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Firefly's gone, but are sci-fi westerns on their way back?
Are we on the cusp of a new wave of sci-fi westerns? Years after the premature demise of TV's The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. and Firefly suggested that viewers didn't much like mixing horseplay with spaceships, now comes news that Chuck executive producer Scott Rosenbaum is developing an as-yet-untitled sci-fi oater for the Fox broadcasting network.
The news comes on the heels of reports that Star Trek/Fringe producers/writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are developing a Cowboys & Aliens movie and that frequent Orci/Kurtzman collaborator J.J. Abrams and his Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof are developing a movie based on Stephen King's The Dark Tower.
Here's how The Hollywood Reporter describes Rosenbaum's proposed sci-fi western TV pilot:
The untitled project, from Warner Bros. TV and McG's studio-based Wonderland Sound and Vision, has landed a script commitment with a significant penalty.Described as an epic Western with a sci-fi twist, the show will revolve around "a gunslinger caught between worlds" and will feature a nod to Planet of the Apes, said Rosenbaum, who is executive producing with Wonderland's McG and Peter Johnson.
"What I'm really interested in is the revamping of the Western genre where you still have all of the iconic Western themes and iconic Western tropes but the idea is that it will feel incredibly contemporary and will introduce the Western to a whole new generation," Rosenbaum said.
Isn't that kind of what Joss Whedon was attempting in the short-lived but much-loved (at least by a hard-core coterie of Browncoats) Firefly and its film spinoff, Serenity?
Of course, all involved have great track records: NBC's Chuck is a nearly irresistible mashup of romance, slacker comedy and the spy genre. Wonderland is also behind The CW's creepy sexy Supernatural and Fox's upcoming comic-based Human Target, which we also liked a lot. Stay tuned!
By fireflygal at 1:48 AM ON 09/09/09
sheesh just bring back Firefly instead
By creno at 2:02 AM ON 09/09/09
^ Seconded.
By serafine at 2:16 AM ON 09/09/09
As a rabid Firefly fan, I think I want to cry.
No fair no fair NO FAIR! Some enterprising exec couldn't have figured that this is a fabulous formula years ago and saved our show?!
By Nathan at 2:43 AM ON 09/09/09
Whoh, what?! Who cares about yet another western in space, no more new westerns in space, polish scifi fans screams: we want Firefly, we want Firefly!
By Transmatrix at 2:46 AM ON 09/09/09
Don't forget that they're making Cowboy Bebop into a live action movie...
By J at 3:16 AM ON 09/09/09
sarafine: Couldn't have put it better myself.
By Jonas72 at 3:38 AM ON 09/09/09
How typical. Well, we can only hope that all this new projects kick ass, so maybe, just maybe, we get a ressurection of Firefly.
By bladerunner101 at 3:52 AM ON 09/09/09
sorry im gona be a lil bitter, no im gona be a seriously bitter . i hope they spend tons of cash on it and it blows up in their face. reason i wish it is because its fox. m sure the exec were sitting in thier office shootin the breeze looking for new ideas and dug up firefly and said why cant we bring something like that back? only since they likely had issues with joss they couldnt. firefly was an awesome show ,
By morozco420 at 3:55 AM ON 09/09/09
FIREFLY!!! It's all Fox's fault...but why the hell SyFy didn't pick it when Fox wanted to dump it is beyond me...
BRING FIREFLY BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!
By BlessedBlogger at 4:36 AM ON 09/09/09
Firefly or nothing.
I'm sorry, I'm still peeved. I've been burned to many times now. As soon as I love a show it gets canceled but if the show is a utter tripe it gets renewed again and again. At this point I've canceled cable and refuse to watch any new shows until they're completely over and available as a boxed set on DVD. If the shows lasts at least a couple seasons and has a semi-decent ending I'll buy it and if it gets canceled then I never have to get upset to begin with. No, I'm not doing this again. The folks who make these shows wouldn't know good writing if their lives depended on it and have no problem canceling a show with NO conclusion so we are all left hanging. Forget it.
By REDante at 5:48 AM ON 09/09/09
wow, I wonder how Joss Whedon feels. I mean im sure he feels good that his show was ahead of its time.....then realizes wait a minute, this is the kind of show you wanted FOX, wasnt that what my show was all about, you know that thing that you said that youre looking for, you had it, and how could be it be ahead of its time, it was freaking a few years ago.....well im sure Joss Whedon really has no opinions about this.....
By UnRiel at 6:01 AM ON 09/09/09
I'll join the chorus. Bring back FIREFLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By Dumbfounded at 6:02 AM ON 09/09/09
Firefly was the greatest show in the history of telivision. Hands down. It can never be duplicated (even the Serenity movie failed to capture the fun, grit, and general feel and tone of the show). I find it ironic that Hollywood is trying to recapture what they once tossed aside like a dirty diaper. Then again, most of what Hollywood produces--endless sequels, reboots, reboots of reboots, and remakes--stink to high Heaven. Hey, Hollywood, here's an idea: why not reboot Firefly? I'm, of course, kidding. Please don't...
By Aberzombie at 6:52 AM ON 09/09/09
I agree with the chorus of bring back Firefly.
At the same time, I'm a bit dismayed about that bit of a movie based on The Dark Tower. I doubt they can do the series justice.
By Felipe 058 at 8:09 AM ON 09/09/09
Wuh duh ma huh ta duh fung-kwong duh wai-shung doh. This is absoltuely ridiculous. If they want a gorram Scifi Western, why the hell can't they bring back Firefly? The worst part is these piles of luh-suh are going to do well just because of who's producing them. I don't necessarily have anything against them, but I DO have a problem with them riffing off an idea that lead to one of the greatest and most underappreciated shows of all time.
BROWNCOATS UNITE!!!
By whammer at 8:24 AM ON 09/09/09
I also loved Firefly!
By jdmimic at 8:46 AM ON 09/09/09
I wish they would bring firefly back. My wife, who doesn't like science fiction, liked this show. I also liked Brisco County, Jr. Sadly, there is no chance either show will ever return, may the FOX execs responsible for this be fired and be reduced to cleaning toilets for the rest of their lives.
By Patchist at 8:50 AM ON 09/09/09
I suggest we not be Browncoats this time and become Dust Devils. C4 the FOX building anyone?
By Timbo at 9:23 AM ON 09/09/09
I also like to see Firefly come back. I also liked Brisco County, Jr.
By anachronite at 9:29 AM ON 09/09/09
Hey Hollywood idiots, you already have a working formula. FIREFLY! Bring the damn show back!
By Mechagamera at 9:31 AM ON 09/09/09
Bring back Briscoe County.
By emily margrit at 9:53 AM ON 09/09/09
Goddddd screw these people talking about the concept of a sci-fi western like it's something new and exciting. Firefly was seven years ago! I agree, just bring the Firefly universe back--don't think there's any way to get the whole cast together again but that doesn't mean they couldn't do cameos in a show centered around a different crew.
By lombob at 9:56 AM ON 09/09/09
Seriously Fox??? you have a great working formula with Firefly, great cast, great writing, great vision and even back in 2002 it was awesome. imagine what you can do now with the technology available and you want to create a whoel new different western themed space show?? seriously i bet they realized how much money they could make off of this and didnt want to have to deal with Joss anymore then they have to with Dollhouse. Bring back Firefly and you will definetly see your ratings boost tenfold jsut dont put it on at Friday night.
By ghengisbob at 10:09 AM ON 09/09/09
Basically, Fox execs didn't like Brisco County jr. and Firefly. These were the same idiots who didn't like the Tick. Any show that is smarter than the powers that be at Fox is at risk.
By divephotog at 10:28 AM ON 09/09/09
The trend started with Outland, really, and though not a western as such, it did have the feel of one, what with the showdown and all, the iconic hero with troubles all his own, and a place where he was the best law possible...
If history has any say in it, the 'new horizons' of planetary expansion elsewhere by the Homo Sapien race will have similar problems to the west, the untamed seas, and just as much trouble with lawlessness, and the need for the sidearm close at hand for personnal protection.
Just too bad for Joss and the Firefly crew that the cycle was ahead of them, as I still play the series on DVD every few months for my own marathon (SyFy days when they air pseudo sci!). Now, reassembling that crew might be a bit of a prob, what with the new jobs everyone has, but a bit of a prequel, with younger characters?
These other 'Firefly wannabes' will have to prove themselves, and the bar has already been set pretty high by Joss and his entry to our viewing pleasure. - KH
By Old Bill at 10:41 AM ON 09/09/09
Let’s give some credit to the ORIGINAL (and till the greatest) sci fi western, The Wild Wild West. Without Robert Conrad and Ross Martin there would have been no Brisco County Jr., Firefly, etc. It remains one of the most original, well done series ever.
By PALADIN at 11:12 AM ON 09/09/09
'The Wild Wild West" was the first and the best...and still deserves a decent big screen treatment, after that Sonnenfeld travesty.
At least 'W.W.West' managed a successful long-term run.
'The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr." deserved far better than it got....as did 'Legend".
I would welcome new attempts at such adventure fiction on tv....
But I doubt that the mundane minds in charge will give them the chance to survive long enough to build an audience.
By suprememango at 11:16 AM ON 09/09/09
I'm sorry. I stopped watching FOX after they killed Terminator:The Sarah Connor Chronicles. They just have nothing I'm interested in. A
nd after burning so many fans with Firefly - one of the best Sci Fi shows ever - why should we trust you again, get attached to this new Sci Fi western with the very real possibility of it being unceremoniously yanked from under our feet? Puh-leez.
Fox is casting pearls to swine, and the swine just can't figure out what to do with them.
By Zaphod at 11:56 AM ON 09/09/09
Hollywood is reboot crazy. Just tell Joss he can "reboot" Firefly, give him money, support and just let him do what he does best and I think everyone will be happy and, at least for a while, people will quit wanting to burn down FOX headquarters.
By theBanana at 11:58 AM ON 09/09/09
I WANT MY GORAM TRILOGY!
By Kyle Nin at 12:01 PM ON 09/09/09
FOX didn't kill TSCC, the writers of the series did. It really could have been something great if they actually tried.
FOX just put it out of its misery. And mine.
----
I never really thought of "Firefly" as a sci-fi western. I mean, it took place in the future, first of all. When I think of sci-fi westerns, I think of "Wild Wild West", "Brisco County Jr." and "Legend".
By c from illinios at 12:39 PM ON 09/09/09
Why don't we all just bitch about things we have no control over? (Damn fanboys, never happy with anything.)
By rkf at 1:12 PM ON 09/09/09
Well, I suppose I'll check it out. I mean, you never know; it might be fantastic.
But Firefly was the stuff.
By ETo at 1:21 PM ON 09/09/09
To c from illinois,
Fox has a history of changing their minds, like Family Guy and soon to be Futurama.
By Allison&Jack at 1:31 PM ON 09/09/09
Why would Fox want to resurrect a failed show that also failed as a movie, created by a guy who has yet to provide them with a hit?
Better to role the dice on a new IP, and let Joss try to pull his dull Dollhouse out of the dumpster.
By Riceball at 1:50 PM ON 09/09/09
"FIREFLY!!! It's all Fox's fault...but why the hell SyFy didn't pick it when Fox wanted to dump it is beyond me..."
Simple, because they couldn't. Even though FOX canceled the show it was stills theirs and they'd own the rights to Firefly for another 10 years so Joss couldn't really shop it around and SyFy couldn't pick it up. Why do you think the movie was called "Serenity" and not "Firefly: The Movie"? That's because FOX still owned the rights to the Firefly name so Universal had to call the movie "Serenity". Basically it's FOX's way of keeping from getting egg on their face, they don't want to take the chance that someone would pick up a show they've canceled and have it succeed on another network.
By Joseph H at 2:23 PM ON 09/09/09
If it's SCIFI on FOX then its already canceled. Don't bother.
By Devine at 2:34 PM ON 09/09/09
Just bring back Firefly, lord knows it'd have the viewers. And if Space western is coming back the least they could do is let us have another movie.
By MrKaine at 2:58 PM ON 09/09/09
BROWNCOATS UNITE! Be in an Alliance bar on U-Day!
By Johnny Z at 3:26 PM ON 09/09/09
I too will join the "Bring Firefly Back!" team and state it would be cool to see this story from a settler view. some group of folks leaving a CORE planet and finding a little piece of space all for themselves....sound like that old sci-fy show "earth" huh??
In closing BRING BACK FIREFLY OR ILL PISS ON YOUR CAT fox!
By cassi at 3:45 PM ON 09/09/09
doesn't sound very interesting to me!
Not a firefly fan but why should this new series work when Whedon's fox show was cancelled after the first season?
I don't believe enough people would watch this new sci-fi western.
By tati at 5:36 PM ON 09/09/09
Firefly isn't gone...it will always be with us!
By serafine at 6:09 PM ON 09/09/09
Allison&Jack - You are misinformed. Firefly did not fail. It was sabotaged buy the demonic execs at Fox – the episodes were aired completely out of order, it was frequently pre-empted, moved, not advertised worth a damn… I was a fan of the show and I had to really work to find it to watch it at all – how are you going to catch the casual viewer with that kind of treatment?
In this day and age if something does not catch on after two episodes, it’s yanked. Many of our most enduring shows were not instant hits. The execs want instant gratification and viewers need time.
Any scifi show on Fox is not worth falling for, because it is only a matter of time before they kill it. Their track record is horrible.
By Ray at 6:20 PM ON 09/09/09
firefly was a really good show it wont be topped by anything new to me
By M at 6:31 PM ON 09/09/09
As the general consensus is saying, just bring F'in Firefly back ya worthless dum@$$ Hollywood hacks! Does it take a brain surgeon? How they manage to make money is a true 8th wonder, such total idiots! Garbage like Charmed was kept on how many seasons? It boggles the mind...
By JT at 8:53 PM ON 09/09/09
i aim to misbehave.
By Gill Avila at 9:01 PM ON 09/09/09
Somebody oughta bring back the original space cowboy, Northwest Smith, created by C.L. Moore: (From Wiki)
*** Smith is described as a dark haired man with "space bronzed" skin and pale eyes, who wears brown spacer's leathers and carries a raygun at his side like an old west gunfighter. His ship, the Maid, is small and unspectacular but surprisingly fast and agile.
Smith is a spaceship pilot and smuggler who lives in an undisclosed future time when humanity has colonized the solar system.
The stories are set in a milieu common to science fiction stories of the pulp era. All of the planets of the system are able to support life and have their own civilizations. Many of the intelligent races living on the planets have comparatively primitive cultures. The relationship of the "planetary primitives" to the earth colonists is analogous to the situation of Native Americans, Africans and other indigenous people facing colonialism. Exceptions to this rule are the planets Mars and Venus which Moore depicts as having ancient and decadent cultures (which might stand for China and other ancient Asian cultures, as they seemed to Westerners at the time).***
Sounds like Joss isn't that original after all.
By Jac at 10:22 PM ON 09/09/09
I LOVE the Dark Tower Series
Where can i find more information on the possible adaptation?
What format are they thinking- TV series, Movies?
just the first book or all seven?
By Jac at 10:31 PM ON 09/09/09
Anyone have any suggestions of other Science Fiction/Fantasy/Western books i should check out if i enjoyed the Dark Tower books?
By A Reject So Shy at 10:58 PM ON 09/09/09
Firefly!
If you can bring back Family Guy and Futurama then why not the best damn show ever!?
By Scifi_mary at 12:46 AM ON 09/10/09
I agree! Bring back Firefly!!! Do our voices count for nothing? Look how many of us have said bring it back and we are only the ones who took the time after reading the article. I'm sure there are MANY more who ether didn't bother leaving their thoughts or have never seen the article or even have internet to see the article to leave a message.
By vanny at 7:11 AM ON 09/10/09
Sadly, this is Fox Network again, the ones behind every good cancellation! I blame Fox!
We don't need another sci-fi Western - a little too late.
Bring back Firefly rather!
Idiots!
By joesocwork at 7:45 AM ON 09/10/09
Firefly has ended up being the best show I never saw first run and I wouldn't have noticed it without Serenity. Waaaaaaay too bad! Great themes, great writing, great chemistry! In fact it might be my most favorite show ever! I did see The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. Again, great themes, great writing, great chemistry! Rest in Peace Julius Carry, Lord Bowler was brilliant! Can't say the same about FOX!!! Anybody in the industry out there??
By Nyarlathotep at 8:28 AM ON 09/10/09
Eh, Firefly was NOT sci-fi in the least. It was just a space fantasy with a western theme.
A very good one though. Admitedly.
Loved The Wild wild west and Brisco County Jr too.
But yeah, who cares about FOX anymore ? The best thing people can do is quit watching mainstream shows alltogether. Your only fueling the corporate artless twats out there. Do yourselves a favour ; DIY.
The future for quality produictions is independent teams. Mark my words.
By Ransh at 11:25 AM ON 09/10/09
I don't get it. They can one of the best shows ever made, they intentionally black ball its spinoff movie by forcing it into a limited release, and then they want to start looking at a show in the same vein... Why not just give us back Firefly? I mean come on! There is a huge throng of fans that love that show and as you can see from post here they are all very passionate about it. Gives us back Mal as captain of the Serenity and go with a show you know will work rather than with a wild card...
By lambertamr at 1:29 PM ON 09/10/09
FIREFLY!!! FIREFLY!!!
By PAGE 13 at 8:54 PM ON 09/10/09
Bring back FIREFLY!
By #1SYFYBUFFER at 8:00 AM ON 09/12/09
I'll have to agree with the vote, I LOVED FIREFLY. Only bad thing about that is Nathan Fillion has a new hit show called Castle
By Piper at 10:12 PM ON 09/17/09
Yeah, that's pretty insulting to think Firefly wasn't good enough but another version of it would be!!
I agree ten thousand percent, just bring back Firefly!!!
By Opetke at 3:34 AM ON 10/02/09
BRING BACK FIREFLY!!!
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