Firefly (TV series)

2011-08-18T02:02:15Z

Amyveeres: /* Religion in the show */

'''''Firefly''''' was an American [[science-fiction]] [[television]] program created by [[Joss Whedon]]. It was introduced as a mid-season replacement on the [[Fox Network|Fox]] channel in 2002. Fox cancelled the program after airing 11 of the 14 produced episodes. The show captured a small but extremely devoted fan following, and high DVD sales led to the production of a follow-up feature film directed by Whedon, ''Serenity'', in 2005.

The show is set 500 years in the future, after humanity has fled [[earth]] and terraformed the planets and moons of a neighboring star system. The story follows the crew of the Firefly-class spaceship ''Serenity'', whose captain and first mate are former members of the Independents, a recently defeated military movement against the system's centralized government, known as the Alliance. The war for Independence in the ''Firefly'' universe has strong parallels to the [[American Civil War]], and indeed despite its space-opera setting, ''Firefly'''s locations and characters are strongly reminiscent of American westerns. The show often had [[humor|funny]] dialogue.

The show is notable for its total lack of [[aliens]] and its use of muted sounds in space, both of which are unusual in space opera.

==Family viewing==
Firefly was rated TV14 in the [[United States]] and as such, parental discretion is advised for young viewers. The series contains many strong themes which may not be appropriate for children:
* Killing is commonplace in the series, but when the main characters kill, it is almost always for self-defense.
* The character Inara Serra is a "companion," a euphemism for [[prostitute]] who manages her own business and is subject to strict governmental & [[guild]] regulation.
* Sexual content is occasionally shown.
* In one episode, another character River Tam rips pages out of Shepherd Book's [[Bible]] in a misguided attempt to "fix it." Book stops her and tries to explain why you cannot change the bible. River apologizes and gives him back the pages she tore out.

==Religion in the show==
The show featured some form of Christianity, and sacred rituals related to the [[whore|companions]] based on eastern religions. The captain of ''Serenity'' is an [[atheist]] who comes into conflict with Book on the issue of religion. For example in the first episode Book asks to say a prayer before the crew eats. The captain agrees but begins eating in the middle of the prayer. The show occasionally had jokes centered around religion. The show further mocked Christianity by making the priest, Book, a former assassin for the government.

==Trivia==

Much like [[Star Trek]] created the "Trekkie" fan-base, Firefly too has devoted followers, called [[Browncoat]]s.

==External Links==
*http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303461/
*http://www.scifi.com/firefly/
*http://www.browncoats.com

[[Category:Television Shows]]

Stephen Colbert

2011-08-18T02:00:45Z

Amyveeres:

[[File:Stephencolbert2.jpg|thumb]]

'''Stephen Colbert''' is a writer, a comedian, and an actor. Colbert is [[Catholic]] and an erstwhile Sunday school teacher<ref>http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/07/13/ask-tv-squad-stephen-colbert-teaches-sundayschool/</ref>, and a self-proclaimed [[liberal]] [[Democrat]]. <ref>http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/jon_stewart_stephen_colbert_americas_anchors/page/4 Rolling Stone Interview, Oct 31, 2006</ref>

Colbert began his career at [[Comedy Central]] in the year 2000 on the show ''Strangers with Candy''. He later left in order to become a correspondent on ''[[The Daily Show|The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]]'', where he began to build what would later be the character he would play on ''The Colbert Report''. He was well-regarded on the show and occasionally guest-hosted for Stewart.

Due to his work on ''The Daily Show'', he won three [[Emmy Awards]] and two [[Peabody Awards]] along with the other writers.<ref>http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0170306/awards IMDB List of Stephen Colbert Awards </ref> <ref>http://128.192.29.189/news/pressrelease.asp?ID=151 List of 2007 Peabody Award Winners</ref>

==''The Colbert Report''==

In 2005, Colbert left ''The Daily Show'' in order to become the host of a spinoff, ''The Colbert Report''.

In the show, Colbert plays a satirical right-wing political talk show host. This persona was largely based on [[Bill O'Reilly]], who has a friendly rivalry with the show.

''The Colbert Report'' has a very loyal following which the Colbert character often uses for his various pranks. For example, in every public vote for naming something, Colbert urges his fans to vote for him.

In his recurring segment "The Word", which is a parody of O'Reilly's "Talking Points", Colbert coined the word [[truthiness]] which refers to the quality possessed by statements which, though factually false, are repeated by supporters who feel in their hearts that they ''ought'' to be true, and regard it as quibbling to object to their falsehood. He suggests any fact that supports a Conservative standpoint is "truthy," subtly reinforcing his liberal agenda.

Colbert has poked fun at [[Wikipedia]] and its apparent democratization of truth. He has coined the word "Wikiality" (as opposed to "reality") and caused trouble for Wikipedia by suggesting that his listeners alter articles. In August of 2006, he encouraged users to state that the population of African [[elephants]] had tripled in the last decade. Colbert's point was that if enough people believe something, it becomes "the truth". Wikipedia responded by reverting and locking down the pages to prevent further vandalism.

Recently, Colbert had viewers write in his name to a public vote done by [[NASA]] to name a new room addition to the [[International Space Station]]. Colbert's cult-like followers won the contest for him with an astonishing 230,539 total votes, 40,000 more than NASA's choice of Serenity, named after [[Firefly|another left-wing television series with a cult-like following]].

Stephen Colbert recently has gained attention in the media with his satirical mocking of [[Fox News]]'s [[Glenn Beck]]. Colbert has mocked Beck for stating that [[Barack Hussein Obama]] is racist against white men and a socialist with plans to dismantle the government.

In September of 2010, Colbert testified in character before Congress on the falsehood that [[illegal immigration]] is a good thing. He could be considered guilty of perjury for lying to Congress. Considering [[Bill Clinton|previous liberals have gotten away with it]], this seems unlikely.

==Relationship with Conservapedia==
Conservapedia was mentioned on at least two episodes of ''The Colbert Report''. After learning about Conservapedia's [[Conservative Bible Project|initiative to remove "liberal bias" from the Bible]], Stephen Colbert urged his followers to insert him into the planned conservative rewrite as a Biblical figure.<ref>{{cite episode
| title = The Colbert Report (October 7, 2009 episode)
| series = The Colbert Report
| serieslink = The Colbert Report
| airdate = 2009-10-07
| url = http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/251994/october-07-2009/tip-wag---conservapedia--louvre---honda-unicycle}}</ref> This was followed by mass vandalism by Colbert fans.<ref>[http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Stephen_Colbert&diff=709438&oldid=709432 Example of vandalism on the Stephen Colbert article]</ref><ref>[http://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Genesis_1-8_%28Translated%29&diff=prev&oldid=709520 Example of vandalism on the Genesis 1-8 page of the Conservative Bible Project]</ref> Later on, he interviewed Conservapedia founder [[Andy Schlafly]].<ref>{{cite episode
| title = The Colbert Report (December 8, 2009 episode)
| series = The Colbert Report
| serieslink = The Colbert Report
| airdate = 2009-12-08
| url = http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/258144/december-08-2009/andy-schlafly}}</ref>

==See also==
*''[[The Colbert Report]]''
*''[[The Daily Show]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT: Colbert, Stephen}} 
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:Television Show Hosts]]
[[Category:Comedians]]
[[Category: Liberals]]
{{liberalism}}

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Firefly (TV series)

Stephen Colbert