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A Month of TV Commentary: A meme in 30 parts, Day 1

From aiela, via madlori, the 30-Day TV Meme.

Day 01 – A show that should have never been cancelled

Firefly.

Absolutely, without question, one of the greatest travesties in the history of television. This is the only television show I’ve ever participated in a Save Our Show campaign for. It’s the only time I’ve ever been truly heartbroken over the fact that what we’ve seen is all we’re ever going to get. And the Big Damn Movie does not even begin to make up for it.

I don’t know if there’s any way to actually quantify this, but I wonder if Firefly holds the record for the most fan art produced relative to the actual amount of canon material released of any TV show in history? There’ve been shorter lived shows, and there have been shows that have surely generated more material, but I’m hard pressed to think of any program which has gotten this much attention for this short of a run.

Day 02 – A show that you wish more people were watching
Day 03 – Your favorite new show (aired this t.v season)
Day 04 – Your favorite show ever
Day 05 – A show you hate
Day 06 – Favorite episode of your favorite t.v show
Day 07 – Least favorite episode of your favorite t.v show
Day 08 – A show everyone should watch
Day 09 – Best scene ever
Day 10 – A show you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 11 – A show that disappointed you
Day 12 – An episode you’ve watched more than 5 times
Day 13 – Favorite childhood show
Day 14 – Favorite male character
Day 15 – Favorite female character
Day 16 – Your guilty pleasure show
Day 17 – Favorite mini series
Day 18 – Favorite title sequence
Day 19 – Best t.v show cast
Day 20 – Favorite kiss
Day 21 – Favorite ship
Day 22 – Favorite series finale
Day 23 – Most annoying character
Day 24 – Best quote
Day 25 – A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 – OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 – Best pilot episode
Day 28 – First t.v show obsession
Day 29 – Current t.v show obsession
Day 30 – Saddest character death

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A Month of TV Commentary: A meme in 30 parts, Day 2

11 Comments

  1. Agreed. It has to be close to the top on fanstuff/episodes.

    Of course, part of what makes Firefly so popular is that you can become a full-fledged fan in a weekend. It’s not like Buffy/Angle where you have watch a couple of hundred eps or be a wannabe.

  2. Am I understanding your approach correctly in thinking that you’re inviting other submissions in the same category each day? If so, and acknowledging that Firefly is likely the all time champ in this category . . .

    The loss of Better Off Ted was my biggest TV disappointment this year. It’s the smartest, wittiest sitcom to come along in way too long. None of the characters were dumb, even though they sometimes did neurotic, poorly-judged things, and the show almost never stooped to humiliation humor. I bought the first season on DVD as soon as it became available, and will do the same with season 2.

    My other choice is The Middleman. A great, great show that deserved a far longer life.

    • Absolutely, I’d love people to submit their own ideas. I’m one of those people who actually gets a bit maudlin when I write something in a blog and no one replies to it. 🙂

      I’ve heard you talk about Better Off Ted before, and many people talk about The Middleman, neither of which I caught when they were on.

      Given that both of your most recent enthusiastic recommendations to me (Big Bang Theory and So You Think You Can Dance) were big hits in my house, I may have to give them a try. Only problem is them getting to the top of our enormous to-watch pile of DVDs!

  3. Old fart that I am, I have to go back to My World and Welcome To It, the long-ago NBC sitcom based loosely on the drawings of James Thurber. It was a wonderfully sweet and daffy little show that only lasted a single season.

    • I know you’re unlikely to watch Keith Olbermann’s Countdown program, but you might want to drop by their website on Friday’s and check out the last clip. He’s taken to ending each week with readings from Thurber. Quite enjoyable.

      Is My World and Welcome to It available on DVD? I’ve only ever seen clips of it.

  4. I’ve been chewing on committing to this meme. Maybe for the month of June…

    finally got me to watch the first episode of Firefly; I liked it and can see why people liked it straight out of the gate.

    • Even more amazing when you realize that the first episode aired wasn’t the 2 hour pilot that leads off the DVD set. I suppose it’s possible FOX could have mishandled Firefly more spectacularly than they actually did, but I think they’d have had to been actively trying to scuttle it to do so.

  5. definitely firefly for #1. the only other show i watched that was cancelled after as tragically short a time was ‘stark raving mad’.

  6. IIRC Firefly was canceled before it appeared -- classic Network NIH stunt. After all, just because they gave the creator the right to do his own show after doing something really good for the network does not mean they should let it SUCCEED after all… 🙁

    • No, actually, Firefly was on the air for about 3 months. It premièred in the fall, got pre-empted several times by the baseball playoffs, was not heavily advertised, and then got the axe in around December. (This is from memory, I’d have to look it up.)

      The saddest part is that the ratings it got on Fox were anaemic, but would have been fine on WB or the Sci-Fi Channel. But no one picked it up after Fox dumped it. C’est la vie.

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