Firefly Premieres Tonight 688
fm6 writes "Firefly, Joss Whedon's 'anti-Trek drama' premieres tonight, on Fox, 8 E/P. I normally despise hypespeak, but this time it's the only language that fits: this is groundbreaking, mind-boggling, totally original. I've seen a bootleg of the pilot (which, unfortunately, the network is holding back) and I promise you this is the most geek-friendly SF you've seen in a long time. Yes, more so than Star Trek and B5, and way past Star Wars. I've never seen the future so skillfully, realistically, and lovingly portrayed. Here is the Official Site and a leading fan site." This is the single new show this season I have added a season pass for to the old Tivo. But I'll probably watch it live. This looks like it could be as good as we hope.
Not To Sound Trollish.... (Score:2, Insightful)
It just doesn't seem believable to me... but I'll have to watch it and see.
What's wrong with Star Trek, anyways?
Original? Watch Outlaw Star sometime. (Score:5, Insightful)
In fact, for some reason this show reminds me a lot of Outlaw star, just less cartoonish. Must be the girl in the box thing that makes me think of that particular Anime series. And the fact they are tooling around in a ship doing odd jobs for a living. And the fact that they have no real home port anymore after they have to blast their way off of the one place they called home.
You could also say they play the Hon Solo angle a bit as well other than the fact they have more to their crew than just a wookie.
I'll give it a watch regardless, it could be fun and maybe it will be surprisingly original, but I'll withold any hype or wild statements until I've actually seen the first few episodes.
Re:rip-off Cowboy bebop (Score:3, Insightful)
Honeymooners->Flintstones->Jetsons
At least they picked good shows to rip off, instead of the absolute shite out there.
Incidentally, anyone see Star Hunter on TV?
Re:rip-off Cowboy bebop (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:for anyone who is interested... (Score:5, Insightful)
Wow, I think that's just about the most intelligent and responsible thing I've ever read about the influence of culture on behaviour.
Animerica (Score:2, Insightful)
All that's missing is a bunch of star ships with arms waving around doing some sort of mechanical kung fu.
Honeslty though, the story is great and I'm personally looking forward to see where they take it.
Geek Friendly? Is That, Like, A Good Thing? (Score:2, Insightful)
Is it Geek-Friendly 'cause it's Science Fiction? Most of the good SF I have read does not translate well into the Geek ouevre of Wookies and Mind-Melds and big-boobied Borg babies in catsuits. The best SF, in my experience usually does not translate easily into episodic TV at all.
Are you calling Firefly "good geek TV" because it is both SF and intelligent? Someone mentioned someplace (maybe on this board) how wonderful FireFly would be because there would be no sound heard when things exploded in space. Well, Oh boy, Roy! Sounds like a best-Drama Emmy candidate to me! Let me race upstairs to set my Tivo...! Hopefully, the writing will extend beyond the use, or non-use, of special effects.
Which is not to say that I don't have high hopes for the show as well. I'm a huge fan of Buffy -- another show Whedon created -- but not because someone "finally got vampires right." I just find it extraordinarily well written, with believeable characters well acted.
Is Buffy "geeky?" Whom do I ask to find out? You?
>as good as we hope.
"We?" Who's "we?" Linux SysAdmins? SlashDot Editors? Buffy Fans? You and your room-mates? Surely you don't expect all SlashDot readers to ever be on the same page on any single topic, do you?
I hope, for Mr. Whedon's sakes, Firefly catches a buzz which extends far, far beyond the parameters of "geek-itude."
Re:Neat Trick... (Score:3, Insightful)
Then, someone on slashdot (sorry, not credits to give out, can't remember) posted a great reply I thought I should parrot:
in modern fighter jets, there is no way a pilot could hear the planes flying around him. To increase awareness however, the engine noises are added in by computer. The computer figures out where the planes are, given radar data, then adds in engine noises with the appropriate distance and placement. This way, the pilot is much more situationally aware, without having to check the instruments.
I thought that was pretty cool.
Presumably, this is a feature that would be included, and improved upon in the future. Therefore, the sounds you hear, might not be from the ships themselves, but a computer onboard making those sounds to identify what ships they are, how fast they're going, and where they are.
---Lane
Re:Original my ass (Score:4, Insightful)
Why don't you just sit down and watch the show. Or TiVo it, or whatever. Then you can bitch.
Besides, complaints about how it's not original will fall on deaf ears. Wasn't it Joesph Campbell who said there were only about seven stories? Most of 'em can be found in The Odyssey, if you just look. The theme of the story isn't what makes it interesting. It's the execution that matters. And none of us will know anything about that until 8:00 PM, Eastern and Pacific.
Business Plan (Score:1, Insightful)
Design fan websites
Make ad company employee submits posts to Slashdot
Actually get your advertising blurb posted as a story on slashdot instead of banner ad.
Thousand of naive nerds give story instant cred
cause they saw it on Slashdot.
hey perhaps this ad as a story is the new
Slashdot business mdoel
Re:Original my ass (Score:4, Insightful)
Raskolnikov: Insane Student
Sonya Marmeladov: Kind Whore
Dmitri: Loyal Friend
Dunya: Close Sister
Alyona Ivanovna: Mean Crone
Lizaveta Ivanovna: Tragic Mistake
etc...
In short, don't be silly. Yes you can reduce them to simple cardboard cutouts, but that doesn't matter. It is like that old thing that there are only n (7, 28, 36 etc.) plots in the world. Well actually you can simplify it down to one plot: "Something happens". Reduction can make fools of anything, even the best work. So just watch the show, or wait for a review, don't complain because some intern wrote crappy copy for a website.
Re:Is Star Wars really that bad? (Score:3, Insightful)
But in the last two Star Wars movies, I think it's become quite clear that a universe ruled by the Jedis isn't necessarily much of an improvement over the Empire. For just one example, look how the Jedis take away small children from their parents, for the good of their "war effort". Something seems really disturbing about that scene with Yoda and all those small kids in the training room.....
In Star Trek, my biggest problem with the series is how often the crew comes close to death, and escapes with some last-minute scheme that's "not certain to work". Surely, by now, they'd have all blown themselves up - just due to the law of probability. (They can't always guess right, when they've taken hundreds and hundreds of such chances and long-shots.) Other than that, it's a well-done show with surprisingly Libertarian ideals. (When you think about it, the only thing the Federation does in the way of "war" is fighting off those that refuse to "live and let live". The policy they're trying to enforce is one of "You can do whatever you like, as long as it doesn't infringe on any other civilization's rights.") They covered such difficult issues as, "Do androids have the same rights as humans and other living things?" It's not just a simple "war story".
Re:Will be worth it just for the one-liners (Score:2, Insightful)
The Poster Speaks (Score:3, Insightful)
Worst of all, Star Wars is very bad science fiction. I mean, sounds in a vacuum have become conventional, but how can you sit still for spaceships that behave as if they had airfoils? And armor that doesn't protect its wearers against rocks and sticks? And space pilots who think a light year is a unit of time?
I know, I know, because it's fun. Just ignore me, I had a lousy childhood.
Re:Revolvers? Handguns?? (Score:3, Insightful)
Repeat the mantra, student: The Future Will Not Be Like Star Trek.