as good as bsg is...

it absolutely pales in comparison to the single best sci-fi series you've probably never seen...

firefly

your friendly neighborhood happybrowncoat had the good fortune to receive the box set of the series for christmas.

and it truly is phenomenal.

so much promise...and so little time in which to work, since the entire broadcast run of firefly encompassed only 11 episodes.

you see...from the get-go, firefly was hamstrung at every turn by executives at fox, manifested primarily in the following 2 boneheaded moves:

• the 2 hour pilot was not shown until the very end of firefly's run
• firefly's timeslot was changed 3 times

now...in a sense...yours truly feels somewhat relieved he missed the original run of firefly.

before i get pummeled by the local browncoat brigade...let me explain.

because the dvd set correctly orders and presents firefly as it was intended to be seen, including 3 episodes never shown before, my first viewing was as its creator intended...not the way some jackass executives hyped up on coke and self-importance deemed it should be doled out.

in fact, much the way the criterion collection release of terry gilliam's masterwork brazil serves to illustrate the lunacy of hollywood and its deletory effect on the quality of films in general, the firefly dvd set also serves as a nice chronicle of the idiocy of network television programming.

the fact that firefly has the rabid fanbase it does, almost 3 years after the show was sabotaged by fox, speaks to the quality of the show.

mighty interesting that the dvd release of serenity, the kick-ass movie based on firefly, has been the top seller at amazon since its release. you might notice the firefly box set has been sitting pretty close at #3.

so...to the nimrods at fox, who did everything they could to torpedo the series...

may the fleas from a thousand camels infest your underarms!