30 Days of TV - Day 1

In an effort to start posting a little more frequently, I thought I'd try a meme (from birggitt).

( The Days )

Day 01 - A show that should have never been canceled

There are so many! But the absolute top of my list has to be Firefly. Fabulous cast, brilliant concept, great characters and plots...wtf happened? Oh, yeah. Fox happened.

The original Star Trek was described as "wagon train to the stars" so perhaps it's not true to say that the traditional Western in space hasn't been done before. Hell, there are nods to the Western in most popular sci-fi, but rarely has it been done as literally as Firefly with its cowboy-like costumes, space-whores, horses and cattle, outlaws and sheriffs, pioneers and wagons and pretty pink bonnets. Even the music follows the Western theme, but at the same time it's firmly set in a fully-realised future sci-fi world. There wasn't a single major character I disliked - though I could have done without one or two of the recurring characters - and the mystery of River provides an ongoing story arc that keeps me watching.

It's been a while since I've re-watched the series, but it's striking how strong that first-and-only half a season is. Most shows with this format (stand-alone episodes with maybe some kind of continuing arc), the first four to eight episodes are really ropey. Firefly was engaging from episode one...or would have been if Fox had actually screened episode one first. Only one episode of the thirteen is truly weak, and even that one might not have been if they'd been allowed to make the full season that would have put it into context.

Fox, what were you thinking?

Help keep me sane...

Sign ups for spn_summergen just closed which means now I get the fun of doing the match-ups. Unlike Yuletide, I don't have a clever script to do it for me. Actually, it's not that bad a job, but last year no matter what I did I had three left over I couldn't match properly. It's fun, or I wouldn't do it, but it's also frustrating.

My brain is stuck on epically-long fics but can't settle on one to write. So I want to try writing a few short fics, maybe try my hand at something I haven't written before.

So here's the deal: give me a (TV or film) fandom, a character and a 1-3 word prompt. If I'm familiar with the fandom, or can get familiar fast, I'll give it a try.

(Just please no crime procedurals - they bore the pants off me. Shows with some kind of SF or supernatural element work best for me, but I will try others. There's a lot I watch but don't blog about so if you're not sure, try me.)