on DVD sales because of a loophole in the original, pre-DVD era.
Even people like JMS claim they made hardly any money on successful shows like B5. Yes, people get paid, but its ususally only the studios that reap the rewards of a big show. It's even more pronounced now that DVD sales can account for up to 50 percent of the profit from the new market that didn't exist a few years back.
That's why you always hear stories of actors on big successful shows striking for more money - they usually get a small amount of cash to begin with, and when the studio is raking in hundreds of millions on a big hit, the actors want to get a small slice of the financial success too.
Althornin
04-Mar-2005, 00:44
I must say, i was THE BIGGEST Buff+Angel fan, but Firefly just freaking bored me to hell and back. Not sure why it just didn't do anything for me...
You prefer gay vampires to kick ass sci-fi?
epicstruggle
04-Mar-2005, 01:54
Sigh, firefly, what a show.
Fox did their utmost to screw that show from the begining and succeded in cancelling something special.
Fox decided that the 2hours pilot was too slow, and skiped it. So we start the show not know alot of the background story, then they prempt the show so you didnt know when the show was going to be on. God they suck so bad.
Im really looking forward to the movie, apperantly they postponed the release to septmber because they are that impressed with the movie.
LB, how many episodes of the show did you watch before you gave up? Did you start from the begining or somewhere into the series?
Firefly ranks in the top 3 shows of all time for me. In no particular order: Firefly, xfiles, family guy.
epic
We'd love to have the Bab5 DVD's, but won't pay the price they want. . .yet we have all seven seasons of Buffy and all five of Angel.
Where are you located? UK? £16.99 per season cheap enough for you (http://www.choicesdirect.com/templates/product.asp?ProductGuid=660131)? In Austrailia they're AUD $54 (http://www.dvdcrave.com.au/products/product.jsp?pid=15192) ($58 with international shipping.) How about Farscape for AUD $54 (http://www.devoteddvd.com.au/shop/product_info.php?products_id=8959) including international shipping.
Edit: And inspired by this thread I just ordered Firefly for myself. £12.82 shipped was too cheap to pass up. Thanks to Dave for the reminder, as I had been planning to get it for a while.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
04-Mar-2005, 12:01
Edit: And inspired by this thread I just ordered Firefly for myself. £12.82 shipped was too cheap to pass up. Thanks to Dave for the reminder, as I had been planning to get it for a while.
Linky please?
Amazon UK. £12.97 base price. Add or subract VAT and shipping as per location.
london-boy
04-Mar-2005, 13:50
Sigh, firefly, what a show.
Fox did their utmost to screw that show from the begining and succeded in cancelling something special.
Fox decided that the 2hours pilot was too slow, and skiped it. So we start the show not know alot of the background story, then they prempt the show so you didnt know when the show was going to be on. God they suck so bad.
Im really looking forward to the movie, apperantly they postponed the release to septmber because they are that impressed with the movie.
LB, how many episodes of the show did you watch before you gave up? Did you start from the begining or somewhere into the series?
Firefly ranks in the top 3 shows of all time for me. In no particular order: Firefly, xfiles, family guy.
epic
I fell asleep halfway through the pilot. I had the whole series on my hard drive and deleted it. Just couldn't force myself to watch it.
Mariner
04-Mar-2005, 15:26
I fell asleep halfway through the pilot. I had the whole series on my hard drive and deleted it. Just couldn't force myself to watch it.
It did get much better as the series went on. I, too, thought it pretty weak at the beginning but it wasn't half bad overall.
london-boy
04-Mar-2005, 15:28
I fell asleep halfway through the pilot. I had the whole series on my hard drive and deleted it. Just couldn't force myself to watch it.
It did get much better as the series went on. I, too, thought it pretty weak at the beginning but it wasn't half bad overall.
Well it took me a few weeks to finish dloading it, and now that i've deleted it without even backing it up, not gonna dload it again anytime soon.
John Reynolds
04-Mar-2005, 16:57
Firefly is the best TV-produced sci-fi EVAR!
Firefly is the best TV-produced sci-fi EVAR!
I have hopes for the new Galactica also. A little hevy on the 'look how much religious, Freud, and mythological imagery I can squeeze into 41 minutes while still having enough boom to keep the casual croud happy' from the writers. But that's still way better than the 'quantum-antimatter-injector-leak and/or planet of the week' legacy that StarTrek left us with...
epicstruggle
04-Mar-2005, 18:29
Firefly is the best TV-produced sci-fi EVAR!
True!
epic
epicstruggle
04-Mar-2005, 18:35
I fell asleep halfway through the pilot. I had the whole series on my hard drive and deleted it. Just couldn't force myself to watch it.
It did get much better as the series went on. I, too, thought it pretty weak at the beginning but it wasn't half bad overall.
Well it took me a few weeks to finish dloading it, and now that i've deleted it without even backing it up, not gonna dload it again anytime soon.
Dang it if you were in the US, id mail you my dvds so you could watch it. Maybe one of our fellow UK'ers would lend them to you. I am 99% sure that if you can finish watching the pilot and an episode or two, you will be hooked. The show was just that bad ass, I dont think ive fired up the dvd for a few weeks, but i still have the song "hero of canton" in my head. The show for some reason gets in you, and you hence forth judge other sci-fi based on this one.
got the lyrics of that song:
"Hero of Canton" by Joss Whedon(?) (Firefly, "Jaynestown")
Jayne
The man they call Jayne
He robbed from the rich and he gave to the poor
Stood up to the Man and he gave him what for
Our love for him now ain't hard to explain
The Hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne
Now Jayne saw the Mudders' backs breaking
He saw the Mudders lament
And he saw the magistrate taking
Every dollar and leaving five cents
So he said, "You can't do that to my people"
He said "You can't crush 'em under your heel"
Jayne strapped on his hat
And in five seconds flat
Stole everything Boss Higgins had to steal
He robbed from the rich and he gave to the poor
Stood up to the Man and he gave him what for
Our love for him now ain't hard to explain
The Hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne
Now here is what separates heroes
From common folk like you and I
The man they call Jayne
He turned 'round his plane
And let that money hit the sky
He dropped it onto our houses
He dropped it into our yards
And the man call Jayne
He turned 'round his plane
And headed out for the stars
He robbed from the rich and he gave to the poor
Stood up to the Man and he gave him what for
Our love for him now ain't hard to explain
The Hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne!
get it, watch it, youll not regret it. :)
epic
Ah yes, another of the "Joss Whedon players". . .he ended up in a recurring role at the end of Angel too.
I love the director's commentary on the ep where he has to convince the bad guy he is willing to torture him. . .and Joss tells him "Look, don't play it 'large'. . .you don't need to do that. . .believe me, you are bringing 'large' to the party. . ."
Mariner
06-Mar-2005, 14:02
I have hopes for the new Galactica also. A little hevy on the 'look how much religious, Freud, and mythological imagery I can squeeze into 41 minutes while still having enough boom to keep the casual croud happy' from the writers. But that's still way better than the 'quantum-antimatter-injector-leak and/or planet of the week' legacy that StarTrek left us with...
The new Battlestar Galactica series was OK in parts but far too many of the episodes were dealing with ludicrous civilian vs military political conflicts.
Some interesting new storyline twists in there compared to the original series, however, which made it worth watching.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
04-Apr-2005, 23:50
Holy resurrected thread Batman!
Thanks to Zaphod I have finally got around to getting "Firefly" for peanuts, and it's as good as everyone says it is. Massive entertainment value of 14 episodes for a piffling $16.
I'm not sure if it's the best TV SF ever, but it's certainly up there at the top of the list. Brilliant writing, acting, characters, story, production values, etc. It's clever and in some ways quite unique, and the suits at Fox are idiots for destroying any chances of it succeeding (changing episode orders, not showing the pilot, delaying episodes for weeks and changing schedules for playoffs) and then killing it off without even showing the whole first series.
and the suits at Fox are idiots for destroying any chances of it succeeding (changing episode orders, not showing the pilot, delaying episodes for weeks and changing schedules for playoffs) and then killing it off without even showing the whole first series.
If the movie (http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0379786/) does well maybe Universal will do a... uhm... Spinoff? They supposedly have an option contracted for two sequels (http://actionadventure.about.com/od/news/a/aa071404.htm) at least. Fox may (probably?) still hold the television rights.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
05-Apr-2005, 09:48
If the movie (http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0379786/) does well maybe Universal will do a... uhm... Spinoff? They supposedly have an option contracted for two sequels (http://actionadventure.about.com/od/news/a/aa071404.htm) at least. Fox may (probably?) still hold the television rights.
There are a few shows that have come back because thier success on DVD has made them viable, and Firefly was extremely successful on DVD sales. However, I would be surprised that the same kind of idiot executives that cancelled it would be willing to admit they were wrong to do so by bringing the series back to life. Maybe if Serenity does well, there might be more of a chance though.
BTW, according to the article you linked, Joss Whedon has got the rights back from Fox and Universal are very interested in the show, so maybe a series might come back.
PatrickL
05-Apr-2005, 09:50
Friday i saw the 2 firsts episodes on cable tv and i can say i am not impressed for now.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
05-Apr-2005, 10:02
Friday i saw the 2 firsts episodes on cable tv and i can say i am not impressed for now.
The pilot is a little slow because it's got to set the scene and introduce the characters, but after that it really finds it's feet, and the characters really mesh well. I was a bit unimpressed after the pilot, but I'm three episodes from the end and I've enjoyed it immensely.
I think it's got to do with the way Whedon writes it. Characters and their development are important to him, so he takes time to lay down decent foundations and then build up a little more each episode. Fourteen episodes is really only half a series, and some of those weren't shown, so the series never even had a chance to find it's feet.
BTW, according to the article you linked, Joss Whedon has got the rights back from Fox and Universal are very interested in the show, so maybe a series might come back.
It doesn't say anything about the TV rights, though. I think more often than not one does not nessecarily follow the other. JMS, for example retained (and subsequently optioned off, but now have them again) the rights to a B5 feautre film, while Warner owns all the television programming.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
05-Apr-2005, 10:42
It doesn't say anything about the TV rights, though. I think more often than not one does not nessecarily follow the other. JMS, for example retained (and subsequently optioned off, but now have them again) the rights to a B5 feautre film, while Warner owns all the television programming.
True, but it does say that Whedon got the rights back from Fox, Universal has signed them on for three movies, and in one of the other interviews one of the actors is asked if they can go back and do more series after the movies, and he does answer "I hope so".
There's always a hope as things like B5, Enterprise, & Buffy switched networks, and even Farscape got their rights back in the end.
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