Continue Firefly

To:  Fox Television Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company
PO Box 900
Beverly Hills, CA 90213

Dear Sir,

This petition is directed to the management of the Fox television broadcasting company regarding their new show “Firefly” currently shown at 7.00 pm on Fridays (http://www.fox.com/firefly).

Due to apparently low Nielsen ratings for the first three shows broadcast a number of rumours are circulating on the internet and conventional media that the show might be cancelled before the end of the first season.

We, the undersigned, wish to show our eagerness for the show to be given a chance to prove itself. The creative force behind the show, Joss Whedon, has already proved his talent for sophisticated genre shows with “Angel” and the phenomenally successful “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” now in its seventh season. Yet both of these shows took time to settle into their formats before fans were attracted to them in significant numbers.

“Firefly” is a groundbreaking show as it strikingly combines the “Western” (i.e. Stagecoach) and “Space Opera” (i.e. Star Trek) genres in a seamless fashion to deliver a programme that is not only visually striking but also complete with drama, plenty of action and Joss Whedon’s trademark witticisms.

It is worth noting that unlike other science-fiction television shows “Firefly” is very much a character-driven endeavour. The technology in the show is always present, including state-of-the-art CGI work, but it is always secondary to the human interaction happening on screen.

The show is very much an ensemble piece. The eight recurring characters are markedly diverse in their backgrounds and personalities and we believe that they should each be given a chance to be brought into the spotlight. It is understandable that the first few shows will concentrate on the main character, in the case the captain, just as “Buffy” concentrated on its main character at the start of the show. However the strength of that show over the years has been shown to be the ability to focus on the other members of the cast, each with their own time in the spotlight. We hope that “Firefly” will be given a similar chance.

This is especially important as Joss Whedon has revealed that the show will have an on-going “arc plot” which will slowly be revealed during the regular one-off episode plots. If the viewers are given enough time to engage in this continuing narrative we believe that they will become loyal long-term fans of the show.

Lastly, we hope that Fox will either decide to show the currently un-aired pilot “Serenity” or incorporate footage and / or ideas from that show into a future episode. Currently there is a gap in the viewers understanding of how the characters met and why they are flying together on the same ship. We believe that once these connections have been made it will again further people’s interest in the show.

Thank you for taking the time to read this – here’s to many future successful series of “Firefly”!

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Continue Firefly Petition to Fox Television Broadcasting Company was created by and written by David Durant (dave@bowsy.co.uk).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.