Heartbreak, thy name is Firefly

I never watched Firefly when it was on TV (I wasn't alone) and I knew nothing about it. But, Daniel got season 1 for Christmas, and I was hooked after the pilot. This show is great! While Daniel was in town we watched the first 5 or so episodes, and after he left I had to go buy it for myself.

I'm not really sure why this show never caught on. I know that these days if a show doesn't have and audience within the first 3 or 4 episodes it gets yanked, but what's not to like? Maybe people just had a problem with the premise- the whole "Cowboys in Space" thing. I think that the premise is usually the least important part of a show. It had great characters, decent plots, and most importantly, witty dialouge. I was hooked.

What made it different was that it had nine main characters, several running story lines that develop over an entire season, even a mysterious character that you learn a little more about every episode. Does that sound familiar? Like, every show on TV right now? I think it was ahead of it's time.

But here's the hard part- right from the start, I knew there were only 14 episodes. Ever. With every episode I loved it more, but I knew I was getting closer to the end- like falling in love in a nursing home or having Nick Saban come in to rescue your football team. I guess that's the deal with the movie Serenity. The show was killed off so prematurely that they never got to fully answer all the questions, so to appease all of the saddened fans they made a real movie to wrap it all up.

As a side note, I think this is the closest thing I've ever had to a legitimate crush on a fictional character. The character Kaylee (played by Jewel Staite) is an adorable, smart, funny spacecraft mechanic. I think she has officially replaced Kim Possible as my fictional ideal woman. I actually had this conversation once with my co-worker Dana:

Dana: "What is it that you like about Kim Possible?"
Marc: "I don't know...she's smart, athletic, has a great sense of humor..."
Dana: "..."
Marc: "Let's talk about something else."

In any case, I wish Firefly would come back, but in the end, I think it's better this way. Like with Arrested Developement: I'm glad they got to go out on a high note. If you haven't seen the show, give it a shot.