Firefly 10/18/02 (1 Viewer)

[Dominik Droscher]

I really hope that Fox does not cancel this show. It has great potential and the latest episode was another proof for this. The plot itself was nothing special but I love the characters and their interaction. When I first read about 9 main characters I was worried, but it works, much better than I would have expected.
I am a little afraid that the lack of action evoked through the big cast might be a problem for the longevity of the show. But give me interesting characters, witty dialog and great stories anytime, I don't need 2 or 3 major action sequences every episode.
Firefly 1.04 (Actually 1.06, damn you Fox for screwing around with the episode order):
Great episode which did not shine with a very good plot but once more showcased the fantastic interaction of the Cast. It was nice to see River finally talking in whole sentences and she even got the biggest laughs of the episode (at least from me ). The scenes with Kaylee and Simon where also very good and I hope the tension between those two won't be overstretched too much. Makes me think if there is another early main cast member death that Joss is planning. This episode actually had character development, mainly Jayne's but also some for Simon.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Yep, overall a really great episode. Lots of fun
I too am VERY interested in what Joss has cooked up for the actual arc part of the season. Obviously River has improved much more in 104-5, so we can only hope that when the DVDs come out they will be in the proper order

 

[Frank Anderson]

Very entertaining. Although I still have issues with all the low tech mixed in with spaceships and whatnot I guess it's begining to grow on me. I did not even think about it during this episode until the baddie fired the gun. I do hope it continues and does not get cancelled.

 

[Trace Downing]

Although I didn't see an episode title in the opening, my TiVo said it was called "Jaynestown".
Decent episode, but it's taking me a while to get into this series.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

WARNING, SPOILERS... This is an episode specific thread so I don't see the need for tags.
I defineately like where they are going with the character of River. In "Serenity" Parts one and two, the Doctor (after she'd been dethawed) about how brilliant she was and special and whatever. All we've seen since is incoherent babbling from the girl with somewhat psychic overtones to it. The scene where she had Book's bible and was "fixing" it showed me how brilliant this girl was (and may eventually be again.) We (or at least the Christians and up to a specific point the Jews among us) accept that symbolism and contridictions in faith because that's all we are equipped to do, unless we stopped believing in which case we wouldn't have such a damned interesting in the book to begin with. But River, she actually finds solutions for the problems
"Keep walking, preacher man." was also perhaps the funniest line in the episode from my viewpoint.
I hope they don't wussy Jayne up all that much, though it was nice to see atleast a little depth in that episode.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

www.zap2it.com
Firefly 2.7/5
That's pretty bad...
I'm thinking that thing about last week might have hurt the show...what about you?

 

[MikeAlletto]

I totally forgot about it this friday! I don't think its going to last too much longer.

 

[Phil Florian]

I would hope the show would be given the opportunity to get its legs before being cancelled. I mean, there are shows in the can already. Would be silly to spend money on them and not get them to the screen at all. Hopefully a strong November will get it on the map with a bit better ratings...though I don't know what they really mean. A few weeks ago someone said they were double that and that was excellent...but it was 4.something which still sounds pretty low. Oh well...here is hoping.

Phil

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Just shows all those sports fans were right when they said the advertising during the game would bring in new viewers

 

[Patrick Sun]

This was a good episode. If anyone cares, it was written by Ben Edlund, the creator of "The Tick", so it was filled with very good character interaction tidbits, and gets a lot of chuckles and laughs out of characters that we've only seen for 4 hours. I'm liking Firefly very much.

The preacher's hair just undid me, I was also LOL big time at River's reaction. And I'm so happy that River is actually regaining her braininess and is now getting back to super coherency.

There's a lot of good possibilities for good stories out of the main crew and its passenger of Firefly. You could do a whole lot worse on TV, that's for sure.

 

[TheLongshot]

So far, the best episode so far. Just lots of great character reactions so far. Looking forward to more.

Jason

 

[JohnDMoore]

I tuned in solely because Jewel Staite's in it.
I think I'm on board though. I'll be giving it an extended trial period. It looks like fun and like it just might have a lot of potential. I really enjoyed this first episode, though the majority of my time was spent going "Wait, who's that there?"

 

[Jason Seaver]

Firefly 2.7/5

That's pretty bad...

I'm thinking that thing about last week might have hurt the show...what about you?

Well, if that's the case, wouldn't "John Doe" have shown similar erosion? But instead, while "Firefly" went through the floor - 4.3/8 two weeks ago to 2.7/5 - "John Doe" didn't fall off nearly as badly - 4.8/8 two weeks ago to 4.0/7. (And, for comparison, "Firefly" was 3.6/7 three weeks ago and "John Doe" 4.4/8)

I'm thinking that with six to eight broadcast networks (depending on whether you count Pax and PBS) and a metric ton of cable outlets, niche shows like sci-fi westerns just aren't going to get better than niche rating. Which puts producers of expensive niche shows like "Firefly" in a real pickle - unless it's just completely kicking butt in desirable demographics, how do you justify paying for this? Which is too bad, because I enjoyed the heck out of "Jaynestown" - it's solid entertainment, especially without having to cut through a macrostory just to enjoy it.

I wonder if it might behoove Fox to find a second-run spot for "Firefly". If the ratings keep up like this, then they won't be using their regular second run anyway, so why not see if running it Monday or Tuesday on FX or Sci-Fi helps build an audience?

The other alternative is to move it, but I don't see many better places on Fox's schedule - maybe Monday at 9 if "girls club" is a complete disaster, or Sunday at 7pm - which, though it has its own challenges, also has potential, and is where "Brisco" would have run had it made a second season.

 

[Aaron Thomas]

Hey, "John Doe" got a rerun last week and gets another episode this Thursday.

I have no idea if that helps ratings or not, but Fox seems to think that it does.

Aaron Thomas
Has no historical data to share.

 

[Jason Seaver]

True - "Firefly" was scheduled for a Monday repeat if there had been no baseball, but that didn't work out.

What does Fox have on the regular schedule for Thursday, anyway? Is it a movie night or am I just completely blanking?

EDIT: Ah. Nothing - "Thirty Seconds To Fame" and "Septuplets". Sure, Thursday night's cutthroat, but it's looking like a big giant hole right now.

 

[Danny R]

Very entertaining. Although I still have issues with all the low tech mixed in with spaceships and whatnot

This doesn't bother me at all. In Afghanistan right now you have the latest stealth fighters flying over people who still think the ox is a great way to plow a field. Technology have never been spread evenly.

Normal firearms are pretty cheap to come by, and there is no reason why they shouldn't remain so in the future. And they do a hell of a job. Why replace them with something that might cost more and do the same job? Our military still even uses knives and bayonets, which goes to prove that you don't need the latest high energy plasma blaster if you can do the same job with less.

 

[Patrick Sun]

If Firefly got moved to Thursday, that's the equivalent of Fox putting up the white flag for Firefly. It's too much for a burgeoning show to go up against not only Must See TV on NBC, but the CBS line-up as well.

 

[Jason Seaver]

I'm just saying - Friday's not working any better for "Firefly" than it did for Fox's last sci-fi western. The only other alternative I can see on the schedule is Sunday at 7pm, and Jeff has already had a coronary just hearing the idea.
Of course, the other, logical thing they could try is switching its timeslots with "John Doe". Let the stronger show lead into the one needing help, see if it's the timeslot or material, etc.

 

[Jason Quillen]

I havent checked it out myself, but cinescape is saying that the Firefly website has put up a "distress signal" in which a video of the captain urges you to give the website some of your friends email addresses, in turn they will be directed back to the Firefly site.
Can't be a good thing.
JQ

 

[Patrick Sun]

During last night's World Series game, they played the Firefly theme while doing the "Fox Fan Cam" bit around the 7th inning, I think. Joe Buck actually said it was the music from Firefly.