Back when I was a little geek growing up, there was a pretty basic divide in terms of audio-visual entertainment – there were your Star Trek fans, and your Star Wars fans. (Ok – this is probably a massive generalisation, especially if you are a proper sci-fi geek, but I’m not). I was a Star Wars fan through and through – Star Trek never really appealed that much, although I watched a chunk of TNG when it came out. Now – your Trek fans had alternatively good and bad films, and a long-running TV series that spawned a dozen other TV series’ over time. Your Wars fans, on the other hand, had a trilogy of great films (let’s not discuss the prequels at this point), but nothing on the TV front. I suspect that maybe Battlestar Gallactica might have been good here, but it was a while earlier. Personally I also liked Babylon5 very much – maybe there is a link there too.
Star Wars has been called many things over the years, but it’s usually described as a Space Opera. It is more about the fiction than the science – it’s ultimately about the meta-narrative of good vs evil, whereas ST was more about the quest for knowledge, ie the science end of sci-fi. Star Wars was great because within the meta-narrative you have multiple mini-narratives built around the relationships between a wonderful ensemble of characters, set in a vivid world that is both alien and yet familiar.
Finally I have found a TV series that fills me with enjoyment and emotion as much as Star Wars did when I was a kid. Firefly is that show, and it’s both a blessing and a curse – a blessing because it is one of the most wonderful TV series ever produced, and a curse because some blind executives over at Fox butchered and then killed it (they didn’t even show all 14 episodes that had been shot, and showed them out of order). Equally sad is that UK terrestrial TV never had a lookin – the Sci-Fi channel showed it, but it could really have done with a slot on, say, BBC2, in the way that 24 did, or Lost on Channel4 – a real opportunity for the UK public to watch it and love it. (I believe the film was better received in the UK too)
I saw the critically acclaimed Serenity (the movie which was based upon the TV series) when it arrived at the movies, and was reasonably impressed. However, the TV series blows it away completely, and helps it to make more sense and feel more complete. Joss Whedon brings the quality of character and script that made Buffy and Angel such massive successes, and applies them wonderfully in the unique future world of Firefly. The man truly can write wonders.
It’s hard to express in words the real power of emotion I felt when I reached the end of the boxset (borrowed from my sister, and duly added to my wishlist for a copy of my own) and realised that I was at not only the end of the series, but quite possibly the end of Firefly ever. And so much has been left unsaid, and incomplete, even if you add Serenity onto the end of it.
If you were a fan of the original Star Wars, then I can’t urge you more strongly to go out and buy the Firefly boxset – it’s only £20.97 at the moment on Amazon, for 4 disks (14 episodes) worth of top quality entertainment. Buy now. I don’t know if there is even a remote possibility left for Joss Whedon to do some more of this series, either on TV or film, but buying the boxset seems the best way to help.
(FWIW there is also a 3-part comic book that covers the time between the ‘end’ of the TV series, and the beginning of the film. The combined book edition is due out in February, and you can preorder on Amazon. Ditto for Serenity the movie)
mrBen
I havn’t seen Firefly yet, but it IS on the To Buy list.
Serenity was, and is, easily one of the best Sci-Fi movies ever made. I found that it was perfectly accessible without having to have watched the series although I don’t doubt that doing so would increase my viewing pleasure tenfold.
When will film makers realise that all that Science Fiction / Fantasy needs is a damn good story with well written characters and a plot that makes sense? Visual effects are always a bonus but Serenity proves that you can continue to have realistic effects without having to compromise everything else.
I think HMV or Virgin are selling Firefly for about 18 pounds. A friend has lent me the boxed set and I’m realy liking it so far. Serenity was fantastic and it’s just a shame that most folk ignored it.
Good call mrben. Firefly is the best Sci-fi series I have seen (with the exception of the new Battlestar Galactica) in a long time. Its a damn shame that it was not marketed properly cause it’s definatley Whedon’s finest (this is from a Buffy and Angel fan!). I am hoping that the sucess of the film will spawn some kind of resurgence for this brilliant series. Well worth the money, Bigal, sort it out, either borrow it from me or buy it!!!
GI
I am seriously considering the possibility of a Firefly/Serenity party for my birthday this year (March 2nd) where we watch all the episodes and the film back-to-back……
Mrben, that is a champion idea and gets Guy’s full support, providing that if we dress up, I get to be Wash because we share a love of Hawian shirts!
GI
oh and i have Serenity on DVD already, just give me a shout (region 1 not a hockey recorded on a mobile phone copy).
GI
I think you should just marry Josh Whedon and be done with it.
hey joss whedons mine!
A Firefly party sounds like an excellent idea. That *is* going to be around 11-12 hours just for the series, though. Bit of a Firefly marathon, really. And what about the comic book? Project it, page by page? Have someone read it aloud? Do we know any amateur dramatics types?
gordie says:
I think you should just marry Josh Whedon and be done with it.
Now, something about that is just downright unsettling…
When were you planning on telling me about this? And do I want to be Kaylee or Inara?
I told you last night, but I’m not sure you were being fully attentive…..
You can be either Kaylee or Inara, although I suspect that your leanings are likely to be Inara, as she generally gets to wear the prettier dresses. Of course, it might depend on whether I am a better Simon or Mal…..
I loved both Star Wars and Star Trek as a kid (still love them both now, tbh), but Star Wars was clearly better because it had cooler action figures
Oh, bagsie being Jayne! “I don’t wanna explode!”
You can be Jayne as long as you wear the hat…..
oh, this party better happen now. I want to spend the night telling people the “I was in a firefight once……. well I was in a fire once…….. well actually i got fired once”
GI
I suppose neuro has got the beard for Jayne. I’m not skinny enough to be Simon, though, or Mal come to that.
Oh, and mrsBen – technically, if mrBen is Mal, then you should go for being Saffron…
She doesn’t have cool clothes. And is quite unlikeable. Technically. Who are you going to be? I think you’d make a nice Simon.
[...] to mrben, I’ve become somewhat addicted to Firefly (at least in the way where I get into a series and [...]