Not only did Fox cancel Firefly too early, but they aired the episodes out of order confusing the audience and ensuring most of them would stop watching the show. They also put the show on Friday night (the death slot) against other popular sci-fi shows. Further they often preempted the show to air sports events. Nowadays you can watch the first season in the correct order including episodes Fox decided not to air as well as the film Serenity that ties up many of the loose ends created by Fox's cancelation of the TV series.

@ThommyofThenn

2 ай бұрын

It's amazing any TV franchises survived the 60s-mid 2000s. Considering the sheer number of appallingly stupid, short sighted and ignorant decisions made by the big networks, it's amazing TV even exists

@merafirewing6591

2 ай бұрын

​@@ThommyofThenn it's as if Fox really wanted Firefly to completely fail.

@ThommyofThenn

2 ай бұрын

@@merafirewing6591 Even when I try to look at it from a completely cynical, greed based perspective it still is hard to accept. I guess they want short term results and have so many pilots on standby, they can afford to keep throwing shows at the wall and seeing what really sticks

@merafirewing6591

2 ай бұрын

@@ThommyofThenn To me, Firefly really something very unique that you don't see often in sci-fi series.

@Darxide23

2 ай бұрын

Someone had a vendetta against Whedon, I imagine. But Fox is where good shows went to die anyhow. Fox killed off a _ton_ of popular shows around that same time and in the following years, not just Firefly.

Jaynestown is one of my favourite TV episodes of all time!

@Dc-alpha

2 ай бұрын

Shake your head boy, your eyes are stuck.

@daTribbleMaker

2 ай бұрын

Hero of Canton, The Ballad of Jayne Cobb.

@forcelightningcable9639

2 ай бұрын

@@daTribbleMaker “This is hell. I’m in hell.”

@Stefonius

Ай бұрын

We gotta go to the crappy town where I'm the hero!

When Gene Roddenberry first came up with Star Trek, he pitched it as Wagon Train to the Stars, since he started as a writer for TV westerns in the 50s. It's interesting how the parallels worked out. Science fiction has a unique perspective on what the future might be.

@ThommyofThenn

2 ай бұрын

I really like the "speculative fiction" subgenre. And I agree the whole evolution of the space western concept is very interesting

@daduzadude1547

2 ай бұрын

Interestingly, “Trek” is the Afrikaans for wagon train.

@ThommyofThenn

2 ай бұрын

@@daduzadude1547 my friend I did not know this. Thanks for sharing knowledge

@miguelvelez7221

2 ай бұрын

Wow. I love this franchise but probably because it has such limited product I never went too deep beyond some BTS material to suss out the details of the setting. Looks like there's definitely some stuff for me to look into on my own. The chart itself opened my eyes to a lot. I thought it was just one solar system with some planets and moons terra formed. It was a lot bigger and more complex than I assumed. Good work as always Orange River.

@ThommyofThenn

2 ай бұрын

@@miguelvelez7221 yeah I also appreciate Orange's professionalism and research

Loved this show when it came it out. Was crushed when it was cancelled 😢

@ThommyofThenn

2 ай бұрын

This and Sarah Connor Chronicles are two examples of terrific shows being wasted by incompetent executive meddling. I always wish these shows had come out in the streaming era; we would probably have at least five seasons of each

@chrisfraser5088

2 ай бұрын

@@ThommyofThenn completely agree! And The Sarah Connor Chronicles left off on such a cliffhanger! 😫

@ThommyofThenn

2 ай бұрын

@@chrisfraser5088 I finished my first watch a few weeks ago, knowing well in advance of its untimely cancellation. Yet by the time I finished the s2, I was seriously saddned when the final scene played. What happened with the liquid metal lady?! What was the 'real' girl who was the template for Cameron like? SO many questions, I agree it was a terrible cliffhanger. Can you imagine how epic s3 would have been?

@chrisfraser5088

2 ай бұрын

@@ThommyofThenn so true! There were so many great plot threads and unanswered questions for season 3 to deal with. As far as I know, they were under the impression they WOULD have a season 3 at the time, so these things would have been dealt with. I’m not actually sure if the showrunners ever answered any questions after the show was cancelled. Maybe there’s some answers out there somewhere? But yeah, Really was a great show imo!

@forcelightningcable9639

2 ай бұрын

Cue me at 16, after school one December Friday afternoon: umexcusemewtfisthi?

Firefly deserved at least a second season. I know we got a movie to help tie things together but it needed more. Still one of my all-time favorite series though.

I watched Serenity in theaters with a friend from Hong Kong. About half way through, she leans over to me and whispers "Their Chinese is really bad!"

@sambradley1256

2 ай бұрын

I’m sure her future Chinese was really bad too.

@daTribbleMaker

2 ай бұрын

Should have leaned over to her and say Most Chinese people have really bad English. Just to have perspective.

Branching out to Firefly. I like it. I didn't see it when it originally aired, but I've watched it and the movie many times since.

If I remember correctly, they wanted the characters to speak Cantonese but they didn't have any writers or producers who spoke Chinese, so they ended up with a mix of Mandarin and Cantonese accents.

I liked that humans are the only species in the 'verse. The notion that we are very much alone in the galaxy is unique for a lot of sci-fi that I've seen.

Thanks for such a great video about my favorite science fiction series. You taught me a lot of background information about the universe that was all really interesting. To answer your questions, my favorite thing about Firefly is the characters. They're all so different and feel like real people who have come together to make a found family. I really like the universe, but I love the characters. It was definitely cancelled too early. I could imagine it going for at least 7 years. I'm grateful for the movie, but it could have been so much more. I hope you make more Firefly videos in the future.

A very, very good - and promising - first season. And, I loved the ‘Firefly’ movie. Most of the ‘Firefly’ cast have gone on to have exceptional careers, deservedly so. I am not a linguist but the cadence, syntax and vocabulary of ‘Firefly’ is unique, memorable, genuine. After 500 years of language drift, I found the dialogue compelling and believable. Sure, everything wasn’t always “shiny,” but it sure was interesting and exciting. RIP, Ron Glass. You were the “Shepherd” we all need.

I completely agree that Firefly was cancelled too soon, due to the extremely limited "vision" of FOX executives (similar to TOS). I loved the series!! As with TOS, there was sooooo much untapped potential here for story development. Shame on FOX for hot only cancelling the show too soon, but for failing to recognize its potential due to their own bungled handling of the show.

Tyler, you are pulling on my heartstrings with this video, man! Firefly is my favorite Joss Whedon series.

The greatest show that never was, to paraphrase a famous phrase from what could have been one of the greatest sci-fi shows of all time

It's not a TV show, FireFly is a way of life

@daTribbleMaker

2 ай бұрын

You can't take the sky from me..

Dude I did miss it. Thanks for the heads up.

They never gave this amazing show a real chance.

I guess you lost a poker game with Dr Beverly

Many thanks for this dive into Firefly, much appreciated! I always wonder why Firefly humans didn't just terraform Earth, instead of terraforming distant barren worlds.

Great video. And yes it was canceled way 2 soon. Loved the world building.

In the good timeline, the cancellation of Firefly was not only reversed and the show is enjoying its 22nd season in 2024, but all of the execs at Fox were publicly flogged and then imprisoned for the injustice.

This is another great video. It's been so long since I've watched firefly it was nice to finally piece together the lore. I think it was cancelled too soon. It was a show that given the right shot should have had many seasons.

Take my like, take my thumb Firefly vid has finally come I will watch, The whole vid To appease the algorithm

I didn't get into Firefly when it was on Broadcast TV. I remember my parents telling me how good it was and I gave excuses not to watch it. It just sounded so silly.. cowboys in space. Yeah. Sure. When the movie came out, I hadn't been in the mood to watch any dramas or police revenge movies. I'm a sucker for Sci-Fi and so I decided "What the hell... i'll go check it out". I came out of the theatre, made a bee line for Best Buy and bought the entire box set of Firefly. On faith that it was as good as the movie. It was way better. I've had hopes that another production group might pick it up and continue. I know that Mal and his shipmates couldn't be salvaged but since Star Trek did so well, FireFly could expand too. Alas, no one took up the mantle. I had seen the comic books come out... twiddled my thumbs hoping to hear a new movie might emerge. No chance. I heard that someone was making a video game...oooh.... nope, fell through... then another group was making a video game.... haven't heard anything more about it. I love that group of characters. I would devour more if I could get more stories out of whoever. It's sad when i've turned to fan-fic and god there are some horrible amateur writers out there. There are a few notables.

Hey recent fan, been watching through all of your Trek content while playing the FTL multiverse mod. Also got me on a voyager rewatch. Thank you. Firefly would be such a cool universe for a game.

Great show. Definitely canceled too soon.

They cancelled this for Dark Angel which I liked better at the time since I was a kid. Now though I realize firefly is 100 percent a way better show

Great tour of the show!

Yes I do believe they canceled Firefly too early. The aspect of the show I loved was found family. Everyone lived their lives up until that point that they're now family and living with and for each other.

At least what we do get from this franchise was damn good stuff...

Excellent content as always!

I do agree it was canceled too early. Fox was not giving chance to ANYTHING that would rate bellow a certain viewcount

I think part of the problem is that Firefly never had a chance to fall down, so of course people think it was perfect.

@OrangeRiver

2 ай бұрын

Ha, I think you've got a strong point

I love the show and movie. I truly feel that it being canceled before its time and was short that makes it so great. I feel the longer a show goes on the more it suffers from the weight of all backage from its storytelling.

So, yes, I think Firefly was canceled to early, but that's also not the same as saying I want more seasons of it, either at the time or now. As it is, it's a near-perfect set of episodes that tells a small part of a larger story, and while it would be amazing to actually get more of that story, the near-perfect nature of the 13 episodes we have makes that very tenuous IMO. The Firefly we got is so close to perfect that I am loathe to ask for anything more that might diminish what we were actually given. I'd love to see more, but it HAS to be as perfect as the original 13, and that feels like it's not possible, or at least VERY hard to pull off. And in the absence of more content that equals or surpasses the original, I'd rather not have any more than have something that doesn't quite rise to the level of what we already have. Your mileage may vary, of course ...

I'd like a reboot getting into more of this stuff.

This was a great show/movie. Jayne Cobb is THE MAN!!

Your explanation of the series actually gives me enough background that I would like to try watching it again. As mentioned by other commenters, it was confusing to watch because the episodes aired out of order, so it felt like it came with its own well-known canon that everyone knew but the first-time watchers, which explains why fans would tell me that it makes more sense when you re-watch the series. I tried to hang on but couldn't make it past the second episode.

I also appreciate you using the setting of Firefly to connect to our current world*. Sci-fi is at its best when using the visions of the future to ask questions about who we are today. I can't say i'm "glad" to hear this but I do *appreciate* you using Firefly's premise to get us thinking more seriously about the impending depletion of Earth's viability. Yes, it's scary to think about but unlike people in the past, we don't get the luxury of shoving all the problems onto the next generation to deal with. Of course we are masters of pretending problems don't exist and making excuses to not think about it. But like any problem, ignoring it until it's too late usually results in disaster. Edit: punctuation

Great series and worldbuilding The Operative is easily in my top 5 antagonists in scifi

Firefly could easily have gone 3-4 seasons possibly more.

I love Firefly.

I found Firefly when on a DVD buying binge, I really loved it. A fantastic setting that mixed genres. Archetypal characters that still felt vibrant. All of the characters and actors were great, although Simon Tam was only at his best during the Serenity movie. I'm undecided about the streamlined facial hair...

I love sci-fi, Firefly was wonderful! You got to love fantasy, just like the fantasy of climate change. I don't know if it's so much as fantasy or just another religion, I'm starting to think it's just religion you got your priests your scripture oh and don't forget canceling those who disagree with you. I'm just glad they put the climate change stuff in a fantasy setting and didn't talk as if itis a real thing.

This is Great 😃 💚 Did you ever watch Defiance? I really like it.

@jamesabernethy7896

2 ай бұрын

Defiance was a curiosity for me, I didn't hate it but never fell in love with it either. Visually great with some interesting elements.

@Dc-alpha

2 ай бұрын

If it had been just a TV show it would've easily been better and lasted longer. The continued push for tie in everything, play this, read this, there will be a movie killed it. As it stands, I think it's mostly above average but once all the tie in's Sci-fi banked on failed they let it die instead of shoring up the show.

If they have the tech to terraform barren rocks into habitable worlds, why didn't they just use it to fix the earth?

@arcdecibel9986

2 ай бұрын

Because we can't have nice things like critical thinking. I'll even add to your excellent observation - If we have the tech to make generation ships, why don't we just make orbital habitats and park them around THIS sun? It's not like there is a shortage of every single material resource we could ever use in this solar system. Heck, if they left Earth behind, they also left behind almost 100% of its resources, since the overwhelming majority of those are in the mantle and the core. But let's not tear Earth apart when we can disassemble a useless planet like Mercury or Mars.

To answer your question, I would have liked to see more episodes. The series ended too soon. I'm glad they made the movie.

If only Joss Wheton and the writer of "The Fifth Element" got together for an epic film!

I learned about the show after I watched the movie in the theaters, and I enjoyed both a great deal. If there had been a full first season I may not think it ended to early, but only 14 episodes barely wets the whistle. There is however some decent stories in comics and novels (more so the comics IMHO).

Interesting choice of the background music "Rebel Path" of the Cyberpunk 2077 OST while discussing the history of the 21st century!

There is a SYFY series called Killjoys that always heavily reminds me of Firefly. I enjoy both shows but in recent years Killjoys has become a comfort watch for me with its space bounty hunter story that just kept getting weirder and weirder.

i never got into it but my brother and parents loved it

So like. Okay. About 3 weeks before you put out your Expanse video I had finished watching it for the first time. I just watched Firefly & Serenity for the first time... last week. Mr. River, are you reading my mind?

You actually look pretty handsome with a clean shaven face.

Yes

I like how you said ''policy choices by polluting countries'' and then showed Europe, which is the 2nd lowest polluting continent 🤔

@OrangeRiver

2 ай бұрын

It's a stock footage clip of wildfires... this is taking things too literally lmfao

@Gneeznow

2 ай бұрын

@@OrangeRiver This is serious business 🤡

why must you bring up old wounds

Hey, Tyler, another great video. Question for ya, the statue of the black Star Trek Science officer, who is that, and where'd you get it? I'd like one.

@OrangeRiver

2 ай бұрын

😂😂😂 That's a one-of-a-kind statue of D'Vana Tendi custom 3D printed and hand painted by a fan of the channel

@Tazirai

2 ай бұрын

That's dope, thanks for the reply. She looks awesome. I thought it might be tendi, but the lighting threw me off. :P@@OrangeRiver

Please do an episode on what would have happened with subsequent seasons. Where do you think this was going?

Such a cool show. Also, I myself am a sucker for realistic levels of eco collapse lore, it always gets me, I'm sick like that. ^^' But hey, as you explained, its unfortunately quite effing topical... I wonder how close to collapse the Firefly universe is at the point the show is set. Since many of the old problems persist, just on a interstellar level, it almost seems like its inevitable. It is really notable, also, now that I hear you go over the lore, how much inspiration Starfield actually took from Firefly.

I like Firefly but it wasn't as good as the superfans say it was. But the Serenity movie was awesome.

I just finished the last episode today

Stargate firefly Star Trek Farscape and Star Wars… my favs

Are you familiar with Farscape? I'd really love to see you do a video on that.

I love firefly... one of those very sad 1 season shows of course it was canceled too early!

Pressing here to know more, give me more! Lol

So no one gonna talk about his glow up? Na ? Ok Londoninum is the original Roman name for London by the way people OMG ok!!! I will watch firefly again… I’m not sure the crew know they have the Orasi! Onboard :-/ hallowed are the ori!!!! Sex work is legal in Europe right now too by the way

Perhaps the control fetish of the Aliance with regards to the outer Systems was influenced by Chinese Experiences with their northern Neighbors At least that would explain the obcessive Waste of Resources

Definitely cancelled WAY to soon. It should have gone for at least 3 seasons if not 5. 🤘😁🖖🇨🇦

Wooooh Hooo Hoooo Hoo

would i have liked even 1 more sesaon? of course. glad we got the movie. lightning in a bottle though and those asking for a revival or something are just inviting disappointment

Shiny!

Definitely another Fox fu£k up. Well worth a binge, would have loved the finding Earth, Vamps and Slayers spin off.

I’m hoping Disney renews it

Hell yeah they messed up cancelling the show! Luckily the movie was fantastic!

I, FOR ONE, THINK THE CANCELLATION OF FIREFLY IS A *BAD* THING!!!

It was canned too early.

👍👍👍

Oh god yes. Inara is best

Who tf is this beardless guy on my screen??

@jamesabernethy7896

2 ай бұрын

If he was covering Star Trek he could be Ensign Babyface.

@ThommyofThenn

2 ай бұрын

I like the goatee thing

@nebenkosteh

2 ай бұрын

​@@jamesabernethy7896haha for real

I've never met anyone who didn't like Firefly after they watched it. I will forever hate Fox for their complete mistreatment of this show

Firefly was definitely cancelled too early. It still hurts to think of what could've been. I wish that the SyFi channel or some other network would've jumped in to save this show. Joss Whedon had 2 hit shows under his belt and if only he was given time this show would've been a hit. The few episodes we received is proof of that.

I wish I could have gotten more firefly tv shows and movies 🎬. I do think the final tv show was anti-black. I don't like it . Other than that I loved the tv shows and movie firefly.

The show deserved better.

Here's a question I've yet to hear and answer to. The characters all speak Chinese, but there isn't one Asian actor in either the series or the movie. WTF?

Cancelled WAY too early and aired in a disastrous way too. Executive execution is more realistic.

Hands down, cancelled too early, because some suit decided to air shit out of order and put in a shitty time slot for airing.

I think Firefly was a great show and Fox was incredibly stupid to cancel it... That being said, after finally watching it for the first time a couple years ago, I think it is the most overrated Sci-Fi show of all time. There is nothing new in Firefly, but there are great characters and even better actors playing them. To me a lot of its fame comes from the anger and shock of its abrupt cancellation, not the staying power of a unique premise or writing.

I never understood the Chinese in the world. Where are all the Chinese people ??

@miguelvelez7221

2 ай бұрын

The gaps in Whedon's progressive armor are on full display there.

Tyler, it's been awhile since I watched a video. You look different. Loose weight (not that you needed to)? Get a haircut? LOL

@OrangeRiver

2 ай бұрын

Ha, just shaved!

Canon??, unless the shows original creators lay claim to a shows specific details, the fan base will do it for them. Once this occurs, do the original creators have the right to complain? NOPE.

The show was cancelled due to low ratings by Fox.

@OrangeRiver

2 ай бұрын

This is...almost like lying by omission 😂😂😂

More like FAILfly! I tried, by god (though I am an atheist!) I tried getting into that, I watched it in order of release and in the suggested order and I still think that show is a jumbled mess! Give me Babylon 5 or Farscape or Star Trek TNG any day over this crap!

Firefly was great, but considering how BAD the movie was in comparison, I think maybe it was already about to go downhill. Whedon seems a lot like Lucas in the sense that he had one or two good ideas, but everything after that was boat-anchor garbage. Buffy might have been as good as it was because Joss has LESS control than his later stuff.

@miguelvelez7221

2 ай бұрын

I think Whedon was always a head up his own ass diva... But where is this revision that the film is "bad" come from? Never heard a bad thing about it from the fans outside of "shipper" laments.

@while_coyote

2 ай бұрын

@@miguelvelez7221 Lol, it comes from watching it and seeing that it is bad. Just watch it, it's terrible.

@merafirewing6591

2 ай бұрын

That film wasn't bad at all and I enjoyed it. Also it's the best send off that Firefly got.

@miguelvelez7221

2 ай бұрын

​@@while_coyoteNah dude. Have you ever actually talked to other fans about it? I literally have never seen anyone who enjoyed the series call the film "bad". Is it perfect? No. Nothing is and a lot of things I wish it had wrapped up stay twisting in the wind by the end. But it being "bad" sounds like another case of "Internet Iconoclast Syndrome". One day... We'll have a cure. 😂😂😂

@while_coyote

2 ай бұрын

@@miguelvelez7221 Other fans can think what they want, but they're wrong. The movie had the chance to save the show, but buried it instead. It's got a completely different vibe than the show, much darker and more unpleasant, not fun and lighthearted, while it simultaneously has too much fan service attempts to work as a stand-alone movie. It's just poorly executed all around.

Definitely too early. Lost opportunity to start a great scfi franchise.

I know I'm in the minority, but I never got the appeal of this show 🤷

@TheoAndHisPedals

2 ай бұрын

I hate Firefly …. I watched the whole thing and I just didn’t get it. The dumb theme song, the clunky “yeah there’s this whole unique language that we only use to get around swearing on tv”, the fact that people think they’re in the Old West’. It’s Ridiculous…. Then I watched it all again to make sure….. then a few years later I watched it all again…then I watched the film…at this point I’ve watched the series and film multiple times. I think technically this makes me a fan 😂

@Aragorn7884

2 ай бұрын

@@TheoAndHisPedals thank you!!!

@dramonmaster222

2 ай бұрын

Don't worry. You are not the only one. I never got into it either.

@Aragorn7884

2 ай бұрын

@@dramonmaster222 👍😇

@merrygin

2 ай бұрын

I was sceptical at first, too, but quickly became hooked when I gave it a chance. But I get that its not for everybody, especially the western meets scifi style.

Best one season show ever.

Unsubscribed for the preachy climate whining without even mentioning the non wester countries doing it

@OrangeRiver

2 ай бұрын

Good fucking riddance you sad egg!! Get lost

@valandil988

18 күн бұрын

Even basic research into past era's of earth will tell you the atmosphere was likely at one time somewhat denser. It's unclear by how much due to fossilized rain being difficult to analyze. To add to this we are constantly losing the molecules and atoms of our atmosphere to space at a slow rate. In essence the natural trend of earths atmosphere is to move to zero. In short there is zero danger of reapproaching those past era's of dense atmosphere. Just look up the cycles of hot earth and snowball earth. Even if we accept that humanity has had such an effect it isn't significantly out of line of these periods. Ice ages, for example, are defined by having any ice at all at the poles. So technically we are still in an ice age to this day. I think people really forget how gigantic periods of geological time actually are. 10k years ago significant portions of the world were under ice. This slow trend of reduction has continued long before humanity industrialized. Mass migration is more a result of war and destruction than anything else. That's not to say there aren't climate migrants but I would say it's more a contributing factor of natural trends than anything else. That and economic migration absolutely is an enormous drive. In short I've not seen or experienced anything in my life thus far to indicate significant changes. I would say however that America has truly unsustainable water demands out in areas like phoenix where cloud seeding is destroying local climates. Weather manipulation is certainly real and it has real consequences for the locals. Has enough research gone into that? Doubtful. I would also state that scientists are not truly objective witnesses. They have agendas. Both sides. Their funding is dependent on their theories gaining traction, resulting in these perpetual 'bandwagons' where everyone agrees to get a slice of the pie. Nobody will fund an idea or path of research that isn't plausible or gained public recognition, if such a path loses recognition well your out of a job now and your career may be over. This means you naturally accumulate 'yes men' scientists. I know this from inside knowledge, truth is subjective, the pitch is all that matters. Funding is the same either way. In general I am more suspicious of those that seek to use this 'theory' to wield enormous power over the general population. An example: the idea that cattle farming is a key offender that must be eliminated is dangerous. That farmers across Europe are being attacked for it is dangerous territory indeed. We are not immune to famine, in fact we are far more vulnerable to it in this era. To summarize I would caution anyone in believing this theory just because scientists, who can be brought and sold, pushed it. At a fundamental level it requires us to 'trust' them and I'm not convinced we should. Oh and quoting papers won't work as results can easily be manipulated to make their conclusions plausible. Corruption is not the sole provision of politicians, scientists can be corrupt as well.