# Firefly - did any non-Buffy/Angel fans watch it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 15, 2004, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-did-any-non-buffy-angel-fans-watch-it/224575 "2004-01-15T12:21:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-did-any-non-buffy-angel-fans-watch-it/224575/41 "2004-01-28T19:56:24Z")
I just watched the pilot to “Firefly,” am renting the rest through Netflix, and will probably buy the DVD set eventually. I am impressed with it. I’ve never seen Buffy or Angel, as they don’t appeal to me. (Not that I hate them, or anything.) ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-did-any-non-buffy-angel-fans-watch-it/224575/42 "2004-01-29T00:01:32Z")
> [@Fiver](#): > > In both the pilot episode, “Serenity,” and the first aired episode, “The Train Job,” Kaylee complained to Mal that an engine part called a “compression coil” was about to fail and needed replacement. This is the same part that failed and endangered the ship in the later episode “Out of Gas.” No, they’re different parts. I think the part that failed in “Out of Gas” was a “catalyzer” or something of the sort. Oh, and I’m a middling fan of Buffy, have never seen an episode of Angel, and am _hugely_ fond of Firefly. Incidentally, I’ve been wondering if Whedon et al. were familiar with Blake’s 7… ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-did-any-non-buffy-angel-fans-watch-it/224575/43 "2004-01-29T00:26:23Z")
I just finished up the last episode 20 minutes ago. Try as I might I couldn’t make the series last any longer. ☹ Of course, now I can go through and watch the commentaries. And I just converted a friend to series by showing him the pilot. So, I’m not hurting too bad. Should last a ways longer until the movie becomes more of a reality. 🙂 Although I really wish Whedon was trying to do a miniseries or two with the Scifi Channel instead of a movie…simply because it would last longer… That dvd set was the best 40 bucks I ever spent. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-did-any-non-buffy-angel-fans-watch-it/224575/44 "2004-01-29T01:08:08Z")
> [@Evil Death](#): > > Of course, you realise that “Heinleinesque” is generally a synonym for “utter dross” - which is what I thought of the show, incidentally. Erm, not to get in an argument about the relative value of Robert Heinlein - I’m not a huge fan myself - but to say that he’s “generally” synonymous with utter dross is a gross misstatement. He’s regularly held up as one of the giants of science fiction literature, by fans, critics, and his fellow writers. I’m not saying you have to like him, but I hope you at least acknowledge that your sentiments are at odds with the popular and critical consensus. You do, however, have to like _Firefly_. It’s required. So get crackin’, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-did-any-non-buffy-angel-fans-watch-it/224575/45 "2004-01-29T08:04:52Z")
More heinlein + spoilers, sorta, for the last episode: Having a character named Jubal and a self-concious ship (well almost) seems like a big reference to RAH, even though I found out that ‘Jubal’ was a reference to an actual person during the American civil war. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-did-any-non-buffy-angel-fans-watch-it/224575/46 "2004-01-29T12:01:43Z")
I was a loyal buffy fan and an on-again off-again Angel watcher, and I thought Firefly was _ok_. My best friend, on the other hand, loved it. **It’s** what got her interested in Buffy, finally. She still doesn’t seem all that interested in Angel, though. ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-did-any-non-buffy-angel-fans-watch-it/224575/47 "2004-01-29T12:43:49Z")
> [@Osip](#): > > In fact I knew so little of Buffy when I was talking to my friend James about how great a show, he mentioned in passing Joss has that touch. > > When I got him to elaborate, turns out James finally admits to having an acting part on Buffy. When he told me the character all I could think of was The Billy Idol looking guy? > > how clueless about buffy is that? [hijack] Just to be clear here **Osip** , are you saying you’re friends with James Marsters? ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-did-any-non-buffy-angel-fans-watch-it/224575/48 "2004-01-29T12:44:23Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > No, they’re different parts. I think the part that failed in “Out of Gas” was a “catalyzer” or something of the sort. It was a catalyzer, but the catalyzer was established as being part of the compression coil. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-did-any-non-buffy-angel-fans-watch-it/224575/49 "2004-01-29T13:00:57Z")
I’m a big Trek fan. Never watched Buffy or Angel - not my genre of choice. I watched the _Firefly_ pilot. Not impressed. Watched the second episode. After about 20 minutes, turned it off. The show did absolutely nothing for me. I gues it’s one of those “you get it or you don’t” shows. I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-did-any-non-buffy-angel-fans-watch-it/224575/50 "2004-01-29T13:55:08Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Erm, not to get in an argument about the relative value of Robert Heinlein - I’m not a huge fan myself - but to say that he’s “generally” synonymous with utter dross is a gross misstatement. He’s regularly held up as one of the giants of science fiction literature, by fans, critics, and his fellow writers. I’m not saying you have to like him, but I hope you at least acknowledge that your sentiments are at odds with the popular and critical consensus. But they aren’t - not for post-spung Heinlein, anyway, and Firefly is definitely post-spung. > [@](#): > > You do, however, have to like _Firefly_. It’s required. So get crackin’, dammit! Firefly is one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen. In the episode I watched, the acting was abysmal, the script terrible and the direction so piss-poor that I couldn’t see what was going on, much less make sense of it. If this ep had been shown as the pilot, Firefly would have been axed after two episodes instead of twelve. Since that episode was “Serenity” and is exclusively masturbated over by fans of the show, I decided that I wasn’t going to waste another attosecond of my life on it. Chalk Whedon up as a one-hit wonder, and move on. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-did-any-non-buffy-angel-fans-watch-it/224575/51 "2004-01-29T14:47:43Z")
> [@Evil Death](#): > > If this ep had been shown as the pilot, Firefly would have been axed after two episodes instead of twelve. Since that episode was “Serenity” … Not quite sure what you mean there. _Serenity_ was the pilot for the show, the first to be filmed but not broadcast till the end. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-did-any-non-buffy-angel-fans-watch-it/224575/52 "2004-01-29T15:06:12Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Not quite sure what you mean there. _Serenity_ was the pilot for the show, the first to be filmed but not broadcast till the end. Yeees … so it wasn’t _shown_ as the pilot, was it? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-did-any-non-buffy-angel-fans-watch-it/224575/53 "2004-01-29T15:41:32Z")
**Evil Death** , sorry you couldn’t enjoy it; personally I think it’s a brilliant show. _De gustibus_ and all; I hope you can find a thread around here about tv you do enjoy. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-did-any-non-buffy-angel-fans-watch-it/224575/54 "2004-01-29T15:48:36Z")
I thought a “pilot” is a sample used by the studio to sell the show to a network. Do networks air an episode “as a pilot,” i.e. to decide whether to produce the show? In any case, you’re right that _Serenity_ wasn’t the strongest episode of the series. Nevertheless it was IMHO a very necessary introduction, and I think the show would have done better if it were shown first. Not that it matters now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-did-any-non-buffy-angel-fans-watch-it/224575.md?page=2)