So this is a show? I thought it was the drink – you know, vodka, sweet tea and lemonade? Sounds like you end up in the same place, judging by the cartoon!
No way! I NEVER took off my clothes or passed out in my own vomit from watching Firefly!
But seriously … this is actually a wonderful sci fi, action adventure with romance and comedy series. Kind of Robin Hood in space with cowboys. One of the main characters is a Christian monk they call Shepherd Book whose faith is treated respectfully throughout.
There are only 14 episodes, plus “Serenity” – a movie to wind up the story lines after the show was canceled and fans went nuts wanting to know what HAPPENED to everybody. So you can watch the whole thing in a short time if you want. It’s SO GOOD, when I gave it to the Buzzers, they ended up watching it ALL in one long weekend. LOL
Anyone who doesn’t need a tissue at the end of Serenity is missing some essential humanity. Waaaaaaaaaaahhhhh.
I think Firefly is better than Stargate and Farscape. I can put up with some Trek, especially DS-9 and Voyager, which are a little more light-hearted. I had a major crush on the original cast when it was first airing, but the liberal slant irritates me too much now. And something about Next Gen always rubbed me way the wrong way. Picard and Worf I loved, Data was funny until he aged and didn’t look right any more. But I never could warm up to Riker and Troi.
It probably didn’t help my attitude one bit that I forked out a small fortune (in poor graduate student dollars) to see Gene Roddenberry at Cornell, but instead of talking about Trek stuff, he went on and on about his “vision for the future of mankind.” And there was so much CRAP for sale at absurdly inflated prices. I got such a bad taste.
The only Trek I’ve given precious DVD shelf space is Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, because it’s so FUNNY. I think what bugs me I think is Trek and some other sci fi (Battlestar Gallactica, ew) that just takes itself wayyyyy too SERIOUSLY, as if we don’t all know the science is absurd and the story lines sometimes have holes in them you could drive a command carrier through.
This is why I’m a total Stargate/Firefly/Farscape GEEK. They were all FUNNY, but not in that forced sit com way. I hate comedy shows. I’m just stubborn enough that it makes me dig in my heels the way they go beat, beat, joke, laugh track, beat, beat, joke, laugh track. I’m all “I’ll laugh when I WANT to laugh.” Grumble grumble. My favorite shows are never pure one genre, but well-written and story-driven confections of action and adventure and romance and humor.
I mean … come on. How can you NOT giggle at Wormhole Xtreme? Or that once in a lifetime funniest t.v. moment when Teal’c tells Jack that Dr. Frasier has said he’s not well enough to get up but Jack, being Jack, HAS to try and get back in the fight. So he rolls off the hospital bed and promptly hits the floor. Teal’c … deadpan with that eyebrow as only Teal’c can do … reaches down, plucks him off the floor by his collar and DUMPS him face down on the bed, then says drily, “Dr. Frasier is usually correct in her assessments.” ROFLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Another classic funny that makes me laugh just remembering is is when Jayne says (esp the second time), “I’ll be in my bunk.” Bwahahahahahahaha.
I was a fan of Trek when I was little, and it was the only sci-fi on. What turned me away from Trek (before I was old enough to understand why the “lack of money” just didn’t make sense), was Babylon 5. Great characters, great 5-year story arc that they held to, by turns funny and tragic and political and metaphysical. . . the character stories still hold up (even if the CGI is now a bit dated, lol. It was pretty frellin’ ground breaking at the time). The tragic storyline of Ambassador Mollari, who can be so very likable, but he makes one mistake (even understandable– he wants his people to return to their former greatness), and it snowballs through the rest of his life. And Ivanova, by childhood role model!
Then of course, Farscape, and the wonderful love story between John and Aeryn, and the friendship between John and the others. . .*sigh*. And the Looney Tunes episode, lol! And Stargate, that whole team. These two really start bringing “Making family” into a major theme of sci-fi, which then Firefly takes to a new level.
And Wormhole Xtreme was the best! That sort of paved the way for Supernatural‘s 4th-wall-breaking (Jensen and Jared playing Sam and Dean pretending to be Jensen and Jared. “OMG, you married fake-Ruby!” lol And of course, Misha playing himself, perfection!)
I now look back and while I appreciante how socially ground-breaking the original Trek was. . . it doesn’t hold up as well. I’ve enjoyed the reboots (Zach Quinto is amazing as Spock, and Simon Pegg is a great Mr. Scott. Some of the others need to work a bit on their characters– but the friendships and relationships I find to be convincing enough that I really enjoy the movies), but the socialist nature of Rodeberry’s idea ultimately collapses under itself.
If we don’t get Raptured next month, I’ll have to give Babylon 5 a try. I’ve avoided it … I think because I thought I’d tried it out and found it spectacularly awful. Can’t remember what show that was. I vaguely recall a furry alien that was an awful cross between Chewbacca and an Ewok, with a visible ZIPPER up the back of his costume! If it had been a satire, that would’ve been a great touch. But they were oh so serious. Was that Andromeda? I googled and saw no furry. And Kevin Sorbo’s done some stuff I liked. Hmm. So much sci fi. So little brain cells to remember it all. And I still need to clean up, pose and photograph my Star Gate action figures for all y’all. Yes, they’re dolls. But they’re very COOL dolls. AND I have a GATE. How many people do you know who own a Stargate? Hmm?
I don’t recall any furry aliens on B5. . . The pilot had some stiff acting, and you do need to keep in mind the 5 year story arc, so the overall arc takes some time to get going. Still, great stuff.
Never saw much Andromeda, though I too am a fan of Kevin Sorbo. . .
I love Firefly! I avoided it for a while, even though my kids loved it, because I thought it wouldn’t be my kind of show. But the brouhaha in my town a few years ago over the UW-Stout professor who got in trouble for having a Firefly poster on his office door really piqued my interest. After I saw the segment on Trifecta devoted to the incident, I knew I had to watch it. I borrowed the DVDs from my son and watched them all — what a great show!
Here are some blog posts I wrote on the James Miller controversy back when it happened:
polination.blog 
So this is a show? I thought it was the drink – you know, vodka, sweet tea and lemonade? Sounds like you end up in the same place, judging by the cartoon!
LikeLike
No way! I NEVER took off my clothes or passed out in my own vomit from watching Firefly!
But seriously … this is actually a wonderful sci fi, action adventure with romance and comedy series. Kind of Robin Hood in space with cowboys. One of the main characters is a Christian monk they call Shepherd Book whose faith is treated respectfully throughout.
There are only 14 episodes, plus “Serenity” – a movie to wind up the story lines after the show was canceled and fans went nuts wanting to know what HAPPENED to everybody. So you can watch the whole thing in a short time if you want. It’s SO GOOD, when I gave it to the Buzzers, they ended up watching it ALL in one long weekend. LOL
http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Firefly/70202753?strkid=786602131_0_0&strackid=727680351419fee3_0_srl&trkid=222336
http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Serenity/70035994?strkid=952250144_0_0&strackid=604b10a5dd02959f_0_srl&trkid=222336
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One of the best sci-fi shows, ever. Period. Better than Trek (yes, I said it! Better universe, better storylines, better characters. . .)
I still get weepy over the movie. Cuz, yanno . . . .
I am a leaf on the Wind. .. *sniff*. . . watch how I soar! *sniff, sniffle*
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Anyone who doesn’t need a tissue at the end of Serenity is missing some essential humanity. Waaaaaaaaaaahhhhh.
I think Firefly is better than Stargate and Farscape. I can put up with some Trek, especially DS-9 and Voyager, which are a little more light-hearted. I had a major crush on the original cast when it was first airing, but the liberal slant irritates me too much now. And something about Next Gen always rubbed me way the wrong way. Picard and Worf I loved, Data was funny until he aged and didn’t look right any more. But I never could warm up to Riker and Troi.
It probably didn’t help my attitude one bit that I forked out a small fortune (in poor graduate student dollars) to see Gene Roddenberry at Cornell, but instead of talking about Trek stuff, he went on and on about his “vision for the future of mankind.” And there was so much CRAP for sale at absurdly inflated prices. I got such a bad taste.
The only Trek I’ve given precious DVD shelf space is Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, because it’s so FUNNY. I think what bugs me I think is Trek and some other sci fi (Battlestar Gallactica, ew) that just takes itself wayyyyy too SERIOUSLY, as if we don’t all know the science is absurd and the story lines sometimes have holes in them you could drive a command carrier through.
This is why I’m a total Stargate/Firefly/Farscape GEEK. They were all FUNNY, but not in that forced sit com way. I hate comedy shows. I’m just stubborn enough that it makes me dig in my heels the way they go beat, beat, joke, laugh track, beat, beat, joke, laugh track. I’m all “I’ll laugh when I WANT to laugh.” Grumble grumble. My favorite shows are never pure one genre, but well-written and story-driven confections of action and adventure and romance and humor.
I mean … come on. How can you NOT giggle at Wormhole Xtreme? Or that once in a lifetime funniest t.v. moment when Teal’c tells Jack that Dr. Frasier has said he’s not well enough to get up but Jack, being Jack, HAS to try and get back in the fight. So he rolls off the hospital bed and promptly hits the floor. Teal’c … deadpan with that eyebrow as only Teal’c can do … reaches down, plucks him off the floor by his collar and DUMPS him face down on the bed, then says drily, “Dr. Frasier is usually correct in her assessments.” ROFLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Another classic funny that makes me laugh just remembering is is when Jayne says (esp the second time), “I’ll be in my bunk.” Bwahahahahahahaha.
LikeLike
And Crais stepping out of the police car wearing red high heels? Or pick just about any Harvey-Scorpius scene. LOLOLOLOL
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I was a fan of Trek when I was little, and it was the only sci-fi on. What turned me away from Trek (before I was old enough to understand why the “lack of money” just didn’t make sense), was Babylon 5. Great characters, great 5-year story arc that they held to, by turns funny and tragic and political and metaphysical. . . the character stories still hold up (even if the CGI is now a bit dated, lol. It was pretty frellin’ ground breaking at the time). The tragic storyline of Ambassador Mollari, who can be so very likable, but he makes one mistake (even understandable– he wants his people to return to their former greatness), and it snowballs through the rest of his life. And Ivanova, by childhood role model!
Then of course, Farscape, and the wonderful love story between John and Aeryn, and the friendship between John and the others. . .*sigh*. And the Looney Tunes episode, lol! And Stargate, that whole team. These two really start bringing “Making family” into a major theme of sci-fi, which then Firefly takes to a new level.
And Wormhole Xtreme was the best! That sort of paved the way for Supernatural‘s 4th-wall-breaking (Jensen and Jared playing Sam and Dean pretending to be Jensen and Jared. “OMG, you married fake-Ruby!” lol And of course, Misha playing himself, perfection!)
I now look back and while I appreciante how socially ground-breaking the original Trek was. . . it doesn’t hold up as well. I’ve enjoyed the reboots (Zach Quinto is amazing as Spock, and Simon Pegg is a great Mr. Scott. Some of the others need to work a bit on their characters– but the friendships and relationships I find to be convincing enough that I really enjoy the movies), but the socialist nature of Rodeberry’s idea ultimately collapses under itself.
LikeLike
If we don’t get Raptured next month, I’ll have to give Babylon 5 a try. I’ve avoided it … I think because I thought I’d tried it out and found it spectacularly awful. Can’t remember what show that was. I vaguely recall a furry alien that was an awful cross between Chewbacca and an Ewok, with a visible ZIPPER up the back of his costume! If it had been a satire, that would’ve been a great touch. But they were oh so serious. Was that Andromeda? I googled and saw no furry. And Kevin Sorbo’s done some stuff I liked. Hmm. So much sci fi. So little brain cells to remember it all. And I still need to clean up, pose and photograph my Star Gate action figures for all y’all. Yes, they’re dolls. But they’re very COOL dolls. AND I have a GATE. How many people do you know who own a Stargate? Hmm?
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Lol, yeah, we gotta see your collection!
I don’t recall any furry aliens on B5. . . The pilot had some stiff acting, and you do need to keep in mind the 5 year story arc, so the overall arc takes some time to get going. Still, great stuff.
Never saw much Andromeda, though I too am a fan of Kevin Sorbo. . .
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I love Firefly! I avoided it for a while, even though my kids loved it, because I thought it wouldn’t be my kind of show. But the brouhaha in my town a few years ago over the UW-Stout professor who got in trouble for having a Firefly poster on his office door really piqued my interest. After I saw the segment on Trifecta devoted to the incident, I knew I had to watch it. I borrowed the DVDs from my son and watched them all — what a great show!
Here are some blog posts I wrote on the James Miller controversy back when it happened:
Firestorm over “Firefly” poster; FIRE intervenes (10-17-2011)
A victory for free speech on campus (12-29-2011)
First Amendment, 1; speech police, 0 (1-7-2012)
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