a tv show was launched by an acclaimed creator/writer/director and before the season could end the network canned the show.
What happened next was a miracle.
The fans of the show demanded that it return to the air, but when that didn’t happen, somehow they got the studio to release the complete season on DVD. When it was released an ungodly amount of discs were sold and the studio realized that they had made a terrible mistake by letting the show get canceled.
The show was called Firefly. The director/writer/creator was Joss Wheadon, creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel.
The studio was Universal and when they realized they had to bring this show back to life, instead of going the route of the small screen, they did the right thing and greenlit a feature film to be made called Serenity.
But the smart moves didn’t end there.
Because of the groundswell of support by the amazingly loyal fans, Joss and Co. let the kids in on the development of the movie. The big wigs screened the film to thousands of lucky fanatics who went ga-ga for the film despite several special effect scenes being unfinished.
Didn’t matter. The fans went nuts and named themselves Browncoats after some of the heroes in the series and film.
Somehow your pal Tone got into one of the screenings, and I’ve gotta say, its pretty killer.
It’s like Star Wars without the robots, its like Battlestar Gallactica with jokes. It’s action packed and creative and smart and quick and the effects are completely modern.
And the way that they’ve slooooooowly released this thing is really genius. Infact as I linked yesterday, if you have a blog and you live near a city where it’s screening over the next few days, you too might get a chance to see the film for free before it opens if you promise to write about it on your blog.
Groundbreaking!
All you have to do is follow this link, see if your town is on the list, email the proper party and keep an eye on your email box over the next 24 hours.
If you want you can go to the store and rent the series if you havent seen it but I didn’t know shit about Firefly before I saw Serenity and I was still sucked in, and I was no Buffy or Angel fan, as Ashley can sadly attest.
Doesnt matter. Its fine filmmaking, great writing, interesting characters, and best of all, some of the scariest eviliest bad guys you’ll ever run across.
They rape you, kill you, eat you, and then sew your skin onto their clothes.
Hows that?
AND somehow its also funny.