('cause this blog was just getting a little too serious. :)
OK, ya'll know I'm a geek, right? That's been pretty clear since I was a little kid. And I love science fiction (and fantasy, and everything in between). I am unabashedly (well, that's not true. I'm actually mildly embarrassed by it) a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan. Go ahead, laugh. See if I care! :) When it comes right down to it, Buffy is fun. It's humor, action, and not a small amount of drama. Most Buffy fans would agree that Joss Whedon (the creator of Buffy and Angel) is a genius. (I can't think of another TV show/'verse that has a whole academic following, even to the point of having a professional journal of buffy studies. Ummm...some of you are probably scared by that idea.) There's something about Buffy that strikes a chord with a whole range of people (pre-teens through us 30- and 40-somethings).
I could wax enthusiastic about Buffy for awhile, but I finally got Joss' most recent series from the library (don't you love that most libraries carry most the DVDs you want to see? Screw paying Blockbuster or Netflix for 'em!). I'd heard the rumors about Firefly for the past couple of years. It was on Fox for less than one season before it was cut, but gained a large fan-base quite quickly. Thankfully Joss followed up the now-defunct series with a movie (Serentiy, which came out in 2005). I haven't seen the movie yet (I'm 55th on a the list for the DVD from the library), but I just finished watching the series last night. Amazing. If you're a scifi fan at all, check it out. It will definitely be worth it.
So what's Firefly/Serenity about? (I won't go into why it's so amazingly good, 'cause that would involve a lot of rambling on my part.)
Here's a summary from one of many Firefly fan sites.
"The show is set in the year 2517 A.D., following the depletion of Earth's resources and an expansion of the human race into the frontier of outer space. The show takes its name from the "Firefly-class" starship operated by the central characters; the ship's class name is itself a reference to the appearance of the ship, whose tail section blinks during acceleration. Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds is the veteran of a war of resistance against "The Alliance"—an organization that attempted to achieve the unification of all mankind under a single imperial government. A central "core" of planetary systems have fallen under Alliance control, while settlers and refugees in the farther reaches of space enjoy relative freedom from the long arm of the government but lack many of the amenities of a high-tech civilization. Mal now owns a small Firefly-class starship called Serenity, making cargo runs and performing various other tasks—legal or otherwise—to scrape together a living for himself and his crew.
Featuring a blend of elements from science fiction and western genres, the show depicts mankind's future in a way that is uncharacteristic of many contemporary science fiction programs. The dialogue and interplay between characters is central to the plot of the program, resulting in a story that is alternately serious and humorous."
(Find the link to a major Firefly fan website
here)
And the other reason to watch Firefly: Mal is gorram hot.
