# I want to watch Firefly but...



## airpolgas (Aug 13, 2002)

... while listening to one episode of a TWiT podcast, I learned that the DVD boxed set is not in chronological order. Something to do about the Fox suits not liking the Pilot, so they ordered it changed.

I tried to read about the show on Wikipedia but they have a spoiler warning so I stayed away from that site - for now.

I wish to do a marathon of the series and hopefully still catch Serenity at the theaters.

Any idea on how to get the chronological order of the series?

Thanks.


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## Mike Johnson (Jan 16, 2005)

The episodes in DVD set are not in the order that the episodes were aired - but that is a good thing. The episodes are in the order the producers intended, which is important to the storyline. FOX decided to air the episodes out of order, which may have contributed to the early cancellation of the series since they didn't make sense in that order. If you haven't been watching them on SciFi (they've been airing them in the correct order) then get the DVD set.

Most definitely see Serenity in the theater but try to watch at least part of the series first.

Here is info from the Wikipedia article (leaving out the spoiler):
_The intended episode order is:
"Serenity" (pilot)
"The Train Job"
"Bushwhacked"
"Shindig"
"Safe"
"Our Mrs. Reynolds"
"Jaynestown"
"Out of Gas"
"Ariel"
"War Stories"
"Trash"
"The Message"
"Heart of Gold"
"Objects in Space"
Though the show had a loyal following during its original broadcast, it was cancelled by FOX in December 2002. Low ratings were blamed for the cancellation after only 11 episodes aired in the USA and Canada. Fans attributed the low ratings in part to actions of the FOX Network. Firefly was promoted as an action-comedy rather than the more serious character study it was intended to be. Episodes were occasionally preempted for sporting events, and episodes were not aired in storyline-chronological order as the creators had intended. Most notably, the two-hour episode "Serenity" was intended to be the pilot episode and therefore contained most of the character introductions and back-story. However, FOX decided that "Serenity" was not a suitable pilot, and so the second episode, "The Train Job", was rushed into production to become the pilot episode.
The sequence of episodes aired varied by locality:
In the USA and Canada, starting on September 20, 2002, Fox broadcast the episodes on Fridays at 20:00 (except for the second hour of the pilot which was shown at 21:00). The order was 2-3, 6-8, 4-5, 9-10, 14, 1; with 11-13 unaired in the USA.
In South Africa, starting on 2003-04-15, the SABC3 broadcast the episodes on Tuesdays at 19:30. The order was 2-3, 6-8, 4-5, 9-10, 14, 1a-1b, 11-13.
In Mexico and South America, starting on 2003-04-19, MundoFOX broadcast the episodes on Saturdays at 18:00. The order was 2-3, 6-8, 4-5, 9-10, 13, 11, 14, 12; the pilot episode was not shown.
In the United Kingdom, starting on May 12, 2003, Sci Fi Channel (United Kingdom) broadcast the episodes on Mondays at 21:00 (except for the first hour of the pilot which was shown at 20:00). The altered episodes of the first season were shown in the originally intended order.
In Australia, starting on November 10, 2004, the Seven Network broadcast the episodes on Wednesdays at 12:30am. The order was 2, 1a-1b, 3-14.
In Switzerland, TSR1 (Swiss French channel) showed the whole series in three weeks starting on July 25, 2005, one episode per weekday; dubbed in French on one sound channel, and the original English on the other.
In the United States, starting on July 22, 2005, Sci-Fi Channel has been airing the show on Fridays at 19:00 Eastern/Pacific. The episodes are being aired in their originally intended order.

DVD box set
A box set with the 14 completed episodes, including those unaired in the USA, was released on region 1 DVD on December 9, 2003, region 2 DVD on April 19, 2004, and region 4 DVD on August 2, 2004. The box features the episodes in the original order in which the show's producers had intended them to be broadcast, as well as several episode commentaries, outtakes and other features. The DVDs feature the episodes as they were shot in 16:9 widescreen, with anamorphic transfers and Dolby Surround audio. Its fiercely loyal following made the DVD release a huge commercial success. By September of 2005, of its DVD release it sold approximately 500,000[2] copies, and it has been one of the top movers on both Amazon.com and DeepDiscountDVD.com for months._


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## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

The DVD set IS the correct order, but it is different than the original broadcast order that FOX completely screwed up. To give you an idea of what FOX did, they showed the pilot LAST as a series finale after they cancelled it....you want to watch them in the order they are on the DVDs...

Mike must have been posting as I was typing....


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## airpolgas (Aug 13, 2002)

Cool. That makes things easier.

Fox, wow. Do you think the series will make a "Family Guy" comeback?

Thanks for the replies. I wish to catch Serenity at a 5.1 movie setting, so I have to act quick.


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## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

Unfortunately, since the movie only made $10 million on its opening weekend, it should at best top out at about $30 million in its theatrical run. Industry estimates stated that about $80 million would have been needed to guarantee a sequel.

At this point huge DVD sales are the only thing that might help the story continue but things look bleaker than they did a month ago when advance buzz was that the movie was well received.

I think it is the best drama in the sci fi genre since the new Battlestar Galactica series (and the best movie I've seen this year after the Batman Begins movie which also surpassed my expectations). About the only thing that would save it now would be a rescue by the SciFi channel which is having decent ratings for the reruns BEFORE prime time.


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## airpolgas (Aug 13, 2002)

Thanks again posters. I am officially done with all episodes as of this writing. Got the DVD Friday afternoon, and now I'm set for the movie.

Favorite line: "I'll be in my bunk."


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## Cyclone (Jul 1, 2002)

Hey, Free soup!


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## invaliduser88 (Apr 23, 2002)

Now somethin' about that is just downright unsettlin'.


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## Danny R (Jul 5, 2002)

Yup, Firefly has some of the best lines:

"Do you know what the chain of command is here? It's the chain I go get and beat you with to show you who's in command."

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

"If you take sexual advantage of her, you're going to burn in a very special level of hell. A level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk at the theater."

"Ship like this, be with ya 'til the day you die." 
"Cause it's a deathtrap."

http://www.thehallway.net/firefly.htm


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