The Flash Actors Sing the Theme Song to Firefly

Three cast members of the CW's series, The Flash, thanked Joss Whedon for donating to their Kickstarter for their project, The Letter Carrier, a short musical film they're collaborating on. Their thanks consisted of this acapella version of Firefly's theme song, "The Ballad of Serenity" (which, by the way, was written by Joss).

I have two questions: Where's Grant Gustin? When will they have a musical episode of The Flash?

2013 TV Fall Season Preview

For those of you interested in a complete list of the possible 2013 Fall Season drama pilots, click here.

The shows I'm interested in are:

ABC

S.H.I.E.L.D. - Three words: Joss Whedon Avengers. 'Nuff said.

Big Thunder - Based on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride at Disney. Hmm. We'll see.

Gothica - Modern day soap opera that incorporates the legends of Dracula, Jekyll and Hyde, Frankenstein, Dorian Gray (and others). Could be good, could be dreadful. It's the soap opera part that worries me. And the modern day setting. And the chance they'll probably ruin the legends. Yes, it could be dreadful.

Fox

Sleepy Hollow - I'm mostly interested in seeing who they cast as Ichabod Crane.

NBC

Wonderland - In this version, Alice is the Queen, and she's bad.

Bloodline - I'm just interested in what the producers consider "cheeky" in the world of the main character.

Ironside - Another classic being remade. I just remember my Mom loved this show, so I think I might give it a try. And I like Blair Underwood.

CBS

The Surgeon General - I'm not much into "medical" shows, but I like Jason Isaacs (Awake, Harry Potter), so I'll give it a shot (pun intended).

CW

The Selection - I've heard of the novel this is based on. I haven't read it, but it sounds interesting.

Reign - The story of a young Mary Queen of Scots. I posted my thoughts on this series previously.

Oxygen - Sounds a little like Roswell, which I love, except the humans know the aliens are aliens.

Most of the series I am interested in are based on other sources, either from books, old TV series, or real people. I just hope that the shows I end up liking will be picked up, and not canceled early or after one season.

Firefly: Things You May Not Know about the Series

Prior to the Firefly 10th Anniversary panel at Comic-Con in July 2012, five members of the cast, Nathan Fillion (Captain Mal Reynolds), Adam Baldwin (Jayne), Alan Tudyk (Wash), Sean Maher (Simon), and Summer Glau (River) met "behind closed doors" to discuss the TV series along with executive producer/writer, Tim Minear, and writer, Jose Molina.

The event was broadcast on the Science channel on Sunday. There were also interviews with Morena Baccarin (Inara), Gina Torres (Zoe), and Jewel Staite (Kaylee). It was great to listen to insider stories of the making of the series, how each of them felt about hearing the show was canceled, the filming of the movie, and where the characters would have gone had the series lived on for more than one season.

Interesting Facts:

Nathan and Summer auditioned the same day. Summer asked Nathan how his audition went, and he said, "It went really well, but don't worry, I don't think we're going up for the role."

Joss Whedon, the creator of Firefly, originally pictured Captain Malcolm Reynolds older than Nathan Fillion was at the time - older and more worn. Regarding that fact, Tim Minear said to Nathan that Joss imagined someone, "maybe a little younger than you are now." But Nathan "nailed" the audition.

The pilot was meant to introduce the 'verse (what the Firefly universe is lovingly called), set up the premise of all the complicated character arcs, and ease the audience into the show.

While developing Firefly, the creators/writers wanted to do everything from John Ford to spaghetti westerns, anything that encompassed the genre.

Adam Baldwin decided to go over the top with the character of Jayne and just see where it went. Nathan asked him, "are you going to do it that way?" and Joss said, "that's pretty cool."

One of Jewel Staite's favorite scenes in the whole show was in the pilot when Kaylee is being operated on and Jayne's watching from the window.

On one of Alan Tudyk's first days on set he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and Joss was wearing the exact same shirt. Alan thought, "that's my character right there."

Joss hand picked every cast member. It was Morena Baccarin's first TV series, and she thought that every series was like that.

They made that great two hour pilot introducing the 'verse and the characters, and Fox didn't think it was exciting enough. They thought it was too dark. They wanted it lighter and funnier, with more action and adventure. So, the writers wrote the second episode over a weekend. That was the first episode that aired, "The Train Job."

One of Alan's favorite scenes was in "Out of Gas." He and Nathan were given the script an hour before shooting and it had a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo. The frustration spilled over into their performances, and where they would have spoken calmly to each other, they ended up yelling their lines.

Wash (yelling): Well, maybe I should do that then.

Mal: (yelling): Maybe you should.

Jose Molina (one of the writers) enjoyed trying to figure out what River (Summer Glau) was suffering from. Summer didn't know much of her back story, so she had to make it up in her head in order to give the performances she needed to.

Joss made sure to let everyone know that the show wasn't named after any one character, and that everyone was expendable. So, Adam knew that he had to make Jayne "lovable quick."

Jose's favorite scenes were between Kaylee and Mal.

Later episodes reflected the fact that the show was at "death's door." "Out of Gas" especially reflected the fact. As they were preparing to write the episode, Joss and Tim were at dinner and Joss said, "can we start it with Mal shot?" And then they asked how did it happen? That's how that episode came about.

After Joss announced that the show was canceled, Nathan thought that going back to work the next day would be the worst, that everyone would be down and sluggish. But it was the complete opposite. Everyone was going to make the most of it. "It was joyous."

The scene where everyone is sitting around the table telling stories about the dead man and laughing in "The Message," was shot the day after they had been canceled. They were having an "Irish wake," mourning the loss of the show. Not only was the composer writing the music for the funeral scene in the episode, he was writing music that reflected how everyone felt about the cancelation of the show itself.

They noticed the fans early on, but the fans ("Browncoats," as the called themselves) kept growing after the show was off the air.

Joss wanted to get the show back on.

Alan gave the button from "Out of Gas" to Joss and said, "When your miracle gets here, we'll all come."

Universal supported the film because they saw the support of the fans.

Alan went to a convention in London after the movie came out. He gave his head shot to a fan and wrote, "I am a leaf on the wind," and the girl started sobbing and asked, "How could you write this on my picture!" She was very upset.

The writers had mapped out where each character would go. However, the actors didn't know where their characters would go. Although, Joss did tell Morena Baccarin Inara's secret. They revealed  Inara's secret on this show. I won't spoil it for you here, so if you want to find out what it is, watch the show (it airs again on the Science Channel tonight, Nov 14, and Friday, Nov 16, early morning) or you can give me your email address and I'll email it to you.

Adam gave his idea of where Jayne would go. He said that he would get his own ship, compete with Mal, fail miserably, and have to return - humbled.

Summer said that River was "gunning for Wash's job."

Alan said that Zoe and Wash were going to have a baby and Wash wouldn't let Zoe go out on any more jobs.

Sean said that Simon and Kaylee would have a kid too and that there would be a Firefly daycare.

Nathan said that Mal would become more crotchety and bitter.

Quotes from the Private Gathering:

Jeff Jensen (moderator): It's been 10 years since the birth of Firefly.
Tim Minear: And death.

Jeff: The show should have gone away, but somehow it didn't.

Sean Maher: I always say, it was sort of the chemistry between all of us. Well, not Nathan.

Summer Glau: I thought Nathan was so handsome when I first met him.
Nathan Fillion: It's true. He is.
Adam Baldwin: That's just what she thought.
Alan Tudyk: That's when she first met him. What's happened since then?
Nathan: I wear on people.

Adam: I could dive in and chew as much furniture as I could.

Nathan: What can be a very stressful situation [the low ratings], it actually ended up being a unifying force.

Adam: We all knew that, ah shoot we're on the chopping block from the get-go... so we really need to make the best show we can because we don't know how long we're going to be around.

Jewel Staite: What I love the most is Kaylee's faith in Mal, and her trust in him. She will do anything for that guy.

Nathan: The reason that Captain Malcolm keeps these people so close is because they all are an aspect of himself that he's lost.

Morena Baccarin: It's kind of a genius concept that, you know, you have people that want to be isolated, and they're in space where you couldn't possibly get more isolated, and they find a family with each other.

Adam: Merry Christmas. You're canceled.

Jewel: I've been in lots of shows that have been canceled, and that's it, you know, you're done. And Joss was like, "nope, nope, nope. I'm going to find a place for us. And even if we're doing puppet theater in Sherman Oaks, that's what we're going to do."

Gina Torres: I thought, no... that's never been done. It's never been done. Nobody makes a feature film out of a failed television show. That's just not done.

Jewel: I was shocked when we found out about the movie, and it was just such a weird, giddy vibe in the room to hear the characters come back.

Nathan: I couldn't believe we got it back... It was two weeks into filming when I realized we're gonna do this.

Gina: If I were a betting woman, I would have lost serious money. See, never bet against Joss. Just note to self, never bet against Joss Whedon.

Gina: There's nothing like a sci-fi fan. Like warm honey... poured all over you.

Tim: Do you know what it means? It means we weren't wrong. The fans are the proof of it.

Gina: I like to believe that there's a wiry-haired redhead boy with freckles and that Jayne babysits and that he and I have arguments about who's going to teach him about guns.

Jeff: What are the chances there might be more Firefly?... Television, movies? Is that something that could happen?
Tim: I say never say never.

Nathan: My first Comic-Con was because of Firefly 10 years ago... and here we are, 10 years later and it's not dead. It's not dying.

Quotes from the Comic-Con Panel:

Joss Whedon: We always knew from the very beginning that everything we were doing we were doing for the right reasons, in the right way, with the right people. That we were making something that was more than the sum of its parts. That we had the best cast I will ever work with. The best writing team... I just wanted to make something real that felt like a piece of history. I wanted to buck the system that all science fiction is lit with purple lights. I wanted to tell an American immigrant story. I wanted to tell a western story. But I need spaceships or I get cranky.

Nathan: If I can get through this without crying it will look much cooler.

Nathan: No one would give me a chance to be anything other than #5 guy, the lead girl's ex, the other dude who doesn't come in until later and then he leave pretty early. No one would give me a chance, and Joss Whedon was the guy who gave me the best character I've ever played. The best words that have ever come out of my mouth.

Joss: There was no reality where I would not get these people back together.

Nathan: The worst thing that could have happened is if it had stayed dead. That it died is okay. That you guys are here...

Joss (to the fans): The way in which you guys have inhabited this world, this universe, has made you part of it, part of the story. You are living in Firefly. When I see you guys, I don't think the show is off the air. I don't think there's a show. I think that's what the world is like. I think there's spaceships. I think there's horses. I think it's going on in all of us. The story is alive.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog on TV This Week

Remember, Joss Whedon’s web-musical, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog, will make its TV debut on the CW this Tuesday, October 9, 2012, 8pm mountain time (9pm ET).

Dr. Horrible Comes to the Idiot Box

I mentioned in an earlier post that Joss Whedon’s web-musical, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog, would be making its television premiere soon. Well, “soon” now has a date. The hilarious short film will makes its debut on the CW on October 9, 2012, 9pm ET.

For those of you who haven’t seen it, here’s your chance to see why I think Joss Whedon is “the man.” His writing is hilarious, and he writes musicals! Oh, yea!

I would love to see what he could do on Broadway. I don’t know if it’s ever crossed his mind, especially with all of the projects he has, but if you’re reading this blog, Joss (hey, you never know), what about it? Big Broadway musical? If anyone can do it, you can.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Joss Whedon's Top Ten Episodes

I love extras on DVDs.

One of the extras on the season 7 DVDs of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an interview with Joss Whedon where he gives his top 10 list of favorite episodes. I'm sure it's hard for the creator of a great series like Buffy to narrow it down to 10, but it's fun to hear which episodes are on his list.

10. Prophecy Girl (season 1, episode 12)

This is the last episode of season 1, and again, it's up to Buffy save the world. This is the first time Buffy seriously questions if she wants to be the slayer. She just wants to be a normal teenager and go to Spring Fling. She doesn't want to be the only hope of defeating the Master and possibly die. It's interesting to see how she reacts to this, her first "apocolypse," compared to the subsequent threats to the earth's existence.

Buffy grows so much as the slayer through the series. Joss said that he wanted to write about a female hero who didn't need the man to come rescue her. Buffy defeats the Master on her own, but she did need a little help from Xander before she could do it.

My biggest problem with this episode is that there was such a build up for The Anointed One, and what does he do? Nothing really.

Funniest and saddest scene: Xander lying on his bed listening to "I Fall to Pieces" by Patsy Cline.

9. Conversations with Dead People (season 7, episode 7)

The best part of this episode for me was watching Buffy have a therapy session in the cemetery with a vampire she went to high school with. The therapy comes in between moments of Buffy trying to kill the vamp and him trying to kill her. His assessment of Buffy is that she has an "inferiority complex about her superiority complex." This is "Buffyness" humor at its best. Other characters talk to friends or family who have died, and the significance of these conversations comes later in the season.

I really love this episode. The only thing I really don't like about it was giving a plot line to Andrew, Jonathan and Warren. I wanted to see Xander or Anya. All of the plot lines with Andrew, Jonathan and Warren annoyed me.

8. Restless (season 4, episode 22)

Joss deviated from having a huge season finale in season 4. The big battle happens in the penultimate episode of the season instead of the last episode. Joss calls the last episode, Restless, a "grace note." The episode is four character studies of what the main characters are about, what they fear and who they are. Joss wanted the dreams of the characters to be very dream-like, how they transition from one place to another with no structure, how things are not what they seem, and who everything is surreal. He called it a 40 minute tone poem. Great episode.

7. Becoming Part II (season 2, episode 22)

This is one of the saddest episodes. I was shocked at the end when I saw it. This episode shows how Buffy has to make hard choices and great sacrifices to save the world. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a metaphor for growing up, for life. There are so many demons in our lives that we have to battle, and we have to make hard choices and sacrifices to become the person we can be.

6. The Wish (season 3, episode 9)

I love "what if" episodes. This one explores what Sunnydale would be like if Buffy never moved there. If Buffy hadn't come to Sunnydale, the town would be overrun with vampires, the Master would be alive and leading them, Xander and Willow would be vampires, Angel would be in chains, Cordelia would be dead, and Buffy would be like Faith. This is the episode where we first meet Anya, and I love Anya (Emma Caulfield is so good!). And, it's great to see Xander and Willow as vampires. They are bad!

This episode can make you glad that all wishes do not come true.

5. Doppelgangland (season 3, episode 16)

A spell gone wrong brings vampire Willow from the alternate universe face to face with good Willow. It's great fun to watch good Willow pretending to be Vamp Willow to stop the vampires from killing a bunch of students at the Bronze.

4. The Body (season 5, episode 16)

This was a very difficult episode for me to watch. Losing a loved one is not easy, and it hurts, even years later. The episode was so well written and so well acted. This episode showed me that Buffy could be a very dramatic show, not just in a "fighting demons" way, but in a very real way. This episode is about a pain most of us have faced one way or the other. We have either been the one who lost someone, or the one trying to comfort the one who has suffered the loss and not knowing exactly what to do or say.

My only complaint with this episode was that the scene in Willow' dorm room where she is trying to decide what to wear to the hospital went on too long. Small complaint for an excellent episode.

3. Hush (season 4, episode 10)

I think this is one of the scariest episodes, and it has the scariest demons of any on the shows. If you scare easily, watch this in the light of day. And maybe watch a comedy after that. I love this episode. It is so well written, and the dialogue is stellar. *wink*

About this episode, Joss said, "Let's just scare people, let's really scare them." He did.

2. Once More with Feeling (season 6, episode 7)

Joss was scared about failing in this episode. He asked, "Can we do this?" But he succeeded so well.

This episode is on most people's list of favorite Buffy episodes. (Just FYI: It is #15 on TV Guide's top 100 episodes of all time.) And who can blame them? It's a musical. Joss wrote the music and lyrics for the episode, and the songs are really good. The plot was so clever, and many of the actors can actually sing, which is good.

1. Innocence (season 2, episode 14)

My reaction to this episode was "No!!!" I'm sure that was many viewers reaction when they saw this episode for the first time.

Losing your innocence can have dire consequences, especially when the person you love is a vampire. This episode turns the season on its head and takes one character in a totally different direction. It's heartbreaking to see Buffy's response to the appearance of Angelus. Sarah Michelle Gellar is an amazing actress. This is really a great episode.


Regarding the entire series, Joss said, "They left us to our own devices, and we really told the stories we wanted to tell." He says his only regret was that he didn't have the energy for more.

Having just finished watching the last season on DVD, I regret he didn't have the energy too.

Shakespeare: Joss Whedon Style

Joss Whedon has adapted and directed a modern version of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Shakespeare and Whedon, this could be a good combination.

I'm only familiar with a few members of the cast. Nathan Fillion plays Dogberry. I would have loved to see him as Benedick, but we can't have everything we want. I'm sure he'll be great as Dogberry.

The other actors I've heard of are Amy Acker, who plays Beatrice, and Sean Maher, who plays Don John. Amy played Nova/Astrid in the last episode of Once Upon a Time, and Sean played Simon on Firefly.

It hasn't been announced when this will be released, or even if it will be a general release. 

I'm so excited to see it.