"Firefly" (2002) TV series 2002-2003

Creator:

Joss Whedon

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

20 September 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Five hundred years in the future, a renegade crew aboard a small, mobile, spacecraft tries to survive as they travel the unknown parts of the galaxy and evade warring factions as well as authority agents out to get them.

Plot Keywords:

Alliance | Pilot | Captain | Psychic | Future

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Nathan Fillion	...	Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds (14 episodes, 2002-2003)
Gina Torres	...	Zoë Washburne (14 episodes, 2002-2003)
Alan Tudyk	...	Hoban 'Wash' Washburne (14 episodes, 2002-2003)
Morena Baccarin	...	Inara Serra (14 episodes, 2002-2003)
Adam Baldwin	...	Jayne Cobb (14 episodes, 2002-2003)
Jewel Staite	...	Kaylee Frye (14 episodes, 2002-2003)
Sean Maher	...	Dr. Simon Tam (14 episodes, 2002-2003)
Summer Glau	...	River Tam (14 episodes, 2002-2003)
Ron Glass	...	Shepherd Book (14 episodes, 2002-2003)

Also Known As:

Firefly: The Series (USA) (long title)
Joss Whedon's Firefly (Australia)

Runtime:

42 min (15 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:12 (12 episodes) | UK:PG (2 episodes) | Singapore:M18 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Mutant Enemy

Trivia:

Many of the names of off-camera and minor characters are drawn from the ranks of science fiction writers. Notably, Bester (Alfred Bester) as the original mechanic of Serenity and Brennert (Alan Brennert) and Ellison (Harlan Ellison).

Goofs:

Continuity: The Chinese characters for "Blue Sun" change from episode to episode. On Jayne's T-shirt, "Blue Sun" is "qing ri", but in logo signs, it's "lan ri". "Qing" and "lan" refer to different colors (green and blue, respectively).

Quotes:

[opening narration for episodes: Safe, Ariel, War Stories, Heart of Gold]
Mal: Here's how it is: The Earth got used up, so we moved out and terraformed a whole new galaxy of Earths. Some rich and flush with the new technologies, some not so much. The Central Planets, thems formed the Alliance, waged war to bring everyone under their rule; a few idiots tried to fight it...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Big Bang Theory: The Terminator Decoupling (#2.17)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

The Ballad of Serenity

What was FOX thinking?!

FOX must have the greatest talent scouts in the world, but the worst executives. "Firefly" is the best example. It was simultaneously the best new show, the best western series in decades, and the best sci-fi show on TV (and coming from a die-hard Trekkie, placing them above "Enterprise" is saying something). They didn't have a single bad episode, and some were spectacular. The premise, the characters, the plots and the dialogue were all top-notch. And FOX cancelled it without even really giving it a chance.

Maybe the show couldn't stand in the end. Maybe I'm alone in this, and there aren't enough fans to justify what the show cost. But making that call after half a season, with half of the episodes pre-empted for baseball playoffs was a phenomenally stupid thing to do. That show should have been here to stay, and it got axed without a chance to prove itself. I only pray the movie works out. At least we'll have something.