When Joss Whedon, the creative force around the phenomenal Buffy the Vampire Slayer said that he was going to create an old-timey American wild west world, people started to become interested. When he then said that it would be set in the future and in space, interest sky rocketed (sorry about the pun).
Set in a future where humanity has set out across the stars and found lots of new homes. The show focuses on a rag-tag group of smugglers on a little ship called Serenity. Headed by Mal, a soldier on the losing side of a galactic civil war, the crew’s simply a small group of souls trying to make a not so honest living.
And if they have to defy the governing Alliance and rub them up the wrong way? Well that just makes it all the sweeter.
Be it Mal himself, all charm and swagger, Wash the joke-spouting pilot, Zoe the hard as nails right-hand lady or the loveable mechanic Kaylee, the crew are a clutch of characters barely equalled in TV.
They are perfectly matched by the traditionally brilliant scripts from Whedon and his team of writers, who cram as much fun, peril and snappy, spunky dialogue
While some of the cast have gone on to good fortune (lead Nathan Fillion's show Castle does him quite nicely), it’s not been all roses and sunshine for the ensemble that Joss Whedon calls to this day ‘The best meat puppet’s I’ve ever controlled.” High praise indeed from a man who’s just come off the Avengers set. Purely from what’s on screen though, he’s not too far wrong.
They push the show past just an exceptionally written sci-fi show and turn it into something with real heart. Forget the space ships and guns, this crew would be brilliant in any show. The chemistry is obvious to anyone with even the loosest knowledge of people, something that’s always been confirmed by the actors to this day.
The world itself is a character too. More fleshed out than it has any need to be, this part American, part Chinese world is fascinatingly grubby in parts and gleaming in others. It’s also shot totally unlike a TV show usually is, looking brilliantly unique throughout and making the show age exceptionally well. Despite the lack of money and the ravages of time, Firefly still looks like it could have come out yesterday.
Despite all of its abundantly clear qualities though, the studios never really got behind the project. Giving Joss Whedon a tiny budget to shoot on (made even harder in the world of sci-fi), demanding a change of the show’s running order and even arguing about the show’s aspect ratio.
With the show only getting middling ratings when it aired as well, despite critical acclaim, network Fox decided to cancel the show even before the series had ended. Shown out of order and cut down before it’s time, Firefly was mangled on TV.
With its early cancellation a perennial fountain of angst for the geek masses, Firefly’s fan base has only grown since it went off the air. Instantly, protests were made against Fox, even raising money to take out a pleading ad in Variety magazine. While they didn’t save the show, they did get it on to DVD, where not only was the show how it was meant to be, but very successful.
Eventually, though stunts and continued support the fans even helped to get a spin-off film made. Titled ‘Serenity’ the film was unfortunately a commercial failure, failing to do more than break even, but also stands out as a superb slice of sci-fi.
That ten years later their reunion panel at Comic-Con last weekend proved to be one of the biggest hitters at the entire show only goes to demonstrate in intense following the show has created over the years.
Funny, thrilling and always heart-warming, there may only be 14 episodes of Firefly, but every moment spent with the crew of the good ship Serenity is one to savour.
FemaleFirst Cameron Smith
Tagged in Joss Whedon TV Nathan Fillion Hidden Gems