Shark Bytes

well written, well acted, it jumped the shark by being "too good for TV"

A bad time slot does not cause a show to jump the shark. Certainly, its slot contributed to people not watching it, but success is not the same as quality. A "Jump the Shark" moment is when the show starts stinking, not when it is canceled. In fact, Happy Days, the show that gave us the phrase, went on for many years after the Fonz got on those water skis.

FOX has this incredible knack for picking up great series and then either ruining them or canceling them. Love it or hate it, this was one of the most non-cliched, captivating sci-fi series to appear on network TV in a long time, and it was gone too soon. Firefly, we hardly knew ye...

Firefly was one of the best investments FOX ever made into the area of watchable TV. It was also their biggest mistake to get rid of it. Firefly might have been their last chance to say that they don't simply cater to lowest common denominator audiences. Now, I'm not saying that everything on FOX is crap, but American Idol was bad after two seasons, it jost got boring. and yet, its still their highest rated show.

Stupid FOX, is all i have to say!!!

The "too many characters" is rather funny to me. Joss has said that he wanted five main characters in total, but ended up expanding for things to make sense. And if you watch the show, and understand the universe, the characters all make sense.

I will admit, Serenity has a very different feel than the TV Show. The main difference being the feel of the ship. The vibrant and different moods of different rooms in the ship are all but forgotten. It saddens me, but I don't think the movie was a jump the shark moment.

Firefly is and remains to be one of the best shows ever produced, in my opinion. We all know that it suffered at the hands of its network (FOX), as have many other shows. I think the reason I enjoyed it the most is the concept of going out to the "Border Planets" and starting a new life - a concept completely foreign to modern day life. Firefly resembled sort of an interstellar "Oregon Trail", though nobody died of dysentary, that I know of. Kudos to FOX for finally giving the show its due, in planning a Blu-Ray box set of the shows entirety. Now, I just need a Blu-Ray player. :P

In response to the Outlaw Star comment. Everyone knows that Outlaw Star was a second rate Cowboy Bebop and Firefly is really the live action Cowboy Bebop. Not too mention one of the greatest television series ever. Unfortunately I didn't become an advocate of Firefly until after the show was on DVD. It is sorely missed.

DId it jump on TV? No. How could it, with so few episodes? However, I think the movie is such a significant shift from the series, that it could be said Serenity was a Jump the Shark moment. Not that it matters, given that it's over, but if they were to make more based upon the events of the movie, I think those new episodes would be less engaging.

My only comment is its FICTION. i was bored and read alot of posts. some people were hitting on the idiotic appeal and the human culture wouldnt go to that... well there are still people that live like that now days, they are called Omish. probably spelled wrong.

This is posible one of the best Sci-fi tv show's/movie (Serinity) to ever air. Everyone is right FOX jumped the shark. but also in making the movie Joss killed all posibility to make Firefly live again. even in the TV show , the reavers were never fully brought into light as they were in the movie

All i have to say left is RIP Firefly, and FOX you should die

re the "outlaw star" comment. Does the writer really think that they are clever by writing this? What a doofus.

I remember growing up watching Firefly as a kid. Every season seemed to get better and better, as the characters were developed more and more. After about the eighth season, I began to wonder if it was going to eventually jump, but Joss kept it true to itself and never let it go off into deep space.

Oops, there I go daydreaming again...

The entire series can be obtained on DVD for a very small investment -- now under $20 at many stores. The DVD set gives you an opportunity to watch the eps in the order in which Joss originally intended them to air, including the pilot. Things make much more sense when shown in the order they were meant to be in...

Never, ever, ever, jumped the shark. The best show NOT on television.

Firefly is just, well, shiny.