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charinator wins! charinator beat TV Fanatic 10 to 3.
Firefly had the best first season of any Joss Whedon show.
charinator said
Not saying the first seasons of Buffy or Angel were bad, but Firefly was just so good. It had action, humor, wit, character development and intrigue, and everything just worked perfectly.
TV Fanatic said
Riiight... It was so good they canceled it right?
charinator said
Getting canceled says less about the quality of the show than it does about FOX's inability to make good decisions. Plus, Firefly has gone down as one of the best shows to have ever gotten canceled.
@ Amber: Buffy was much easier to get hooked to, as everybody was already familiar with the lore and knew what to expect. Same goes for Angel. Firefly, on the other hand, had no coattails to ride on. It was a completely new and different concept and it required a bit of character and thematic development to get the audience familiar to. So you can't fault it for its slow start when it needed to start the way it did. Taken in its entirety (albeit abridged), the show worked out as great as it could. It was entertaining, funny, and each of the 9 characters were indispensable and very intriguing.
TV Fanatic said
The only way to measure the first seasons of Firefly, Buffy, and Angel is not to base it on subjective opinions, but to see where the shows each went from there. Buffy and Angel solidified a strong fan base from the beginning because the first seasons were that good. Firefly didn't and that's the reason it got cancelled. If Firefly were as good as everybody says it was, then people would've liked it then and not now. I'd argue that Firefly is only popular because 1) it's a Joss Whedon show and 2) it's lumped in with every other show that was cancelled prematurely, a crowd where it clearly stands out. But comparing it to Buffy and Angel's first seasons is just absurd.
charinator said
I agree Firefly got off to a slow start. But nobody knew what to expect from a show with an entirely new name, concept, and theme. I mean, a western sci-fi--with spaceships and horses--set 500 years in the future in a universe governed by a US-China alliance where 9 distinct characters (one of whom is a prodigal mind reader being chased by bad guys with blue hands) engage in interplanetary travel looking for work is not something people can easily wrap their brains around. To be honest, if I didn't know of either show, I'd easily go with the one about a cute girl and her friends killing vampires. Fortunately, however, I stuck with Firefly (as I did with Buffy and Angel in season 1) through the end and loved it completely. Its overall value was much better than seasons 1 of Buffy and Angel, regardless of the fact that FOX decided to prematurely pull the plug.
TV Fanatic said
Well I, as did many many others, did not watch Firefly through the end. Hence, the cancellation
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Episode Recaps
Poll: Cop shows (Part 2)
What was the best cop show on TV from 1998 to 2008?
From EW.com
Comments
Amber477 04/14/08
firefly's concept didn't intrigue me as much as buffy's- and i didn't find the characters as engaging. i remember in the first two minutes of buffy's premiere, i was completely hooked- didn't ever feel that with firefly. i'm not saying it was a bad show by any means, but i think buffy came right out of the gate stronger.
The Counteragent 04/14/08
From what I've seen of Buffy and Angel, I was less than impressed, but Firefly is unique, interesting, well scripted and acted, and (very important to me) has a high production value (I'm glaring at you, Buffy!). For being a western set in space, it all seemed so real, and was very compelling.
jkcampbell 04/14/08
It gave us the Ballad of Jayne, for which I am eternally grateful.
Moononastring 04/14/08
I love all 3 shows -- Buffy and Angel are probably two of my favorite shows of all time, and had Firefly lasted longer and had a fair chance, it probably would have been in those ranks as well. Having only lasted a 14 episodes, I can't really compare it as a whole to the entire runs of Buffy and Angel. Who knows what it would have become had it had a longer run. That being said, I can of course compare Season 1 of Firefly to those of Buffy and Angel, and I would have to agree 100% - the first season of Firefly was MUCH better, overall than the first seasons of Buffy and Angel. Though the first season of Buffy set up its fantastic premise, its unique tone, and awesome characters, it had a handful of flawed episodes (didn't love the Pack, Out of Mind, Out of Sight, etc.). Buffy didn't hit its emotional and storytelling peak until mid-season 2. Same with Angel, which had a decent first season, but was held back by the one-off nature of the season, each episode telling its own story. It did have some great episodes but the whole was less than the some of its parts. It wasn't until season 2 that Angel really took off, with a complex story that spanned the entire season, and episodes that led into each other and characters that grew from episode to episode. Firefly had the challenge of introducing a completely new world (it didn't have the benefit of a movie or a "mother ship" show like Buffy and Angel) and setting up new characters, while also introducing some big conflicts and questions. It did this amazingly well, with each episode better than the one before it. It makes me sad to think about what could have been.
Moononastring 04/14/08
On another note, I hope we'll soon be making this same argument for Dollhouse -- I have really high hopes for that show and I hope that it lives up to the precedent set by Buffy, Angel, and Firefly.
charinator 04/14/08
I don't think I've ever been more pleased with a show than I was when I finished Firefly. At the same time I couldn't have been more disappointed when I realized that there were no other Firefly episodes to watch.
I watched the interview with Joss in the DVD bonuses and he intimated of a possibility that he'd go further with Firefly later down the road. Let's hope he does, either through movie sequels or bringing back the show entirely. I'd love to see how the show progresses, what relationships materialize, and how each character evolves (especially River).
As for Dollhouse, I do expect it to be a really good show. BUT, I have legitimate misgivings over the fact it's being broadcasted on FOX....
loglady 04/14/08
anyone reading the serenity comics yet??? they're out now and they're written by joss so....just like buffy and angel we're getting more "episodes" just in a different way....
Moononastring 04/14/08
Yup, I'm reading them. I liked the first one a lot. The problem is that I really want to know what happens AFTER the action of the movie...what happens to River, do Mal and Inara get together, what happens to Zoe, Jayne, Kaylee.
I like the fact that the comics give me some time with all of the characters, pre-the Serenity movie, but the bookend structure kind of limits the possibilities, in terms of character development. We kind of know what the end point is, so therefore there is only so much they can do.
hmorsey 04/15/08
I love all three shows but I dont think the first season of Buffy or Angel was very strong...whereas the first season of Firefly was great...and never should have been cancelled by the A holes at FOX. At least we got Serenity though...
charinator 04/16/08
I would've liked it more if Joss relaunched Firefly rather than introduce Dollhouse.
shaggydan 04/16/08
Why didn't he bring back Firefly? I bet he could get that cast back no problem.
loglady 04/16/08
I really am hoping that with this serenity comic it will just set the stage for a post movie arc...almost as though this might be a bit of a flashback setting us up for more...the buffy comic has been so amazing so far (esp. the Brian K Vaughn arc) and angel seems to be ramping up so i have high hopes for this.
As opposed to the normal nerd that I am when i go into the comic shop i've now morphed into a joss nerd!
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