History Main / TheFireflyEffect

Television executives don't tend to want to invest in intelligent or overly complex series, because they worry that the given show will be less popular, (and thus draw in less money from ratings) if [[ViewersAreMorons viewers are required to use their brains]]. As well as the trope namer ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' was a quintessential example of this trope--it had an initial premise which was very similar to that of ''Firefly'' in some respects, and although the show didn't get cancelled, said initial premise was basically scrapped... along with the series being made a lot less intelligent and a lot more violent.

Even some shows that seemed feasible only over one (22-episode) season (such as ''Reunion'', ''Series/DayBreak2006'', ''Series/{{Kidnapped}}'', ''Vanished'', and ''Series/{{Drive}}'') suffer from this effect, due to [[Front13Back9 the episode order getting shortened to 13]]. In ''Reunion''[='s=] case, the producers didn't even bother finishing the storyline, because it only made sense over a full 22 episodes rather than the shortened 13

The Firefly Effect refers to viewers being afraid of committing to a new series because they don't believe the series will last long enough to make up for the investment of time and emotions. "[[SafetyInIndifference The network is just going to cancel this, so I'm not giving it my heart]]." If enough viewers think this way towards a particular TV series, it may become a SelfFulfillingProphecy -- people don't watch because they think the show will be canceled, and then the show is cancelled because no one is watching it.

Television executives don't tend to want to invest in intelligent or overly complex series, because they worry that the given show will be less popular, (and thus draw in less money from ratings) if [[ViewersAreMorons viewers are required to use their brains]]. As well as the trope namer ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' was a quintessential example of this trope -- it had an initial premise which was very similar to that of ''Firefly'' in some respects, and although the show didn't get cancelled, said initial premise was basically scrapped... along with the series being made a lot less intelligent and a lot more violent.

It can be a real problem for all the ''Series/{{Lost}}'' clones and other [[OntologicalMystery Ontological Mysteries]], which aren't worth watching if they don't get more than one season, and especially if they don't even get a full season -- and they often don't. That is also the sort of TV shows most likely to be hit by this effect, but it can hit ''any'' show that makes it clear up-front that you need to be ''involved'' in the characters and/or overarching plot to make sense of the show in the long run. That up-front demand plus the uncertainty that there will ''be'' a long run allows TheChrisCarterEffect to start before the TV show does, meaning the fans never ''start'' watching...

Incidentally, many of these shows (including TropeNamer ''Firefly'') were on Creator/{{Fox}} -- basically because Fox was likely to give the sort of show that gets this effect an initial run, but tended to be too Nielsen-sensitive to be patient. Fox has been experimenting to test the nature of this effect, as evidenced by ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' (which seems to have escaped this trope, airing for five seasons) and ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' (if this trope can apply to a show that has run for more than one season, then ''Dollhouse'' is it).

This is not yet a deprecated trope. But the rise of streaming and premium cable means cancellation -- while not unheard-of -- is less likely to occur before a major story arc is completed (i.e. a series with a six-episode story arc being cancelled after two episodes). For example, ''Series/JessicaJones2015'', released through Creator/{{Netflix}}, was never in any danger of being cancelled halfway through its first season, allowing fans to invest in the show without worry. Similarly, the streaming model allows viewers to choose how they invest their time. Someone who might not have watched one half-hour episode per week for an entire month to decide whether a new series is "worth it" will happily burn those two hours in ''one'' night. And it gives fans the flexibility to wait for word of mouth about a particular show before investing their time, though only to a point. However, some streaming shows have been cancelled due to lack of views within a certain length of time, and others have one season's worth of content broken up into mini-seasons, so the effect can still apply for people worried that either a season ends on a SequelHook or was cancelled before the other half of the season could be released.

The Firefly Effect refers to viewers being afraid of committing to a new series because they don't believe the series will last long enough to make up for the investment of time and emotions. "[[SafetyInIndifference The network is just going to cancel this, so I'm not giving it my heart]]." If enough viewers think this way towards a particular TV series, it may become a SelfFulfillingProphecy — people don't watch because they think the show will be canceled, and then the show is cancelled because no one is watching it.

Television executives don't tend to want to invest in intelligent or overly complex series, because they worry that the given show will be less popular, (and thus draw in less money from ratings) if [[ViewersAreMorons viewers are required to use their brains]]. As well as the trope namer ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' was a quintessential example of this trope — it had an initial premise which was very similar to that of ''Firefly'' in some respects, and although the show didn't get cancelled, said initial premise was basically scrapped... along with the series being made a lot less intelligent and a lot more violent.

It can be a real problem for all the ''Series/{{Lost}}'' clones and other [[OntologicalMystery Ontological Mysteries]], which aren't worth watching if they don't get more than one season, and especially if they don't even get a full season — and they often don't. That is also the sort of TV shows most likely to be hit by this effect, but it can hit ''any'' show that makes it clear up-front that you need to be ''involved'' in the characters and/or overarching plot to make sense of the show in the long run. That up-front demand plus the uncertainty that there will ''be'' a long run allows TheChrisCarterEffect to start before the TV show does, meaning the fans never ''start'' watching...

Incidentally, many of these shows (including TropeNamer ''Firefly'') were on Creator/{{Fox}} — basically because Fox was likely to give the sort of show that gets this effect an initial run, but tended to be too Nielsen-sensitive to be patient. Fox has been experimenting to test the nature of this effect, as evidenced by ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' (which seems to have escaped this trope, airing for five seasons) and ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' (if this trope can apply to a show that has run for more than one season, then ''Dollhouse'' is it).

This is not yet a deprecated trope. But the rise of streaming and premium cable means cancellation - while not unheard-of - is less likely to occur before a major story arc is completed (i.e. a series with a six-episode story arc being cancelled after two episodes). For example, ''Series/JessicaJones2015'', released through Creator/{{Netflix}}, was never in any danger of being cancelled halfway through its first season, allowing fans to invest in the show without worry. Similarly, the streaming model allows viewers to choose how they invest their time. Someone who might not have watched one half-hour episode per week for an entire month to decide whether a new series is "worth it" will happily burn those two hours in ''one'' night. And it gives fans the flexibility to wait for word of mouth about a particular show before investing their time, though only to a point. However, some streaming shows have been cancelled due to lack of views within a certain length of time, and others have one season's worth of content broken up into mini-seasons, so the effect can still apply for people worried that either a season ends on a SequelHook or was cancelled before the other half of the season could be released.

This is not yet a deprecated trope. But the rise of streaming and premium cable means cancellation - while not unheard-of - is less likely to occur before a major story arc is completed (i.e. a series with a six-episode story arc being cancelled after two episodes). For example, ''Series/JessicaJones2015'', released through Creator/{{Netflix}}, was never in any danger of being cancelled halfway through its first season, allowing fans to invest in the show without worry. Similarly, the streaming model allows viewers to choose how they invest their time. Someone who might not have watched one half-hour episode per week for an entire month to decide whether a new series is "worth it" will happily burn those two hours in ''one'' night. And it gives fans the flexibility to wait for word of mouth about a particular show before investing their time, though only to a point. Streaming shows have been cancelled due to lack of views within a certain length of time.

Incidentally, many of these shows (including TropeNamer ''Firefly'') were on Creator/{{Fox}} — basically because Fox was likely to give the sort of show that gets this effect an initial run, but tended to be too Nielsen-sensitive to be patient. Fox has recently been experimenting to test the nature of this effect, as evidenced by ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' (which seems to have escaped this trope, airing for five seasons) and ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' (if this trope can apply to a show that has run for more than one season, then ''Dollhouse'' is it).

This is not yet a deprecated trope. But the rise of streaming and premium cable means cancellation - while not unheard-of - is less likely to occur before a major story arc is completed (i.e. a series with a six-episode story arc being cancelled after two episodes). For example, ''Series/JessicaJones'', released through Creator/{{Netflix}}, was never in any danger of being cancelled halfway through its first season, allowing fans to invest in the show without worry. Similarly, the streaming model allows viewers to choose how they invest their time. Someone who might not have watched one half-hour episode per week for an entire month to decide whether a new series is "worth it" will happily burn those two hours in ''one'' night. And it gives fans the flexibility to wait for word of mouth about a particular show before investing their time, though only to a point. Streaming shows have been cancelled due to lack of views within a certain length of time.

Even some shows that seemed feasible only over one (22-episode) season (such as ''Reunion'', ''Series/DayBreak'', ''Series/{{Kidnapped}}'', ''Vanished'', and ''Series/{{Drive}}'') suffer from this effect, due to [[Front13Back9 the episode order getting shortened to 13]]. In ''Reunion''[='s=] case, the producers didn't even bother finishing the storyline, because it only made sense over a full 22 episodes rather than the shortened 13

While not yet a deprecated trope, the rise of series made for streaming and premium cable where cancellation, while not unheard of, is less likely to occur before completion of a major story arc (i.e. a series with a six-episode story arc being cancelled after two episodes), has led to this effect not kicking in as much for those types of shows since, for example, ''Series/JessicaJones'', released through Creator/{{Netflix}}, was never in any danger of being cancelled halfway through its first season, allowing fans to invest in the show without that concern. Similarly, flexibility exists to wait to hear word of mouth about a particular show before investing the time, though only to a point as streaming shows have been cancelled due to lack of views within a certain length of time.

The ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' Effect refers to [[SafetyInIndifference viewers being afraid of committing to a new series because they don't believe the series will last long enough to make up for the investment of time and emotions. "The network is just going to cancel this, so I'm not giving it my heart."]] If enough viewers think this way towards a particular TV series, it may become a SelfFulfillingProphecy — people don't watch because they think the show will be canceled, and then the show is cancelled ''because'' no one is watching it.

Television executives don't tend to want to invest in intelligent or overly complex series, because they worry that the given show will be less popular, (and thus draw in less money from ratings) if [[ViewersAreMorons viewers are required to use their brains]]. As well as the Trope Namer ''Firefly'', ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' was a quintessential example of this trope — it had an initial premise which was very similar to that of ''Firefly'' in some respects, and although the show didn't get cancelled, said initial premise was basically scrapped...along with the series being made a lot less intelligent and a lot more violent.

While not yet a deprecated trope, the rise of series made for streaming and premium cable where cancellation, while not unheard of, is less likely to occur before completion of a major story arc (i.e. a series with a six-episode story arc being cancelled after two episodes), has led to this effect not kicking in as much for those types of shows since, for example, ''Series/JessicaJones'', released through Creator/{{Netflix}}, was never in any danger of being cancelled halfway through its first season, allowing fans to invest in the show without that concern.

Television executives don't tend to want to invest in intelligent or overly complex series, because they worry that the given show will be less popular, (and thus draw in less money from ratings) if viewers are required to use their brains. As well as the Trope Namer ''Firefly'', ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' was a quintessential example of this trope — it had an initial premise which was very similar to that of ''Firefly'' in some respects, and although the show didn't get cancelled, said initial premise was basically scrapped...along with the series being made a lot less intelligent and a lot more violent.

The ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' Effect refers to viewers being afraid of committing to a new series because they don't believe the series will last long enough to make up for the investment of time and emotions. "The network is just going to cancel this, so I'm not giving it my heart." If enough viewers think this way towards a particular TV series, it may become a SelfFulfillingProphecy — people don't watch because they think the show will be canceled, and then the show is cancelled ''because'' no one is watching it.

[[CorruptCorporateExecutive Television executives]] don't tend to want to invest in intelligent or overly complex series, because they worry that the given show will be less popular, (and thus draw in less money from ratings) if viewers are required to use their brains. As well as the Trope Namer ''Firefly'', ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' was a quintessential example of this trope — it had an initial premise which was very similar to that of ''Firefly'' in some respects, and although the show didn't get cancelled, said initial premise was basically scrapped...along with the series being made a lot less intelligent and a lot more violent.

While not yet a deprecated trope, the rise of series made for streaming and premium cable where cancellation, while not unheard of, is less likely to occur before completion of a major story arc (i.e. a series with a six-episode story arc being cancelled after two episodes), has led to this effect not kicking in as much for those types of shows since, for example, ''Series/JessicaJones'', released through Netflix, was never in any danger of being cancelled halfway through its first season, allowing fans to invest in the show without that concern.

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<<|{{Fan-Speak}}|>>

[[CorruptCorporateExecutive Television executives]] don't tend to want to invest in intelligent or overly complex series, because they worry that the given show will be less popular, (and thus draw in less money from ratings) if [[ViewersAreMorons viewers are required to use their brains]]. As well as the Trope Namer ''Firefly'', ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' was a quintessential example of this trope — it had an initial premise which was very similar to that of ''Firefly'' in some respects, and although the show didn't get cancelled, said initial premise was basically scrapped...along with the series being made a lot less intelligent and a lot more violent.

This trope usually only applies to science fiction, or anything similar which is likely to be weird, non-mainstream, or otherwise cause the suits to worry that it won't rate well. It can be a real problem for all the ''Series/{{Lost}}'' clones and other [[OntologicalMystery Ontological Mysteries]], which aren't worth watching if they don't get more than one season, and especially if they don't even get a full season — and they often don't. That is also the sort of TV shows most likely to be hit by this effect, but it can hit ''any'' show that makes it clear up-front that you need to be ''involved'' in the characters and/or overarching plot to make sense of the show in the long run. That up-front demand plus the uncertainty that there will ''be'' a long run allows TheChrisCarterEffect to start before the TV show does, meaning the fans never ''start'' watching...

Even some shows that seemed feasible only over one (22-episode) season (such as ''Reunion'', ''Series/DayBreak'', ''Series/{{Kidnapped}}'', ''Vanished'', and ''Series/{{Drive}}'') suffer from this effect, due to [[Front13Back9 the episode order getting shortened to 13]]. In ''Reunion''[='s=] case, the producers didn't even bother finishing the storyline, because it only made sense over a full 22 episodes rather than the shortened 13.

A subtype of this trope can occur with specific characters in a series rather than the entire series itself. In this case a series will contain a particular character who isn't getting much screen time because the authors are having difficulty coming up with story ideas for him or her.

Science-fiction shows often have scenarios that are based on a ship and characters have designated roles (captain, medic, science officer, etc.) but the pilot/first season will have these one or two extraneous characters who don't fill a specific role, and [[OutOfFocus don't tend to do much]]. If the ratings start to slide, the executives will usually want these characters [[DroppedABridgeOnHim written out]], and often replaced with a character and actor which have a better backstory and much more obvious charisma/appeal, which will then cause [[FanDumb fan rage]] among the portion of the audience who liked said character(s).

Even some shows that seemed feasible only over one (22-episode) season (such as ''Reunion'', ''Series/DayBreak'', ''Series/{{Kidnapped}}'', ''Vanished'', and ''Series/{{Drive}}'') suffer from this effect, due to the episode order getting shortened to 13. In ''Reunion''[='s=] case, the producers didn't even bother finishing the storyline, because it only made sense over a full 22 episodes rather than the shortened 13.

->''The show was a source of fear. We all felt it, even after [[{{Recap/DoctorWhoNSS1E1Rose}} Rose]] was a massive hit. The other shoe could drop at any moment. It still could - look to the astonishing paranoia over the possibility that [[StevenMoffat Moffat]] can’t make ''Doctor Who'' as fast as {{Russell T Davies}} could. The wilderness will always haunt Doctor Who, but this was, perhaps, its moment of greatest terror.''
-->-- '''[[http://www.philipsandifer.com/2013/05/somehow-weve-materialized-for-split.html Phil Sandifer]]''' on ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[{{Recap/DoctorWhoNSS1E2TheEndOfTheWorld}} "The End of the World"]]

The Series/{{Firefly}} Effect refers to viewers being afraid of committing to a new series because they don't believe the series will last long enough to make up for the investment of time and emotions. "The network is just going to cancel this, so I'm not giving it my heart." If enough viewers think this way towards a particular TV series, it may become a SelfFulfillingProphecy -- people don't watch because they think the show will be canceled, and then the show is cancelled ''because'' no one is watching it.

[[CorruptCorporateExecutive Television executives]] don't tend to want to invest in intelligent or overly complex series, because they worry that the given show will be less popular, (and thus draw in less money from ratings) if [[ViewersAreMorons viewers are required to use their brains]]. As well as the Trope Namer ''Firefly'', ''Series/{{Star Trek Voyager}}'' was a quintessential example of this trope. It had an initial premise which was very similar to that of ''Firefly'' in some respects, and although the show didn't get cancelled, said initial premise was basically scrapped; as well as the series being made a lot less intelligent, and more violent.

This trope usually only applies to science fiction, or anything similar which is likely to be weird, non-mainstream, or otherwise cause the suits to worry that it won't rate well. It can be a real problem for all the ''{{Lost}}'' clones and other [[OntologicalMystery Ontological Mysteries]], which aren't worth watching if they don't get more than one season, and especially if they don't even get a full season -- and they often don't. That is also the sort of TV shows most likely to be hit by this effect, but it can hit ''any'' show that makes it clear upfront that you need to be ''involved'' in the characters or the overarching plot to make sense of the show in the long run. That demand up front plus the uncertainty that there will ''be'' a long run allows {{the Chris Carter Effect}} to start before the TV show does, meaning the fans never ''start'' watching...

In contrast, people ''usually'' don't think that they'll get overly attached to Crime [[PoliceProcedural procedurals]], {{SitCom}}s, a SoapOpera or even {{Reality Show}}s; thus, they'll feel free to watch episodes 'casually' until the attachment to the show (or characters) sneaks up on them.

Even some shows that seemed feasible only over one (22-ep) season (such as ''{{Reunion}}'', ''Series/DayBreak'', ''Series/{{Kidnapped}}'', ''{{Vanished}}'', and ''{{Drive}}'') suffer from this effect, due to the episode order getting shortened to 13. In ''Reunion'''s case, the producers didn't even bother finishing the storyline, because it only made sense over a full 22 episodes rather than the shortened 13.

A subtype of this trope can occur with specific characters in a series rather than the entire series itself. In this case a series will contain a particular character who isn't getting much screen time because the authors are having difficulty coming up with story ideas for him or her.

Science fiction shows often have scenarios that are based on a ship and characters have designated roles (the captain, the medic, the science officer etc) but the pilot/first season will have these one or two extraneous characters who don't fill a specific role, and [[{{OutOfFocus}} don't tend to do much]]. If the ratings start to slide, the executives will usually want these characters [[{{DroppedABridgeOnHim}} written out]], and often replaced with a character and actor which have a better backstory and much more obvious charisma/appeal, which will then cause [[{{FanDumb}} fan rage]] among the portion of the audience who liked said character(s).

Incidentally, many of these shows (including {{trope namer|s}} ''Series/{{Firefly}}'') were on Creator/{{Fox}} -- basically because Fox was likely to give the sort of show that gets this effect an initial run, but tended to be too Nielsen-sensitive to be patient. Fox has recently been experimenting to test the nature of this effect, as evidenced by ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' (which seems to have escaped this trope, beginning its fifth season in the fall of 2012) and ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' (if TheFireflyEffect can apply to a show that has run for more than one season, then ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' is it).

Science fiction shows often have scenarios where they are based on a ship and have designated roles (the captain, the medic, the science officer etc) but the pilot/first season will have these one or two extraneous characters who don't fill a specific role, and [[{{OutOfFocus}} don't tend to do much]]. If the ratings start to slide, the executives will usually want these characters [[{{DroppedABridgeOnHim}} written out]], and often replaced with a character and actor which have a better backstory and much more obvious charisma/appeal, which will then cause [[{{FanDumb}} fan rage]] among the portion of the audience who liked said character(s).

A subtype of this trope can occur with specific characters in a series rather than the entire series itself. In this case, a series will contain a particular character who isn't getting much screen time, because the authors are having difficulty coming up with story ideas for him or her.

A subtype of this trope, can occur with specific characters in a series, rather than the entire series itself. In this case, a series will contain a particular character who isn't getting much screen time, because the authors are having difficulty coming up with story ideas for him or her.

In contrast, people ''usually'' don't think that they'll get overly attached to Crime [[PoliceProcedural procedurals]], {{SitCom}}s, a SoapOpera or even {{Reality Show}}s; thus, they'll feel free to watch episodes 'casually' until the attachment to the show (or characters) sneaks up on them.

Even some shows that seemed feasible only over one (22-ep) season (such as ''{{Reunion}}'', ''Series/DayBreak'', ''Series/{{Kidnapped}}'', ''{{Vanished}}'', and ''{{Drive}}'') suffer from this effect, due to the episode order getting shortened to 13. In ''Reunion'''s case, the producers didn't even bother finishing the storyline, because it only made sense over a full 22 episodes rather than the shortened 13.

Science fiction shows often have scenarios where they are based on a ship and have designated roles (the captain, the medic, the science officer etc) but the pilot/first season will have these one or two extraneous characters who don't fill a specific role, and [[{{OutOfFocus}} don't tend to do much]]. If the ratings start to slide, the executives will usually want these characters [[((DroppedABridgeOnHim}} written out]], and often replaced with a character and actor which have a better backstory and much more obvious charisma/appeal, which will then cause [[{{FanDumb}} fan rage]] among the portion of the audience who liked said character(s).

[[CorruptCorporateExecutive Television executives]] don't tend to want to invest in intelligent or overly complex series, because they worry that the given show will be less popular, (and thus draw in less money from ratings) if [[ViewersAreMorons viewers are required to use their brains]]. As well as the Trope Namer ''Firefly'', ''Series/{{Star Trek Voyager}}'' was a quintessential example of this trope. It had an initial premise which was very similar to that of Firefly in some respects, and although the show didn't get cancelled, said initial premise was basically scrapped; as well as the series being made a lot less intelligent, and more violent.