No, not Angel.
Firefly. The greatest sci-fi show to grace television since, well, ever. It's a space-western about smugglers, sporting Joss's trademark humor and insight into his characters. It has cattle, six-shooters, spaceships and holograms. It does not have aliens. Most of the more colorful language is in chinese, due to the blending of cultures resulting from another 500 years of human evolution, and the abandonment of "Earth that was." And due to the network's extreme mismanagment of this critically acclaimed show, it was canned after fourteen episodes, only twelve of which actually aired.
"The story should end there, but it doesn't"*
In it's twelve episode run, Firefly garnered a small, but intensely loyal and outspoken contingent of fans. Dvd sales for the show were far outside of anyone's estimations, and this combined with fan activism and continued critical support, caught the eye of Universal studios. Joss, his crew, and his ecstatic fans got themselves a movie, titled Serenity, after the Firefly class transport ship that is home to her crew and to the fugutive passengers under their protection.
Serenity is worth seeing as a curiosity alone. This movie has made film history in the way it came to be. For the first time ever, a fandom based largely on the internet has made itself heard in such a way as to make a major film corporation sit up and take notice. In an unprecedented way, the fans got this movie made. I've been fortunate enough to attend two pre-screenings of the unfinished Serenity, a daring and ubiquitous move by Universal that accomplishes the dual tasks of mollifying lucky fans (the movie was originally due for release in April, but was held back so as not to compete with Star Wars) and whipping up frenzied word of mouth. And here I am proselytizing, quid pro quo.
At the pre-screenings, which on the third round showed in 35 theaters across the US and Canada, Joss Whedon appears first on the reel, speaking directly to his fans - called Browncoats after the defeated rebels in the tv show:
What else can I say? It's a movie that I pimp shamelessly here, of all places, because so many of you know greatness when you see it, and this one is it. I rank it up there with SW: A New Hope, Lynch's Dune, Bladerunner, the best of the best. The central character is an antihero.....you all have some affinity, and maybe even some appreciation for that.Hi, my name is Joss Whedon. Before we begin the special screening, I have a little story I want to tell you. It's about a TV show called Firefly.
Firefly went on the air a few years ago and was instantly hailed by critics as one of the most canceled shows of the year. It was ignored and abandoned and *the story should end there, but it doesn't, because the people who made the show and the people who saw the show (which is...roughly...the same number of people) fell in love with it a little bit...too much to let it go, too much to lay down arms when the battle looked pretty much lost. In Hollywood, people like that are called 'unrealistic' ... 'quixotic' ... 'obsessive'.
In my world, they're called 'Browncoats'.
Whether you've watched the show, or saw the DVD's, or whether you've never set foot in the Firefly universe before tonight, the fact that you're here means that you are part of something...something that is a little bit remarkable. This movie should not exist. Failed TV shows don't get made into major motion pictures unless the creator, the cast, and the fans believe beyond reason.
It's what I've felt. It's what I've seen...in the DVD sales, the booths at the cons run by fans, the websites, the fundraisers... all the work the fans have done to help make this movie. It is, in an unprecedented sense, your movie...which means, if it sucks, it's your fault. You let us down, but let's not dwell on your failures because the work is not done.
I have to finish making it. Obviously not quite the final cut and you will notice some placeholders in music and effects, but we're very close. Once we are finished, we have to get people to see it. Now, obviously the studio is going to do their thing. There will be ads and trailers and all that joy, but this movie doesn't have stars and it doesn't have a giant mega-budget or even a simple salable premise. What it has is us, the people who believed unreasonably.
If this movie matters to you, let somebody know. Let everybody know. Make yourselves heard. If you don't like the movie, this is a time for quiet, silent contemplation. But, when the unfinished credits roll, if you still call yourself a Browncoat, remember the millions of people who don't...who might.
I want us to do this together. The cast is going to be appearing wherever they can. I'm going to be blogging and stumping and whatever I can think of. We've got Can'tStopTheSignal.com up and running...I'm fairly certain. We're all doing everything we can to make this the event that it should be.
Just remember, they tried to kill us...they did kill us...and here we are. We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty. Thank you for helping to get this movie as far as it has gotten.
Welcome to Serenity.
I'll admit freely that I do have a vested interest in getting everyone I know to drag everyone they know to see this movie, and it is this: if Serenity does well enough in theaters, it's slated for a trilogy. I want that trilogy. The scope of this story has the potential to blow Lucas and his namby pamby Galactic Alliance right out of the sky. I say with no hesitation that if Joss is allowed to complete his story in two more movies, it will be the LOTR of sci-fi movies. The very best. But there's also this - I know you guys - and it would be a terrible shame for you (Fist
) to remain unaware of this movie. It has everything that makes a story great, but most importantly of all, it has characters you'll never forget. Joss's greatest achievements are his characters, and he writes them flawlessly. And just to illustrate, and because I can't burble enough about it, and because this is one of my favoritest scenes, here's a segment from the Firefly episode "Jaynestown" (Book is a "Shepherd", River is a 17 year old bona fide genius, made a little crazy by government bad guys experimenting on her brain, and on the run from same - both are passengers on Serenity):INT. SERENITY - DINING ROOM
River sits at the dining table. Book's Bible is open in front of her, and she scribbles furiously into it, crossing out words, writing in the margins. Book walks in, speaks from across the room.
BOOK
What are we up to, sweetheart?
RIVER
Fixing your Bible.
BOOK
I--uh-- What?
He starts moving over to her.
RIVER
Bible's broken. Contradictions,
faulty logistics--it doesn't make
sense...
Book sees the pile of torn out pages next to his Bible.
BOOK
No, no, you can't...
River's still scribbling away as she chatters manically.
RIVER
So we'll integrate non-progressional
evolution theory with God's creation
of Eden -- eleven inherent metaphoric
parallels already there... eleven,
important number, prime number, one
goes into the house of eleven eleven
times but always comes out one--
BOOK
River, just take it easy. You
shouldn't--
RIVER
Noah's Ark is a problem--
She flips a page back and forth, frowning at it.
BOOK
Really.
RIVER
(rapid nod)
We'll have to call it early quantum
state phenomenon-- Only way to fit
five-thousand species of mammal on
the same boat-
She tears the page out of the book.
BOOK
Gimme that!
Book snatches the Bible up, somewhat possessively.
BOOK (cont'd)
River! You don't fix the Bible!
River looks up at him, sweet, sincere, deadpan:
RIVER
(holds up torn out
pages)
It's broken. It doesn't make sense.
BOOK
It's not about making sense. It's
about believing in something, and
letting that belief be real enough to
change your life. It's about 'faith'.
(gets up)
You don't fix faith, River. It fixes
you.
Okay, shutting up now. Sorry about the long fangirly ramble.
See this movie. Please. Or better yet, buy, borrow, or rent the dvds (only 14 episodes), and then go see this movie. You won't be sorry. 
Serenity premiers on September 30.
Thanks TW! I had totally forgotten that it was set to air again, and people can watch it for free.... 
(that's the Captain and the Shepherd, for you uninitiated 
) After the Q&A was all done they stuck around for autographs. I got a signed Serenity poster and a nifty keychain. And one more thing: The whole time we were in line there was this camera crew going around talking to people, filming them. They filmed the bunch of people we were with several times, and I know they got me. At the time we all thought it was a news crew, but we later learned that it was a Universal camers crew collecting footage for a Serenity dvd feature about the Browncoats.....so I may end up on the dvd! 
) So I told Gabriel about it, and he entered with a comic strip that riffed on the fact that the crazed Browncoats, in the attempt to secure movietickets online, had crashed Fandango's servers like 3 times, coining the term "Crashing Fandango". Well Gabe's thought was that Crashing Fandango sounded like a good name for a flight manuever, and he wrote a comic strip accordingly.....and won himself an honorable mention, which was worth one free ticket, and the opportunity to buy another at face value. So since I had seen it already, the other ticket went to his dad, and I went along for the ride. My plan was to see Batman Returns while they saw Serenity, but darn the luck, someone threw an extra ticket my way, and I went to see Serenity instead. 
) He and Joss both post occasionally on the Serenity movie forum, and Nathan posted this long rant a few days ago, in which he just went off on this guy who worked at a comic book shop. Here's what he had to say in a thread titled "Captain Outraged! Edmonton fall in!"
