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Hans-Quinn 2022 TV Draft: Round Two-Pick Six-Firefly (2002-2003)
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Hanspostcard/Quinn Maddux has a TV draft challenge. This is my Round Two pick.
“You can’t take the sky from me.”
Ok. I will say it. I am a hopeless Sci-Fi geek. I could easily do this TV Draft with nothing but Sci-Fi. I led with Doctor Who because it, by far, has the longest tapestry in my life. I would venture to say that Firefly was the shortest…and, yes, I am a Browncoat. I had an extensive list of Sci-Fi choices but, chose these two, only, because I also wanted to touch on other genres including law enforcement, drama, comedy and a couple of cartoons. ~Vic
When this came out, it struck me as being very close to the original description given to the first Star Trek series…a western in space. Fox had already scored big with the X-Files, running from September 1993 to May 2002. Firefly debuted September 2002 and, I was front and center. I didn’t find out until later that the first episode that aired was not the first episode of the series. You can thank Fox executives for that mess-up. It went downhill from there.
Created by Joss Whedon (Executive Producer, Writer, Theme Composter & Director of three episodes), it starred:
★ Nathon Fillion as Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds, the owner & Captain of Serenity, a Firefly-class, small transport spaceship. He is a former sergeant from the Battle of Serenity Valley, an Independent soldier in the war against the Alliance (a fusion of the last two superpowers, the US & China) in the year 2517.
★ Gina Torres as Zoë Alleyne Washburne, second-in-command aboard Serenity and Mal’s loyal corporal during the war. She is Wash’s wife.
★ Alan Tudyk as Hoban “Wash” Washburne, Serenity’s pilot and a bit jealous over his wife’s attachment to Mal. He is known for cracking jokes, even during horrible situations.
★ Morena Baccarin as Inara Serra, a Companion that is a blending of a courtesan, a geisha & a mistress. She has a very high social status and rents one of Serenity’s small shuttles. She & Mal are attracted to each other, dislike each other’s “jobs” and want to remain professional towards each other.
★ Adam Baldwin as Jayne Cobb, a 6’4″ mercenary that acts dumber than he really is. He sends much of his income back to his mother. He is excellent in a fight, has an intense fear of Reavers and has an extreme dislike of Simon and his sister, River, as she attacked him with a knife.
Deviant Art
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★ Jewel Staite as Kaywinnet Lee “Kaylee” Frye, the ship’s adorable mechanic. With no formal training, she intuitively knows mechanical equipment. She routinely talks to Serenity and has a crush on Simon Tam.
★ Sean Maher as Simon Tam, a trauma surgeon (top 3% of his class) that became a fugitive after he snatched his sister, River, out of a government research facility. He struggles with his desire for Kaylee as his life revolves around his sister.
★ Summer Glau as River Tam, an intuitive child prodigy that the Alliance experimented on, leading to psychic abilities and combat training. She suffers from PTSD and has flashbacks from the experiments. She can be delusional, paranoid and violent without warning.
★ Ron Glass as Derrial Book, commonly referred to as Shepherd Book (a 24th century version of a pastor). A devout Christian, his background is unknown but, he has much knowledge that the average pastor would not have. He has a fairly high status with the Alliance and, though he objects to violence, he is skilled in combat. Quote: “…while the Bible is quite specific about killing, it is somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps.” Book is the voice of reason, spirituality and conscience for the crew.
Fourteen episodes, with a two-hour pilot, were produced but, only 11 of them aired before being unceremoniously cancelled. The Browncoat Brigade started a postcard writing campaign to Fox, and UPN but, it ultimately failed. They continued to push for the DVD release and, in 2005, the feature film Serenity was released on September 30.
Trivia Bits:
♦ The real reason it was cancelled was that the FOX executives thought it was too dark (It was very dark).
♦ Whedon proposed a Firefly plotline in which Inara injected herself with a prophylactic solution, not a birth control but, a serum that would poison anyone who raped her. Whedon’s idea was that Inara would, then, be kidnapped and gang-raped but, that the rapes would take place offscreen and, the only sign of them would be a pile of her rapists later found dead. This plotline was nixed by the network and no version of it ever appeared on the show.
♦ Serenity’s engine room includes the center console from a Boeing 737.
♦ When Whedon created the show, he intended for it to run seven years.
♦ Between shots, the cast preferred to wait in the ship’s lounge, instead of their trailers/dressing rooms.
♦ The Alliance officer and soldier uniforms are leftovers from Starship Troopers (1997).
♦ The pistol-sized lever action gun Zoe wears on her hip is called a Mare’s Leg. It is a cut down Model 1892 Winchester, the same gun used by Steve McQueen in the TV series Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958).
♦ Astronaut Steven Swanson is a Browncoat and brought his Firefly & Serenity DVDs with him on the Space Shuttle Atlantis for the STS-117 mission in June 2007.
♦ The Shuttle crew of the Endeavour is awoken at 4:14pm ET to The Ballad of Serenity, played for astronaut Robert Behnken.
♦ The DVDs are in the media collection on the ISS.
♦ There are actual Browncoat Balls, held all over the US. The first one was in 2004.
Firefly Opening Sequence
50 Quotes
Our Witch
Too Much Hair
Reboot? Yes, Disney Sucks (Sorry for the ads)
FFTD: Orange Eye
I had no clue about this one. Pl@ntNet certainly helps, assuming it is correct or that I chose properly. This is, possibly, a Buddleja Davidii or Summer Lilac and Butterfly-Bush. It is a flowering plant but, I thought the leaves were pretty, too. It’s native to Central China and Japan. ~Vic
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Flower for the Day
Chris Thomas: Q & A
A Blog Post From: The Chris Thomas Files
[Preface: This was a list of questions sent to Chris Thomas in 2012 via email from a client of his. These are his answers.]
[Q] Many of us ready for change are not seeing it and patience is running thin. How would you respond to that?
[A] At the moment, we are in a time when all of the work that has gone before has to settle to its natural level, a kind of consolidation of all of the positive energies that are at work and, so, it might appear as though not a great deal is happening.
The truth is that there are new positive energies at work that are breaking down the controls of the likes of the Velon/Illuminati. At the moment, the most important one is to do with the financial control, as this is the basis of their power. This power needs to be broken, so that is happening, now. Very soon, we will see major problems with the banks and with economies as the financial structure begins to crumble.
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[Q] Many of us are worried and angry about chemtrails in our skies. What are the main reasons for them?
[A] Chemtrails are mainly either insecticides (to kill off the insects that pollinate so that GM has to be grown) as well as chemicals that will make people unwell. I am aware of the nano particles but, I cannot find any that have been used from chemtrails…yet.
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[Q] Similarly what about all the HAARP facilities around the world?
[A] Just about every country in the world has HAARP stations. They are used for two things…to control the weather, which also kills off insects and normal crops (we have had double our normal rainfall this year in Britain and lower temperatures) but, mainly it is used to flood the whole planet with ELF energies (Extra Low Frequencies) in an attempt to slow down the Earth’s energies and, the rate at which humans can change. This is very deliberate. However, HAARP cannot stop us changing no matter how hard they try as all of the positive energies cannot be stopped.
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[Q] You mention in one of your books about a new atmospheric layer. What is that for?
[A] The new layer to the Earth’s atmosphere is to help in protecting people from increased radiation from the sun so it is beneficial to us.
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[Q] There are a lot of empty cities in the world that no one knows what are they prepared for. Any ideas?
[A] As far as I am aware, every country has newly built empty towns and cities. I have no real idea of what they are actually for. The only thing that I can think of is that there will be an attempt to empty the country side and put everyone into towns where they can be better controlled. They just have not started on this programme, yet but, it would fit in with the aims of Agenda 21 from the Rio climate summit.
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[Q] On the Internet, there have been many pictures of odd “grid lines” in China. Any idea what these are about?
[A] I have no idea what these grids are in China or their purpose but, they do seem to be new. In other words, they were not built in ancient times like the Nazca Lines in South America. I know that there are 9 HAARP stations in China, so the photo that looks like an airport could very well be a new design for a HAARP station but, I am not certain.
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[Q] Are there ET ships around the Earth visible to us?
[A] The three Pleiadean ships have been in orbit around the Earth for many years and have remained invisible to the vast majority of people during that time. So, the ships are not being hidden by anything man-made, just the energies of the ships themselves.
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[Q] How would you sum up the human/Velon/Illuminati relationship now?
[A] Don’t forget that we are approaching the “end times” as predicted by the Mayan Calendar. As the energies for change continue to build, the Velon/Illuminati are doing everything they can to disrupt these energies and to distract people away from what they need to do. So, of course, the Illuminati are becoming more active but, their options are limited to what people will believe. They cannot force people to be taken in by them. It has always been the choices made by people that have given the Velon/Illuminati their power. But, as we make use of these new energies, the Velon/Illuminati’s ability to mislead is diminishing and, so, they are trying harder and harder to try to hold on to their control.
It has always been that some people see the truth of a situation whilst most do not. This is what has allowed the Velon/Illuminati to take control. Humans have always found it easier to go along with what they are told to do rather than to stand up and fight. But, this is changing. As we move further through 2012, more and more people are waking up and, so, the Velon/Illuminati cannot keep hold of their power and control.
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[Q] Can we talk directly to the Creator/God?
[A] Humans do not, and never have, communicated directly with the Creator. We are too small to do that. It is organised religions, who have also tried to mislead us and control us, that have given us the idea that humans can communicate directly with the Creator but, it was never true.
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[Q] Can HAARP destroy our DNA?
[A] DNA is memory. It has nothing to do with communication and HAARP cannot alter it.
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[Q] You say a number of people have already undergone soul integration. Are they doing anything to help the rest of us achieve this goal? And, can anything in the end actually prevent this process from occurring?
[A] Everyone who has undergone soul re-integration is helping to overcome the Velon/Illuminati, as is everyone who is ready to make this change. The problem is that so many people do not want to know what is going on and, so, do not want change to happen. Also, there are many people who want the Velon to help them, so, [they] are holding the Velon in place by their choice and, no matter how much change is wanted, we cannot go against free choice, no matter how wrong that choice might be. But, we are getting there. We chose the Velon/Illuminati mainly by choosing not to make a choice. We went along with them instead of choosing not to have them.
The very latest that this change will happen is the 21st of December 2012 and there is nothing that can stop this change from happening. The fact that you are aware of change and want to move forwards is as good a guide as any that you will be making this change. The chances are that, once you have undergone soul re-integration, you will live where you are living now. Why would you move away from home?
I cannot fully describe what having a whole soul in the body is like as we do not have the vocabulary to describe it. Try to remember that there is nothing that can stop humans achieving soul re-integration. Every soul, within this Universe, wants it to happen and are doing everything they can to help us. The very latest this change will occur is 21/12/12.
Download the PDF HERE.
[Note: The original post was published with his permission on August 31, 2012, on the One-Vibration Forum Blog.]
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