Discuss.
If the show isn’t going back into production with new episodes, then this news is of fairly limited usefulness.
Sci-fi already has a full Friday night lineup, and that’s their big ratings night.
I wonder what crappy timeslot they’re going to give Firefly?
Still, if it gets more people into the theaters, all the better.
I think it’s very bad. Sandwiching Stargate SG-1 between two awesome shows (Firefly and Battlestar Galactica) will make people realize how much it sucks, and they will want more of the other shows instead.
OK, maybe that’s not so bad. To hijack this thread further, I’d like to add that I spotted Tyrol and Boomer as guest stars in two different episodes of Dead Zone season 3.
To hijack the thread further, SiTV was showing the Dark Angel series and I spotted Tyrol, Crashdown, Dualla and I think Gaeta. I heard Helo was on there two, but didn’t see him. Those Vancouver actors really get around.
Nah, this is great news! The best thing is that Sci-Fi will be showing the series in its correct order this time, starting with “Serenity,” and including all three of the unaired episodes. With luck, this will drum up even more advance interest in the movie, particularly if Universal buys advertising time (which they should, if they have any brains at all).
Firefly and BSG? Isn’t that going to be an awful lot of Zoic shaky-cam effects shots for one night?
Whew! Glad I stopped watching the Sci-Fi Channel!
I tried watching this show when it first came on. After the fourth episode, I gave up.
This definitely falls into the “Things I Don’t Get” category of shows where I don’t see the appeal.
Even if Sci-Fi had picked it up after FOX cancelled it, they would have screwed it up like every other show they get their slimy hands on (ex: Sliders, MST3K).
It’s largely FOX’s fault you didn’t get it. I say largely because it might simply be a show you just wouldn’t like, I couldn’t say for sure. But FOX screwed the show from the get-go. The pilot episode, which sets the stage very well, was not allowed to air first, so the second episode had to be a pilot in one hour instead of two without completely obsoleting the actual pilot. While The Train Job, which is the pseudo-pilot, is not a bad episode, it doesn’t set things up nearly as well as Serenity, the pilot. FOX made other changes to the order in which the episodes aired and pretty much screwed any chance of it being a success from the outset.
The DVD box set, however, shows the episodes in the order Joss Whedon wanted them to be shown in, and it makes vastly more sense and is far more entertaining that way. Obviously, it’s not necessarily in your interest to drop $50 on a box set for a show you didn’t get, but the original TV schedule was corrupted.
Imagine that, FOX screwing up a show. 
I didn’t learn until after the show was cancelled that they had messed up the episode order. Still, I just couldn’t warm up to the characters.
To each his own, I suppose.
You should try giving it another chance. I don’t know a single person who, having watched at least five or six epoisodes in the proper order, didn’t fall in love with the show.
I understand the married folks, they love it too.
Figures—the nice folk at comcast do not offer SciFi in HD. Goatfeltchers.
Yeah, I had that problem too. I was excited about the show when it first aired because I enjoy Buffy and sci-fi and it looked interesting. But I go kinda bored watching and didn’t keep up. (plus, it was on at a time I’m rarely home and I kept forgetting to tape it) But I recently snagged the boxset for pretty cheap and I’m really enjoying it. Watching what was meant to be the first episode really helped define the characters instead of throwing me into a somewhat confusing first episode like Fox did.
You know, when it 1st came on, I watched it a few times- I voted “eh?”. Then a friend lent me the DVD set, and I was able to watch all the epi’s, in order. I liked it- hardly to the point of making me a super-fan with an altar to Josh on my mantlepeice or somethin :p, nor did I “fall in love with the show” as Sam Stone said . but enough to be willing to go see the movie when it come out, at least. BayleDomon makes a good point.
But for a non-fan, I’d say rent the dvd set, and watch them in close order.
Somebody please give me some backstory and non-spoilerish summary of what happens in the series.
SciFi has quite a few misses among its “hits”. Is this something I want to record and view fanatically?
Without question!
Roughly speaking, Firefly is a space western, adroitly combining character drama, action, and comedy. It’s simultaneously one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen, as well as one of the most poignant- pretty damned impressive considering it only ran for half a season! 
It’s set several hundred years in the future, after Earth has been abandoned for a number of colonies in a distant system (whether this refers to a single planetary system or a number of stars is unspecified). The dominant power in the universe is the Sino-American Alliance, and accordingly, every character in the show, from the wealthiest of the elite to the poor rancher barely eking out a living, speaks both Chinese and English. The “space western” feel comes from the show’s deliberate echoing of the American frontier. Most of the colonies are relatively poor, and colonists use cheap, dependable technology (read: horses and shotguns) to survive.
The show centers on the Firefly-class transport ship, Serenity (hence the name of the upcoming movie) and her crew. These aren’t your usual sci-fi heroes- no admirals, shiny uniforms or noble missions to speak of. Serenity’s crew make a living taking whatever jobs they can, legal or illegal. There are nine crewmembers in total, focusing on Malcolm Reynolds, the captain of Serenity- think a more roughish Han Solo with a very dark undercurrent. There are nine crewmembers in total, including Mal himself.
Firefly is also notable for pioneering the shaky-cam visuals and no-sound-in-space seen in Battlestar Galactica (which, unfairly, gets all the credit for the technique these days… but I digress ;)). Not surprising, perhaps, considering that Zoic does the visual effects for both shows. Firefly takes it one step further than BSG, though- whereas BSG does include muted sounds, presumably playing whatever the pilot of the ship on screen can hear, space in Firefly is utterly silent. Instead, the soundtrack (a gorgeous mix of western twang, world music, percussion, and occasional orchestration) carries most of the space scenes.
Heh… methinks I’ve babbled enough. Suffice it to say that Firefly comes with the highest of recommendations.
I’d venture to say that Firefly is closer to good written SF than any other show or movie out there.