Though the way they aired it was beyond irritating I think one of the biggest problems was the way it was advertised. I think the only thing I really heard about it before I sarted watching was that it was a 'space western' and I hate westerns and I usually don't like shows set in space either.

They were aimimg the advertising towards a very narrow audience, when really it appealed to people like me who didn't like either of the types of shows they were comparing it to.

If I hadn't known Joss Whedon was involved I never would have watched Firefly based on the way it was advertised

Yes, candrani, the only reason I watched it was because of Joss. It was very poorly advertised. They didn't know how to categorize it; didn't recognize it's appeal. It was too unique for them; it didn't fit into a neat little box. I can't remember exactly, but I'm sure it was given a poor time slot too. The biggest flaw I think was not airing the pilot. The first episode of any show is the most important. It draws the audience in, explains the world and introduces the characters. I love "the Train Job", but it just didn't do all of that as well as the pilot did. It felt like you were jumping into the middle of a story. If people don't understand what's going on; don't feel a connection to the characters, they're not going to show up for the next episode.

I think unfortunately as great as the show is/was it never would have last on Fox. If it had aired on say SciFi or Space I bet it would have lasted longer. I dont think Fox has a lot of scifi fans, at least not enough to support an entire show. Also...if i remember correctly they stuck in a bad timeslot, up against really popular shows on other networks.

Yeah, they really never gave it a chance. I always wondered why they even let Joss make it, because Fox never seemed to have faith in it at all.

i did't really know about it till last yr so watched it on dvd with the pilot first. I think its necessary to show it just to explain everything even though it was kinda boring.

I'm not from the US so I don't know how it was broadcast/advertised really, I was aware that the pilot didn't air though and to me that didn't make any sense. I first heard about Firefly over the net and bought the DVD, so I watched it all in order.

People are interested, I can tell you that. Firefly, after 8 years of being canceled it still higher rated then some of the biggest shows that are still on the air today. It's fan base is still going strong, I can only guess at how many letters to Joss Whedon that beg him to put it back on the air.

Like all of you, I so wish it could come back. In the form of a movie or a show or, god, I don't know, a fucking podcast. Anything.

A book would be nice. :)
Joss should write a novel lol.

FOX is just a major jerkface

that is the dumbest thing i ever heard. Stupid Goram Foxturds!!

I'm still fuzzy on the whole episode order thing... but they didn't air the pilot? In what universe does THAT make any kind of sense?

I watched it via DVDs years later, so I had no idea that it'd been aired out-of-order. That makes no sense! The entire purpose of a pilot is to introduce the story - to introduce the characters, their relationships and the general concept. Without that it's like starting in the middle.