"You can't take the sky from me."

[[wcip]Angel]

I googled "You can't take the sky from me" (which is part of the opening theme song for Joss Whedon's cancelled cult series Firefly Click to order!) and on the first hit, I got a website with the following text:

You can't take the sky from me

This space seems to be fairly highly placed in Google for the title phrase. :-) If you're searching for it, you know what it means: if you just stumbled across it, you might not.

Last summer, one of my friends at work lent me the DVD set for Firefly. an SF western that was cancelled after half a season, before all the completed episodes were even aired. This turned out to be a completely incomprehensible decision to me, because after my wife and I sat through the 14 episodes, we agreed it was the best television writing we had seen in quite a while. Created by Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this show had strong plots, amazing acting (the reaction shots in this show are second to none), character development, and everything else you could want


"Incomprehensible" is the key word here. I will never understand why Warner Brothers/Fox/whoever was in charge cancelled this series, but this debate has been discussed for years now across coffee tables, by water coolers, and yes, even on the Internet ;)

Today, we are here for another reason. Although we still mourn the tragic loss of our belowed crew and boat to the bottomless chasm that is "cancelled tv-series", we are here today, to rejoice! "Why (the hell should I)?" you ask? Well, although the show was cancelled, it developed somewhat of a cult following. With the release of the DVD-box set (previously linked to), hordes of fans have found the beauty in these fantastically written characters. Sadly, Joss Whedon could not bring the series back onto the small screen, but he did see an opportunity of showing our crew of 10 (9 people + 1 boat) on the Big Screen.

The movie is now mostly done, and the trailer is out. It can be viewed here:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/serenity/

It's a small film, and was thus postponed from April 22nd to September 30th, because they didn't want the film to be swallowed up amongst other "great" sci-fi flicks during this time period. (*cough*Star Wars*) The trailer is among us, and we are now enjoying the home stretch towards the premiere.

"You can't take the sky from me."

[vor_lord]

Many thanks for the tip!

I stopped watching all TV except for sports after this got canceled... :(

[WarLocke]

"Incomprehensible" is the key word here. I will never understand why Warner Brothers/Fox/whoever was in charge cancelled this series, but this debate has been discussed for years now across coffee tables, by water coolers, and yes, even on the Internet ;)
[right][snapback]75314[/snapback][/right]

I think it's fairly simple: The better and/or more innovative (non-mainstream?) a show is, the more likely it is to get canned earlier. See:

Firefly
Prey
Now and Again
Kindred: The Embraced
The Sentinel
Greg the Bunny

And those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. :angry:

[[wcip]Angel]

There has been several screenings of "Serenity" in the US, and before each screening, there's a short clip of Joss Whedon saying a few words. Those words have now been transcribed and put on the 'web.

Here they are:

Hi, my name is Joss Whedon. Before we begin the special screening, I have a little story I want to tell you. It's about a TV show called Firefly.

Firefly went on the air a few years ago and was instantly hailed by critics as one of the most canceled shows of the year. It was ignored and abandoned and the story should end there, but it doesn't, because the people who made the show and the people who saw the show (which is...roughly...the same number of people) fell in love with it a little bit...too much to let it go, too much to lay down arms when the battle looked pretty much lost. In Hollywood, people like that are called 'unrealistic' ... 'quixotic' ... 'obsessive'.

In my world, they're called 'Browncoats'.

Whether you've watched the show, or saw the DVD's, or whether you've never set foot in the Firefly universe before tonight, the fact that you're here means that you are part of something...something that is a little bit remarkable. This movie should not exist. Failed TV shows don't get made into major motion pictures unless the creator, the cast, and the fans believe beyond reason.

It's what I've felt. It's what I've seen...in the DVD sales, the booths at the cons run by fans, the websites, the fundraisers... all the work the fans have done to help make this movie. It is, in an unprecedented sense, your movie...which means, if it sucks, it's your fault. You let us down, but let's not dwell on your failures because the work is not done.

I have to finish making it. Obviously not quite the final cut and you will notice some placeholders in music and effects, but we're very close. Once we are finished, we have to get people to see it. Now, obviously the studio is going to do their thing. There will be ads and trailers and all that joy, but this movie doesn't have stars and it doesn't have a giant mega-budget or even a simple salable premise. What it has is us, the people who believed unreasonably.

If this movie matters to you, let somebody know. Let everybody know. Make yourselves heard. If you don't like the movie, this is a time for quiet, silent contemplation. But, when the unfinished credits roll, if you still call yourself a Browncoat, remember the millions of people who don't...who might.

I want us to do this together. The cast is going to be appearing wherever they can. I'm going to be blogging and stumping and whatever I can think of. We've got Can'tStopTheSignal.com up and running...I'm fairly certain. We're all doing everything we can to make this the event that it should be.

Just remember, they tried to kill us...they did kill us...and here we are. We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty. Thank you for helping to get this movie as far as it has gotten.

Welcome to Serenity.

****

Touching. Just the right combination of senserity, humour and appreciation. I can't wait for September 30th!

[whyBish]

hailed by critics as one of the most canceled shows of the year.[right][snapback]79149[/snapback][/right]

Say what? :P

[Rhydderch Hael]

Say what?  :P
[right][snapback]79305[/snapback][/right]

Fox's treatment of the show when broadcast was hardly supportive. If the tepid marketing push by the station doesn't convince you of that, then realizing the network aired the episodes out of sequence should.

Fox had the show slated for the chopping block before it even had a chance to start, hence Joss' glib remark.

[Quark]

Or, put another way, I never knew the show existed until after it was already cancelled. For someone who was watching The Simpsons constantly, and other Fox shows, at the time, that's just rediculous.

Fox deserves to rot, they never even gave the show a chance.

[Chesspiece_face]

Angel,Apr 26 2005, 04:28 PM]"Incomprehensible" is the key word here. I will never understand why Warner Brothers/Fox/whoever was in charge cancelled this series, but this debate has been discussed for years now across coffee tables, by water coolers, and yes, even on the Internet ;)
[right][snapback]75314[/snapback][/right]

Actually there is a good answer to this question. When this series was first aired (by fox i believe) the idiots aired the episodes OUT OF ORDER. So the season finally was aired FIRST. and then some random episodes. Making it completely incomprehensible to anyone watching.

edit: helps to read the entire thread before posting. see above! =Þ

[Mithrandir]

I'm with Quark on this one, I had never heard of Firefly until after it had gone the way of the Quagga.

In fact, the only show other than Firefly that I even recognize from WL's list is Greg the Bunny, and I saw like one episode from that.

[Raelynn]

I've seen some postings about the early viewing. Basically everyone said it was great, and if it's not finished, i.e. it's supposed to get better, it will be an amazing film.

I had never seen the show until Quark introduced me to it. I immediately fell in love with the show. It is a shame that Fox basically screwed Joss over with this, because it has a lot of untapped potential and unfinished back stories.