# Firefly: The Beginning of the End? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2002, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-the-beginning-of-the-end/139329 "2002-11-28T12:57:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-the-beginning-of-the-end/139329/21 "2002-12-02T23:39:04Z")
Sigh. You know, this is the only network show we have watched in about a year? We actually do tape it. So of course FOX instantly does its best to kill it. Not that I expected anything else, of course. It was obvious from the first that a good show like _Firefly_ could never survive. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2002, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-the-beginning-of-the-end/139329/22 "2002-12-03T00:31:55Z")
On the other hand, Fox did just bring back _Andy Richter Controls the Universe_, and gave it a beauty time slot. (Sundays after _Malcolm in the Middle_) Give this instance of wholly unprecedented intelligence and good taste on behalf of the Fox network, there may yet be hope for _Firefly_. ---
**Author:** ![Survey1215](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Survey1215](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Survey1215)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-the-beginning-of-the-end/139329/23 "2002-12-03T02:54:54Z")
Great, just great - I check out the boards for the first time in about six months and the first thread I read tells me my favorite new show is about to be cancelled. Thanks for the good news! Next you’ll tell me that fave new show No. 2 _John Doe_ is on the chopping block. I’ll have to check the rest of the boards for that info. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-the-beginning-of-the-end/139329/24 "2002-12-03T14:18:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kasuo \* > \*\*You think Sci-Fi would ever pick up this show? \*\* After what they did to **Farscape**? Umm, no. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-the-beginning-of-the-end/139329/25 "2002-12-03T14:19:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Survey1215 \* > \*\*Great, just great - I check out the boards for the first time in about six months and the first thread I read tells me my favorite new show is about to be cancelled. Thanks for the good news! > > Next you’ll tell me that fave new show No. 2 _John Doe_ is on the chopping block. I’ll have to check the rest of the boards for that info. \*\* John Doe has solid ratings and has been picked up for a full season. No thanks to the smacktards at Fox. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-the-beginning-of-the-end/139329/26 "2002-12-03T14:22:53Z")
So what is it about Doe that overcomes the Friday night time slot? ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-the-beginning-of-the-end/139329/27 "2002-12-03T14:35:26Z")
So what’s the death count for that Friday 8 EST/7 CST time slot? Even when The X-Files was doing well after it, everything they tried to put on before it failed. Casualties I remember are: Brisco County Jr, Strange Luck, Sliders, Millenium (I think that was in that slot - it stayed around for a little longer than most, but I suspect more as a Chris Carter pacifier than anything else). That slot has been death for at least seven years. What does FOX think it’s going to put there that will suddenly grant magic ratings? Stick a Malcolm re-run in there as an antidote to the teen sitcoms commonly found on Friday nights and give Firefly a decent time slot and advertise it. There, problem solved, now someone at FOX send me a check for a few hundred grand. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-the-beginning-of-the-end/139329/28 "2002-12-03T15:25:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by carnivorousplant \* > \*\*So what is it about Doe that overcomes the Friday night time slot? \*\* Well, it is a very different show then Firefly. While it has some X-Files to it, it also has a very strong crime drama aspects as well. Somehow it has improved on Firefly’s ratings numbers each week. I like both shows and wish they would keep them as a solid block. But Fox hates me, so that will not be happening. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-the-beginning-of-the-end/139329/29 "2002-12-03T18:54:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Legomancer \* > \*\*So what’s the death count for that Friday 8 EST/7 CST time slot? Even when The X-Files was doing well after it, everything they tried to put on before it failed. Casualties I remember are: > > Brisco County Jr, Strange Luck, Sliders, Millenium (I think that was in that slot - it stayed around for a little longer than most, but I suspect more as a Chris Carter pacifier than anything else). > > That slot has been death for at least seven years.\*\* I’m not sure that Sliders belongs in that list. It lasted for three or four seasons before wandering off to the Sci-Fi channel. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-the-beginning-of-the-end/139329/30 "2002-12-03T20:59:50Z")
Maybe they could try swapping John Doe and Firefly so that the larger JD audience maybe stays with the second show? Or they could just cancel the whole thing and then piously declaim how saddened they are to have lost such quality programming. Bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-the-beginning-of-the-end/139329/31 "2002-12-04T02:38:34Z")
I simply cannot understand how John Doe can be so popular, especially compared to Firefly. I watched the first episode of John Doe, and thought, “Well, the writing was a little weak, but it’s intriguing. I’ll watch this some more.” Then the second time I watched it, it was markedly worse. Really bad writing, wooden characters, silly dialog, and cliches everywhere. The third week I started really paying attention to Doe’s ‘brilliant’ explanations of things, and discovered that they were just made up. They bore almost no relation to reality. That was the final straw for me. If you’re going to make a show about a guy who knows everything, you can damned well do your homework and make sure that his explanations are real. Instead, we get a scene with him playing blackjack which made it clear that not only did the writer not understand the finer points of the game, but didn’t even understand how it was played. He didn’t even get the playing rules right. To me, that level of sloppiness is inexcusable. I gave up on JD after that. Haven’t watched it since. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-the-beginning-of-the-end/139329/32 "2002-12-04T03:04:37Z")
The Arkansas diamond mine reference in JD was goofy, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-the-beginning-of-the-end/139329.md?page=1)