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The Firefly Effect: Difference between revisions
restored (after rewriting/updating) original examples from http://web.archive.org/web/20100424225422/https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheFireflyEffect
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''Sometimes, viewers are so afraid that
▲{{quote|''Sometimes, viewers are so afraid that shows will be [[Screwed by the Network]] that they refuse to watch it, even if it sounds appealing to them.''}}
'''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. "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 [[Self-Fulfilling Prophecy]] — people don't watch because they think the show will be canceled, and then the show is cancelled ''because'' no one is watching it.
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{{examples}}
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
{{Needs More Examples}}▼
* ''[[Dollhouse]]'' may very well have suffered from this. A show on the infamous [[Fox]] by the writer of the [[Trope Namer]], [[Joss Whedon]]? Viewers were probably half-convinced it wouldn't last half a season even before the [[Executive Meddling]] affecting the pilot was revealed. This may very well have contributed to the low ratings.
** This could be the result of a different sort of "Firefly Effect", as FOX's president of entertainment explained the decision to renew it with the logic that "if we'd canceled Joss' show I'd probably have 110 million e-mails this morning from the fans." Apparently, ''Firefly''{{'}}s cult status may have shown that even if they never become mainstream hits, [[Joss Whedon]]'s shows ''will'' get enough fans to justify keeping around. (They ''did'' cut the budget, however, because they're not going to invest big-hit bucks on what they expect to be nothing more than a cult hit that will hold down a [[Friday Night Death Slot|less-than-desirable slot]] and nothing more.)
** It's worth noting that Whedon ''himself'' was convinced the show was going to get cancelled, in the face of the myriad statements issued by Fox that there was no way it was getting the chop, to the point that the first season's final (unaired episode) is designed to resolve the entire plotline and contains a fourth-wall breaking jab at Fox ("There's butchers in the green room - nothing but dumbshows out here.")
** [http://web.archive.org/web/20120718053215/http://whedonesque.com/comments/22328 Oh, and then it was cancelled as of November 11, 2009.] :(
* Switching networks, there originally was some reluctance over the internet concerning ABC's ''[[V (2009 TV series)|V]]'', considering it was sci-fi, had an overarching plot, and a remake. ''V'' pulled in record numbers for its premiere, but lasted only two seasons.
* ''[[FlashForward]]'', on the other hand, suffered from dwindling viewership through its entire one-season run, ending up with less than a third of the viewers it started with.
* The strange scheduling FOX followed with ''[[Glee]]'' during its first season -- putting the show on a four-month break between the pilot and episode 2, and then putting the series on hold for another four months during ''American Idol'' season -- led some devoted ''Glee'' fans to panic that FOX was trying to "pull another ''Firefly''." As it turned out, the hiatus was because Fox had originally ordered a half-season, then decided they had a good thing going and ordered nine more episodes. Since the episodes take a ridiculously long time to make, the hiatus was required to film the new episodes that Fox ordered. And of course, as it turned out, ''Glee'' ran for six successful seasons.
* The Netflix Marvel series like ''[[Jessica Jones]]'', ''[[Daredevil]]'' and the adaptation of ''[[The Defenders]]'' suffered on public interest as their seasons went and people realized that the characters were not going to be incorporated to the main [[Marvel Cinematic Universe|MCU]] as originally promised, thus lessening viewers' engagement.
▲{{Needs More Examples}}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Just for Pun]]
[[Category:Laws and Formulas]]
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