I too would love to see Fox eat some serious crow in the wake of Firefly’s box office success, and I’m crossing my fingers that it happens that way. I share some of the same concerns about people who haven’t seen the show and have preconceived notions mainly of what Joss Whedon produces. A friend of mine who wasn’t a big Buffy or Angel fan watched about six episodes of Firefly and came away with the opinion that it was nothing more than a cult show, riding the coattails if you will of the previously mentioned shows to establish a fan base and gain popularity. And while I’m not exactly sure what my friend completely meant by “culty,” I can certainly see Serenity being dismissed as nothing more than a fan phenonmenon.
I sort of hope Serenity will turn out like the X-Files movie, where I felt there was enough backstory given so that the non-X-Files viewer could get the idea of what was happening with the aliens and the Syndicate and the relationship between Mulder and Scully, but where I as a regular viewer was able to get more out of watching it. I hope people aren’t scared away in thinking that they won’t get Serenity without the Firefly series, because I think Whedon’s a smart enough writer to be able to balance satisfying the demands of fans and inviting a whole new audience to the narrative. I think Serenity will do decently at the box office with a good opening week. I’m eager to see all the press stuff pre-release, to get a sense of how it’s being packaged.
I also don’t think I’ll be bored even if there is extensive backstory with which I’m already familiar. Just to see those characters again is satisfaction enough.
