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Why did Firefly get cancelled?
- Thread starter Gila
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Sapiens
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Littlefang
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Deleted member 752119
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It got poor ratings.
Fox did it no favors by showing episodes out of order, at odd days/times etc. though.
Fox did it no favors by showing episodes out of order, at odd days/times etc. though.
Exploratory
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QuantumBro
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- Mar 15, 2011
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Turns out airing episodes out of order and at random times gets low ratings.
Was a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts.
Was a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts.
Fury451
Banned
Yes.
Fox used to give shows a chance when they first started up but by the time Firefly rolled around they weren't playing
No one watching = no more show for you
I agree
dc3k
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Squire
Banned
TDLink
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- Jan 24, 2010
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Fox killed it by airing episodes completely out of order (they didn't even air the pilot until the end of the run) and changing the day/time on multiple occasions. Three episodes weren't even aired until the following year.
The official reasoning is that no one watched it and the ratings were low, which is true...but it's really due to Fox.
The official reasoning is that no one watched it and the ratings were low, which is true...but it's really due to Fox.
Alpha Centauri
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Same thing they did with Almost Human.
You take a show with a plot arc, air it out of order to show the good "action bits", and wreck all semblance of cohesion. You then notice audiences aren't following week to week so you move it to a random time slot. Even less people watch it now so you feel justified in cancelling it.
Absolutely terrible. Firefly was fantastic.
You take a show with a plot arc, air it out of order to show the good "action bits", and wreck all semblance of cohesion. You then notice audiences aren't following week to week so you move it to a random time slot. Even less people watch it now so you feel justified in cancelling it.
Absolutely terrible. Firefly was fantastic.
Sapiens
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Rentahamster
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firebricks3
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- Oct 27, 2004
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FOX made it difficult to figure out when you could watch it, even when you were trying to watch it
Dishwalla
Banned
Terrible ratings.
Remember, Firefly was a niche show in a period of time when Fox was a ratings machine and before streaming and lots of forms of entertainment allowed for niche shows on network TV. It was also sort of the tail end of people wanting Sci Fi. The 90s was a big boom for space opera's both on TV and in theaters. And outside of the prequel trilogy, no one really was going big SciFi in theaters. The transition to super hero fair had begun in earnest.
If the show were put out now on USA it would likely last 6 years. Different times.
Then it got moved to Friday and the ratings got worse.
Remember, Firefly was a niche show in a period of time when Fox was a ratings machine and before streaming and lots of forms of entertainment allowed for niche shows on network TV. It was also sort of the tail end of people wanting Sci Fi. The 90s was a big boom for space opera's both on TV and in theaters. And outside of the prequel trilogy, no one really was going big SciFi in theaters. The transition to super hero fair had begun in earnest.
If the show were put out now on USA it would likely last 6 years. Different times.
Then it got moved to Friday and the ratings got worse.
TangoAlphaLima
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- May 17, 2010
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Yeah, the episode they first aired was the Train Job, which was actually the second episode, after the double length pilot that set up ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING about the show's plot.
Fox also aired it primarily on Friday evenings, which was just sending it to die.
PeskyToaster
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partyphone
Banned
it was okay but never got a chance to grow.
season 1 of TNG was awful. season 1 of babylon 5 started out mediocre and then got okay.
half a season is not enough for a show.
Grizzlyjin
Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
- Jun 23, 2004
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Nobody was watching it. That Friday night slot is the kiss of the death. Although I think it would survive if it was airing now. Expectations for ratings are lower on Fox and there have been a few genre shows that have gotten decent runs on Friday nights.
EDIT: It was pretty funny how Fox did When dirty again a few years later with Dollhouse. That one at least survived a second year, but still had the Friday night slot.
EDIT: It was pretty funny how Fox did When dirty again a few years later with Dollhouse. That one at least survived a second year, but still had the Friday night slot.
funkystudent
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- Apr 3, 2010
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WhiteRabbitEXE
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It really wasn't. It had a great cast and a good premise, but the show itself really wasn't all that great. Incredibly overrated.
Honestly, Fox fuckery aside, no one should be surprised it flopped. It was never, ever going to have a sustainable audience.
Serenity was pretty good though.
Fury451
Banned
That always drove me nuts and I don't even speak or understand Chinese. I could just tell that it was awful.
Unknown Soldier
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freenudemacusers
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I'm sorry, Firefly fans, but I honestly feel like the reason the show has a lasting cult following is because the show basically became the martyr for premature television show cancellation. If the show would have ran for 2 or 3 seasons and had a mediocre-to-okay run it probably would have ultimately been forgotten about in the big sci-fi television picture.
Like Sliders
It should also be noted that this was before the age of DVRs had caught on and there was no such thing as streaming or Hulu. If you wanted to watch the show, you had to be there at a certain time in front of the TV. And they made it hard to figure out when that exactly would be.
Spooky Scary Skeleton
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- Mar 20, 2016
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This video explains and goes in-depth reasons of why the show was cancelled.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80YXpLdiNhE
In summary, Fox basically left this show to die even before the show even began.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80YXpLdiNhE
In summary, Fox basically left this show to die even before the show even began.
You take that back. That sex planet episode and the 50 different energy beings or entities that showed up every fucking week that took over peoples minds were good stuff....... and the Ferangi.
BronsonLee
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GamingOblivion
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Booker Dewitt
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It happens all the time. You take a show to pilot, and then you take that show to a 10 episode order, and by the time you are getting the episodes in you sort of figure out that it's not going to do what you wanted it to do, and you move on.
This was a looser period of time with pilots and episode orders because networks were still rolling in cash.
Atomic Playboy
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It was Fox's MO at the time. Order a series, cancel it prematurely, watch it develop a massive cult following on DVD and scramble to try and cash in when you shouldn't have canceled it in the first place. They did it with Firefly, they did it with Futurama, they did it with Family Guy... maybe they just don't like shows that start with the letter "F".
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