The question came up on uk.media.tv.buffy-v-slayer, and I thought I’d ask my friendly neighbourhood Doper Men (and Women, of course).
So - are you or do you know someone who watched and enjoyed Firefly without having seen either Buffy or Angel, and without having a fan of either show pimp it to them?
I have never watched Angel, and while SINCE Firefly I have watched a few episodes of Buffy and enjoyed them, I had never watched Buffy prior to watching Firefly. I watched it because I am a huge science fiction fan…I didn’t need anyone to hype it for me.
I have a friend who adored Firefly. He’d seen neither Buffy, nor Angel. And neither my husband nor I told him to watch Firefly, he just started on his own. He’s a big fan of Babylon 5, and other space shows, so I think it was just natural for him to want to check it out.
I wonder if he’ll start watching Angel or Buffy now … I know other friends of ours who are interested in borrowing our Buffy DVD’s. I feel like telling them “Um, we’re not looking for any Johnny-come-lately’s”, like Jack said on Will and Grace. 
But I really am glad that people are starting to come around.
You ought to take a look at our Enterprise threads from last season. To a person, every Trek Doper was a Firefly fan.
I’m much like **Heater’s ** friend (big science fiction fan) except I hadn’t seen the series at all until last summer. I’d heard it was interesting and someone posted a copy of The Train Job on Usenet. I downloaded it and have been hooked ever since. I’ve been carefully rationing episodes from the box set, because I don’t want to run out too quickly.
Still haven’t seen Buffy or Angel, although I’d probably enjoy them.
And, yes, I’m a Star Trek fan. On the other hand, one of my friends who is also a Star Trek fan didn’t like Firefly that much–presumably because it doesn’t look much like Trek. Either that or he didn’t watch enough of the show to get hooked. Either way, obviously, a man of inferior tastes. 
I’m not one of the uber-regulars, but I check into trek threads occasionally. I’ve never seen Firefly. Never heard about it anywhere but on the SDMB and it didn’t interest me that much from what I read. I may enjoy it if I saw it, but I’m not seeking it out and I certainly wouldn’t call myself a fan, although I am a Trek fan. I’m not a big Buffy fan either. My wife and I watched the first couple of seasons and then kind of lost interest(around the time she left Sunnyvale after sending Angel to the demon dimension). I’ve seen all of one episode of Angel(last night, when Enterprise and Jake 2.0 were pre-empted by a basketball game on my local UPN station) and I sincerely hope the rest of the series is better than that one.
Enjoy,
Steven
I just ordered the DVD collection of Firefly, so I suppose I qualify as something of a fan. I’ve never watched Angel and have only seen a couple of episodes of Buffy, usually because it was on at a friend’s place while I was there–the episodes I saw were all right, but I never felt the impulse to look for more.
I suspect Firefly fandom has more to do with being an SF fan than with being a Whedon fan.
I’ve never watched Angel, and I think I watched maybe 10 minutes of a Buffy episode once before turning it off. But I loved Firefly. It was totally different from anything else out there. I can’t stand the various Star Trek series - they’re so sterile and formulaic. Firefly is what science fiction is supposed to be - edgy, rough around the edges, new, different, creative, etc. It’s a pity this show got canceled. I’ll go see the movie if they make it.
I was a Firefly watcher, while it started slow for me, my enthusiasm grew even though Fox treated the show like a red-headed stepchild with the plague. A fun and interesting show with a different take on space opera, along with touches that seemed borrowed from “sci-fi western” anime like Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star and Trigun. Am planning to buy the box set during my next “video buying splurge” probably around tax refund time.
I didn’t have a chance to see Buffy or Angel until about the fourth season of Buffy when we started to get WB programming locally. I watched about three episodes of Angel, but didn’t care too much when I missed episodes and lost interest. Even once we got FX about the time Buffy reruns started on there, I could never get into it despite being able to see what all the fuss was about. Vampires and teen angst are subjects that I tend not to go for in entertainment, a show with heavy doses of both is not my cup of tea. So I’m not a fan.
Watched “Buffy” only enough to keep track of who most of the main characters were. It seemed skewed a little young for me. Have never watched “Angel.” Like Joss, I have developed an “allergy” to latex. Watched “Firefly” religiously, own the DVDs, fell in with the online crowd, and have developed an online “friendship” (he knows my real name, which is more than I can say for most people here 
) with Adam Baldwin that leads to a burning urge to punch him in the nose sometimes (we differ politically). And a burning urge to drop his name whenever I can.
So the answer is yes.
Loved “Firefly”, never saw any episodes of the other two or even the Buffy movie.
Well, I’m the one who started the “What’s the deal with BtVS” thread a few days ago, so obviously I’m no fan of the show. Though the fans did convince me to try more than a single disc. Monte Cook mentioned on his board about Firefly, a show neither of us had ever heard of, so we tried disc 1 just this week.
I LOVED IT! I was confused at first until I realized it was a space western, and I didn’t like some of the characters initially (I still don’t like that one mercenary type, Jane? Jame?) but by the end of the first show, I was hooked and loving almost all the characters. I also love that the captain isn’t just some goody-goody, and the characters are all unrepentant thieves.
As much as I love the show, however, I think I understand why it was cancelled. It’s too unique (and possibly too expensive; I don’t know). Space opera/western is a rather hard concept for a lot of “average” people to swallow. The good guys aren’t always good. They do morally wrong things. They have a prostitute on board who is respected for what she does. They can be very cold-hearted.
[Spoiler for the episode about the train heist]
I loved that when that guy said he was going to hunt the captain down and kill him, the captain said something to the effect of, “Okay,” and kicked him into the jet intake. I just hate when someone who’s otherwise supposed to be a tough killer lets the bad guy go.
I’m one.
I’ve never seen a single episode of either Buffy or Angel.
I watched all the Firefly episodes when they aired. I can’t say that I loved them, but it would be fair to say that I really, really, really liked them. It was original and at times funny. I’ll probably buy the DVD at some point, and if they make the movie like I hear rumored I’ll go see it.
Major Firefly fan. Thought Jayne was a wonderfully rich character and had most of the best lines, so there. Have seen maybe 5 episodes of Buffy, none of Angel. Did not initially start watching Firefly because it was a Whedon show, but becasue of the premise and good word of mouth. IRL am a something of a sci-fi fan, not much for supernatural fantasy, and that affects my TV choices as well.
I always wanted to see it, but I was working at the time so I never got around to it. It always sounded like fun, and the jet intake thing cracks me up so I think I might try to rent it or somesuch.
“Dang”. Mal said “Dang” before he kicked the bad guy into the intake.
Only Buffy episode I’ve seen all the way through is “Once More, With Feeling”(the musical episode.) Never have seen even part of an episode of Angel. Watched every episode of Firefly that aired. Being a Firefly fan is more about being a sci-fi geek than anything.
I’m a huge Firefly fan (watched the series, then downloaded all the episodes, then bought the DVD, then bought a DVD set for a friend for Christmas). I have seen exactly one episode of Buffy (which I liked well enough, but didn’t think it was great), and I’ve never seen Angel.
I’m a big Buffy fan, but I think the episodes of Angel that I’ve seen were generally pretty bad, and I didn’t watch Firefly while it was on the air. The ads were so obnoxious that they turned me off, and I made no attempt whatsoever to tape it while Mrs. Six and I watched movies Fridays.
The shows I saw on the dvd’s were pretty good, but I don’t feel the same affection many people here do.
Jayne is an interesting character, but I think it’s pretty clear that you’re not supposed to like him.
DangerDad and I have never seen Buffy or Angel, and we’re big fans of Firefly. So now you have two more.