Quote from Tim Minear of Firefly

[StGermain]

This quote is from one of my Buffy sites:

Frigging Fox - here’s a Minear post from the Buffista site

Quote
Dec 21, 2002 3:12:12 am EST #937 of 952
Well, I told you so. Yes I did.

And for those who are wondering if maybe we reworked the pilot – for certainly what you saw can’t have been what Fox insisted was too “slow and uninvolving,” thereby putting the stink of failure on the show before we ever had a chance to air an ep – not so much. Joss added the battle scene at the top of the ep, added one or two lines of clarification, but by and large – yep. That’s what Fox didn’t want us to air.

By-the-by… after Joss added the battle scenes and tightened throughout and basically answered any problems the network could have had with “Serenity”… from what I understand they never even looked at it. The choice had been made. Stick it on a shelf. I think that was probably a mistake.

What a strange week.

Two and half days into my eight day shoot (I was directing) for this last episode, they cancelled us.

Joss and I were still writing the script. It had been our latest-latest. One large reason for the not being finished: the not knowing. Made it somewhat difficult to concentrate.

So I was, as is often my custom, making it up as I went along. Once the other shoe dropped, it was almost a relief. I only mean that in the torture-is-the-not-knowing sense – after being treated so shabbily for so long.

But we returned to work on friday, finished the scene we’d left dangling the day before (we wrapped early the moment the news came down), and somehow mushed through until today. Nathan came up to me that day after and said, “I thought it would be really hard to get through today. But I had so much fun.” We all did.

Today was kind of a bummer. I finished shooting my episode yesterday. We shot a gigantic flashback battle scene with Mal and Zoe. It was great fun.

But today was a day for pick-ups and added scenes for episodes nearing completion and some small reshoots. Part of that was pieces of a montage for “Heart Of Gold.” Alan, Sean, Summer and Jewel wrapped out yesterday (at the end of the night I had one group shot of the entire cast walking together. I finally got it after they quit goofing off for twenty minutes, breaking the crew up as they did “model runway walks” complete with turns and snaps. I have that on film. I knew it was likely the last time the entire cast would be together in a frame of film. Maybe ever. So that was kind of wonderful. And kind of sucked)

Morena, Gina, Ron, Adam and Nathan worked today. Anyway, one of the sets was a small rebuild of a tiny portion of a larger set from the aforementioned “Heart Of Gold.” Each character had a shot or two for this montage.

I brought in Gina, we shot her shot, then the AD announced, “that’s a “Firefly” wrap for Gina.”

When an actor, usually a guest actor, finishes his or her last scene in an episode, that is what happens. The AD (assistant director) announces, “That’s an episode wrap for so-and-so.”

Doesn’t happen with regulars.

But it did today.

Gina got a long and loving round of applause from the crew. She said many warm and wonderful things. We hugged. She left.

Then I brought in Ron. Same thing. “That’s a “Firefly” wrap for Ron Glass.” Ron couldn’t speak at first. He finally said, “I didn’t know it could be like this.” He thanked everyone and talked about what a special experience this had been for him. We applauded some more. After many hugs, Ron left. The AD called for “the next victim.”

I was starting to hate this ugly little set. These unexpectedly generous, grateful actors would come in to it, and that would be all. “That’s a “Firefly” wrap for Nathan.” Nathan thanked everyone. For about the ten millionth time.

Adam was brought onto the set. He lit a cigar, held up a gun. Smiled. That was the shot. Adam’s last shot. “That’s a “Firefly” wrap for Adam Baldwin.” Adam thanked everyone. He said no one ever let him be funny before. He was grateful for that. He said he was glad everyone seemed to appreciate what a really exceptional experience our time had been. He was glad that it wouldn’t have to be regarded as such in retrospect, but that the gratitude was of the present.

Adam and Nathan hung out until Morena shot her scene. Nobody wanted to leave. “That’s a “Firefly” wrap for Morena.” She said it was the best job she’d ever had. Not that she’d had a lot of jobs, she said. She doesn’t want it to be over. None of us do. Then I packed up my things. Shook hands.

I drove off the lot. I got home. Turned on the TV. And they were finally airing the pilot.

That’s a “Firefly” wrap.

sigh

StG

[Kaitlyn]

Always meant to watch an episode to see if it was any good, but the promos for the premiere episode weren’t encouraging, and it’s on Friday, which is movie night, so I never bothered. I know I could have taped it, but I can’t tell you how annoying that “Who’s flying this thing! Oh, yeah, that would be me.” commercial was, so I didn’t.

I’m a big Buffy fan. Why was this on a Buffy website?

[StGermain]

Joss Whedon developed both shows. Minear is a Buffy writer and director.

StG

[Banger]

I liked the two-hour pilot episode much more than the first episode, which didn’t impress me that much. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more had I seen the pilot episode first.

[Sam_Stone]

That’s the general consensus. The first episode aired was “The Train Job”, and it was the most ‘western’ of all of them, making people believe this was going to be a show with lots of horses and wagons and shootouts. That confused a lot of people and turned them off. In ‘later’ episodes, you find out that the ‘western’ aspect is actually a very small part of the overall Firefly universe. It’s far more of a ‘pure’ science fiction show than the first couple of episodes would have led you to believe.

FOX made an absolutely stupid decision to air the episodes out of order. They shot the show in the foot before it started.

I highly recommend downloading the other episodes and watching them. This show is worth seeing, even if it’s cancelled. I think it’s the best real science fiction show that’s aired on TV in the last decade, and perhaps ever. It’s that good.

[Cliffy]

*Originally posted by Sam Stone *
That’s the general consensus. The first episode aired was “The Train Job”, and it was the most ‘western’ of all of them

Also, by far, the worst. Then, the next episode, with the young reaver, made no sense without the incredibly tense and menacing set-up of the reavers from the pilot. Although the next several episodes got consistently better, by then the audience was gone.

–Cliffy

[Lightnin]

Dammit, dammit, dammit. What a great show; what a waste.

I’m reminded of Space Rangers, an early Straczynski series, way before Babylon Five. It, too, was a show that depended upon continuity, and it, too, was shown out of order. As I recall, it was also aired on Friday nights.

I’m really tired of studio execs killing shows before they air. It was pretty obvious, right from the beginning, that they were setting Firefly up to fail. A shame, 'cause we NEED some smartly-written Sci-Fi.

I wonder if, perhaps, this entire debacle was political- if Whedon made a few enemies a while ago with the whole Buffy/UPN/Fox/WB situation? Whedon’s known for speaking his mind… I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if he said the wrong thing to someone, or about someone, and they took it personal.

Now, dammit… how’m I supposed to get my Jewel Staite fix? sigh

[Kn_ckers]

Thanks, StG, for posting that quote. As disappointed as the fans are, it must be a million times worse for the cast and crew. They’re all brilliant. They deserve far better than the treatment they got from Fox.

To Quote Jubel Early: … Serenity?

[StGermain]

And this from Joss:

joss - Dec 23, 2002 11:31:37 am EST #1255 of 1301 Mark
Kiba owes me her life.

Hey, It’s me. Not ME, but actual me, who started ME. It’s very confusing.

Just read Tim’s post. Hey, is that guy a downer or what? Love him like a brother but, hey, buddy, crack a brew once in a while! Lighten up! It’s not the end of the world! It’s the end of an entire GALAXY of worlds, a universe of endless narrative possiblities, the crushing end of the hearts and souls of dozens of great artists working together to create something greater than any one of themselves.

Oh. Oops. Yeah.

I wasn’t there, those last few days. Only extremely important personal business could have kept me away, and it did. Besides, I didn’t want to be there just being all official about THE END. Because I refuse to give up. I can’t.

If and when they air the last three eps we shot for them, you will see no great closure, no final statement. Because that would have been giving up too. I want this story to continue. Or be reborn. In some – ANY – forum. I am, as you all know, in love.

What are our chances? Not good. Just not. That’s a reality of the system. But I will use everything in my arsenal, get everyone I know to work this, find a home, find a way. If it can be done, it will. If it can’t… if it can’t then all the fighting, all the pain, all the geniune creative agony Tim and I (and others) suffered over the last year will still have been worth it. Just for the chance to walked that ship, lived with that crew, known those folk. Told those stories. But enough of that past tense defeatism. That’s Minear Talk. (I’m gonna get so much **** for that…)

One last thing. Once the holidays are over, and I wade back in, it’s probably gonna be along, protracted, difficult fight even if I DO find someone who wants the show. These things are never simple. So knowing that I have an ARMY behind me, knowing how much you guys care and are willing to do… well it helps. A great deal.

I’d be grateful if someone could post this on the sites I can’t remember my passwords for, so they know i said it. You guys are the best.

(And, for the record, I’d have given up this show last april if it wasn’t for Tim. So that “Minear Talk” thing, that was just cheap. I love cheap.)

Joss.

StG

[Myrnalene]

I tried, but failed, to develop an emotional attachment to this show. Fox’s screwing around with the episode order probably had a hand in that. I do hope that the cast can continue to find work, I loved Jewel Staite, Alan Tudyk, and Adam Baldwin (and I had no idea he was so very funny, either) before Firefly ever aired. And Nathan, who I thought was a boring schlub on One Life to Live, certainly changed my impression of him.

God must hate good TV.