Browncoats – Nerds on Earth https://nerdsonearth.com The best place on earth for nerds. Sat, 09 Jan 2021 20:26:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://nerdsonearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/cropped-nerds_head_thumb2-100x100.png Browncoats – Nerds on Earth https://nerdsonearth.com 32 32 All the podcasts from NerdsonEarth.com, under one umbrella. We create short run podcasts for nerds, covering D&D, Marvel, Starfinder, and more! You vote for your favorite shows and they just might get a second season. Browncoats – Nerds on Earth false episodic Browncoats – Nerds on Earth jason.sansbury@nerdsonearth.com podcast All the podcasts from NerdsonEarth.com, the best place on Earth for nerds. Browncoats – Nerds on Earth https://nerdsonearth.com/wp-content/uploads/powerpress/noe-podcast-logo.png https://nerdsonearth.com/blog/ Firefly: We can’t stop the signal. But we shouldn’t go back… https://nerdsonearth.com/2017/03/firefly-cant-stop-signal-shouldnt-go-back/ Thu, 02 Mar 2017 12:46:35 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=12311

There is news of a Firefly revival. We can't stop the signal. But we shouldn't go back...

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Take my love, take my land. Take me where I cannot stand. I don’t care; I’m still free. You can’t take the sky from me.” – The Ballad of Serenity

Say what you will about Browncoats, the name fans embraced for themselves off the very short run television series Firefly. The Fox network canceled the much beloved show after less than 4 months in 2002, airing some 14 episodes. And, for most shows, that would be the end of it. But as all Browncoats know, you can’t stop the signal.

So the fans rallied and, amazingly, there was a deal struck so that the story of season 1 of Firefly could be completed in the film Serenity, released to theaters in the fall of 2005. And it was glorious. And closure.

News of a Firefly Revival

Fast forward some dozen years and Fox executive David Madden recently made some noise about there being a reboot of Firefly, on the condition that Joss Whedon would return.

And I don’t want it. Don’t get me wrong. I love the show and movie. If I could quote just one pop culture phenomenon it would be Firefly. Want to see me cry? Get me to talk about Wash. Want to see me become heroic? Tell me it’s my turn. But we can’t go back…

For starters, you’d have to assume that Joss Whedon would ever trust Fox again. Now, maybe he would because he seems like a kind, gracious man. But this is the same network that grounded the ship the first time, after airing episodes out of order and around playoff baseball, on Friday nights, never really giving it a chance to survive. Then, they misplayed his next show as well, the less beloved but still excellent Dollhouse. If I am Joss Whedon, making a partnership with Fox isn’t at the top of my list.


Second, Joss Whedon isn’t Joss Whedon anymore. He is Joss Whedon, director of 2 movies who yielded $1 billion in box office. Why would he go back to television?

I mean, he loves the Browncoats and the Browncoats love him, but maybe this isn’t what he wants to do now. He has stated that he made the most money of his professional career on his independently created Dr. Horrible and has teased that they have an idea for the second season of that.

His break between the Avengers movies was a modernized black and white movie that used Shakespeare’s text; if you haven’t seen Much Ado About Nothing, you should totally check it out. The only thing he has talked about being on-tap is a horror movie set in World War II.

Third, the actors and actresses have moved on, most to really successful careers. Alan Tudyk is in the currently running Powerless DC show on NBC. Gina Torres has dazzled on Suits and will, I am sure, be snatched up when that show ends. Nathan Fillion made quite the rebound with the long running Castle television show. Morena Baccarin has had a great run on the show Homeland and starring in movies like Deadpool. While they all too love the show and its fans, I just don’t think we can go back. 

Now, we can go forward. They have expanded the universe through some great comics, telling stories both backwards and forwards from the end of the film. The potential there is great! Stories can still be told, and, yes, it won’t reach the size audience of television. But it doesn’t make it any less great; comics have a special effects budget you would not believe.

I am sorry Browncoats. I really am. But we can’t go back. So, fire up your DVD player and watch some War Stories. Settle in and get weepy at Out of Gas. And love it all. But know that we can’t ever go back. Only forward. Can’t stop the signal.

Besides, DC is going to need to call him soon to save them from themselves.

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What Happens When a Browncoat Just Can’t Let Firefly Go? https://nerdsonearth.com/2015/11/let-firefly-go/ Sun, 01 Nov 2015 13:06:53 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=3891

One of the absolute best shows ever to the grace television screens was Firefly. Duh. But having watched the Firefly series in its entirety, then watching the movie Serenity right after should have given me all the closure that the world, right?  WRONG!  We live in a world with more than 800 episodes of Dr. Who, but we only got 14 […]

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One of the absolute best shows ever to the grace television screens was Firefly. Duh.

But having watched the Firefly series in its entirety, then watching the movie Serenity right after should have given me all the closure that the world, right?  WRONG!  We live in a world with more than 800 episodes of Dr. Who, but we only got 14 episodes and a movie of Firefly?!? That won’t do.

[divider]I Can’t Let Firefly Go: The Stuff[/divider]

Thankfully though, Firefly lives on. It lives on not just in the fairly decent fan fiction that you can read here or here (They’re trying their best, people!), in comics, in board games and in RPGs. Firefly also lives on in our hearts.

If you have seen this show you know exactly what I am talking about; if you haven’t, what’s wrong with you?! In fact, I have read through all of the Nerds on Earth posts about Firefly.

maxresdefaultI especially liked the Nerd showdown between Malcom Reynolds and Peter Quill. That article just nailed how Mal is the man. Don’t get me wrong, I love Star-Lord. I mean L-O-V-E love him. I have pieced together my Star-Lord outfit for Halloween and the occasional cosplay, but truth be told, I’d ditch it all and go as Mal any day of the week.

It goes without saying that Firefly was too short lived. But I am going to say it anyway, “Firefly was too short lived.” The show was incredible and way ahead of its time. Just look at the shows and movies that are having success right now. In the Walking Dead, Rick Grimes is Malcolm Reynolds, as the aforementioned article said:

“Mal [like Rick] is more like a benevolent dictator: His crew can speak up, but he always has the final say. It is his boat [prison], after all. Occasionally, he has to lead from a place of authority, when his crew strongly disagrees with his decisions [taking the prison, banishing Carol, etc.]. But more often Mal Rick leads from a place of permission. His crew willingly follows him on a mission that would almost certainly end in their collective deaths to Miranda and later to Mr. Universe’s base of operations [everyone in Alexandria].”

But that’s not the only example. Besides Guardians of the Galaxy, there is Interstellar or the reboots of the Star Trek series. Our present revitalized infatuation with both strong characterization and space exploration would have been served well, oh I don’t know, WHEN FIREFLY THE BEST SPACE EXPLORATION SHOW EVER WAS ON TELEVISON!!!!

But this is turning into a rant, and it’s true, us Browncoats just can’t let go.  So while I don’t dabble in fan fiction, Firefly certainly lives on in my imagination and I want to do my small part in keeping it alive. Which got me thinking…

Gosh, I wish there were Firefly Legos.”

[divider]I Can’t Let Firefly Go: My Firefly Legos[/divider]

pic 6Here is one of my favorite Lego creations. It isn’t exactly an original as I used the instructions for my Milano to serve as a framework. but I did customize it a bit and I named it the Scav 2,  building out of parts from bulk random Legos I purchased on Ebay.

The Scavenger 2—Scav 2 for short—is everything I miss about Firefly, but in Lego form and with some personal panache. It is built for deep space travel, holding cargo (concealed if need be), and most importantly, it can make a quick getaway. The ship captain, alien Kil Feget, is also much like Mal and Star-lord:

  • Pic 8Quick with quips,
  • a quick-draw,
  • a scavenger and opportunist,
  • an outlaw,
  • captain of his own ship,
  • the glue that holds their respective motley crews together,
  • and both are willing to undertake jobs of both good and questionable moral standing,
  • while sporting a fancy coat.

Pic 3Kil has a few mates from his war days, they explore deep space together, and spoiler alert y’all, they eventually both die. The crew also frequents a junk yard owned by two of the gruffest brothers that the deep space harbors, Lake and Jude Nelson. These guys can fix anything, you just have to put up with their less than sunny dispositions.

Shoot, perhaps I do dabble in fan fiction. Anyway, while we all miss Firefly, I also think maybe we are blessed in another way: We never saw this great show suck.

Even the best shows of all time had some sort of let down during their runs. But not Firefly. For 14 glorious and perfect TV episodes and one solid feature film, it did not suck. For that, us Browncoats can be forever grateful. And we can do our part to add to the mythos.

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