I did indeed. Several times. It was amazing. Now, riddle me this: how did they manage to cancel Firefly so quickly and let that godawful Hercules show starring Kevin Sorbo run on and on and on?
The big reasons:different times (as in eras), different companies, different producers and different network set ups.
HERC was syndicated. It was not part of one, lone network. It was cheaper to produce (as mentioned previously by Vegemite) and it wasn't up against prime time competition. It mostly aired on weekends and at times when it was the premium choice as oposed to infomercials, news shows and reruns. It also ran at times where kids (i. e. big advertising demographic) coudl watch it. Its ratings were not as important as much as its advertising power. If it could get top dollar for ads that reached a certain demographic it could go on forever (see: BAYWATCH). It also had more than a half-season to it. It started as a handful of telefilms, actually nad their popularit yprompted productio nof the series, fi I recall (I wasn't a fan and am going on memory form industry trades of the nineties).
Most TV shows in America require at lest 2 seasons before they can be sydnicated successfully (i. e. turn a profit) in the rerun market. HERC had that.
Most American shows with more than one season to them are also easily marketed to international broadcasters as part of a package deal.
HERCULES needed stations to carry it, and could easily air on any local station that ponied up for its rights. FIREFLY was doomed to FOX and its affiliates. So, if FOX hated it, it was gone. If a local station hated HERC, another one would option its rights and it coudl live on via another channel.
FIREFLY was atatched to one network (FOX, in America). It was an experiment and didn't have a full season commitment to begin with. Personally, I loathed the show, but I respect that people liked it (bad Chinese and all). Unfortunately for the show - FOX put it in a shitty timeslot and advertisers were not willing to pay top dollar for spots on an unproven product (had it made it to season 2 the dollars brought in from sponsors would have gone up in price and benefitted the show and the network). Then, FOX ran it out of order, didn't promote it well, and the reality was that most Americans who participate in the ratings records didn't care for it enough to watch it. It had a loyal, cult following, but the fans are a minority (especially when compared to HERCULES, which spawned XENA, its own short-lived animated series, and a YOUNG HERCULES spin off and another show - whose name escapes me, but it failed ).
Many of FIREFLY's biggest fans discovered via the itnernet and DVDs, after the fact it was cancelled.
FIREFLY had a big budget that also lent itself to cancellation. If you can't get top dollar for commercial spots and your show burns through money faster than Paris Hilton and a bottle of Tequila: extinction is certain.
Then its theatrical film, SERENITY bombed massively at the box office. The fans clearly didn't number large enough to keep it alive as a film franchise after its series cancellation.
HERCULES also predats the TIVo/DVR revolution. An increasing number of Americans are no longer following traditonal viewing habits and are recording their programs to watch at a later time, while enjoy another at the same time. Most DVRs can record two programs at a time, and if you watch one show, you can possibly record two otehrs at the same time. Television ratings didn't include DVR'd programs at the time of FIREFLY's existence, and I think a lot of FIREFLY FANS watched it via recording. VCRs wer enot exactly the same as DVR's since yo ucoudl only record one program at one time slot, and most people only used them to catch up with programs whiel away, as opposed to recording programs on other channels while they were watching another (some did, but I can't think of many people I know who would record one thing and watch another in the days of BETA and VHS).
HERCULES was also produced in an era when first-run, syndicated programs were raking in money (again, see BAYWATCH as an example). It lasted long enough to have an international following and several years of reruns. FIREFLY never made it long enough to have a second season, let alone enough epiosdes for a long syndicated life.
Had FIREFLY aired at a time when sci-fi happy preteens were able to watch it, and had good promotion and a solid time slot - it probably would have lasted a full season, if not longer.