I don't see Firefly getting Lost-style numbers even if everything about its scheduling and promotion had been ideal. The concept, by its very nature, was going to appeal to a much smaller audience. But it might have squeaked by into renewal if handled better.

Maybe not Lost numbers. But I bet the numbers could have been good. I seriously have yet to find anyone who doesn't at least like the show a lot, once they see it. At first I thought it was just me, and people like me. But my Dad thinks it's one of the best shows he's ever seen. And he doesn't like anything that I like.

The last sentence gave me flashbacks to Mikey, of Chex (or was it Life?) cereal fame. Dang. I feel old.

eta: Also, the concept for Lost doesn't seem like a shoo-in for popularity to me. Certainly, it turned out well. Does anyone know if the suits thought it would ahead of time?

But my Dad thinks it's one of the best shows he's ever seen. And he doesn't like anything that I like.

Ditto me. Exactly.

Well, I left my Firefly DVD's with a friend who loved Buffy and Angel and I told him to watch them all so he'd be up to speed when the movie comes out. I hope he does watch and gets hooked.

Well, Buffy and Angel love would seem to be an added bonus. Not necessary, but helpful.

I seriously have yet to find anyone who doesn't at least like the show a lot, once they see it.

::points to a couple of Buffistas or three::

I suspect the best it could have achieved was to be perennially on "the bubble," facing potential cancellation every year (as Buffy and Angel were almost every season).

Unfortunately, it was a favorite show of someone at Fox who'd already been let go by the time it started airing, and replacements never want their predecessor's shows to succeed, so that is the main reason it was shuffled off to the Friday Night Fox Death Slot, where it unsurprisingly died.

Lost was also the favorite of a no-longer-there exec, but it's numbers are putting ABC in a position it hasn't been in for a very long time, so it gets to stay.

Still, it remains that Seinfeld and Friends struggled in the ratings at first, until they found their numbers, even if they were much bigger numbers tha Firefly could have hoped for.

I hated it on first viewing. Deeply, in fact. I enjoyed it much more in bigger blocks, and I'm still not very excited about "The Train Job".(Well, Westerns and Sci-Fi are neither one my favorite genres, so...) But by the end of the DVDs I got to like it. I would still rather watch Buffy or Angel but I did change my mind about it. I bet if it had gotten another season, I might have become a fan.

Honestly, though I grew to love it, if it hadn't been Joss and Tim's baby I would have stopped watching halfway through ""The Train Job," and never given them the chance to snag me with the engine scene.

Firefly had me at Wash and his dinosaurs, and completely in love when Mal shot Patience's horse. Serenity just did for me.

It's my bestest favouritist show in the world ever.

Ah but see, Jars, you got to see the actual pilot. The actual pilot, I think, would have hooked me more than "The Train Job." There were more space hijinks, plus the River mystery was more at the forefront.