Firefly 11/01 (1 Viewer)

[Phil Florian]

I think some in the media are sick of wunderkind Whedon and were more than happy to rip on his show. If it had come from any other writer I think it would have been received as a quirky niche show in search of a market and some journalists would have been happy to tout their alterna-cred (like they did with Buffy when no one heard of it..."best show no one is watching" was what Buffy had been called). Now that Joss has fallen (in terms of at least ratings) it is time to jump all over it. Maybe it is the David Kelley syndrome...one man cannot have too many shows. He was the shiznit when he had Chicago Hope. Then Picket Fences was a subversive cult hit. Aly McBeal was witty and sly. Boston Public...okay, enough already. Shasta McNasty...oh my god! The humanity! Etcetera, etcetera...


Phil

 

[Everlasting Gobstopper]

From the Wednesday print edition of USA Today:
Top Ranked Science Fiction/Fantasy Network Series
October 28-November 3 (based on number of viewers)
1) Alias (ABC) - 6.2/9 (10.6 million)
2) Smallville (WB) - 4.5/7 (8.2 million)
3) John Doe (FOX) - 3.8/7 (6.0 million)
4) Enterprise (UPN) - 3.6/6 (5.6 million)
5) Charmed (WB) - 2.9/4 (4.8 million)
6) Firefly (FOX) - 2.8/5 (4.3 million)
7) Birds of Prey (WB) - 2.6/4 (3.8 million)
8) Angel (WB) - 2.2/3 (3.6 million)
10) (r) Buffy the Vampire Slayer (UPN) - 1.9/3 (2.9 million)
10) The Twilight Zone (UPN) - 1.9/3 (2.9 million)

So it did better than Angel, better than the Buffy repeat of the season premiere, and yet it's in danger? I guess it all depends on which network it's on.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

So it did better than Angel, better than the Buffy repeat of the season premiere, and yet it's in danger? I guess it all depends on which network it's on.

Very much so... Fox has a wider market penetration, which is why I almost wish it had premiered on one of the weblets instead of Fox.

 

[Jason Seaver]

which is why I almost wish it had premiered on one of the weblets instead of Fox.

So that it could have a lower budget and get approximately the same ratings as "Haunted"?

 

[Phil Florian]

...and still probably be here at the end of the season. Yes, trade off is good. I think the show could be done on a lesser budget. It forces people to be more creative but doesn't necessarily mean it has to look cheap. I would rather get a season of fun characters in a space show than a partial season, unresolved and never fully developed. That is the fear.

Phil

 

[Jeff Kleist]

I think now that the sets are built it will be possible to sell it at a price the netlets can afford

 

[Jason Seaver]

Well, it's looking like "Haunted" isn't sticking around, so if "Firefly" were to get "Haunted" ratings on UPN...

I think now that the sets are built it will be possible to sell it at a price the netlets can afford

Maybe if you took the cast and thinned the herd a bit, and cut the number of spaceship exteriors drastically, as well as what looks like a not-insignificant amount of outdoor shooting. And then it's still probably costly and niche enough that a station without an ownership stake would have it on a very short leash.

 

[Yee-Ming]

I love this, one and a half years late to the party, typical of our local stations
Seriously, great show.
As to the Mandarin thingy, first time I heard it, I almost fell out of my chair in surprise (I didn't know about it) and then backed up the tape to try and figure out what they were saying! (I have to tape this, it's shown at 1-bloody-a.m. here on Saturday night/Sunday morning )
I think others have already mentioned it, but AFA I can tell, it is Mandarin, not Cantonese, just that it's pronounced pretty badly, i.e. butchered. Not surprising, for non-Chinese speakers (which I assume the entire cast are), it's difficult to get the intonations right, and without intonations you get a flat mish-mash which is difficult to decipher. So when Inara spoke to the old fogey, she said something about "lao peng you", old friend, but I couldn't figure out the rest.
In earlier episodes, I remember Mal and Zoe's first time looking at the Serenity, Zoe called it "fei wu", literally "discarded item", another time I believe Inara called it "gou shi", literally "dog [doo-doo]"
As for the Chinese taking over the world, it's been explored in David Wingrove's 8-book series, where the Earth is ruled by seven hereditary rulers (all Chinese), each ruling one continent, and his books are of course peppered with Mandarin references and Chinese culture.

 

[StephenT]

Wow, blast from the past. I'm still pissed this show was canceled. The episodes never aired that were in the DVD set were great. Sigh.

 

[Yee-Ming]

If you think that's bad, the "current" season I'm watching of Third Watch is from 2001, 2nd season I believe :b .
At least we get movies almost day-date with the US (mostly the big blockbusters), so that's some consolation.
The only TV shows shown almost contemporaneously with the US first broadcast now are the most popular reality shows, in particular Survivor and American Idol. Don't watch the former, but I do watch AMI, hence the novelty, to me, of actually being able to participate in one current thread in the TV show section.

The episodes never aired that were in the DVD set were great

It's on DVD??!? *scoots off to Amazon.com ASAP*