Fox Lost Big

I’m not a big fan of Fox. They have a couple of good shows, but may as well have a big disclaimer at the beginning of the day for all the raunchy and pointless shows they air throughout the day. They also have a way of tanking shows that people actually like, replacing them with yet more "reality" TV.

 

More specifically, they dropped the ball on what I believed to be the best Sci-Fi series ever, Firefly. This blend of Western and Science Fiction had the best cast of characters that complimented each other perfectly, and showed life out in space as something not supernatural but similar to our lives and trials now. No "Force". No aliens. No stargates. Just drama – in space. The creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (another series cancelled way too early), Joss Whedon was doomed from the start thanks to Fox. The 2-hour pilot was aired after the series started! Fox didn’t want to take a chance.

 

After only 11 episodes, the series was cancelled. Fans were outraged and with enough support the movie Serenity came out. Fox wouldn’t let them use the name Firefly nor even the original theme music written by Joss Whedon himself. Fox didn’t want the show, but didn’t want anyone else to have it either. Joss and produces worked around the problems to release the movie.

 

Unfortunately, the movie didn’t do as well as hoped and joss quashed all hope that another movie would return, citing there wasn’t enough profit from the movie to get another studio to produce it.

 

Even years after the series was cancelled and the movie was released to DVD and now HD-DVD, something truly amazing happened and I hope Fox gets the message loud and clear. A reader poll conducted by SFX Magazine has voted Serenity as the #1 Sci-Fi movie of all time, beating out Star Wars 2 to 1! Blade Runner came in third, showing that the readers polled are true Sci-Fi fans.

 

Serenity embodied what Sci-Fi is supposed to be: commentary on society today from a different perspective, often from the future. George Lucas ruined and set the theme for most Sci-Fi these days, where action dominates instead of social commentary and excellent writing.

 

Do I think Joss Whedon will return with another Serenity movie or continue the Firefly series? Doubtful. But I wish to congratulate and thank Joss Whedon for what I believed – and many more people, obviously – to be the best Sci-Fi movie – and show – ever.