Firefly

Firefly
Premiere	September 20, 2002
Finale	December 20, 2002
Creator	Joss Whedon
Network/Provider	FOX
Style	60-minute sci-fi drama
Company	Mutant Enemy, Inc., 20th Century Fox Television
Seasons	1
Episodes	14 (List of episodes)
Origin	USA

"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 technology, some... Not so much. The central planets, they formed the Alliance and waged war to bring everyone under their rule. A few idiots tried to fight it, among them, myself. I'm Malcolm Reynolds, captain of Serenity, she's a transport ship, Firefly class. Got a good crew. Fighters, pilot, mechanic, even picked us up a Preacher for some reason, and a bona-fide Companion. There's a Doctor too, took his genius sister out of some Alliance camp so they're keeping a low profile, you understand. You got a job, we can do it... Don't much care what it is."

Firefly was, like many of Whedon's works, an extremely different program, being as it focused on the crew of a run-down freighter that, as Whedon put it, "the Enterprise would have just blown right past and never noticed." Unfortunately, the network that picked it up, FOX, apparently was not looking for a 'different' series, or not looking for a science fiction show. The show was placed in the Friday Night Death Slot (8PM Friday), a universally despised place where it is nearly impossible to garner a decent amount of viewers, and then canned after just 11 of the 15 episodes had run.

The basic plot of Firefly was that Earth, or "Earth-That-Was", had been drained dry of resources and mankind had reached out to the stars, colonizing a series of planets. At some point, the Alliance decided to unite all the colonies under one totalitarian banner. Some colonies objected to this, and there was a bloody conflict between Alliance forces and the Independent freedom fighters.

The show centers around one battered Firefly-class transport, Serenity, named after one of the bloodiest battles in the war for independence. The ship is crewed by mercenaries, led by former Browncoat Malcolm Reynolds. His goal: "Find a crew, find a job... Keep flying."

Firefly, just in its few episodes, developed characters that many fans formed a deep attachment to. When the show was prematurely canceled, the fan base began a long, hard campaign for the show's revival. The campaign was aided when FOX released the fifteen filmed Firefly episodes on DVD in 2004, and it rapidly amassed a cult following. The fan campaign paid off in 2004 and 2005 when a Firefly feature film, entitled Serenity, was announced.

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale				#
FOX
Season One	September 20, 2002	December 20, 2002				14

Feature Films

Title			Release Date
Serenity			September 30, 2005

Comics

Series	Premiere	Finale				#
Those Left Behind	July 20, 2005	September 9, 2005				3
Better Days	March 12, 2008	May 14, 2008				3
Leaves on the Wind	January 29, 2014	June 25, 2014				6

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series
• Mythology: The mythology behind the Firefly universe
• Locations and Places: A list of all the different locations known in the Firefly universe
• Ships and Technology: A listing of all the technology that populates the series, including ships and weaponry

DVD Releases

Title			Release			Discs
Complete Series  (Region 1)
The Complete Series			January 1, 2004	purchase		4
Complete Series  (Region A)
The Complete Series			November 11, 2008	purchase		3
Feature Films  (Region 1)
Serenity			December 20, 2005	purchase		1
Serenity (Collector's Edition)			August 21, 2007	purchase		2

External Sites

• Firefly Wiki — Features many details, including the episode scripts
• Firefly at Television Without Pity
• Firefly Fans: Large Firefly fansite
• Firefly-Serenity Chinese Pinyinary — Translations of the Chinese phrases in Firefly and Serenity