Variety reports that the Fox network zapped Joss Whedon's 'outer space western' series Firefly because of low ratings. So far ten episodes (out of the 15 hours of programming Fox ordered) have been shown. This Friday night Fox will broadcast the two-hour pilot, which the network thought was too slow-moving to kick off the series. The other three episodes may air this summer, if at all. Firefly's light may have been dimmed, but it's not quite extinguished yet. Whedon, who is shopping the series to other networks, was quoted by Variety as saying, 'I won't rest until I have found a safe harbor for this vessel.'
With the almost simultaneous cancellation of Dinotopia (see 'Dinotopia: The Forgotten Fantasy Property') and the previous axing of Birds of Prey (see 'Birds of Prey Lose Altitude'), the new television season has been far from kind to new genre fiction series that might have proved useful to pop culture retailers. Part of the problem stems from a change in viewing habits, which has seen cable outperforming broadcast TV for the first time, grabbing 48% of the aggregate viewership versus 45% for the seven broadcast networks. The proliferation of choice on cable (and satellite) has fragmented the TV audience into ever smaller segments. Firefly, which had an original take on the 'cowboys in outer space' genre that has proved so successful in anime (Outlaw Star, Trigun, Cowboy Bebop), deserved a better fate.
