Photuris Lucicrescens
There is something of a rant that has been itching at the back of my mind for a while now. It is time to start writing it down and perhaps it will even coalesce into a meaningful statement of some sort.
I should start this off by saying that I enjoyed the series Firefly when it was on. It was a wonderful show that I supported an watched every week for the few months that it was on. I was happy when they made a movie out of it and gladly went to the theatre to see it. All that being said, I'm okay with the fact that it's over and not coming back. Don't get me wrong, I was sad when it was cancelled and I was sad when it was announced that there would not be a second movie, but these things happen.
What bothers me is that people are still on the internet demanding that everyone needs to drop what they're doing and bring the show back. This is, of course, just not possible. Everyone involved has moved on. Many have other shows and movies that have their own fanbase that would be injured if they were just cancelled in order to bring a single series back. Not to mention that showrunner Joss Whedon is busy running the Marvel universe. It's time to admit that the show isn't coming back no matter how much its fans want it to. How do we know it's time? Simple, there have been more years since it was cancelled than there were episodes that aired.
Another item that comes to mind is the fact that if as many people supported the show when it was on as say they do now, it never would have been shut down so early. Yes, it sat in that Friday evening time slot that typically has low ratings, but that's not what really killed it. A show's success is measured by its ratings. While the method of taking ratings has changed in recent years, in 2002 it was still a sample of what people were watching as it aired. When I would talk to people and recommend the show I would commonly get the response that they would wait for it to come out on video. Information like this getting out is a big deal for TV series. Networks don't make money from shows, they make money from advertisements. When a sponsor finds out that people aren't watching their ads (ie not watching the show when the ads play) they don't want the ad space any more. Thus, the series is cancelled and replaced by something that can be used to sell ad space, making the network its money.
This was also a huge problem a couple of years ago with Almost Human. Left and right I saw nothing but people posting online how they'll just wait for it to come out on DVD. A close second to that comment was people saying they wouldn't bother watching since "it's only going to be cancelled anyway". With so much negative talk online it was the only choice, once again, to cancel it for its lack of ability to sell ad space.
"But wait!", I hear, "Firefly's episodes were played out of order, dooming it from the start!"
Sure, they skipped the pilot and jumped into the main series. That didn't affect much, though. The first episode we saw was all we knew and it acted as a great introduction to the characters. On top of that the show was episodic in nature. Only a couple episodes required having seen the previous ones, and those were kept in the correct order. Nothing was lost by the minor rearrangement. Not to mention, that did not have an effect on whether or not people watched it any more than it has other shows that aired with an altered airing order, like Star Trek. Many episodes were aired in an order different than production and the pilot didn't even air until 1988. That's nearly twenty years after the show ended.
I only say all of this out of love. Love for the people who brought us the show and have moved on to more successful ventures. May they always be successful. And love for the fans. Stay passionate about what you like, especially those things that can use your support today. Let us not allow any other great shows be cancelled before their time!
I should start this off by saying that I enjoyed the series Firefly when it was on. It was a wonderful show that I supported an watched every week for the few months that it was on. I was happy when they made a movie out of it and gladly went to the theatre to see it. All that being said, I'm okay with the fact that it's over and not coming back. Don't get me wrong, I was sad when it was cancelled and I was sad when it was announced that there would not be a second movie, but these things happen.
What bothers me is that people are still on the internet demanding that everyone needs to drop what they're doing and bring the show back. This is, of course, just not possible. Everyone involved has moved on. Many have other shows and movies that have their own fanbase that would be injured if they were just cancelled in order to bring a single series back. Not to mention that showrunner Joss Whedon is busy running the Marvel universe. It's time to admit that the show isn't coming back no matter how much its fans want it to. How do we know it's time? Simple, there have been more years since it was cancelled than there were episodes that aired.
Another item that comes to mind is the fact that if as many people supported the show when it was on as say they do now, it never would have been shut down so early. Yes, it sat in that Friday evening time slot that typically has low ratings, but that's not what really killed it. A show's success is measured by its ratings. While the method of taking ratings has changed in recent years, in 2002 it was still a sample of what people were watching as it aired. When I would talk to people and recommend the show I would commonly get the response that they would wait for it to come out on video. Information like this getting out is a big deal for TV series. Networks don't make money from shows, they make money from advertisements. When a sponsor finds out that people aren't watching their ads (ie not watching the show when the ads play) they don't want the ad space any more. Thus, the series is cancelled and replaced by something that can be used to sell ad space, making the network its money.
This was also a huge problem a couple of years ago with Almost Human. Left and right I saw nothing but people posting online how they'll just wait for it to come out on DVD. A close second to that comment was people saying they wouldn't bother watching since "it's only going to be cancelled anyway". With so much negative talk online it was the only choice, once again, to cancel it for its lack of ability to sell ad space.
"But wait!", I hear, "Firefly's episodes were played out of order, dooming it from the start!"
Sure, they skipped the pilot and jumped into the main series. That didn't affect much, though. The first episode we saw was all we knew and it acted as a great introduction to the characters. On top of that the show was episodic in nature. Only a couple episodes required having seen the previous ones, and those were kept in the correct order. Nothing was lost by the minor rearrangement. Not to mention, that did not have an effect on whether or not people watched it any more than it has other shows that aired with an altered airing order, like Star Trek. Many episodes were aired in an order different than production and the pilot didn't even air until 1988. That's nearly twenty years after the show ended.
I only say all of this out of love. Love for the people who brought us the show and have moved on to more successful ventures. May they always be successful. And love for the fans. Stay passionate about what you like, especially those things that can use your support today. Let us not allow any other great shows be cancelled before their time!