While Joss Whedon has been in UK, rumors have been flying fast and furious--across the pond, over the river, and through the woods, about Firefly/Serenity sequels, including speculation about a D2DVD (direct to DVD) project.  Before GoodTV.Vox traces the roots of rotten grapevine, let's move straight to the debunking from Joss, so that we don't contribute to its proliferaton among the attention-impaired.  Via  Whedonesque.com, Joss says:

Hi boys and odd, smooth, compellingly bumpy non-boys. I'm in Liverpool, on Alexis' lap... sorry, laptop, checking in and seeing all sorts of nonsense about a sequel to something. I did run into someone at Forbidden Planet, and he said something about that I ought to make more things, possibly art things, and I agreed. He didn't know the fellow I was with was Brian Hitch but it was 'cause I'm so, yeah, awesome. Yes, Warren and Natalie and Brian and I had dinner, after nattering on for SFX at the hotel (I like that mag) and it was blazingly fun. They're all three multitalented, urbane, and surprisingly sweet. I'm none of those things but I came the farthest so they had to be nice. BUT...

There's no sequel, no secret project regarding Serenity or somesuch and I'm not even sure how anyone thought there was talk there. I've seen Nathan and Tim (and Summer and Alan) recently because they're my friends because I'm so, yeah, awesome. So let's put that to bed and smother it with a pillow.

Fun fact: Didn't read the thread, but as for James playing Shinzon: that's the reason he left for darkest Africa at the end of season six. We were giving him the time off to do the film. When it didn't happen, the course was already set. But he got a nifty soul and that worked out okay.

Oh, and I heard Marvel pushed back X-Men 18? I've delivered 19, and Johnny's working steadily, so blame the marketplace. In fact, overturn the marketplace, the way Jesus did when he was cranky about that thing that time.

Rolling in Kittens, -j.

joss | October 01, 12:12 CET

Emphasis above is ours.  Mentions of the dinner have hit the internet, thanks to a couple of Whedon's companions (the dinner kind, not the Firefly-prostitute-kind--as far as we know).  Prior to Joss setting the record straight, their accounts may have unintentionally lent creedence to the canard.  The 'Warren' Joss mentions is none other than  Warren Ellis, who posts about their evening, in his MySpace blog, and mentions it on his Bad Signal list;  SFX's Nick Setchfield also posts about the dinner.  Please note:  neither Ellis nor Setchfield contributed to the rumor.  We're simply noting that because the rumor had a kernel of truth (Whedon was in UK) it probably spread even faster than these things usually do.

We would tip our hats to Ryan Parsons of CanMag.com for the resolution to this fairy tale, but we watched it weave, and were we farmers, we would have bet our livelihood that this was one part misunderstanding and three parts wishful thinking, before Joss graciously set the record straight or CanMag broke the news.  Besides, Parsons made the mistake so many do, perpetuating another rumor--that Whedonesque is Joss Whedon's blog.  It is so not, as the "About" page makes abundantly clear. 

Joss does post at Whedonesque, and the above-quoted post is from his own talented fingertips, but Whedonesque is not his blog.  It is a fan community and it makes us cranky when reporters can't even bother to single-check their facts.   So we'll merely thank Mr. Parsons.  With our hats on. 

Oh, dear.  That Cocker video just made us miss John Belushi, when we weren't even setting out to do so.  We don't feel up to spilling buckets of salt, but know how these things go, so let's watch the Belushi/Cocker vid, get it all out of our systems, right now, by laughing 'til we cry.

That's better.  Now where did we leave our vitriol?  Oh right, down by the old millstream at ye olde rumor mill.  While we're clearing up Mutant Enemy claptrap, let's set the record straight on another bit of bosh, that leaves us nearly as cranky as Firefly fabrications, and much more cranky than mischaracterizations of Whedonesque or any other website.

The lethally talented Tim Minear, of the late Angel, Firefly, Wonderfalls, and The Inside (as well as Lois & Clark:  The New Adventures of Superman, The X Files, Strangeworld, and more) -- the very same Tim Minear whom FOX has saddled with shining up Standoff, NEVER wrote for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Never.  Not even once.  Got that?  NEVER.

Minear seldom seems to correct people these days, probably because he is busy writing, smoking, tending his beagles, and because the misinformation has taken on a life of its own.  GoodTV corrects people every chance we get, because we're fans like that.  We adore Buffy and Minear.  We are large with love for both--large enough that we are compelled to do our part in keeping their histories somewhat...how you say...historical, for future generations of Fanboys and odd, smooth, compellingly bumpy Fan-non-boys.  By the way, there's still no official news about a mid-season slot for Minear's Drive, but Whedon has seen it, and says,  "It should be on TV; TV would be grateful."

Back to our original subject, how did  that Firefly rumor grow so quickly, anyhow?  Good question.  We don't always know how rumors sprout legs, but the gams attached to this slice of scuttlebutt set out from LiveJournal (which happens to be owned by the same parent company as Good TV's home base, Vox).  The LiveJournaler doesn't seem to have an extensive friends' list, so it is amusing to see how fast word of his post/rumor spread from the original LiveJournal entry to Whedonesque to the Buffistas board and beyond.

Kelly Wheeler, a production assistant on Firefly, first dubbed the audience "Browncoats," in the blogs posted to the official Firefly board.  A fan faction quickly adopted the nickname (which was used on the series, for the band of ragtag rebel space cowboys who opposed the Alliance).  The soil in the Browncoats'  internet backyard is so fertile for rumor-growing, we're beginning to suspect their coats are brown for other reasons, as well.

Is that too mean?  We're sorry, Browncoats.  We kid because we love.  We do understand TV/film obsession.  That's why we're here.  Despite the fact that we're fans of FF too, we're bone tired of all the Firefly hype, years after the series bowed, and a year after the feature film, Serenity, made its box office debut.  To wrap this up--a couple more things are clear about this latest 100% synthetic yarn spun from your favorite skein--we probably can't blame Kevin Smith for it, and we are happy to see it does read like an honest--if puzzling--misunderstanding. 

Sources indicate Whedon and Ellis did have an animated geek-out sort of conversation, praising the potential of D2DVD (direct-to-DVD production), but...

1.  The LiveJournaler whose post sowed the seeds of this latest hopes-dasher, was not privy to that information.

2.  Those sources DID NOT mention Firefly (or even hint at it) when informing us about that topic of conversation.  Anything we've managed to hear about it, seems to have been about the medium itself, rather than specific properties.

We will add that Ellis is reportedly hot for D2i (direct to internet; cf.  webisodes of The Office (US) that NBC put out, over the summer) as well, which makes perfect sense, given the groundswell of support the Global Frequency  pilot received (based on the Ellis graphic novel), after the WB passed on it, and it was leaked to the internet. 

What's a mill without a wheel, and what's a wheel, if not circular?  In that spirit, we'll add that Miranda is both the name of a failed colony in the Firefly universe, and the first part of the alias (Miranda Zero) used by the Global Frequency character who is the creator and operator of the GF underground intelligence organization.  Long time Whedon assistant, Diego Gutierrez, who penned the BtVS episode, Normal Again, and has written for various shows including Without A Trace, The Shield, and Dawson's Creek, was reportedly waiting to join the GF writing staff.  Executive producer John Rogers says he had "essentially the entire Angel staff" ready to go, had the series been picked up.  But this is old news, so enough is enough.  File this all under, "What could have been," and move forward, yeah?

Moving forward...

Tonight is the season 3 premiere of Veronica Mars.  Originally part UPN's stable of shows, this BEST-SHOW-YOU'RE-NOT-WATCHING reportedly owes its continued existence to the critical eye of The CW's President, Entertainment, Dawn Ostroff.  Let's give it the audience its exceptional quality (and Ostroff's faith) deserves.

If you have not yet given it a shot, we highly (most highly) recommend Veronica Mars.  Can you tell?  Veronica Mars is even more fantastic than its ratings are abominable.  Watch it.  You won't be sorry.  If you've read this far, we assume you're a Whedon fanatic.  Joss fell so head over heels with the Veronica Mars series that he's pimped the DVDs, and last season he guest starred in the episode, Rat Saw God.  The above-mentioned Kevin Smith also had a guest spot last season, as a clerk, in the episode, Driver Ed.

Watch Veronica Mars.  Tuesdays, 9:00pm/8:00pm Central, on The CW, right after Gilmore Girls.  Your CW affiliate probably parks itself right in the space left by  either your WB or UPN affiliate.  If you're not sure, check your local listings, or The CW's station page, here.

If your TV is already dedicated to the season finale of Eureka (oh, look, more circularity what with the John Rogers connection) then hop on over to MSN, which has been streaming the Veronica Mars season 3 premiere, Welcome Wagon, for the past week here, and here.  Just promise us that from episode 2 on, you'll watch during the broadcast.  And you elusive Nielsen households, that's right, we're looking at you. 

And we're not blinking. 

If time allows, we'll post more on Veronica Mars, before tonight's broadcast airs on the east coast.  The CW has registered a bunch of MySpace accounts for the characters, but there were a lot of fan-registered character accounts out there already, and we want you to know the difference, when you're adding them to your list of friends.

We're signing off for now, in order to figure out how you've managed to miss perhaps the finest hour of television drama available to you, for the past two years. 

It could be witches
some evil witches
which is ridiculous
'cause witches they were persecuted
Wicca good and love the earth
and women power
I'll be over here.

Posted by She.

He completely agrees, and was uncharacteristically loquacious, while She was composing this entry.  This entry is cross-posted to goodtv.vox.com.