What led to Firefly's cancellation?
Firefly is an awesome TV series, so much so that even after its cancellation it spawned a theatrical movie release. What was the ultimate cause of the cancellation of the TV series?
Best Answer
Several factors led to the demise of Firefly, but ultimately it was a colossal mistake by Fox executives.
The series was played at an unfavorable time slot, and to compound this, Fox decided to play the episodes out of order, insisting that the 'better' episodes play first. Naturally, this meant there was some confusion on the audience's part.
Former Fox Entertainment president Gail Berman gives a little insight into the decision in this interview she gave to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
At the end of the day though, it was a short-sighted decision that should haunt the Fox executives to this day. It's not the first time they've done this though - look at Family Guy.
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Why did Dollhouse get Cancelled?
There was never an official reason for why it never happened. However, the fact that the show had well documented pre-air issues, and the fact that it was clear it was never going to be a ratings winner for Fox meant it was unlikely anyone at the network wanted to spend money on extraneous content.How did Firefly end?
The final episode of Firefly Lane shows Johnny being hit by a huge explosion in Iraq. However, it is unclear whether he is just severely injured or if the explosion has killed him.When did Firefly get Cancelled?
Firefly premiered in the U.S. on the Fox network on September 20, 2002. By mid-December, Firefly had averaged 4.7 million viewers per episode and was 98th in Nielsen ratings. It was canceled after 11 of the 14 produced episodes were aired.Strangers in the night: Has light pollution led to firefly declines?
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Answer 2
In short, low ratings. Factors that contributed to said low ratings:
- It aired on Friday nights, a traditionally low-viewership time.
- Episodes had some continuity, but were aired out of order, which confused viewers.
- It was mis-marketed as an action-comedy, when it contains more dramatic elements.
From Nobby's link, the then-President of Fox says:
[W]hen it didn't perform [in the ratings], having to cancel it was very difficult.
and
It was a numbers things. It was a wonderful show and I loved it and I loved working with him on it but that was a big show, a very expensive show and it wasn't delivering the numbers.
Answer 3
even after it's cancellation it spawned a theatrical movie release
(emphasis yours)
That was due to strong DVD sales:
As an afterthought, Fox released the 14 episodes on DVD and something surprising happened: The expensive boxed set sold somewhere north of 200,000 copies. On the strength of the DVD sales, Universal green-lit a small-budget movie, to be written and directed by Whedon.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/757fhfxg.asp
So the decision to cancel was not really in conflict with the decision to make a movie.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Ann H, Tim Mossholder, Sebastiaan Stam, Sebastiaan Stam