Serenity 2?

In a special double-issue of SFX Magazine, Joss Whedon addresses the possibility of a sequel to the Firefly movie Serenity, which has become something of a hit on DVD and Blu-ray:

As far as Firefly is concerned, that will always be unfinished business. Serenity was a Band-Aid on a sucking flesh wound. I think every day about the scenes that I’ll never get to shoot and how badass they were. It’s nice to know that people still care about Firefly but it’s actual grief that I feel. It’s not something you get over, it’s just something you learn to live with.

While I understand Whedon's grief, I wouldn't let it prevent me from working on a sequel if a studio put up the money. Yes, there will always be an unfinished feeling to Firefly, but as dramatic as Joss's quote sounds, he has worked on Serenity comic books since the movie. If he thinks about unfilmed scenes as often as he says, you'd think he'd jump at the chance to film some of them.

As much as I'd like to see a sequel, I have to accept the possibility that Joss's heart isn't in it.

My View of Private Eye Fiction

Today on Do Some Damage, P.I. novelist Dave White brings up the currently popular slacker P.I., saying the P.I. has changed, not died as critics claim from time to time.

As a longtime reader and editor of P.I. fiction, I commented:

The P.I. novel and protagonist are flexible by nature. Because the investigation is private as opposed to official, a character in any walk of life can do it. The only quality needed is the determination to stay on the job (or go back and finish the job after licking one's wounds).

There have always been and will always be characters looking into things as a favor to others. That's the private eye in essence. Only someone who has a narrow view of the P.I. to begin with (usually Chandler's model) would say the P.I. is dead.

Quick TV Takes

Here are the new shows I've watched midway through this first week of the broadcast TV season:

Monday 10PM - "Hawaii Five-0" - I'm still a "Castle" fan, but I was curious about this re-imagining from the writers of J.J. Abrams's Star Trek. The original Five-0 was too by-the-book for me despite its exotic setting. I like this version despite a far-fetched slam-bang opening gambit. See my full review here.

Wednesday 10PM - "The Defenders" - I'd rather watch Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell in Vegas than Rob Morrow and Maura Tierney wherever "The Whole Truth" is set. Reviews are mixed, but I think this show has the potential to deliver the feel of a Paul Levine novel, and you know I'm there for that.

Tonight's "S@#! My Dad Says" looks meh, but I may blink at it between "The Big Bang Theory" and "Bones". I'm a fan of Shatner and Nicole Sullivan, but I think the concept has the life expectancy of that show about the GEICO Cavemen.