How and when did you first discover Firefly? by Toadsmoothy

FIREFLY EPISODE DISCUSSIONS

How and when did you first discover Firefly?

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POSTED BY: TOADSMOOTHY
UPDATED: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 04:29
SHORT URL: http://bit.ly/rmKuru
VIEWED: 2689
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Tuesday, December 14, 2010 12:51 PM

TOADSMOOTHY

Well, this is my first attempt at a message board, so I have little confidence.

I only discovered Firefly and Serenity about six months ago! I found it on Netflix, downloaded, watched it and was instantly obsessed! I ordered the DVD-s from Amazon and have since watched at least one episode every day, finishing with Serenity and then start all over again! :biggrin:

I hope to begin collecting the printed canon soon, as tight money will allow. I've downloaded everything possible off the internet. I have never been so absorbed by a t.v. show or movie before. I'm really too old to be a fanboy. haha But, there it is.

I only came on this board because I needed to share my love of this 'Verse with someone! I figured I'd find an understanding ear here.

Toady

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010 1:15 PM

MOOSE

Saw the "girl in a box" ad sometime mid '02. Noticed Joss was involved, and that was that.

Months later, I watched the premiere, fell in love and wondered where was the girl in a box.

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010 3:10 PM

INVADERPET87

I learned about it through TV Tropes. Firefly is used for a lot of examples for tropes, and scene descriptions perked my interest. I've seen a few episodes on YouTube.

I saw Serenity a few years ago, but I remember not finding it that good. That's probably just because I wasn't familiar with Firefly, and a lot of the characters. It's a movie I wouldn't mind checking out again.

Of course the second I saw River, and her crazy personality, I fell in love.

**puts on straightjacket**

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010 4:24 PM

THEHAPPYTRADER

I discovered Firefly a few years ago in college. A friend of mine who know I was a huge star wars fan said "you'll love this, it's like starwars with 9 main characters and every one of them is kinda like Han Solo." While I disagree with his assessment, he was right in that I did love the show. 'Matter of fact, it's the only series I consider better than star wars.

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010 4:56 PM

ANOTHERSKY

Pure longsuffering friendship.

Longsuffering because this friend who sat me down (grumbling and loony) to watch Serenity...does not have the same tastes I do in movies. Putting it mildly.

I liked the classroom, and thought the frame-within-a-frame was clever. Them's a lot of utopia jokes there.

But I wasn't sold on it yet, because a lot of the entry sequence is really weak--it's mainly inside jokes for fans of the show.

I decided to stay when I found out they were going to town to go rob a bank on a mule that flies.

Says a lot for me, don't it?

Thought the movie was ok. The series I saw after it, though, was love at first sight. 9 characters with development and interaction, and their own anti-stereotype stereotypes.

Welcome to the 'verse, Toadsmoothy. Yer mama call you that? :evil:

---

Going for a ride.

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010 5:50 PM

GREENKA61

I discovered it at the end of September when I was supposed to be finishing my last three papers for grad school - all in one week.

The summer before, a fellow teacher had talked me into adding it to my Netflix queue, which I did, and then promptly forgot about. When it arrived I was trying to avoid researching a particularily dull topic for one of the papers, and although I was sure I would hate it, I sure couldn't hate it any more than the paper I was writing. Besides, I would hate it and only watch one episode, right?

Wrong. I watched all of the eps on disc one. Then I rewatched them with the closed caption on so that I was sure not to miss any details of the dialog. Next I watched them all again with the special features on.

When I'd run out of excuses to rewatch disc one, I dragged my guitar out of the closet to try to play the theme song.

By then it was one in the morning and I had wasted a perfectly good day that I should have spent submerged in academia - but who the hell wants to write ten scintillating pages about library catalogs and catalog search features when Mal and company are shooting things?

I knew then that I was completely screwed because the next disc was coming in the morning and it had more new episodes and I still had two papers left to finish before Sunday. (but I managed to finish them, and pass).

So, Toady, in spite of the very few grumbly folk out there who don't much care for us "late to the party" crew, I unabashedly share your enthusiasm. (Just saw a copy of Firefly for sale in Walmart! Woo hoo!)

Sigh. I just tracked down a Serenity ornament to go on my tree next to the cool little Jayne hat that a fellow Browncoat gave me.

Cheers.

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010 6:49 PM

TOADSMOOTHY

Oh God! I SO want one of those Firefly ornaments, just to display and admire, but the sites I looked on all said they were sold out! Damn!

I understand you completely. Firefly over boring work any day! ;)

Why would anyone shun latecomers? Whatever became of "Better late than never?" or "The more the merrier?" :biggrin:

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010 6:56 PM

TOADSMOOTHY

Yeah, FOX really Fox-ed that up didn't they...then they killed the only t.v. show in years that I really love. ...Bastards. :blast: FOX

I'm really not familiar with the rest of Whedon's opus. But, we stopped getting cable years ago because most of t.v. is crap and a waste of time and money.

...of course, then a show like Firefly comes along. :knife:

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010 7:04 PM

TOADSMOOTHY

Quote:
I saw Serenity a few years ago, but I remember not finding it that good. That's probably just because I wasn't familiar with Firefly, and a lot of the characters.

Yeah, you really have to be familiar with the characters to fully appreciate Serenity. But, it is my experience that since I got to know the characters I just want more and more. I don't remember a show where I like all the characters... well, some more than others, but still. X)

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010 7:17 PM

TOADSMOOTHY

Quote:
'Matter of fact, it's the only series I consider better than star wars.

I too love Star Wars. I love Star Trek and SciFi in general. Blade Runner is more my dystopian style though, and the Firefly 'Verse falls close to that vision of our future.

I think Firefly is better than SW and all the rest because of the characters, their development and the sense of family Whedon created. When I mentally step on board Serenity I feel like I've come home, only to a closer family than I've ever known in real life.

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010 7:31 PM

TOADSMOOTHY

Quote:

I decided to stay when I found out they were going to town to go rob a bank on a mule that flies.

Says a lot for me, don't it?

Thought the movie was ok. The series I saw after it, though, was love at first sight. 9 characters with development and interaction, and their own anti-stereotype stereotypes.

Welcome to the 'verse, Toadsmoothy. Yer mama call you that? :evil:

haha Yeah. "Let's be bad guys" ;) Gotta love Jayne. Indeed, the only character I don't love so much is Simon: a rich boy with a huge stick up his pigou.

Thanks for the welcome! :biggrin:

Actually, the handle began years ago while trying *unsuccessfully* to find an e-mail name that wasn't already taken. haha Since then I've just used it as my universal internet handle. *shrugs*

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Wednesday, December 15, 2010 2:06 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

I watched Firefly from the beginning...or at least the second beginning, since FOX rejected Joss' original pilot. I don't recall what promos I saw, since I wasn't watching a lot of TV at that point, but may have read things about it on the interwebs. I always try to sample all SF and Fantasy shows, although I had not seen Buffy or Angel at that point, so the Whedon name on the project didn't impress me.

For some reason, either I forgot to set the timer on my VCR or there was a power outage, but I missed "Bushwhacked," which was the second episode broadcast. Since FOX never repeated any of them I had to wait for the DVD to see that one. I did watch all of the others, and when they finally ran the original pilot I was dumbfounded as to why FOX didn't think it was a good start for the series.

BTW, if there is anyone around here who has been rude or obnoxious to any newcomer, please point them out to us. We'll deal with them harshly. Serenity's a big boat, she can handle all the crew we can get and still keep flyin'. Welcome aboard. Chow's in ten, no need to dress.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Wednesday, December 15, 2010 3:17 AM

TOADSMOOTHY

Thank you for the welcome! I appreciate it. I hesitated a month or so after finding this site before posting. If it had been a bad experience I probably wouldn't have come back. But, so far so good. :smile:

I agree. There is only one pilot: Serenity. The Train Job should not have been burdened with all the exposition. Fox management are a bunch of morons.

But, like a great piece of literature, Firefly/Serenity will be around forever.

I suppose it's multi-colored protein?...again?! :vomit:

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Saturday, June 18, 2011 4:21 AM

ANONYMOUSE

I heard of it some years ago, at a couple of SF conventions I attended, particularly the Blake's 7 one in Coventry, Redemption. But I never saw it until, in February of this year, I saw the DVD set on offer and thought: "Hell, why not? Everyone I've talked to about it said it was good, they can't all be wrong..."

They were wrong. It wasn't good, it was great - I couldn't believe the sheer quality and entertainment value! There isn't anything about Firefly I don't like. Serenity, too. Well, except for Wash and Book's deaths, of course...

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Sunday, June 19, 2011 8:47 AM

TRAVELER

I went to Best Buys to check out their DVD collect and saw Ron Glass on a set and decided to buy it. Ron Glass never lets me down.

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28764731 Traveler

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Sunday, June 19, 2011 11:50 AM

BRAMKAANDORP

I heard about it when listening to a worldbuilding podcast, where the film was being used to illustrate "the party" (something very common in role playing games, so it said), but it never occurred to me to really go out (or even go to the computer, for that matter) to find out what it was, and whether I'd like it.

That was until I heard it (the film and the series) being mentioned in a different podcast (this was some time later, maybe even a year), and since I was having trouble finding an intern-ship, I had a lot of time on my hands, so I reckoned I might as well find out what Firefly was.

Telling anything more would be superfluous, because the mere registration on a Firefly fan site is enough proof that I liked it - a lot.

"Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"

-Douglas Adams

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Sunday, June 19, 2011 12:28 PM

DREAMTROVE

Serendipity

My sister asked for it, so I got her a copy on Amazon. Then Amazon sent a second copy to me by accident. So, I watched it.

It was just after the DVDs came out, whenever that was. Many years ago. I then joined a board on it, but got sick of defending firefly itself, so I switched to this board. That was in 2005.

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Monday, June 20, 2011 12:02 AM

SOYOKAZE

I went with a group of people to the movies, not knowing what they planned on seeing. When we got there, it turned out to be the Dukes of Hazzard movie.

Heeeeeell no.

I refused, but needed to pick something else to do to kill the time while the others wasted their money. It's pretty much the only time I'd gone into a movie completely blind, picking it only because it was a sci-fi flick and, unlike the other movies on the marque, wasn't a guaranteed stinker.

Imagine my surprise when what I accidentally saw was fucking amazing. Imagine my further surprise when I found out it was based on a TV show (I walked in right as Joss was fading out of the screen, missing the explanation).

So, I was a late comer to the party, but the sense of discovery is a big part of what got me so instantly hooked.

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Monday, June 20, 2011 2:18 AM

MEATPUPPET42

I also watched it backwards. Watched serenity, thought it was all right and in the credits it said based on firefly......what was firefly? When I moved to Australia a few years later firefly was on reruns but I watched the 2nd episode train job 1st then every saturday till the end. I was PISSED that it ended What the hell were they thinking? So I went out and bought the DVD's and started from the beginning and proceed to watch them 10 times :)

.

I Love it! It's like wiping your ass with silk.

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Monday, June 20, 2011 4:00 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

It was Oct. of 2007, my dad had already seen the show and movie, but it didn't occur to him to have me watch it. My best friend Mary said I'd like it because of some of the charactors, namely River and Simon. So my dad said "Yeah, its good". So he had me watch the movie first then the show. I was glad he did it in this order because if I'd watched the show and then the movie I would have gone and destroyed something because I would have been so upset/angry/disappointed. So watching the movie first was right for me and he knew it would be. Firefly is my very favorite show.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Saturday, July 30, 2011 1:10 PM

BUFO

I never heard of it until earlier this year but within a month a friend told me I'd love it, I heard two guys talking on the radio about it and someone at work was too. I wondered about a show that was canceled 9 years ago and so I streamed it from Netflix and was totally hooked. I can't stop watching it.

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Saturday, July 30, 2011 8:51 PM

NEGAMILL

I remember it as if it were yesterday although it was 3 years ago, my brother and I were watching the occassional sci-fi movie that was on cable. I remember him saying,"hey its that movie with the spaceship that looks like a duck, remember that?" I distinctly remember replying "A duck?" initially that strayed us away but soon enough, we gave into the allure of the flying duck-like spaceship.

At the end of the movie, I immediately knew that this was something special, that there must have been more than just a "big damn movie". Later on I once again couldn't resist the call of the ship. I researched day and night, well a couple minutes and found out that it originated from a short-lived TV show called Firefly.

That's pretty much how I discoved this piece of art, I was quite surprised that I had NEVER heard of this show before though..

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Sunday, July 31, 2011 10:15 AM

FIREFLYPASSENGER

It is always good to find new passengers aboard Firefly. Welcome home to all, so glad you are here.

I was looking at the TV Guide Fall Preview Issue in 2002. (I still have it BTW)Firefly, Space Cowboys? That sounds dumb. But I saw Nathan Fillion and a few other familiar faces so I read the article. By Joss Whedon and immediately I KNEW it would be great. I am a big Joss Whedon fan and I loved Buffy and Angel so more Joss is good, plus Nathan is in it and a lot of other great looking actors. I remember Jewel from Flash Forward and of course Ron.

I sat in front of the tv and was immediately confused. Middle of the action, that is not Joss' style. Where was the set up? The introduction? Train Job was the first episode I saw and I loved Niska's lamp. Once Mal kicked the guy into the engine I remember clearly, I settled back and said ok Joss I am here for the ride.

It's been rough. We've hit lots of lows and several highs. I have been fortunate enough to meet many beautiful browncoats in person. For those who haven't seen it I recommend the fan documentary Done The Impossible. It will fill in the gaps. There's a great timeline. The documentary is only 79 minutes long but it has lots of additional hours in bonus material that you can view on your computer. The Easter eggs are awesome. Jewel singing an info-mercial about composting is my favorite.

Thank you for joining us, we are glad to have you aboard.

Rosie

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Monday, August 01, 2011 10:06 AM

SCBROWNCOAT

Shiny... Lets be bad guys...

I just found them about two or three months ago on Netflix instant play. I almost passed it over because I'm not much of a sci fi fan. But I trusted the person that suggested it to me when I had run out of things I like to watch on Netflix (don't have cable or satellite or even a digital converter). Boy was I ever glad! It's not *just* sci fi... it's not *just* western... it's so much more! I've started a fanfiction, in-between jobs (I work at home as a literary consultant) and have made a new blog and twitter and FB page revolving around it and other Firefly/Serenity tidbits. I'm a lifer now! :)

~SC Browncoat-in-training~ http://capntightpants.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/#!/CpnTightPants http://www.facebook.com/pages/Capn-Tight-Pants/127999340623247

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Monday, August 01, 2011 12:04 PM

ARTCAT81

Ni Hao! and welcome to the 'verse.

I never tire of hearing how folks found Firefly, it shows the signal is still spreading.

Watching TV back in 2002, I saw "Wat" from A Knights Tale playing with dinosaurs, and knew I had to see this show. I was working retail in those days so I would rush home to catch the second half of the episode (missed most episodes first halves). When I settled in to watch my regularly scheduled show and baseball had replaced it, I hit the interwebs & joined the OB (old prospero board) to find out what was up. Rumors of a change of timeslots, and whispers of cancellation were in the air, and the fight had begun. Been amongst the browncoats ever since.

Seriously as several others have said, if anyone gives you a hard time about being late to the game, you let us know.

I can honestly say this is the best fanbases I have ever been a part of. I hope you get to enjoy it too :)

Browncoats are the shiniest folks in the 'verse www.texasartcat.com/bluesun.html <--my bluesunshop

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Tuesday, August 02, 2011 5:56 PM

SERGEANTX

I actually stopped watching television in the mid nineties. By a sheer fluke, my sons realized that our new cable internet (this was Fall '02) also included a television signal. That night, we watched the premiere of Firefly. I was intrigued, downloaded a leaked version of the actual pilot - and from then on I was hooked. For awhile, I thought I'd made a mistake about giving up on TV, apparently there were good shows out there.

Not so much.

SergeantX

"It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah"

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Tuesday, August 02, 2011 8:08 PM

PRETTYXPISTOL

My brother suggested I watched it after I finished all the seasons of SG1. At first I laughed at him because I do not like cowboy/western type shows or movies...after much convincing I gave it a try and grew to like it.

[It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get]

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Tuesday, August 02, 2011 11:55 PM

LWAVES

I found out about it because it was Joss's next show and as a big Buffy/Angel fan I was always going to give it a go because of that alone. I liked the fact that he was branching into scifi after two supernatural shows but was a little bit 'Hmmmm...' at the idea of mixing it with western themes. I had faith in him though but by the time it aired in the UK on the SciFi channel I had already heard that it had been cancelled and almost didn't watch. I did watch and even though I really liked the first couple of episodes (aired in proper order) I kept telling myself to stop watching because it was cancelled. I didn't stop, it hooked me and so began the rest of my Firefly filled life.

Just reading some of the posts above (and in other threads) I find it amazing and heartening to see so many people come aboard because of 'accidently' seeing Serenity and then discovering Firefly after it. Even to this day we still get new recruits and it's really great.

"The greatest invention ever is not the wheel. It's the second wheel." - Rich Hall

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Wednesday, August 03, 2011 3:35 PM

ISROUSRO

Watched most of the series on TV, then when it was canceled I forgot about it. Then after buying and watching the whole Buffy series on dvd I went looking for more of Joss's shows and bought Firefly.

Then ended up here a short time later.

passoniatetly indifferent

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Wednesday, August 03, 2011 7:57 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

SC Browncoat, welcome. If you post your fanfic on fanfiction.net I'll probably see it and I'll review if I fancy it (I read and review each Wed. and cover the week's stories that are in the main Firefly section, skipping those that I don't like the content of.) So I might see you there. Byte keeps trying to get me to read and review here as well but I just don't have time. If she can find a way to add more hours to my day then we'll talk. :)

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Tuesday, August 16, 2011 1:38 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Same friend that told me about Buffy told me about FIrefly when it was going to be on Sci-fi. I actually didn't listen to him on this one purely because back then I was incredibly busy and all my spare time I had was used up watching Buffy and Angel. I felt I just didn't have the time to watch another show. So I waited.

Then I heard from my friend it had been cancelled. So I figured I'd made the right choice not to get into it. However one day I saw it on DVD and on a whim just thought I'd buy it.

I think I watched it all the way through, stopping very briefly to cook myself some food and walk the dogs.

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Tuesday, August 16, 2011 9:08 PM

MANBAT

Honestly, I saw Serenity first. I was blown away. That just proves the movie is stand alone greatness. Then, I heard about the show and checked it out. I WAS HOOKED. By the end, I was severely disappointed I didn't watch the show first. The deaths would have been far more devastating had I seen it properly.

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Tuesday, September 13, 2011 4:29 AM

GWEK

I've been with the show from the beginning.

I knew that Joss was doing a new space series, but from the early stuff I read, it seemed a little lame and also seemed like something that would be cancelled. And, I mean, c'mon, who thought the guy could do stuff besides vampires? :)

I remember being at my parents' house watching THE O.C. a few weeks before FIREFLY started (oddly enough, my parents, in their early 50s at the time, were huge fans of THE O.C.) when I saw the first commercials and thought it looked cool enough to give it a try.

I was largely unimpressed through most of THE TRAIN JOB -- it wasn't bad, but I still wasn't sure -- until the end, when Mal kicks the dude into the engine. That's when I was pretty sure it was something special.

Even the following week, I almost didn't stick with the series. At that last minute, I wound up with plans to go out and see a movie (SWEET HOME, ALABAMA, I think), but as I was leaving, I hit record.

By JAYNESTOWN, I was sold -- And I almost missed it, because it aired at 3 or 4 pm on a Saturday afternoon, and I knew only because I friend mentioned it in passing in a conversation earlier in the day. Way to go, FOX!

Fortunately, I had recorded all the episodes (I still have the VHS tapes somewhere), so I was able to watch it again and again, AND rope in a few of my friends, even before the DVDs.

www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."

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