"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 | Future | Spacecraft

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:

The sound made by Mel's hand gun is the same sound as the titular character's hand gun in the Spaghetti Western Django (1966), played by Franco Nero.

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

Strangely Intriguing

I have to admit, I had serious doubts about this show. I hate westerns, and a sci-fi/western combination sounded like a really bad show concept--especially since the most recognizable actor in the show was a guy who had a minor part in Two Guys, A Girl, and A Pizza Place (itself a pretty forgettable show). But I found myself getting drawn into this series very quickly. It is very witty, as well as suspenseful. The characters are a lot of fun, too. It is definitely a little quirkier than most of the shows out there, but is that really a bad thing? I loved the banter, loved the acting, and was very disappointed to watch the last episode last night. This show deserved better than to be canceled in the middle of its first run. I'm guessing that the humor was too high-brow for most of the TV watchers of the world.