Come to find out, there was this TV series about these folks on a space ship who flew around outer space going from planet to planet, smuggling, thieving, saving the day for those needing saving and harboring a fugitive crazy chick and her doctor brother. If you recognize it, then you know I'm talking about Firefly and the movie that sort of wrapped up the single season effort, Serenity.
Several of you urged us to give it a shot and our neighbors came through with the full set of disks and the movie so we could see what it was all about. For me not being a sci-fi type of person, the fact that none of the characters had pointy ears or weird goiters protruding from their heads made this a little more acceptable to give a shot.
Most of you are already familiar with this (and pretty much every other show I am late coming to) but on the off chance you aren't, I'll mention that the cool thing to me was the way the characters had sort of an old western movie feel to them. It's this sort of writing style that entertains me. I loved Deadwood for a similar reason. As you watched these people out in the wild West, they all spoke like they had just walked out of Oxford, but with a slight edge. In other words, don't watch Deadwood if you can't handle the F-word or an assortment of wonderfully colorful vulgarities. Firefly was certainly more PG rated, though it did feature a member of the ship's crew who was a "companion". I'm sure former councilperson Diane Cibrian was a fan.
And that leads me to the local connection I was not aware of, and that is the star crazy person in the show, River Tam, was played by San Antonio native Summer Glau. I had no idea.
If you haven't seen it and just need a recommendation, I say go for it. My wife and I skipped a lot of our regular DVR choices to knock out the 14 episodes and movie, and we really did enjoy it.
What's next? Your ideas? Should we just break down and watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer since it was written by the same Joss Whedon who did Firefly? If you have a recommendation, feel free to leave a comment or send me a note.
My suggestion (though it would be quite expensive to secure all the disks) would be to watch all five seasons of Babylon 5 from beginning to end. Unlike the episodic nature of Star Trek, Babylon 5 was conceived by J. Michael Straczynski to tell one very large story from the first season to the last, and each episode is essentially a chapter in that story. Very good stuff. If you have the time and the DVDs, it's worth it.
ReplyDeleteP.S.: Summer Glau is someone San Antonio can be proud of. (Though I hear she is a bit crazy in real life, too. Perhaps, strange from San Antonio?)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed Firefly/Serenity. Without question the next series to watch is the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. Start with the 3 hour mini-series and then go thru the 4 season story arc. Excellent writing and acting. Nothing like the 80's version. Mature story lines so it's not for the kids (I'd say PG-13). Let me know if you'd like to borrow the DVDs (I've got them all).
ReplyDeleteFringe is my favorite sci-fi show seen on Thursdays on Fox and the theme music is amazing. You can watch the full theme song on youtube with all the unusual symbols.
ReplyDeleteLydia Garza
if you'd like to borrow the DVDs I've got them all Frank - you are too kind.
ReplyDeleteFringe is my favorite sci-fi show Lydia - is Fringe the one where they communicate with dead people? I think we watched the first one or two episodes but just couldn't get into it, though several folks I know love it.
No, it's more sci-fi than paranormal.
ReplyDeleteLydia
Long time reader, first time poster.
ReplyDeleteMore than likely not your thing, but Joss Whedon also made a musical called "Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog". It's not very long at all, and I believe you can watch it for free on Hulu. I only mention it because Nathan Fillion plays a pretty amazing super hero named Captain Hammer. Funny stuff.
Someone suggested "Burn Notice." I've tried the first three episodes, and I've liked it very much. It usually takes awhile for me to buy into a new series, especially if I'm not familiar with the actors. I've gotten hooked on this one pretty quick.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to look that one up.
ReplyDelete