A few months ago my husband and I discovered Firefly, a very short-lived series created by Joss Whedon of Buffy fame among other things. The series originally aired in 2002 on Fox, but somehow my husband and I completely missed it–never even knew it existed. I think I’m glad I didn’t, because last night we watched the last episode. (Thanks to NetFlicks we’ve been watching them start to finish on DVD.) I KNEW the series was short, but C’MON! I was left feeling bereft–disbelieving that they could end something so great. Can you mourn a TV series?
Okay, so what made this so great? Just about everything. It’s a combination of science fiction and old west. The characters are great, layered and not at all cliche. 
There are mysteries galore. It is an exemplary example of how story-telling should be done. And it’s also an example of how commercialism can be a real threat to great stories. If you watch the “Special Features,” you’ll learn how the powers at Fox didn’t like the series from the beginning because they didn’t think it started out fast enough–with enough bang. They actually ran the series out of order so they could start with a more fast-paced episode than the intended pilot which had a lot of backstory and set-up.
Backstory can be a drain on a story–but it isn’t always. It’s sad that the powers that be underestimate all of us so completely, and dictate by the “rules” rather than what works in the individual piece.
Anyway, if you haven’t seen it, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s one DVD worth buying and watching over and over–especially if you are a writer. After you see the series, you’ll want to check out the movie too. We saw Serenity first (that’s how we discovered Firefly), but now that I’ve watched the series, I plan on going back and watching the movie again–if I can stand the pain of saying good-bye to all those characters yet again.
One last comment on the movie, I almost didn’t pick it up the first time because the image of River (female on cover) was so well, the way it is. In the story she isn’t a sexy Hollywood siren at all–just a tortured complicated youth who looks a lot more like Wednesday in the Addams family than a sultry heart-stomper.
I *so* love this series. I watched it on DVD via Blockbuster online LOL and then saw the movie *sigh*. I really need to buy my own set (and keep hoping that someone like Sci Fi would pick it up and keep it going!)
by cece July 10th, 2006 at 7:51 pmI think it’s a lost cause–Zoe is in that new series now, and since in the movie they killed off two characters, what would happen with that?
by Lori July 12th, 2006 at 8:21 pmI wonder if they would do another movie???
I miss River and Kaylee…and Mal. I miss Mal in ways I don’t know you well enough to share. :)
by NicoletteRivers July 13th, 2006 at 6:18 pmI know I know total wishful thinking but *sigh*…….Nicolette I hear you!
I know I saw Zoe’s character in something recently but I’ll be darned if I can remember what it was.
by Cece July 18th, 2006 at 11:32 am