On the DVDs, "Pink Flamingos" is episode 2 instead of episode 4. What's the correct order?

For the DVD release, Todd Holland bumped "Pink Flamingos" up to episode 2 because he wanted an episode he directed to come second. (IMHO, "Karma Chameleon" is the stronger second episode, because it explains why Jaye is the way she is, her relationship with her family, and Aaron actually gets some screen time.)

Also, Bryan Fuller swapped the episodes 6 and 7 (compared to the order in which they were written and produced), because he retrospectively decided that the episodes would go better in this order. (I don't completely agree with that, and now if you're watching in DVD order, you get "Muffin Buffalo," with a clip from "Barrel Bear" in it's "Previously...," before you actually get Barrel Bear.")

Interestingly (or stupidly) FOX would've aired "Barrel Bear" second-to-last, had the show made it that far, because they felt it was a weaker episode (and now I'm actually agreeing with FOX).

ETA: Agreeing with FOX that it was a weaker episode, not that it should've aired second-to-last. That would've been stupid and completely illogical.

Well, clearly I completely forgot the order, so sorry about that!

I think airing eps out of order is a pretty big problem - especially for shows that have a strong narrative thread. For sitcoms, it may not be that necessary (depending on the show), but think about if ABC had decided to show some of the strong "Lost" episodes earlier instead of where they reside in the narrative thread.

Fox's moving things around fucked with "Firefly" in a big way.

I believe I'm correct in saying Tim was involved in the moving of Firefly episodes around. Unless I'm wrong.

I don't think it made a big problem - the narrative issues were tiny. It was a pretty self contained show, and each episode was clearly written in a way to keep reintroducing the characters.

I do agree for certain shows it would be a disaster - Lost is a great example, as is something like Drive.

the narrative issues were tiny.

I don't agree.

Well, admittedly not airing the pilot first generated a few.

I believe I'm correct in saying Tim was involved in the moving of Firefly episodes around. Unless I'm wrong.

He pushed "Shindig" and "Safe" back until later in the show's run, feeling that they wouldn't work very well if you weren't familiar with the characters (which wouldn't have been a problem if "Serenity" had aired).

Swapping "Objects in Space" in place of "Heart of Gold" was Joss. I think that he just really wanted OiS to air, and at that point there was only one episode other than "Serenity" scheduled.

Airing "Serenity" last was, of course, all FOX.

I think "Our Mrs Reynolds" was pushed forward by Tim and Joss to get the good out early, also. Tim made a bunch of posts on Fireflyfans.net back in 2002 about it, but they appear to have ditched all the old posts. Boo.

Maybe it's in the Wonderfalls thread

I thought this was the Wonderfalls thread.

(IMHO, "Karma Chameleon" is the stronger second episode, because it explains why Jaye is the way she is, her relationship with her family, and Aaron actually gets some screen time.)

I also think "Pink Flamingos" works better fourth because it brings back Gretchen Speck, a sign of continuity, and it feels weird to have that episode second and then go into "Karma Chameleon" and "Wound-Up Penguin," which don't necessarily follow from it (all three only contain previouslies from the pilot). I liked waiting for the return of Gretchen and seeing it as a sign of future continuity. Also, that has more of the relationship between Sharon and Beth, which, in this order, disappears for two episodes longer before its return in "Safety Canary." ALSO, it has the theme of "If you don't listen to the animals, people will get hurt," and, again, it's weird to have her do that and go through the other two episodes instead of having had three episodes of animal nonsense before choosing to defy them. Man, it doesn't make any sense for it to come second at all! Whatevs, Todd Holland.

Maybe in "Lovesick, my Ass!"

Yeah, I think I preferred it in aired order rather than DVD order myself. "Wax Lion" and "Pink Flamingos" were stronger episodes IMHO than "Karma Chameleon" and "Wound-Up Penguin," but I liked them better bracketing the latter two.

Plus, it moves that hilarious phone call with Heidi closer to her actual appearance.