As some of you long-time readers of CliqueClack may recall, once in a while we like to call out tribute to one of our Clique-wide beloved shows. We started off in 2009 with West Wing Week, and followed that up last year with the popular Veronica Mars Week. During these weeks, we don’t choke the stream of our regular posts with these tributes. Instead, any of the Clackers who have something cool, poignant, informative, reflective or funny about the show, they’ll take time to interject something within the usual postings of the day.
There were a few shows we were all considering covering for the next week of tributes, and Firefly came out on top. There’s no question that Firefly has one hell of a cult following, and I don’t believe there’s any end to that in sight. With a show that was canceled before airing all of its scheduled 14 episodes — and those episodes being aired out of order and generally treated like dirt by FOX — it’s pretty amazing that it remains one of the most talked about series when it comes to cult followings of departed television shows. A sizable group of fans were willing to help raise money to help Nathan Fillion purchase the rights to the show (though that turned out to be a bit of a misunderstanding); Browncoats conventions continue to pop up all over the country every year; and anytime a promising new show comes to FOX, everyone’s a bit twitchy about how the network might handle its fate, partly because of how it handled Firefly.
Was the “success” of Firefly due to the already-rabid Joss Whedon fans, willing to follow their beloved writer/director anywhere he went? Was it because of the unique setting? Maybe it was the colorful array of characters, both on and off the Firefly class ship, Serenity? Do we care why?
Look for a bunch of Firefly-related content this week, including polls for you to participate in, some posts on favorite moments and characters from the series, and even one or two things over on our movie site, CliqueClack Flicks, to incorporate the awesome Serenity movie into the mix. And, if you’re a reader and have some ideas for your own content for the week and would like to submit a Guest Clack for us, we’d love to see it!
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Jun 12, 2011 @ 12:56 EST5EDT
Looks like it’s going to be a great week! With little new scripted programming on this week it might be a good idea for me to rewatch Firefly yet again.
Good question re the success of Firefly. For me, it had nothing to do with loyalty to Joss Whedon (never could get into any of his other shows… not even Mary Sue the Vampire Slayer). Firefly was just brilliant in the way it melded two genres, sci-fi and western, which already have something in common (space as new frontier). The language was poetic, and Firefly’s portrayal of humanity was honest, not overly pessimistic or overly optimistic.
Good points about Firefly. Until then I had never really enjoyed anything Whedon had done, either.
For me, this series is what turned me INTO a fan of Whedon. Before that, he was just another TV producer I didn’t know.
Firefly is the only thing Joss ever did that started well. Buffy’s first season was horribly hit or miss, but turned into great television. Angel’s first season wasn’t nearly as bad, but still was very rough around the edges … And turned into amazing television.
Hooray Hooray HOORAY! I finally had time to watch the series for the first time, and finished the last episode yesterday. Every episode is still very fresh in my mind. I absolutely loved it, and thought is was brilliant. So well written, and so well acted. I’m looking forward to this week’s posts!
My the gods help us now….