Firefly was cancelled due to low ratings. Big surprise? I’m sure the Browncoats want there to be more to it than that--that’s why this “revelation” is making some waves--but the answer’s been there, all along. Ology collected some statements regarding the matter from Fox’s former Entertainment president, Gail Berman, and she broke it down thusly…
"Canceling Firefly was as difficult as anything I'd ever been involved in because Joss and I had been creative partners at one time… I worked with him very closely on this particular show and when it didn't perform [in the ratings], having to cancel it was very difficult… If I had to do it over again, I might have reconsidered [showing the episodes out of order] but I'm not sure it would have changed anything. It was a numbers things. It was a wonderful show and I loved it and I loved working with him on it but that was a big show, a very expensive show and it wasn't delivering the numbers."
This is getting out there around the same time as the strange, only-on-the-internet circumstance of that Help Nathan Buy Firefly site shutting down after getting disowned by basically everybody involved in the show. Have you Screened heads heard about that one? Nathan Fillon off-handedly mentioned in an interview that, if he ever won the lottery, he’d use the money to buy the rights to Firefly, produce new episodes and distribute them online.
It sounded like a pleasant, idle wish, but a cult TV star should know well enough that somebody somewhere would take anything he says, even offhandedly, with deathly seriousness. Fans actually put together a site to try raising enough money to make Nate’s wish come true--and they apparently raised enough money that the guy had to publicly denounce the endeavor.
The whole affair reminds me of the time the hardcore Trekkies literally hit the streets in an organized global movement to protest the cancellation of Enterprise (which was ironic considering Trekkies hated the show when it first debuted. I suppose Bad Trek is better than No Trek?) A lot of people (myself included) have hoped that Firefly would get the same kind of franchise resurrection that the original Star Trek got after its cancellation, but it’s looking all the bullets in the revolver have been shot at this point.
Joss has had more chances than pretty much anyone in TV, and I'm not sure why they gave Avengers to him.
Also, if I win the lottery, I will buy the rights to Firefly and produce new episodes.
Thinking from what she said, the reason every one names as the failing of the show was the episodes being shown out to order for the more action heavy episode first. If the action heavy episode couldn't pull in a crowd then that should have been sure sign the show was not worth the effort.
On another note the show had a real cheap look to it from the CGI to the sets to the camera quality itself that initially turned me off to it. It wasn't until people started talking about how good it was that I went back and watched a few more episodes and enjoyed it.
@ScanCase: I keep seeing adverts for that episode on TV. It's probably the only musical I've EVER wanted to watch.
I could really go for a pack of Rolos now...
Even though I'd love to see more of it, I think it is in its best interest to stay how it is.
New episodes can only hurt it after all these years.
Revisiting old franchises / series just doesn't work out for the most part.
I'd rather enjoy new stuff Whedon and Fillion are doing.
It would make more sense to me to raise money for funding a new property involving cast & staff from Serenity. Don't ask them to rehash the same idea. They've got more of them.
But then it's the Browncoats we're talking about. So he shouldn't have been surprised at all.
Also, that's a great interview with the man if you want to go look for it. He even touches on the UNCHARTED thing and basically says that fans who pester directors and producers to cast him in certain roles may actually be hurting his chances of ever landing them.
Serenity showed that the rest of Firefly would have sucked anyway! So who cares?
Good to know the site got shut down and I hope people get their money back. I'd rather this be misdirected passion by vocal fans instead of a con-artist trying to rip off the community.