Farscape, err. Firefly coming my way.

As is the curse of all cool sci-fi, it is underappreciated in its day, but grows better with age and eventually gets the respect it should long after anything can be done about it.

Case in point: Blade Runner, (and for that matter Philip K. Dick stories in general) Blade Runner did poorly when they came out, and only later do they gain the respect it should. I watched it again this weekend, and it amazes me to see how much influence the movie had on our collective vision of the future.

You also see this in sci-fi TV shows: Buffy got some critical chops but was dismissed probably due to the combo of subject matter, teen actors and network location. Farscape has its share of rabid (and I mean rabid) fans, but it didn't save it from a pre-mature death (although 4 seasons is pretty respectable). So when Joss Whedon's other baby Firefly got the axe it made me sad. While I don't find it as brilliant as my friend Patrick, I did think it clever and original. The DVDs are now out and they include the three episodes shot, edited and ready to air, but for some reason Fox decided re-runs of Joe Millionare or something would be a better ratings pull.

Charlotte is a big, big fan and she is lobbying people to support good sci-fi with their pocket books - if you buy it, they will come. So, she has purchased it twice for people, and I decided to fork over the dough, partly for the last episodes, and partly because I want to reward good sci-fi, and partly because Patrick used that horrible-yet-persuasive "share the love" feature at Amazon. I care more about Farscape, but there aren't any purchases that I want to make -- I don't feel like spending several hundred dollars to build the collection. Heck, I don't even do that for Buffy.

Goodness knows there is enough bad sci-fi: Jake 2.0, Invisible man (I watched it anyway), Knight Rider, and Misfits of Science (which holds a true warm spot in my heart for schlocky science fiction.)

My childhood is filled with the warm fuzzy memories of blipverts, water stealing lizard aliens, and the Greatest American Heroes.