Listen to the episode HERE.

Joss Whedon’s Firefly was probably the best sci-fi television show ever. To be cancelled after half a season. By Fox (those bastards). It might have proved to be the best sci-fi show ever, period, if it’d been picked up by another network but it wasn’t. All we got was 14 episodes and a movie (Serenity). Fans of the show were heartbroken.

I wasn’t one of the heartbroken. I was part of the problem. I never watched Firefly when it was on the air because it was a huge nerd hurdle for me. Not because it was sci-fi but because I had no idea it was sci-fi. I heard the words “Joss Whedon” and “Firefly” and assumed it was another Buffy spin-off like Angel, but maybe about Willow or some other wiccan lesbians. Though I loved Buffy, I didn’t care for Angel, so I never checked out Firefly. And not many other people did either.

Then, after it was cancelled, I heard it was really good. One of the best TV shows ever. My ears pricked up. Then I heard it was “space cowboys” and my ears pricked back down. Cowboys are a huge hurdle for me. I like the odd western (usually starting a young Clint Eastwood) but generally I don’t care for the genre. It’s why it took me so long to watch the excellent Deadwood. Perhaps it’s because I don’t like modern-day cowboy culture and thereby associate ”westerns” with redneck douchebags. And I don’t care for the music. Such as the Firefly theme:

Then it was explained to me that the show isn’t so much about space cowboys as space outlaws and once again my ears were pricked. So a couple of years ago, several years after it was cancelled, I finally sat down to tackle Firefly.

I wasn’t disappointed. True, I wasn’t hooked from the first episode, but by the third I couldn’t stop watching if I tried. The show’s strength is that it’s blessed with probably the best ensemble cast ever assembled. Where other classic ensembles (TNG, Buffy) took a good three or four seasons to hit their stride, the cast of Firefly hit the ground running. The chemistry couldn’t have been improved in a laboratory. Check out the gag reel at the bottom of this post. It’s hard to believe these people were practically strangers.

Though there is certainly an outlaw/western feel to the show, it’s all the aspects of westerns I enjoy. They’re more dust-bowl pirates than cowboys. In a way it’s like Pirates of the Caribbean set on the Millenium Falcon instead of the Black Pearl. If it’d been sold to me that way, I’d have been watching from day one.

Instead the show was pitched as “nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things.” Um. Okay. That’s cool and all, but it’s sounds like Waiting for Godot staged on Discovery One. This show isn’t that at all. Perhaps the exact opposite. It’s an adventure-comedy of the highest grade. And well worth the hurdle.

Firefly is set five hundred years from today in a new planetary system after humanity abandons “Earth That Was”. Under the leadership of Malcolm Reynolds, a renegade who fought against the new unified central government (the “Alliance”), the crew of the Firefly-class vessel Serenity struggles to survive any way they can. They fly between the border planets to keep away from the Alliance and below its radar. This series was described as a “science fiction western” but is different from other space-based shows as it features no aliens. (taken from here)

Think of a western in space with no aliens and little tech/geeky stuff. Nice concept and worth checking out. The series led to a movie called Serenity

A further addition:

Title: Fortuitous Venture
Author: Van Donovan
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 5277
Characters: Second Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon, Victoria Waterfield, Jayne Cobb, Malcolm Reynolds, Wash, Zoe, Kaylee, Inara Serra.

Set before the start of the series.

I haven’t yet got to watch either the series or the film, but here’s some stories that appealed anyway:

*

Title: Winter Where You Are
Author: st_aurafina
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1860
Characters: Luke Smith, Clyde Langer, Maria Jackson, Sarah Jane Smith, River Tam

This is beautiful, with perfect characterisation and it really doesn’t matter if you don’t know the crossover.

*

Title: A Different Kind of Companion
Author: locker_monster
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 16,777
Characters: Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler, Inara Serra, Malcolm Reynolds

There is also a sequel: A Lesson in History.

*

Title: A Matter of Timing
Author: Forge
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 13,000
Characters: Seventh Doctor, Ace

*

Title: An End Has a Start
Author: Netgirl_y2k
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 2376
Characters: Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones.

I’ve dropped the link a couple of times (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/note.php?note_id=107193757256), but MJ has crafted a test of true masculinity based largely on movies such as Gladiator and Australia. I think it’s about time it was put through its paces.

For those non-Whedonites out there, Mal Reynolds is the captain of Serenity the firefly-class starship in Joss Whedon’s criminally cancelled Firefly and the feature-film conclusion, Serenity. Mal is a self centred smuggler with a heart of gold that happened to be crushed along with his faith and most of his compatriots in a galactic civil war leaving the Alliance in charge of most habitable planets. If anyone is a real man, it must be Malcolm Reynolds. I decided to see if MJ’s test would be accurate. This may not make much sense to the non-browncoats out there

The Australian Test

1. Stubble needs to remain at a constant level. It must seem as though the person hasn’t shaved in a few days, but not too long. Sort of like Jason Stratham (“Transporter” trilogy); a mid-way point between Tom Hanks from “Castaway” and Freddy Highmore in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.
Not the best start, Mal is generally clean shaven, but I’m sure if he wanted to grow a beard he could, it’s just kinda more a Jayne thing. 0/1

 2. He must do manly things like chop down trees, drive dangerous transportation devices, be able to kill cows with his bare hands, and watch scary movies and appear calm and relaxed.

Mal has crazy man skills: He can fly a spaceship and is pretty quick on the draw with his space-pistols. And he can ride a horse. 1/2

3. His job requires courage and determination. He must own a weapon of some sort and be extremely good at using it. Bullets/ swords should not scare him and he should be able to maintain banter during dangerous battle scenes. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid do this, and make jokes and stuff as they’re being shot at. Another good example would be any James Bond movie.

Mal is a smuggler. It requires plenty of courage and determination to move shipments of illegal cattle under the noses of those pesky Alliance troops. That’s without even taking into account insane, flesh-eating Reavers, Russian mobsters with a penchant for torture, Jayne constantly trying to kill him and take command and the small matter of doctor and his loony sister who just happen to be two of the most wanted individuals in the ‘verse. And while Mal is dealing with all this, he manages to whip out more comic lines than someone whose job it is to make comic lines. Like a comic or something. He really should get bonus points for this one. 2/3

4. He needs to have leadership and courage, and make empowering speeches like “they may take our lives, but they’ll never take… OUR FREEDOM!”
Mal’s not a man for flowery words, but he’s the captain and when the time comes to get the troops riled up before heading off on another criminal mission all that really needs to be said “Do the job. Get paid. Keep flying” 3/4 “We’re going to make it. Do you know why? We’re just too darn handsome for God to let us die.”

5. An Australian man needs to have lost a wife or girlfriend who was really close, and then struggle to find anyone who can compare to her before finding a woman who needs saving and then he must fall in love with her.

While we never find out if Mal used to have a little lady waiting for him at home, after the Battle of Serenity Valley he’d pretty much lost everything that he ever believed in, including his faith. That all means that when he meets the lovely Inara all he can do is make sarcastic comments and avoid talking about his feelings: Now that’s a real man. 4/5

6. The Australian man needs to be rugged and must struggle to connect to the upper class or ruling government. He can however overcome this problem for the fore mentioned lady who needs saving.

Easy points for Captain Tight-Pants here; Mal doesn’t roll with the hoighty-toighty upperclass. There was a whole episode about it (“Shindig”). 5/6

 7. He needs to be smart and have cool tricks. Basically he needs skills. Think about Zorro’s ability to jump from horse to horse, or Xena’s ability to kill people behind her back (oh wait she’s a woman)

Cool skills? Like executing a “Crazy Ivan”? Okay, that was Wash, but Mal told him to do it. Anyway, Mal has all the smarts required to outwit the Alliance episode after episode. Another win for the captain. 6/7

 8. An Australian man also needs to be able to handle his liquor. He must drink either beer or a whiskey/bourbon (or any drink that forces normal people to suck in there breath and clutch their chest and say “ahhh…you can feel it going all the way into your stomach” or something which isn’t very hardcore).

Malcolm doesn’t often plunge himself into the drink (although there was that time he got so drunk that he ended up married), but every year come U-Day he’ll find himself in an Alliance friendly bar trying to have a quiet drink. 7/8

 9. He must eat apples using a knife. This is added because in “The Patriot” Mel Gibson cuts this apple using a knife and then eats it ruggedly. I thought that was hardcore and did it a few times to try and impress people.

Once upon a time in the war, there was a lull in the fighting for days and as their rations dwindled, the enemy threw a load of apples into the trenches. As the young recruits hungrily grappled for the fruit, the truth dawned on Malcolm, but before he could stop them they had bitten into the apples and the small low-grade explosives buried in the fruit let off a small pop, killing each young recruit with a dull pop. And that’s why he eats apples with a knife. 8/9

10. Finally an Australian man must wear cool, hardcore clothes/ helmets/ army suits that make him look cool, and attractive for the ladies, but also give him authority. A good example would be Russell Crowe in “Gladiator”, with his cool armour and hardcore helmet.

9/10

That’s a very manly 9/10 and don’t think he couldn’t grow some serious space stubble and bump it up to a perfect ten. Malcolm Reynolds is Australian.

Star Trek

What You Need To Know: Possibly the best movie of 2009, with an intriguing plot that diverges from the traditional, in an effort to avoid enraging the hardcore “Trekkies”, while keeping it young, trendy, and appealing to a new generation of future Trekkies. Excellent dialogue and well cast characters, James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) as the most obviously influential of the characters. Trekkies will go giddy at the cameo of Leonard Nimoy as “Old Spock”, but it’s undeniable that everyones favorite Heroes villain was the spotlight of the movie, playing a perfect young Spock. J.J. Abrams knocked this one out of the park.

What the Critics Say:

Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 96% on it’s Tomatometer, which is just like saying it’s perfect.

Mail raves that: “The result is not only by far the best of the 11 Star Trek movies, it must rank as the outstanding prequel of all time.

My Verdict: A must see for all Trekkies. This movie lives up to the expectations William Shatner set for it. Even if you don’t know the Trek-verse at all, this movie sets itself as a prequel to the series so no knowledge is lost except for a few “inside jokes”. It’s a great father-son bonding experience and I highly recommend seeing it with your loved ones and pass the torch from one generation of Trekkie to the next.

Highlight: Star Trek is no longer for Sci-Fi nerds. This movie makes space cool again.

After you’ve had your minds blown by the Star Trek universe and head to your local Card Shop for the latest DnD game to complete your transformation, how can you get your next fix?

What To Watch:

Firefly- Possibly one of the most underrated TV shows of all time. It’s shockingly similar to the Star Trek universe, with several IMPORTANT differences. If you didn’t know, Star Trek was originally conceived as a Western in space, and director Joss Whedon decided to finish where Star Trek wussed out and “boldly go where no man has gone before”. The plot follows Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), an ex-war vet. on the losing side, as he tries to live out his life smuggling goods away from the Alliance, simultaniously avoiding the government he despises and continuing his own personal war. This show has so many anachronisms, it’ll make your head spin. This is due to it’s Sci-Fi/Western mash-up following an impoverished smuggler on the outer planets neglected by society. Few can afford so-called “futuristic” technology and many disputes are settled through fights with fists and pistols before escaping from the Feds on spacecraft. Brilliant.

Pros: Brilliant, witty dialogue. Original story. Made into a major motion picture. Deep characters with distinstive personalities. Everyone’s favorite red-headed squire from A Knight’s Tale reappears as pilot of the Serenity.

Cons: Only 14 Episodes. Really sucky title sequence. Fox cut the show and the plot never developed the way it was supposed to, even though they wrap it all up in the movie “Serenity”(2005).

Highlight: This show is REALISTIC. No huge explosions and lasergun fights in space. Space is silent and lacks oxygen. The show sucessfully stays true science while keeping the viewer enthralled.

What to Read:

I, Robot- Yeah, I know everyone has seen the movie, but I highly recommend picking up the book. Written by Issac Asimov, the supreme overlord of Sci-Fi, the book takes the Three Laws of Robotics and implements them in nine short stories that each face their own set of difficulties as the robots’ human creators realize their three laws aren’t as foolproof as they had hoped. tAs with most of Asimov’s work, these stories are written in practicality and abide by logic and the laws of physics, whitout losing the intrigue of the futuristic setting. If anything, the realism only makes the stories better. While this book is critically acclaimed, I fear most people will substitute the movie for the book, when in reality the movie doesn’t even scratch the surface.

Pros: Masterful prose for anyone looking for a good balance between realism and fantasy. Not long in the least, for those of you daunted by 700 page novels. Easily reread multiple times.

Cons: …having a hard time finding any.

My Note: I also read this excellent novel years and years ago about a spaceship with an ecosystem inside it, and dinosaurs with laserguns, and a lot of nonsense..but it was brilliant because it introduced the concept of humans being capable of evolving through radiation, and the humans exposed to the radiation on the space ship would evolve..and..well…it was really f reakin’ cool. that was my first sci-Fi choice above Asimov, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember the name of it. =[

Anyone else got sweet sci-fi shows/books/movies that they would like to enlighten the community to the existance of? Now it’s your turn.

Please click through to see this post on harrysaxon.com.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

I am not a ’series/sitcom’ man.  But this movie made me  watch Firefly TV Series.

Serenity is a science fiction/ fantasy movie writen and directed by Joss Whedon. It is a continuation of the TV series Firefly which was canceled after the first season and takes place some two months after the final episode. The story revolves around the Capt. Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and the crew of the ship “Serenity” (hence, the name). The captain and his first mates are the survivors of the inter-planetary war having fought for the independents and now survive on petty thievery. His crew consists of his second-in-command, Zoe (Gina Torres); her husband and the ship’s pilot, Wash (Alan Tudyk); Kaylee (Jewel Staite), an engineer, and Jayne (Adam Baldwin), a tough-talking bruiser. The movie is essentially about Captain Mal and his crew.

The history is pretty interesting. As humans became too many to inhabit planet Earth, they left in search for other planets and solar systems. Another planetary system was finally found which was ‘terraformed’ to make it habitable. The inner planets, known as the ‘core’ planets were a beckon of civilization, developed and prospering.  The outer planets were, however, less civilized. Soon, the core planets unified to form the ‘Alliance ‘. This Alliance, a coalition of the two super-powers existing then, the US and China, attacked any nation that wished to maintain its independence. The Alliance was obviously victorious with the survivors from the independents drifting towards the outer planets.

In such a universe, Capt. Mal, who volunteered for the Independents, survives doing small jobs here and there. They also ferry people in what would be a very cheap mode of transport. During one such trip, they picked up River Tam (Summer Glau) and Simon Tam (Sean Maher) , her brother. River, we come to know is a psychic genius whose abilities were not really explored in the Firefly series. They also picked up Shepherd Book, a preacher whose mysterious past was not discussed in the series. He now resides in the Planet Haven.

This introduction would be enough for the understanding of the premise of  Serenity. The movie begins with how Simon Tam, a brilliant doctor, rescues River. Being a psychic, the Alliance toyed around with her brain making her a super-weapon and a killing machine of sorts. The Alliance’s pursuit of River acts as the film’s motive. They send an operative, a believer in the cause, ruthless and intelligent, to track down Simon and River. Though, River isn’t initially a problem, her instability creates tension amongst the crew members, adding to the generally tense situation.

As I mentioned before, this movie is a continuation of the Firefly series, a film for the fans. An introduction to the series does help. The characters make more sense, the situations become understandable. However, that does not mean that the movie does not work as a separate entity.

First and foremost, this is an adventure, a ’space-western’ of sorts. The characters are interesting and have depth, their behaviour being credible and realistic.  The moral conflicts are complex and engaging, making the characters very well drawn indeed.

It fast paced and an engaging adventure. The story proceeds at break-neck speed but that doesn’t hinder the narration. It is smooth and there is ample scope for character development. This, however, doesn’t come at the cost of the entertainment value. There is a liberal dose of humour put in for good measure which doesn’t seem out of place at all. Credit to the director.

Visually, the movie is pretty good, though not in the same league as Star Wars. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. It leaves a lot of time for interaction between the characters and helps the narration as well. And unlike the usual science fiction or adventure movies, this one doesn’t just jump from one action sequence to another. That said, the film features plenty of exciting action and fight sequences. But blended with interesting and believable narrative.

Mal, the captain, is more compassionate than what it seems. He puts his crew before anything else, has his own principles and ideals and is not afraid of danger. Heck, he would do something just cause it is more dangerous! But he has this resigned feeling, as though there is no hope. Fillion gives a good performance, more convincing that the series.

But what gives this movie an aedge is the role of the Operative played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. He is as interesting as villians get, intelligent, cunning and ruthless. Using his wits more often than power and muscle, he makes the conflict more interestsing. As I said before, he is a believer, giving his single minded approach a complexity not seen in the usual villains.

I am not a ’series/sitcom’ man.  But this movie made me want to watch Firefly TV Series. It was that entertaining. It has everything the Series gave us, and more. Si-fi fans should have a blast. Firefly fans should have a blast.

And if you are a fan of good action/adventure movies, you will have a blast as well.

Cheers

Jais

PS: Though not a prerequisite, an introduction to the firefly world does help in the understanding of the movie. Of course, one has to remember that this is a movie for the the fans.

Ok so basically there are two types of people that would see this blog. Those that saw Firefly the original show during the (regrettable one season) airing and then saw Serenity. And the second group are those that saw Serenity and then as you were walking out of the theater and talking about what an interesting concept it was, someone leaned over and said “you know there was a TV show too, called Firefly. I am the latter. I immediately went out and purchased the complete series, and was not disappointed. If you somehow fall into the third category, the person who saw one but didn’t see the other then don’t think, don’t check your funds, just run out to your nearest Hastings and buy it.

If you’ve watched and enjoyed the series then you have clearly noted the quick wit humor and the well rounded characters. The wonderful thing about Firefly is that it meshes Drama, Action, and Comedy together in such a tightly bound cluster that each episode keeps you intrigued no matter what you watch it for. It hits a wide fanbase because here you have love stories, and yet science fiction, quick wordplay and still slapstick, the future, and yet old-fashioned western.

Each character is well-rounded. And you never know quite what to expect out of each one of them. They all have their own personal conflicts and things that set them off. I like that, it’s very realistic. Jayne has his power struggle with the captain. Zoe deals with her marriage and her husbands jealousy of the captain. The good doctor tries to mesh his love for his sister and for a crew-member. This is good stuff people! And it is all underlying quiet conflicts that arise every now and then. Subtlety is a way of life.

The main point of this blog is not to convince you to watch although if you haven’t you definitely should. The point is trying to get Firefly back on the air. Joss Whedon produced in my opinion one of the best TV shows to air and it was cancelled due to some idiot decision-making by FOX. But I think the bigger problem here lies with the people. If people had more sense, were better educated, and understood and appreciated the humor and drama that Firefly employs I think the show would have remained on the air. The problem lies with those who choose to watch things like , Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader, The Moment of Truth, America’s Trashiest Wedding, and Temptation Island and in general the majority of Reality TV Shows. These shows get airtime while a clever, well-written script with talented actors and an exciting new concept with an actual plot and background sits on a store shelf with 4 discs and the somber title “Firefly- The Complete Series.” I weep for the future.

Wende got this one–it’s Serenity.

Back in September The Wonderful Maladys was announced as a likely HBO pilot with plans, or at least intent, to film around January 2009.  It would star Sarah Michelle Gellar as one of three dysfunctional adult siblings.

Sounds great, but I’ve heard practically nothing since.  Has HBO cooled on the idea after discovering Sarah has no intention of getting naked for the production?  After all, it’s not network tv, it’s HBO.  Zombiejlv REview, ever helpful, suggests further casting and a concept tweak to get Sarah and HBO over the hump and on to a deal.

Change the title to The Wonderful Malediction, in which three dysfunctional adult sisters are cursed by their maternal grandmother (who blames them all for the early death of their parents) to fall hopelessly and madly–where have I heard something like that lately, Olivia–in love with the Mal Reynolds character from Joss Whedon’s Firefly. Now Mal-addicted, the sisters’ malady extends to also falling achingly in love with Nathan Fillion, who played Mal in Firefly and the film Serenity. Already flighty, the siblings are drawn to Nathan like entranced hummingbirds to the sweet nectar deep inside special flowers.

Sarah’s two sisters would be played by Charisma Carpenter and Katherine Towne, who is the daughter of noted scriptwriter Robert Towne of Chinatown fame. Katherine memorably played the vampire gangleader, Sunday, in Buffy’s The Freshman episode. Nathan Fillion would star as himself when trying to avoid the sisters’ advances–he has a serious girlfriend already in place, played by either the terrific Meredith Monroe or the equally terrific Kristin Dattilo–and as Mal in fantasy sequences.

If Sarah sticks to a clothed state her sisters could fulfill the Hot BOdy skin requirement, if it even exists. Also, Diedre in marketing tells us Mr. Fillion is not averse to baring his bum for viewers who like that sort of thing.

Everyone tell Mal Happy Birthday!