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Firefly (TV series)

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Television

                            Firefly
           Genre         Science fiction
                         Space western
       Camera setup      Multiple-camera
      Picture format     NTSC 480i
                         HDTV 1080i
       Audio format      Surround sound
       Running time      45 minutes
        Creator(s)       Joss Whedon
       Developer(s)      Joss Whedon
   Executive producer(s) Joss Whedon
                         Tim Minear
         Starring        Nathan Fillion
                         Gina Torres
                         Alan Tudyk
                         Morena Baccarin
                         Adam Baldwin
                         Jewel Staite
                         Sean Maher
                         Summer Glau
                         Ron Glass
       Opening theme     The Ballad of Serenity
     Country of origin   United States
     Original channel    FOX
       Original run      September 20, 2002– December 20, 2002
      No. of episodes    14 ( List of episodes)
                        Official website
                          IMDb profile
                         TV.com summary

   Firefly is an American science fiction cult television series that
   premiered in the United States and Canada on September 20, 2002. Its
   naturalistic future setting, modeled after traditional Western movie
   motifs, presents an atypical science fiction backdrop for the
   narrative. It was conceived by writer and director Joss Whedon, creator
   of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, under his production tag, Mutant
   Enemy. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear.

   Firefly was originally broadcast on the FOX network but was cancelled
   after only eleven of the fourteen produced episodes were aired. Despite
   the series' relatively short life span, it won an Emmy in 2003 for
   "Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series", received strong
   sales when it was released onto DVD, and had impressive fan support
   campaigns. This led Whedon and Universal Pictures to produce a film
   based on the series, titled Serenity after the fictional spaceship
   featured in the show.

   The series is set in 2517 AD and follows the adventures of the renegade
   crew of Serenity, a Firefly-class spaceship. The ensemble cast portrays
   the nine characters who live on Serenity. The show explores the
   vicissitudes of people who fought on the losing side of a civil war, as
   well as the pioneer culture that exists on the fringes of their star
   system. In addition, it is a future where the only two surviving
   superpowers are the United States and China, which formed the central
   federal government called the Alliance. The joining of these two
   cultures caused a cultural fusion. According to Whedon, nothing has
   changed in the future: there are more people with more advanced
   technology, but they still have the same problems politically, morally
   and ethically.

Production

Genesis

   Whedon developed the concept for the show after reading The Killer
   Angels, a novel chronicling the Battle of Gettysburg during the
   American Civil War. He wished to follow people who had fought on the
   losing side of a war and their experience afterwards as pioneers and
   immigrants on the outskirts of civilization, much like the
   post-American Civil War era of Reconstruction and the American Old West
   culture. It was intended to be "a Stagecoach kind of drama with a lot
   of people trying to figure out their lives in a bleak and pioneer
   environment." Whedon wanted to have a show that was about the tactile
   nature of things, when life was physical and things did not come easy
   to people like they do today. After reading The Killer Angels, Whedon
   read a book about Jewish partisan fighters in World War II that also
   influenced him. Whedon was also very interested in the science fiction
   genre and wanted to create something for television that was
   character-driven and gritty. He felt that science fiction, as created
   for television, was getting too pristine and distant.

   As far as the name of the show, Joss Whedon wanted something that had
   strength and motion and felt that the word " firefly" had both. The
   fact that it was also something insignificant with a powerful name
   added to its allure. From there, it naturally progressed to creating
   the ship in the image of a firefly.

Format

   During filming of the pilot episode, Whedon was still arguing with FOX
   that the show should be displayed in widescreen format. Consequently,
   he purposely filmed scenes with actors on the extreme edge of both
   sides so that they would have no choice. However, the pilot was
   rejected by the FOX executives, who felt that it lacked action and that
   the captain was too "dour." They also disliked a scene in which the
   crew backed down to a crime boss, since the scene implied the crew was
   "being nothing." Thus, FOX told Whedon on a Friday afternoon that he
   had to submit a new pilot script on Monday morning or the show would
   not be picked up. Whedon and Tim Minear closeted themselves for the
   weekend to write what became the new pilot, " The Train Job". In this
   new pilot, the captain was more "jolly" and, at the direction of FOX,
   they added "larger than life" characters. These characters manifested
   themselves in the henchman "Crow", and the "hands of blue" men, which
   also introduced a X-Files-type ending.

   For the new pilot, FOX made it clear that they would not air the
   episodes in the widescreen format. Whedon and company felt they had to
   "serve two masters" by filming widescreen for eventual DVD release but
   keeping objects in frame so it could still work when aired in pan and
   scan full frame. To give the audience an immersive and immediate
   feeling, the episodes were filmed in a documentary style with hand-held
   cameras, giving them the look of "found footage," with deliberately
   misframed or out-of-focus subjects As Whedon related: "...don't be
   arch, don't be sweeping - be found, be rough and tumble and
   docu[mentary] and you-are-there." Computer-generated scenes mimicked
   the motion of a hand-held camera. This style was not used, however,
   when shooting scenes that involved the central government, the
   Alliance. Tracking and steady cameras were used to show the sterility
   of this aspect of the Firefly universe. Another style employed was lens
   flares, harkening back to 1970s television. This style was so desired
   that the director of photography, David Boyd, sent back the
   state-of-the-art lenses, which naturally compensated for light flares,
   for cheaper ones.

   Exterior shots of action occurring in outer space realistically lack
   sound effects, an approach that stood in contrast to many science
   fiction films and television series. This style of special effects was
   developed by Zoic Studios, the company responsible for the special
   effects in Firefly. After Firefly was cancelled, Zoic Studios worked on
   the special effects for the re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica, where
   they reused these techniques. In the introductory mini-series for
   Battlestar Galactica, Serenity can be seen flying overhead in an early
   scene.

Set design

   Production designer Carey Meyer built the ship Serenity in two parts as
   a complete set, with ceilings and practical lighting installed as part
   of the set that the cameras could utilize, along with moveable parts.
   As Whedon recalled: "...you could pull it away or move something huge,
   so that you could get in and around everything. That meant the
   environment worked for us and there weren't a lot of adjustments that
   needed to be made." There were other benefits to this set design. One
   was that it allowed the viewer to feel they were really in a ship. For
   Whedon, the design of the ship was crucial in defining the known space
   for the viewer, and that there were not "fourteen hundred decks and a
   holodeck and an all-you-can-eat buffet in the back." He wanted to
   convey that it was utilitarian and that it was "beat-up but lived-in
   and ultimately, it was home." In addition, each room represented a
   feeling or character, usually conveyed by the paint colour. Whedon was
   also keen on utilizing vertical space; thus, having the crew's quarters
   accessible by ladder was important. Another benefit of the set design
   was that it also allowed the actors to stay in the moment and interact,
   without having to stop after each shot and reset up for the next. This
   helped contribute to the documentary-style Whedon strove for.

   The set had several influences, including the sliding doors and the
   tiny cubicles reminiscent of Japanese hotels. Artist Larry Dixon has
   noted that the cargo bay walls are "reminiscent of interlaced,
   overlapping oriental designs, cleverly reminding us of the
   American-Chinese Alliance setting while artistically forming a
   patterned plane for background scale reference." Dixon has also
   remarked on how the set design contributed to the storytelling through
   the use of colour, depth and composition, lighting, as well as its use
   of diagonals and patterned shadows.

   Their small budget was another reason to use the ship for much of the
   storytelling. When the characters did go off of the ship, the worlds
   all had Earth atmosphere and coloring because they could not afford to
   design alien worlds. "I didn't want to go to Yucca Flats every other
   episode and transform it into Bizarro World by making the sky orange,"
   recalled Whedon. As Meyer recalled: "I think in the end the feel was
   that we wound up using a lot of places or exteriors that just felt too
   Western and we didn't necessarily want to go that way; but at some
   point, it just became the lesser of two evils -- what could we actually
   create in three days?"

Music

   The theme song, "The Ballad of Serenity", was written by Joss Whedon
   and performed by Sonny Rhodes. Whedon wrote the song before the series
   was greenlit and a preliminary recording performed by Whedon can be
   found on the DVD release. The soundtrack to the series was released on
   CD on November 8, 2005 by Varèse Sarabande. The musical score expressed
   the cultural fusion depicted in the show. Cowboy guitar blended with
   Asian influence produced the atmospheric background for the series. As
   one reviewer stated:

     Old music from the future — the music of roaring campfires and
     raccous cowboys mixed with the warm, pensive sounds of Asian culture
     and, occasionally, a cold imperial trumpet, heralding the ominous
     structural presence of a domineering government. Completely
     thrilling.

   Greg Edmonson composed the musical score for the series. He stated that
   he wrote for the emotion of the moment. However, one reviewer averred
   that he also wrote for the characters. She went on to further state:
   "...Edmondson has developed a specialized collection of musical
   symbolism for the series..." To help illustrate the collection, she
   gave key "signatures" various names, noting that "Serenity" recalls the
   theme of the show and is used when they return to the ship, or when
   they were meeting clandestinely; it was "the sound of their home." The
   slide guitar and fiddle used in this piece are portable instruments
   which fit the lifestyle of the crew: "...the music they make calls up
   tunes played out in the open, by people who were hundreds of miles away
   yesterday. "Serenity" conjures the nomadic lifestyle the crew leads and
   underlines the western aspect of the show." Another emotional signature
   was "Sad Violin". It was used at the end of the Battle of Serenity
   Valley, but also helped set up the joke for when Mal tells Simon that
   Kaylee is dead in the episode " Serenity". The most memorable use of
   "Sad Violin, however, is at the end of " The Message", when the crew
   mourned the death of Tracey. This was also the last scene of the last
   episode the actors shot, and so this was seen by them, and Edmondson,
   as Firefly's farewell. To denote impending danger, "Peril" was used,
   which is "a low pulse, like a heartbeat, with deep chimes and low
   strings." The reviewer also noted character signatures. The criminal
   Niska has his own signature: Eastern European or Middle Eastern
   melodies over a low drone. Simon and River's signature was a piano
   played sparsely with a violin in the background. This is in contrast to
   the portable instruments of "Serenity": the piano is an instrument that
   cannot be easily moved and evokes the image of "the distant house and
   family they both long for." The various signatures were mostly
   established in the first pilot, "Serenity", and helped enhance the
   narrative. "In every episode, the musical score intensified my
   experience of this intelligent, remarkable show. Using and combining
   all these signatures, Greg Edmondson brought out aspects of Firefly's
   story and characters that were never explicitly revealed in the other
   elements of the series."

Casting

   In casting his nine-member crew, Whedon looked first at the actor and
   their chemistry with others. Cast member Sean Maher recalls, "So then
   he just sort of put us all together, and I think it was very quick,
   like right out of the gate, we all instantly bonded". All nine cast
   members were chosen before filming began. However, while filming the
   original pilot "Serenity", Whedon realized that the actress initially
   cast as Inara Serra ( Rebecca Gayheart) was unfit for the role. He shot
   her scenes in singles so that it would be easier to replace her. Morena
   Baccarin auditioned for the role and two days later was on the set in
   her first television show. "Joss brought me down from the testing room
   like a proud dad, holding my hand and introducing me."

   Whedon approached Nathan Fillion to play the lead role of Malcolm
   Reynolds; after explaining the premise and showing Fillion the
   treatment for the pilot, Fillion was eager for the role. Fillion was
   called back several times to read for the part before he was cast. He
   noted that "it was really thrilling. It was my first lead and I was
   pretty nervous, but I really wanted that part and I wanted to tell
   those stories."

   Alan Tudyk auditioned through a casting office and several months later
   was called in for a test audition, where he met with Whedon. He was
   then told to come back in to test with the possible Zoes (the
   character's wife) and that it was down to him and one other candidate.
   The Zoes did not work out and Tudyk was sent home, but received a call
   on his phone informing him he had the part anyway.

   Veteran science fiction-fantasy actress Gina Torres ( The Matrix
   Reloaded, Xena: Warrior Princess) was not at first interested in doing
   another science fiction show, but "was won over by the quality of the
   source material." As she recalled, "So you had these challenged
   characters inhabiting a challenging world and that makes for great
   storytelling. AND NO ALIENS!" For Adam Baldwin, who grew up watching
   westerns, the character of Jayne Cobb was a role that resonated with
   him.

   Canadian actress Jewel Staite has been an actress since age nine. She
   videotaped her audition from Vancouver and then was asked to come to
   Los Angeles to meet Whedon, when she was cast for the role of Kaylee
   Frye, the ship's engineer.

   Sean Maher recalls reading for the part and liking the character of
   Simon Tam, but that it was Whedon's personality and vision that "sealed
   the deal" for him.

   The veteran television actor Ron Glass ( Barney Miller, All in the
   Family), has said that until Firefly, he had not experienced or sought
   a science-fiction western role but he fell in love with the pilot
   script and the character of Shepherd Book.

Staff and crew

   Tim Minear was selected by Whedon to be the show runner, who serves as
   the head writer and production leader. According to Whedon "[Minear]
   understood the show as well as any human being, and just brought so
   much to it that I think of it as though he were always a part of it."
   Many of the other production staff were selected from people Whedon had
   worked with in the past, with the exception of the director of
   photography David Boyd, who was the "big find" and who was "full of joy
   and energy."

   The writers were selected after interviews and script samplings. Among
   the writers were José Molina, Ben Edlund, Cheryl Cain, Brett Matthews,
   Drew Greenberg and Jane Espenson. Espenson wrote an essay on the
   writing process with Mutant Enemy. A meeting is held and an idea is
   floated, generally by Whedon, and the writers brainstorm to develop the
   central theme of the episode and the character development. Next, the
   staff meets in the anteroom to Whedon's office to begin "breaking" the
   story into acts and scenes. The only one absent is the writer working
   on the previous week's episode. For the team, one of the key components
   to devising acts is deciding where to break for commercial and ensuring
   the viewer returns. "Finding these moments in the story help give it
   shape: think of them as tentpoles that support the structure," wrote
   Espenson. For instance, in "Shindig", the break for commercial occurs
   when Malcolm Reynolds is gravely injured and losing the duel. As
   Espenson elaborates: "It does not end when Mal turns the fight around,
   when he stands victorious over his opponent. They're both big moments,
   but one of them leaves you curious and the other doesn't."

   Next, the writers develop the scenes onto a marker-filled whiteboard,
   featuring a "brief ordered description of each scene." A writer is
   selected to create an outline of the episode's concept — occasionally
   with some dialog and jokes — in one day. The outline is given to
   showrunner Tim Minear, who revises it within a day. The writer uses the
   revised outline to write the first draft of the script while the other
   writers work on developing the next. This first draft is usually
   submitted for revision with three to fourteen days; afterward, a second
   and sometimes third draft is written. After all revisions were made,
   the final draft would be produced as the "shooting draft".

Costume

   Firefly's original costume designer — Jill Ohanneson — brought on
   Shawna Trpcic as her assistant for the pilot. When the show was picked
   up, Ohanneson was involved in another job and declined Firefly,
   suggesting Trpcic for the job. The costumes were chiefly influenced by
   World War II, the American Civil War, the American Old West, and 1861
   samurai Japan. In wanting to convey the feeling of "home" with the
   costumes, Trpcic used deep reds and oranges for the main cast, and
   contrasted that with grays and cool blues for the Alliance. Since the
   characters were often getting shot, Trpcic would make up to six
   versions of the same costume for multiple takes.

   For the character of River, Trpcic used mostly jewel tones to set her
   apart from the rest of the Serenity crew. She also had River wear
   boots, to contrast with the soft fabrics of her clothes, "because
   that's who she is — she's this soft, beautiful, sensitive girl, but
   with this hardcore inner character," recalled Trpcic. Trpcic also
   wanted to contrast the character of Simon, River's brother, with the
   rest of the crew. Whereas they were dressed in cotton, Simon wore wool,
   stiff fabrics, satins and silk. He was the "dandy", but as the show
   progressed, he loosened up slightly. For Kaylee, Trpcic studied up on
   Japanese and Chinese youth, as originally the character was Asian.
   Other inspirations for Kaylee's costumes were Rosie the Riveter and
   Chinese Communist posters. Trpcic designed and created the clothes for
   the minor character of Badger, with Joss Whedon in mind, since he was
   slated to play that part. When Mark A. Sheppard played the role
   instead, he was able to fit into the clothes made for Whedon. For the
   Alliance, besides the grays and cool blues, Trpcic had in mind Nazi
   Germany, but mixed it with different wars, as the first sketches were
   "too Nazi".

Plot

   Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Back story

   The series takes place in the year 2517, on several planets and moons.
   The TV series does not reveal if these celestial bodies are in one star
   system, and does not explain if Serenity's mode of propulsion was
   faster-than-light. The film Serenity makes clear that all the planets
   and moons are in one large system, and production documents related to
   the film indicate that there is no faster-than-light travel in this
   universe. The characters occasionally refer to "Earth-that-was" and in
   the film, it is established that long before the events in the series a
   large population had emigrated from Earth to a new star system in
   multi-generational spaceships: "Earth that was could no longer sustain
   our numbers, we were so many." The emigrants established themselves in
   this new star system, with "dozens of planets and hundreds of moons."
   Many of these were terraformed, a process in which a planet or moon is
   altered to resemble the Earth. The terraforming process was only the
   first step in making a planet habitable, however, and the outlying
   settlements often did not receive any further support in the
   construction of their civilizations. This resulted in many of the
   border planets and moons having forbidding, dry environments, well
   suited to the Western genre.

Synopsis

   The show takes its name from the Firefly-class spaceship, Serenity that
   the central characters call home. It resembles the lightning bug,
   Firefly in general arrangement, and the tail section, analogous to an
   insectoid abdomen, lights up during acceleration.

   Throughout the series the Alliance are shown to govern the star system
   through an organization of "core" planets, following its success in
   forcibly unifying all of the colonies under a single government. DVD
   commentary suggests that two primary "core" planets comprise the
   Alliance, one predominantly Occidental in culture, the other pan-Asian,
   justifying the series' mixed linguistic and visual themes. The central
   planets are firmly under Alliance control, but the outlying planets and
   moons resemble the 19th century American West, with little governmental
   authority. Settlers and refugees on the outlying worlds ("out in the
   black" or "heading for the black") have relative freedom from the
   central government, but lack the amenities of the high-tech
   civilization that exist on the inner worlds. In addition, the outlying
   areas are rife with Reavers, a cannibalistic roving race.

   Into this mix are thrown the protagonists of the show. The captain of
   the crew of Serenity is Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and the
   episode " Serenity" establishes that the captain and his first mate Zoe
   Washburne (Gina Torres) are veteran " Browncoats" of the Unification
   War, a failed attempt by the outlying worlds to resist the Alliance's
   assertion of control. A later episode, titled " Out of Gas", reveals
   that Mal bought the spaceship Serenity in order to continue living
   beyond Alliance control. Much of the crew's work consists of cargo runs
   or smuggling. One of the main story arcs is that of River Tam ( Summer
   Glau) and her brother Simon ( Sean Maher). River was a child prodigy,
   whose brain was subjected to experiments. As a result, she displays
   schizophrenia and often hears voices. It is later revealed that she is
   a "reader", one who possesses psychic abilities. Simon gave up a highly
   successful career as a surgeon to rescue her from the Alliance. They
   join the crew in the original pilot "Serenity", and as a result of this
   rescue they are both wanted criminals. As Whedon states in an episodic
   DVD commentary, every show he does is about creating family. By the
   last episode, " Objects in Space", the fractured character of River has
   finally become whole, partly because the others decided to accept her
   into their "family" on the ship.

Signature show elements

   The show featured a blend of elements from the space opera and Western
   genres, depicting mankind's future in a different manner than most
   contemporary science fiction programs in that there are no alien
   creatures or space battles. Firefly takes place in a multi-cultural
   future, where there is a significant division between the rich and
   poor. As a result of the Sino-American Alliance, Mandarin Chinese is a
   common second language; it is used in advertisements, and characters in
   the show frequently use Chinese words and curses. According to the DVD
   commentary on the episode "Serenity", this was explained as being the
   result of China and the United States being the two superpowers that
   expanded into space.

   The show also features slang not used in contemporary culture, such as
   adaptations of modern words, or new words altogether (e.g. "shiny" as a
   synonym of "cool"). The Japanese katakana and an Old West dialect are
   also employed. As one reviewer noted: "The dialogue tended to be a
   bizarre puree of wisecracks, old-timey Western-paperback patois, and
   snatches of Chinese."

   Tim Minear and Joss Whedon have pointed to several scenes that they
   believed articulated the mission statement of the show. One scene is in
   the original pilot "Serenity", when Mal is eating with chopsticks and a
   Western tin cup is by his plate; the other is in the "The Train Job"
   pilot, when Mal is thrown out of a holographical bar window. The DVD
   set's 'making-of' documentary reveals the series' distinctive
   frontispiece (wherein Reynolds' ship, Serenity, soars over a corral of
   unshod horses) as Whedon's attempt to capture "everything you need to
   understand about the series in five seconds."

   One of the struggles that Whedon had with FOX was the tone of the show,
   especially with the main character Malcolm Reynolds. FOX pressured
   Whedon to make his character more "jolly", as they feared he was too
   dark in the original pilot. In addition, FOX was not happy that the
   show involved the "nobodies" who "get squished by policy" instead of
   the actual policy makers.

Episodes and broadcast history

   Firefly consists of one two-hour pilot and thirteen one-hour episodes.
   The show originally aired in the United States in 2002 on FOX, although
   FOX aired the episodes out of the intended order and did not air three
   of the fourteen episodes.

   Although the show had a loyal following during its original broadcast,
   low ratings resulted in cancellation by FOX in December 2002 after only
   eleven episodes had aired in the United States and Canada. Prior to
   cancellation, some fans, worried about low ratings, formed the Firefly
   Immediate Assistance campaign whose goal was to support the production
   of the show by sending in postcards to FOX. After it was cancelled, the
   campaign worked on getting another network such as UPN to pick up the
   series. The campaign was unsuccessful in securing the show's
   continuation.

   Variety magazine cited several actions by the FOX network that
   contributed to the low ratings, most notably the fact that FOX aired
   the episodes out of chronological order, making the plot more difficult
   to follow, and occasionally preempted the show for sporting events. For
   instance, the two-hour episode "Serenity" was intended to be the
   series' premiere episode, and therefore contained most of the character
   introductions and back-story. However, FOX decided that "Serenity" was
   unsuitable to open the series, and the episode, "The Train Job", was
   specifically created to act as a new pilot. In addition, Firefly was
   promoted as an action- comedy rather than the more serious character
   study it was intended to be.

DVD release

   A box set containing the fourteen completed episodes (including those
   which had not yet aired in the United States), was released on region 1
   DVD on December 9, 2003, region 2 DVD on April 19, 2004, and region 4
   DVD on August 2, 2004. The box features the episodes in the original
   order in which the show's producers had intended them to be broadcast,
   as well as seven episode commentaries, outtakes and other features. The
   DVDs feature the episodes as they were shot in 16:9 widescreen, with
   anamorphic transfers and Dolby Surround audio.

   By September 2005, its DVD release had sold approximately 500,000
   copies and was one of the top movers at Amazon.com for months. At
   Amazon.com the DVDs had average daily rankings of between 1st and 75th
   in 2003, 22nd and 397th in 2004, 2nd and 232nd in 2005, and 2nd and
   31st in 2006 as of June 27, 2006.

   FOX has recently remastered the complete series in 1080i Hi-Definition
   for release on UHD.

Cast

   Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Main characters

   Firefly maintained an ensemble cast that portrayed the nine crew
   members of the ship, Serenity. These characters fight criminals and
   schemers, Alliance security forces, the utterly psychotic and brutal
   Reavers, and the mysterious men with "hands of blue" — who are
   apparently operatives of a secret agency which is part of the
   mega-corporation referred to in the DVD commentary only as The Blue Sun
   Corporation. The crew is driven by the need to secure enough income to
   keep their ship operational, set against their need to keep a low
   profile to avoid their adversaries. Their situation is greatly
   complicated by the divergent motivations of the individuals on board
   Serenity. The show's brief run did not allow full elucidation of all
   the complex interrelationships of the cast and their external contacts.
     * Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds, played by Nathan Fillion, is Serenity's
       captain and former Independent sergeant in the pivotal Battle of
       Serenity Valley.
     * Zoe Alleyne Washburne, played by Gina Torres, is second-in-command
       onboard Serenity, loyal wartime friend of Captain Reynolds, and
       wife of Wash.
     * Hoban "Wash" Washburne, played by Alan Tudyk, is Serenity's pilot
       and Zoe's somewhat timid husband. He expresses jealousy over his
       wife's "war buddy" relationship and unconditional support of their
       captain, most particularly in the episode " War Stories".
     * Inara Serra, played by Morena Baccarin, is a Companion, which is
       the 26th century equivalent of a courtesan or geisha. Like her
       Renaissance counterparts, Inara enjoys high social standing. She
       and Mal have a strained relationship, with unspoken romantic
       tension playing a significant part in several episodes.
     * Jayne Cobb, played by Adam Baldwin, is the hired muscle. He joined
       the crew for mercenary reasons, is often the "main gun" for jobs
       and is someone that can be depended on in a fight. He is a "lummox"
       but thinks he is the smartest guy in space. As Whedon states
       several times, he is the person that will ask the questions that no
       one else wants to talk about.
     * Kaywinnit Lee "Kaylee" Frye, played by Jewel Staite, is the ship's
       mechanic. In the episode " Out of Gas", it is established that she
       has no formal training, but keeps Serenity running with an
       intuitive gift for the workings of mechanical equipment. A carefree
       and bubbly young woman, Kaylee has a crush on Dr. Simon Tam.
       Kaylee's character is the soul of the ship: according to creator
       Joss Whedon, if Kaylee believes something, it is true.
     * Dr. Simon Tam, played by Sean Maher, is a medical researcher and
       trauma surgeon of the first caliber (top 3% in his class at a top
       core planet institution), who is on the run after breaking his
       sister River out of a government research facility. His bumbling
       attempts at a relationship with Kaylee are a recurring subplot
       throughout the series, and at every turn he seems to find a way to
       unwittingly foil his own romantic desires. His life is defined by
       caring for his sister.
     * River Tam, played by Summer Glau, was smuggled onto the ship by her
       brother. River was a child prodigy of unparalleled genius, but she
       was experimented upon at the hands of Alliance doctors, leaving her
       delusional and erratic. Her personal journey of self-discovery is a
       running theme throughout the series and the movie.
     * Derrial Book, played by Ron Glass, is a "Shepherd" (equivalent of a
       reverend, minister or pastor). In the episode " Safe", it is
       revealed that he has priority status in the Alliance for
       unspecified reasons. Throughout the series, he demonstrates a
       peculiar depth of knowledge about firearms and criminal activities,
       such as an electromagnetic field ("net") that disables ships and
       leaves them vulnerable in space in the episode " Our Mrs.
       Reynolds".

   All nine major characters appear in every episode, with one exception:
   Book is absent from " Ariel".

   Three members of the Firefly cast appeared on Joss Whedon's other TV
   series as villains. Fillion was cast as Caleb in the final season of
   Buffy the Vampire Slayer, while Torres and Baldwin took on recurring
   roles on Angel in its fourth and fifth seasons respectively (characters
   Jasmine and Marcus Hamilton). Summer Glau had appeared in the
   third-season Angel episode " Waiting in the Wings" before she was cast
   in Firefly. In addition, Jewel Staite appeared in several episodes of
   the Tim Minear-produced Wonderfalls.

Recurring characters

   Despite the short run of the series, some recurring characters emerged
   from the inhabitants of the Firefly universe:
     * Badger, played by Mark Sheppard, is an established smuggling
       middleman on the planet Persephone. He provided jobs for Serenity
       on at least two occasions. In the DVD commentary for the episode
       "Serenity," it was revealed that this part was originally written
       with the intention of Whedon himself playing the part. Badger
       appeared in the original pilot "Serenity" and in " Shindig", with a
       return in the comic book series Serenity: Those Left Behind.
     * Adelei Niska, played by Michael Fairman, is a criminal kingpin who
       has a reputation for violent reprisals, including severe, prolonged
       torture, against those who fail him or even irritate him. He
       appeared in "The Train Job" and "War Stories".
     * "Saffron", played by Christina Hendricks, is a con artist whose
       original name is unknown. In the series she also used the aliases
       "Bridget" and "Yolanda", leading Mal to jokingly refer to her as
       the compound "YoSaffBridge" in the episode " Trash". She has a
       habit of marrying her marks in order to achieve her scams. She
       first appeared in the episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds".
     * "The Hands of Blue": Two anonymous men wearing suits and blue
       gloves who pursue River, apparently to return her to the institute
       she escaped from, as shown in "The Train Job", "Ariel", and the
       Serenity: Those Left Behind comic. They kill anyone, including
       Alliance personnel, who had contact with her, using a mysterious
       hand-held device that causes fatal bleeding to anyone in its
       proximity.

   Spoilers end here.

Reception

Critical review

   On the day it premiered, Boston Globe ran a story that was positive,
   stating that Firefly "...is a mess - a wonderful, imaginative mess
   brimming with possibility. About a dysfunctional family of space
   cowboys, the sci-fi series arrives not fully formed, like an elaborate
   photo that's still clarifying in developing fluid. While many shows
   burst onto the scene with slick pilots and quickly deteriorate into
   mediocrity, I'm thinking "Firefly" is on the opposite creative
   journey." However, Tim Goodman with the San Francisco Chronicle panned
   it. He felt that the melding of the western and science fiction genres
   was a "forced hodgepodge of two alarmingly opposite genres just for the
   sake of being different." He summed up his scathing review with this
   statement: "To call "Firefly" a vast disappointment is an
   understatement. Whedon has proven he's capable of brilliance, but this
   is mere folly." Other critics appeared to dismiss the show after the
   first two episodes, "The Train Job" and " Bushwhacked". In its October
   3, 2002, review, Salon.com stated:

     ...Whedon's new relativist characters seem a little lost.
     Admittedly, this is the point, but the show lacks the kind of
     psychological tension that makes "Buffy" snap. As much as the space
     and western genres have in common, "Firefly" could have probably
     done without the western soundtrack and the vague "Bonanza" look
     too. It's not just that the "space as Wild West" metaphor is
     somewhat redundant, but that neither genre binds the series to the
     present.

   The reviewer conceded, however, that with only two episodes, it was
   worth giving Whedon the benefit of the doubt and that the inability to
   resonate with its viewers could be the fault of FOX for not airing the
   original pilot. By the time the show was cancelled, however, subsequent
   episodes had drawn more favorable reviews:

     Firefly is an absolutely brilliant show, perhaps the best sci-fi
     show on television today — and certainly the one with the most
     potential for future brilliance. In the weeks since its weak opening
     episodes, the series has run off a string of seven strong shows that
     would be the envy of any other TV show on the air today.

   When the DVD was released in time for Christmas the following year, The
   New York Times had this to say:

     the show featured an oddball genre mix that might have doomed it
     from the beginning: it was a character-rich sci-fi western
     comedy-drama with existential underpinnings, a hard sell during a
     season dominated by 'Joe Millionaire.'"

   Another reviewer commented:

     Despite its brief run, Whedon-aholics embraced it and fought to keep
     it on the air. After watching the DVD box set, it's easy to see why.
     All of Whedon's fingerprints are there: The witty dialogue, the
     quirky premises and dark exploration of human fallacy that made
     "Buffy" brilliant found their way to this space drama.

Cult status

   In 2005, New Scientist magazine's website held an internet poll to find
   "The World's Best Space Sci-Fi Ever". Firefly came in first place, with
   its cinematic follow-up Serenity in second. Also, as of September 2006,
   it is the highest rated Sci-Fi show of all time according to an online
   poll conducted by tv.com.

   On May 9, 2006, the Firefly episodes were added to the iTunes Music
   Store for download as part of FOX Television Classics along with Buffy
   the Vampire Slayer and Lost in Space. The episodes were initially
   listed in the order FOX originally aired them, but due to comments from
   fans in the Store, the episodes were listed in the order in which
   Whedon originally intended.

   Brad Wright, co-creator of Stargate SG-1 has said that " 200", the
   200th episode of SG-1, is "A little kiss to Serenity and Firefly, which
   was possibly one of the best cancelled series in history." In the
   episode, "Martin Lloyd has come to the S.G.C. because even though "
   Wormhole X-Treme!" was cancelled after three episodes it did so well on
   DVD they're making a feature [film]."

Fandom

   The show generated a following during its short lifetime. The original
   fans, self-styled Browncoats, first organized to try to save the series
   from being cancelled by FOX. Their efforts included raising money for
   an ad in Variety magazine and a postcard writing campaign to UPN. While
   unsuccessful in finding a host network, support for the show led to a
   release of the series on DVD in December of 2004. Eventually, enough
   interest was shown to convince Universal Studios to produce a feature
   film, Serenity. Numerous early screenings were held for existing fans
   in an attempt to create a buzz and increase ticket sales when it was
   released widely.

   June 23, 2006 was considered Serenity Day, on which fans bought — and
   got others to buy — copies of the Serenity and Firefly DVDs in hopes of
   convincing Universal that creating a sequel was a good business
   decision. On this day, Serenity and Firefly were ranked second and
   third, respectively, on the DVD Best Sellers list. June 23, 2006 also
   saw worldwide fan-organized charity screenings of Serenity, dubbed
   Serenity Now/Equality Now.

   In July 2006, a fan-made documentary was released, "Done the
   Impossible", and is available on Amazon.com. The documentary relates
   the story of the fans and how the show has affected them, and also
   features interviews with Whedon and various cast members. A percentage
   of the DVD proceeds are donated to Whedon's favorite charity, Equality
   Now.

Awards

     * Won the Emmy Award: Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a
       Series, 2003
     * Won the Visual Effects Society: Best visual effects in a television
       series, 2003 (episode "Serenity")
     * Won the Saturn Award: Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award,
       Male, 2003 (Nathan Fillion)
     * Won the Saturn Award: Saturn Award for Best DVD Release
       (television), 2004
     * Won the SyFy Genre Awards: Best Actor/Television Nathan Fillion,
       2006
     * Won the SyFy Genre Awards: Best Supporting Actor/Television Adam
       Baldwin, 2006
     * Won the SyFy Genre Awards: Best Special Guest/Television Christina
       Hendricks for "Trash", 2006
     * Won the SyFy Genre Awards: Best Episode/Television "Trash", 2006
     * Won the SyFy Genre Awards: Best Series/Television, 2006
     * Nominated for Visual Effects Society: Best compositing in a
       televised program, music video, or commercial, 2003
     * Nominated for Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA, "Golden Reel
       Award": Best sound editing in television long form: sound effects/
       foley, 2003
     * Nominated for Hugo Award: Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form,
       2003 (episode "Serenity")
     * Nominated for Hugo Award: Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form,
       2004 (episodes "Heart of Gold" and "The Message", which at that
       time had not been shown on television in the USA)
     * Nominated for Golden Satellite Award: Best DVD Extras, 2004

Spin-offs

   Joss Whedon said in an April 2003 USA Today interview that he had not
   given up on the show and hoped to continue it in any format. As a
   result, several spin-offs from the television series have been released
   in the years following its cancellation, spanning various forms of
   media.

Feature film Serenity

   When attempts to have another network pick up the show failed, creator
   Joss Whedon decided to try and sell his concept as a film. Through a
   connection, he was introduced to Mary Parent with Universal Pictures,
   who immediately signed on after watching the episodes on DVD. By June
   of 2003, actors Nathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin confirmed this on the
   official Firefly forum, as did Whedon in several interviews. Serenity
   was released in Australia on September 29, 2005, the United States and
   Canada on September 30, 2005, and the United Kingdom and Ireland weeks
   later. It received generally positive reviews and opened at number two,
   taking in $10.1 million its first weekend, spending two weeks in the
   top ten, and totaling a domestic box office gross of $25.5 million and
   a foreign box office gross of $13.3 million. Serenity won film of the
   year awards from Film 2005 and FilmFocus. It also won IGN Film's Best
   Sci-Fi, Best Story and Best Trailer awards and was runner up for the
   Overall Best Movie. It also won the Nebula Award for Best Script for
   2005, the 7th annual 'User Tomato Awards' for best Sci-Fi movie of 2005
   at Rotten Tomatoes, the 2006 viewers choice Spacey Award for favorite
   movie, the 2006 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
   and the 2006 Prometheus Special Award.

   As a form of viral marketing for the film, Whedon released the R. Tam
   sessions, which are set before the television series. They were
   released unofficially by Whedon via the internet from August 16, 2005
   to September 5, 2005.

   At a preview screening for the film, Whedon indicated that he would
   consider reviving the series if a network purchased the broadcast
   rights from FOX Television as he will not work with FOX again.

   The film takes place around two months after the events of the final
   episode and focuses on the character arcs of River and her involvement
   with the Alliance, and Mal. As Whedon stated, the film is "Mal's story
   as told by River."

Other

   A three-issue comic book miniseries titled Serenity: Those Left Behind
   was written by Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews, illustrated by Will
   Conrad and Laura Martin, and published by Dark Horse Comics. It serves
   as a link between the final episode of the series (" Objects in Space")
   and the film Serenity. Each issue featured three different covers,
   depicting one of the nine main characters. In turn, each version had a
   different illustrator, including Joe Quesada, Bryan Hitch, Tim
   Bradstreet, John Cassaday and Jo Chen. The first issue was published in
   July 2005, and the final one appeared in September of the same year.
   The story focuses on the crew of Serenity taking a salvage job from
   Badger following a botched theft on a backwater planet, and the pursuit
   of River by the ominous blue-gloved men. The story is considered part
   of the Firefly canon and bridges the television show and the movie. The
   comics quickly sold out on release and both #1 and #2 issues went to
   second printings. A compilation trade paperback was released in January
   2006. It has been recently confirmed that Joss Whedon and Brett
   Matthews will write more Serenity comics for Dark Horse. The new comics
   are expected to be released sometime in mid-to-late 2006 or early 2007.

   A role-playing game entitled Serenity, published by Margaret Weis
   Productions, Ltd, was released in 2005. The first adventure, Out in the
   Black by Laura and Tracy Hickman, was released on March 15, 2006.

   Following the motion picture release of Serenity and its subsequent
   novelization, a Firefly-based book series of original stories will be
   released. It is not yet known if they will be considered canonical, as
   is the comic book series, although it is unlikely considering Whedon's
   comments regarding the film novelization: "I don't have much
   involvement … I just whistle and look the other way." Keith R. A.
   DeCandido, author of the Serenity movie novelization, said in an
   interview in November 2005 that two novels are definitely going to be
   published. Additional books may follow, depending on the success of the
   franchise. There is no news on who will write the novels, although
   DeCandido and Steven Brust hope to publish one. In fact Steven Brust
   has both completed and submitted his novel and has done readings of his
   manuscript at various conventions since November 2005. Details on when
   in the Firefly time-line they will be set, who will be in the novels,
   or what the plots will be are also not forthcoming. According to
   Amazon.com, DeCandido is set to write a 304-page novel known as Mirror
   Image, which will be set in the Firefly universe, and is to be released
   on July 1, 2009. However, DeCandido has denied this in several
   interviews.

   A non-fiction book about the series, Finding Serenity: Anti-Heroes,
   Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly, was edited
   by Jane Espenson with Glenn Yeffeth, and was published in paperback on
   April 1, 2005. Its collection of essays analyze the various themes and
   ideas of Firefly. Another book of essays has been proposed, however,
   these would be scholarly essays about Firefly and Serenity. More
   information can be found directly at Critical Studies in Television. No
   specific publisher has been declared for the proposed book. As a follow
   up to his Serenity: The Official Visual Companion, Joss Whedon has
   written a two-volume book known as Firefly: The Official Visual
   Companion. The first volume is 176 pages, published by Titan Books and
   released on September 1, 2006.
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