Firefly
Genre	Comedy-drama Space Western
Created by	Joss Whedon
Developed by	Joss Whedon
Starring	see below
Theme music composer	Joss Whedon
Opening theme	"The Ballad of Serenity"
Composer(s)	Greg Edmonson Joss Whedon
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English, Mandarin
No. Comedy-drama, also called dramedy and dramatic-comedy, is a style of Television and movies in which there is an equal or nearly equal balance Space Western is a subgenre of Science fiction, primarily grounded in film and television that transposes themes of American Western books and film to a backdrop Joseph Hill " Joss " Whedon ( born June 23, 1964 in New York City is an Academy Award -nominated and Hugo Award Greg Edmonson is a Music composer for television and movies He is primarily known for composing the Soundtrack to the cancelled TV series Firefly The United States of America —commonly referred to as the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Standard Mandarin, also known as Standard Spoken Chinese, is the official modern Chinese spoken language used in mainland China and Taiwan of seasons	1
No.  of episodes	14 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Joss Whedon Tim Minear
Producer(s)	Ben Edlund
Editor(s)	Lisa Lassek
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	approx. The following is an episode list for the Joss Whedon Television series Firefly. Tim Minear (born October 29 1963 is an American screenwriter and director Ben Edlund (born 1968 is a Comic book Artist and Writer and television Screenwriter. Lisa Lassek is a Film producer and editor whose credits include her role as Associate Producer for the television series Firefly. The single-camera setup (aka single-camera mode of production is a method of shooting films and television programs 45 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel	FOX
Picture format	NTSC 480i 16:9 HDTV 1080i
Audio format	5.1 Surround Sound
Original run	September 20, 2002 – August 19, 2003
Chronology
Followed by	Serenity comic miniseries
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Firefly is an American science fiction television series created by writer/director Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, under his Mutant Enemy Productions. NTSC ( National Television System Committee) is the Analog television system used in the United States, Canada, Japan, Mexico 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode The i, which is sometimes uppercase stands for Interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution The aspect ratio of an Image is its width divided by its height High-definition television (HDTV is a Digital television Broadcasting system with higher resolution than traditional television systems (standard-definition 51, Multichannel audio, Multichannel music Surround 3D Surround 5 Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 43 BC - Octavian, later known as Augustus compels the Roman Senate to elect him Consul. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Several comic book miniseries have been released under the Serenity title set in the fictional universe created for Joss Whedon 's Firefly television The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A television program (US television programme (UK or television show (U Joseph Hill " Joss " Whedon ( born June 23, 1964 in New York City is an Academy Award -nominated and Hugo Award Fictional narratives (and works of art exist beyond their completion e Angel is an American Television series, a Spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mutant Enemy Productions is the Production company created in 1997 by Joss Whedon to produce Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Its naturalistic future setting, modeled after traditional Western movie motifs, presents an atypical backdrop for the science fiction narrative. The Western is a fiction Genre seen in Film, Television, Radio, Literature, Painting and other Visual arts. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear. Motion Pictures An executive producer of a Motion picture is typically a producer who is sometimes involved in creative or technical aspects of production Tim Minear (born October 29 1963 is an American screenwriter and director

Firefly premiered in the United States and Canada on the FOX network on September 20, 2002. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. It was canceled after only eleven of the fourteen produced episodes were aired. In television cancellation (known as axing in Australia and the United Kingdom refers to the termination of a program by the network, typically because This may be because FOX aired the episodes out of order. Despite the series' relatively short life span, it received strong sales when it was released on DVD, and has impressive fan support campaigns. DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is ^[1][2] It won an Emmy in 2003 for "Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series". The year 2003 in television involved some significant eventsBelow is a list of Television -related events in 2003. The post-airing success of the show led Whedon and Universal Pictures to produce a film based on the series, titled Serenity after the fictional Firefly-class spaceship featured in the show. Universal Studios (sometimes called Universal Pictures or Universal City Studios) a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is a major Global American Serenity is a 2005 space western Film written and directed by Joss Whedon. A spacecraft is a Vehicle or machine designed for Spaceflight. ^[3]

The series is set in the year 2517, after humans have arrived at a new star system, and follows the adventures of the renegade crew of Serenity, a Firefly-class spaceship. This is a list of fictional Planets and moons from the Firefly / Serenity Fiction. Serenity is a fictional spaceship originally featured in the Science fiction television series Firefly. The ensemble cast portrays the nine characters who live on Serenity. An ensemble cast is a cast in which the principal performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance in a dramatic production Whedon pitched the show as "nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things". ^[4]

The show explores the lives of people who fought on the losing side of a civil war and now make a living on the outskirts of the society, as well as the pioneer culture that exists on the fringes of their star system. The Unification War is a major fictional event in the backstory of Joss Whedon 's television show, Firefly and its motion picture sequel A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there often to colonize the area In addition, it is a future where the only two surviving superpowers, the United States and China, fused to form the central federal government, called the Alliance, resulting in the fusion of the two cultures as well. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National In the Firefly television series the Alliance is a powerful authoritarian government and law-enforcement organization that controls the majority of territory According to Whedon's vision, "nothing will change in the future: technology will advance, but we will still have the same political, moral, and ethical problems as today. "^[5]

Contents 1 Production 1.1 Genesis 1.2 Format 1.3 Set design 1.4 Music 1.5 Casting 1.6 Staff and crew 1.7 Costume 2 Plot 2.1 Back story 2.2 Synopsis 2.3 Signature show elements 3 Cast 3.1 Main characters 3.2 Recurring characters 4 Reception 4.1 Critical review 4.2 Cult status 4.3 Fandom 4.4 Awards 5 Broadcast history 6 Spin-offs 6.1 Feature films 6.1.1 Serenity 6.1.2 Serenity sequel 6.2 Comics 6.3 Roleplaying game 6.4 Books 6.5 Computer game 7 Notes 8 References 9 External links

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. The Killer Angels ( 1974) is a historical novel by Michael Shaara that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1975. Background and movement to battle See also [[Gettysburg Campaign]] [[Gettysburg Battlefield]] [[Gettysburg Confederate order of battle]] [[Confederate order of battle]] Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South He wished to follow people who had fought on the losing side of a war and their experiences 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. A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there often to colonize the area ^[6] He intended the show to be "a Stagecoach kind of drama with a lot of people trying to figure out their lives in a bleak and pioneer environment. Stagecoach is a Western film directed by John Ford, starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne in his breakthrough role "^[7] Whedon wanted to develop a show about the tactile nature of life, a show where existence was more physical and more difficult. ^[8] After reading The Killer Angels, Whedon read a book about Jewish partisan fighters in World War II that also influenced him. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including ^[6] Whedon wished to create something for television that was more character-driven and gritty than modern science fiction. Television science fiction, he felt, had become too pristine and rarefied. ^[9]

Whedon wished to give the show a name that indicated movement and power, and felt that "Firefly" had both. This powerful word's relatively insignificant meaning, Whedon felt, added to its allure. He eventually wound up creating the ship in the image of a firefly. ^[8]

Format

During filming of the pilot episode, Whedon was still arguing with FOX that the show should be displayed in widescreen format. A widescreen image is a film computer or television image with a wider and shorter aspect ratio than the standard Academy frame developed during the Classical Consequently, he purposely filmed scenes with actors on the extreme edge of both sides so that they would have no choice. ^[8] However, the pilot was rejected by the FOX executives, who felt that it lacked action and that the captain was too "dour". ^[10] They also disliked a scene in which the crew backed down to a crime boss, since the scene implied the crew was "being nothing". ^[8] 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. ^[10] Whedon and Tim Minear closeted themselves for the weekend to write what became the new pilot, "The Train Job". " The Train Job " is the second episode of US science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon, although ^[10] In this new pilot, the captain was more "jolly" and, at the direction of FOX, they added "larger than life" characters. ^[10][11] These characters manifested themselves in the henchman "Crow", and the "hands of blue" men, which also introduced an X-Files-type ending. The X-Files is a Peabody, Golden Globe and Emmy Award -winning American Science fiction television series created by Chris Carter ^[11]

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. Pan and scan is one method of adjusting Widescreen film images so that they can be shown within the proportions of a Standard definition 43 aspect ratio In Cinematography, full frame refers to the use of the full Film gate at maximum width and height for 35 mm film cameras. ^[12] 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. Found footage is a filmmaking term which describes a method of compiling films partly or entirely of Footage which has not been created by the filmmaker and changing its meaning ^[8][13] As Whedon related: ". . . don't be arch, don't be sweeping—be found, be rough and tumble and docu[mentary] and you-are-there. "^[14] Computer-generated scenes mimicked the motion of a hand-held camera. Computer animation Computer-generated imagery (also known as CGI) is the application of the field of Computer graphics or more specifically 3D computer graphics 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. In Motion picture terminology, a tracking shot (also known as a dolly shot or trucking shot) is a segment in which the camera is mounted on a wheeled platform A steadicam is a stabilizing mount for a Motion-picture camera, which mechanically isolates the operator's movement from the camera allowing a very smooth shot even when ^[8] Another style employed was lens flares, harkening to 1970s television. Lens flare is the light scattered in lens systems through generally unwanted image formation mechanisms such as internal reflection and Scattering from This style was so desired that the director of photography, David Boyd, sent back the state-of-the-art lenses, which reduced lens flare, for cheaper ones. David R Boyd is an American Cinematographer and camera operator best known for his role as Director of photography for the FOX television series ''Firefly'' Lens flare is the light scattered in lens systems through generally unwanted image formation mechanisms such as internal reflection and Scattering from ^[8]

Exterior shots of action occurring in outer space realistically lack sound effects - in the vacuum of space, there is no matter to transmit sound waves. Outer space, often simply called space, comprises the relatively empty regions of the Universe outside the escape velocities of Celestial bodies. For the album by The Jam see Sound Affects. Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced Sounds This approach stood in contrast to many science fiction films and television series. This style of special effects was developed by Zoic Studios. Zoic Studios' - written as ZŌIC - is a Special effects company based in Culver City California which primarily deals with computer generated special effects

Set design

Production designer Carey Meyer built the ship Serenity in two parts (one for each level) as a complete set with ceilings and practical lighting installed as part of the set that the cameras could use along with moveable parts. Production designer is a term used in the movie and Television industries to refer to the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films Carey Meyer is a Production designer and Art director for American television shows best known for his role as production designer for both Buffy the Vampire ^[13][15] The two-part set also allowed the second unit to shoot in one section while the actors and first unit worked undisturbed in the other. 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. "^[15] There were other benefits to this set design. One was that it allowed the viewers to feel they were really in a ship. ^[13] 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. "^[16] He wanted to convey that it was utilitarian and that it was "beat-up but lived-in and ultimately, it was home. "^[17] In addition, each room represented a feeling or character, usually conveyed by the paint color. ^[16] Joss Whedon discusses this in the DVD commentary. He explains that as you move from the back of the ship in the engine room, toward the front of the ship to the bridge, the colors and mood progress from extremely warm to cooler. In addition to giving a mood evoking setting tied to each character that spends most of their time in these areas, it is also explained by the heat generated by the tail of the Firefly-class ship. Whedon was also keen on utilizing vertical space; thus, having the crew's quarters accessible by ladder was important. ^[15] 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. ^[13] 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. ^[15] Artist Larry Dixon has noted that the cargo bay walls are "reminiscent of interlaced, overlapping Asian designs, cleverly reminding us of the American-Chinese Alliance setting while artistically forming a patterned plane for background scale reference. Larry Dixon (b July 28, 1966) is a fantasy Artist and Novelist. "^[18] Dixon has also remarked on how the set design contributed to the storytelling through the use of color, depth and composition, lighting, as well as its use of diagonals and patterned shadows. ^[18]

Their small budget was another reason to use the ship for much of the storytelling. When the characters did go off 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. ^[14] 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?"^[15]

Music

Firefly
Soundtrack by Greg Edmonson, Joss Whedon
Released	November 8, 2005
Genre	Classical, Country
Length	60:15
Label	Varèse Sarabande
Professional reviews
All Music Guide / link SoundtrackNet link, link

Greg Edmonson composed the musical score for the series. Greg Edmonson is a Music composer for television and movies He is primarily known for composing the Soundtrack to the cancelled TV series Firefly Joseph Hill " Joss " Whedon ( born June 23, 1964 in New York City is an Academy Award -nominated and Hugo Award Events 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great a Celebration Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Varèse Sarabande is a Record label which specializes in Film scores and original cast recordings. allmusic (previously All Music Guide) is a Metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. SoundtrackNet is a website dedicated to film and television music Greg Edmonson is a Music composer for television and movies He is primarily known for composing the Soundtrack to the cancelled TV series Firefly He stated that he wrote for the emotion of the moment. However, one reviewer averred that he also wrote for the characters, stating: ". . . Edmonson has developed a specialized collection of musical symbolism for the series . . . "^[19] To help illustrate the collection, the reviewer 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. "^[19] 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". " Serenity " is the original two-hour series pilot for the Firefly science-fiction television series created by Joss The most memorable use of "Sad Violin", however, is at the end of "The Message", when the crew mourned the death of Tracey. " The Message " is the twelfth episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. This was also the last scene of the last episode the actors shot, and so this was seen by them, and Edmonson, 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. "^[19] The reviewer also noted character signatures. The criminal Niska has his own signature: Eastern European or Middle Eastern melodies over a low drone. This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. 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 Edmonson brought out aspects of Firefly's story and characters that were never explicitly revealed in the other elements of the series. "^[19]

The musical score expressed the cultural fusion depicted in the show. Cowboy guitar blended with Asian influence produced the atmospheric background for the series. Western music is a form of Folk music originally composed by and about the people who settled and worked throughout the As one reviewer stated:

Old music from the future — the music of roaring campfires and racous^[sic] 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. Sic is a Latin word meaning "thus" "so" "as such" or "just as that" Completely thrilling.

—Steve Townsley, ^[20]

The theme song, "The Ballad of Serenity", was written by Joss Whedon and performed by Sonny Rhodes. Sonny Rhodes (born Clarence Edward Smith November 3, 1940 in Smithville Texas) is an American Blues Singer and 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, although a 40 minute soundtrack was released by Fox Music in September 2005 as a digital EP. Events 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great a Celebration Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Varèse Sarabande is a Record label which specializes in Film scores and original cast recordings. ^[21]

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. "^[23] All nine cast members were chosen before filming began. However, while filming the original pilot "Serenity", Whedon realized that Rebecca Gayheart was unsuitable for the role of Inara Serra, and shot her scenes in singles so that it would be easier to replace her. Rebecca Gayheart (born August 12, 1971) is an American Television and Film Actress. This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. ^[24] Morena Baccarin auditioned for the role and two days later was on the set in her first television show. Morena Baccarin (born June 2 1979 is a Brazilian actress of Italian origins best known for her roles as Inara Serra in the short-lived "Joss brought me down from the testing room like a proud dad, holding my hand and introducing me,"^[25] Baccarin recalled.

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. Nathan Fillion (born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian Actor known for his lead role in the television series Firefly Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds is a Fictional character leading the ensemble in the 2002 Science fiction television series ''Firefly'' and the 2005 film ^[26] 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. "^[27] Fillion later said he was "heartbroken" when he learned the series had been cancelled.

Alan Tudyk auditioned through a casting office and several months later was called in for a test audition, where he met with Whedon. Alan Wray Tudyk (born March 16 1971 is an American Actor. Biography Early life Tudyk of Polish descent was born in El Paso He was then told to come back in to test with the possible Zoes (his 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 informing him he had the part anyway. ^[28] His audition tape is included in the special features of the series' DVD release.

Gina Torres, a veteran of several science fiction/fantasy works (Cleopatra 2525, The Matrix Reloaded, Alias, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys), was at first uninterested in doing another science fiction show, but "was won over by the quality of the source material. Gina Torres (born April 25, 1969) is an American Television and movie actress. Cleopatra 2525 is a Science fiction television series that aired for two seasons starting January 2000 and ending March 2001 The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 Film, the second installment in ''The Matrix'' trilogy, written and directed by the Wachowski Brothers Alias is an American " Spy-fi " television series created by J "^[29] As she recalled, "So you had these challenged characters inhabiting a challenging world and that makes for great storytelling. And no aliens!"^[29]

For Adam Baldwin, who grew up watching westerns, the character of Jayne Cobb was a particularly resonant role. Adam Baldwin (born February 27 1962) is an American Actor. He is known for his roles as Animal Mother in Stanley Kubrick 's This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. ^[30]

Canadian actress Jewel Staite videotaped her audition from Vancouver and was asked to come to Los Angeles to meet Whedon, at which point she was cast for the role of Kaylee Frye, the ship's engineer. Jewel Belair Staite (born June 2, 1982) is a Canadian actress, best known for her roles as Kaylee Frye in Firefly Vancouver (vænˈkuːvɚ is a coastal Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. ^[31]

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. Sean Maher (born April 16, 1975 in Pleasantville New York) is an American Actor, best known for his role as Simon Tam This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. ^[23] For the role of Simon's sister, River Tam, Whedon called in Summer Glau for an audition and test the same day. This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. Summer Glau (born July 24 1981 is an American Dancer and actress, best known for playing River Tam in the short-lived Science fiction series Glau had first worked for Whedon in the Angel episode "Waiting in the Wings". Two weeks later, Whedon called her to tell her she had the part. ^[32]

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. Ron Glass (born July 10, 1945) is an American Actor. He is known for his roles as the witty Detective Ron Harris in the Television Barney Miller is a comedy Television series set in a New York City police station in Greenwich Village that ran from All in the Family is an American Situation comedy that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12 1971 to April ^[33]

Staff and crew

Tim Minear was selected by Whedon to be the show runner, who serves as the head writer and production leader. Show runner (alternatively showrunner) is a term used in the United States television industry referring to the person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation 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. "^[34] 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. "^[35]

The writers were selected after interviews and script samplings. A list of writers of Firefly (TV series. Cheryl Cain Ben Edlund Jane Espenson Drew Greenberg Among the writers were José Molina, Ben Edlund, Cheryl Cain, Brett Matthews, Drew Greenberg and Jane Espenson. Ben Edlund (born 1968 is a Comic book Artist and Writer and television Screenwriter. Cheryl Cain is a television Screenwriter. Her work includes the episode " War Stories " for the Cult television series Firefly Brett Matthews is an American writer of comics and TV shows He was assistant to Joss Whedon on TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Drew Z Greenberg is a Television writer best known for working on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, The O Jane Espenson is an American television writer and producer who has worked on both situation comedies and serial dramas. ^[35] 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. ^[36] For instance, in "Shindig", the break for commercial occurs when Malcolm Reynolds is gravely injured and losing the duel. " Shindig " is the fourth episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. 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. "^[36]

Next, the writers develop the scenes onto a marker-filled whiteboard, featuring a "brief ordered description of each scene. "^[36] 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". ^[36]

Costume

Firefly's original costume designer — Jill Ohanneson — brought on Shawna Trpcic as her assistant for the pilot. Shawna Trpcic (née Shawna Leavell is a Hollywood Costume designer. 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. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including 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. ^[37] Since the characters were often getting shot, Trpcic would make up to six versions of the same costume for multiple takes. ^[38]

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. ^[39] 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. ^[40] 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. Rosie the Riveter is a Cultural icon of the United States, representing the six million women who entered the Workforce for the first time during ^[41] Inara's costumes reflect stature and higher class and are very feminine and attractive. This is representative of her role as a 'companion', which is considered a higher class, honest career.

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 Sheppard played the role instead, he was able to fit into the clothes made for Whedon. This article is about the British performer For the Comic book character see D ^[42] 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". Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers ^[43] The uniforms of the Alliance soldiers are surplus armor from the 1997 film Starship Troopers. Starship Troopers is a Science fiction Novel by Robert A Heinlein, first published (in abridged form as a serial in The Magazine

Plot

Back story

The series takes place in the year 2517, on several planets and moons. The TV series does not reveal whether these celestial bodies are within one star system, and does not explain whether Serenity's mode of propulsion is faster-than-light, only that it is a "gravity-drive". 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. A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with unique background elements such as an imaginary history or geography and possibly fantasy or science 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. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 A star system or stellar system is a small number of Stars which orbit each other bound by gravitational attraction. A generation ship is a hypothetical Starship that travels across great distances between stars at a speed much slower than that of light (see Interstellar travel " 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 Earth. The terraforming (literally "Earth-shaping" of a Planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its 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. Serenity is a fictional spaceship originally featured in the Science fiction television series Firefly. It resembles a firefly in general arrangement, and the tail section, analogous to a bioluminescent insectoid abdomen, lights up during acceleration. FireFly is the second single by Essex Alternative rock band InMe. Bioluminescence' is the production and emission of Light by a living Organism as the result of a chemical reaction during which chemical energy is converted Insects ( Class Insecta) are a major group of Arthropods and the most diverse group of Animals on the Earth with over a million described In Vertebrates such as Mammals the abdomen (belly constitutes the part of the body between the Thorax (chest and Pelvis.

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 Western in culture, the other pan-Asian, justifying the series' mixed linguistic and visual themes. On disc based video formats an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers that plays in real time with video Western culture (sometimes equated with Western Civilization) are terms which are used to refer to Cultures of European origin 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 of space are inhabited by the Reavers, a cannibalistic group of nomadic humans that have become savage and animalistic. Reavers are a fictional group of humans in the television series Firefly and the movie Serenity who live on the fringes of civilized space and Cannibalism (from Spanish es ''caníbal'' in connection with cannibalism among the Antillean Caribs, also called anthropophagy (from Greek ἄνθρωπος

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. " Serenity " is the original two-hour series pilot for the Firefly science-fiction television series created by Joss This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. Browncoat is a term applied to fans of the short-lived television series Firefly. The Unification War is a major fictional event in the backstory of Joss Whedon 's television show, Firefly and its motion picture sequel A later episode, titled "Out of Gas", reveals that Mal bought the spaceship Serenity in order to continue living beyond Alliance control. "Out of Gas" is the eighth episode of the Science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Much of the crew's work consists of cargo runs or smuggling. Smuggling, also known as trafficking, is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons past a point where prohibited such as out of a building into a Prison One of the main story arcs is that of River Tam (Summer Glau) and her brother Simon (Sean Maher). This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. 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 trauma surgeon to rescue her from the Alliance and as a result of this rescue they are both wanted fugitives. In the original pilot "Serenity", Simon joins the crew as a paying passenger with River smuggled on board as cargo. As Whedon states in an episodic DVD commentary, every show he does is about creating family. ^[8] 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. " Objects in Space " is the fourteenth and final episode of the science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon ^[8]

Signature show elements

The show blended elements from the space opera and Western genres, depicting humanity's future in a different manner than most contemporary science fiction programs in that there are no alien creatures or space battles. Space opera is a subgenre of Speculative fiction or Science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often Melodramatic adventure set mainly or entirely Firefly takes place in a multi-cultural future, primarily a fusion of Occidental and Chinese cultures, where there is a significant division between the rich and poor. Western culture (sometimes equated with Western Civilization) are terms which are used to refer to Cultures of European origin The Culture of China (traditional Chinese 中國文化 simplified Chinese 中国文化 is home to one of the world's oldest and most complex Civilizations covering a history 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. Standard Mandarin, also known as Standard Spoken Chinese, is the official modern Chinese spoken language used in mainland China and Taiwan 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. ^[44]

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"). Written and spoken Chinese as well as Old West dialect are also employed. As one reviewer noted: "The dialogue tended to be a bizarre purée of wisecracks, old-timey Western-paperback patois, and snatches of Chinese. "^[3]

Tim Minear and Joss Whedon have pointed to several scenes that they believed articulated the mission statement of the show. ^[8] 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 holographic bar window. A volumetric display device is a graphical Display device that forms a visual representation of an object in three physical dimensions, as opposed to the planar image ^[10] The DVD set's 'making-of' documentary explains the series' distinctive frontispiece (wherein Serenity soars over a herd 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. ^[8][11]

The show also featured space scenes that did not feature any sound, implicitly observing the lack of sound transmission in the vacuum of space. This was unlike most other science fiction shows which add sound traveling through the vacuum of space for dramatic effect or to enhance the action. ^[45]

Cast

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. In the television series Firefly, the Blue Sun Corporation is a large diversified Corporation (or possibly Megacorporation, compared by creator 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, but complex characterization was hampered by the show's brief run. UserScottandrewhutchins: http//enwikipediaorg/w/indexphp?title=Characterization&diff=next&oldid=157919139 --> Characterization is a process of conveying

• Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds, played by Nathan Fillion, is Serenity's captain and former Independent sergeant in the pivotal Battle of Serenity Valley. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds is a Fictional character leading the ensemble in the 2002 Science fiction television series ''Firefly'' and the 2005 film Nathan Fillion (born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian Actor known for his lead role in the television series Firefly The Unification War is a major fictional event in the backstory of Joss Whedon 's television show, Firefly and its motion picture sequel Very little is known about the enigmatic Captain; the little he reveals about his past life betrays nothing of his character (a mystery of its own). Malcolm reveals that he grew up on a ranch, and was raised by his mother and the ranchhands. The only other scenes of his past life we see or discover are about the Unification war, in which he and Zoe fought for the independents, or "browncoats". He is an efficient leader and is skilled with guns, and in hand to hand combat. Mal's character is full of contradictions. He is constantly fighting his demons, and his true self remains something of a mystery.

• Zoe Alleyne Washburne, played by Gina Torres, is second-in-command onboard Serenity, loyal wartime friend of Captain Reynolds, and wife of Wash. This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. Gina Torres (born April 25, 1969) is an American Television and movie actress. Described by her husband as a "warrior woman", she has great knowledge of combat. Her past is a mystery; the only thing we know is that she served under Mal during the war. She demonstrates an almost unconditional loyalty to Mal, the only exception noted being her marriage to Wash, which the captain claims to have tried to prevent.

• Hoban "Wash" Washburne, played by Alan Tudyk, is Serenity's pilot and Zoe's husband. This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. Alan Wray Tudyk (born March 16 1971 is an American Actor. Biography Early life Tudyk of Polish descent was born in El Paso Wash expresses jealousy over his wife's "war buddy" relationship and unconditional support of their captain, most particularly in the episode "War Stories", in which he confronts Mal regarding their relationship. " War Stories " is the tenth episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. While more of Wash's past is disclosed than most other characters, his background is still sparse: He joined pilot training just to see the stars, which were invisible from the surface of his polluted homeworld, and he joined Serenity despite being highly sought after by other ships. He is very light-hearted and tends to make amusing comments, despite the severity of any situation.

• Inara Serra, played by Morena Baccarin, is a Companion, which is the 26th century equivalent of a courtesan or oiran. This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. Morena Baccarin (born June 2 1979 is a Brazilian actress of Italian origins best known for her roles as Inara Serra in the short-lived A courtesan in mid-16th century usage referred to a mistress or trained artisan of dance and singing especially one associated with wealthy powerful or upper-class were high-class courtesans in Japan. The word "oiran" consists of two Kanji, 花 meaning "flower" and 魁 meaning "leader" Like her Renaissance counterparts, Inara enjoys high social standing. Her presence confers a degree of legitimacy and social acceptance the crew of Serenity would not enjoy without her on board. She and Mal have a strained relationship, with unspoken romantic tension playing a significant part in several episodes, as well as in the movie. Inara arguably represents Mal's heart, and Mal is a noticeably darker character when Inara is absent (as during the first half of "Serenity"). " Serenity " is the original two-hour series pilot for the Firefly science-fiction television series created by Joss She rents one of the ship's small shuttles.

• Jayne Cobb, played by Adam Baldwin, is hired muscle. This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. Adam Baldwin (born February 27 1962) is an American Actor. He is known for his roles as Animal Mother in Stanley Kubrick 's A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict who is not a national or a party to the conflict and is "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by He and Mal met on opposite sides of a rivalry; Mal, while held at gunpoint, offered Jayne his own bunk and a higher cut than his current employer, so he turned coat and shot his then-partners. In one episode, he admits freely to Mal that he would have sold Mal out to an Alliance agent if the money was good enough. He is someone who can be depended on in a fight. ^[46] He tends to act like a "lummox" who thinks he is the smartest guy in space, but occasional hints of intelligence peek through this façade, giving the impression that he acts dumber than he is. ^[8] As Whedon states several times, Jayne is the man who will ask the questions that no one else wants to. ^[47] Even though he is a macho character, he has shown a particularly intense fear of Reavers, more so than the rest of the crew. Reavers are a fictional group of humans in the television series Firefly and the movie Serenity who live on the fringes of civilized space and Despite his amoral mercenary persona, he sends a significant portion of his income to his mother.

• Kaywinnit Lee "Kaylee" Frye,^[48][49] played by Jewel Staite, is the ship's mechanic. This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. Jewel Belair Staite (born June 2, 1982) is a Canadian actress, best known for her roles as Kaylee Frye in Firefly 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. "Out of Gas" is the eighth episode of the Science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Jewel Staite explains Kaylee's character as being wholesome, sweet, and "completely genuine in that sweetness", adding "She loves being on that ship. She loves all of those people. And she's the only one who loves all of them incredibly genuinely. "^[50] She 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. ^[8]

• 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. This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. Sean Maher (born April 16, 1975 in Pleasantville New York) is an American Actor, best known for his role as Simon Tam 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. ^[8]

• River Tam, played by Summer Glau, was smuggled onto the ship by her brother. This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. Summer Glau (born July 24 1981 is an American Dancer and actress, best known for playing River Tam in the short-lived Science fiction series River was a child prodigy of unparalleled genius, but she was experimented upon at the hands of Alliance doctors, leaving her delusional, erratic, and at times violent. List of child prodigies|Fictional child prodigies A child prodigy is a one who masters one or more skills or arts at an early age A genius is a person of great Intelligence or remarkable abilities in a specific subject who shows an exceptional natural capacity of intellect and/or ability especially Her personal journey of self-discovery is a running theme throughout the series and the movie. River is constantly at war with her own demons. She sees and hears things that others do not, and experiences waking dreams of her memories of the Alliance "academy" experiments. Opinions of her vary among the crew: some value her, Jayne fears her, and the rest just want her to stay out of trouble.

• Derrial Book, played by Ron Glass, is a Shepherd (equivalent to a priest, minister, or pastor). Ron Glass (born July 10, 1945) is an American Actor. He is known for his roles as the witty Detective Ron Harris in the Television In the episode "Safe", it is revealed that he has priority status in the Alliance for unspecified reasons. " Safe " is the fifth episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. 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". " Our Mrs Reynolds " is the sixth episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Although he is presented as a devout religious man, he is proficient in hand-to-hand combat and firearms, at one point making a kneecap shot holding his rifle in one hand (during a rescue attempt on Niska's Skyplex space station). He also has a deep understanding of the criminal world. In the episode "Objects in Space", bounty hunter Jubal Early refers to Book with the comment "That ain't no Shepherd", throwing further doubt upon Book's past. " Objects in Space " is the fourteenth and final episode of the science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon

Except for Book being absent from "Ariel", with the explanation that he was meditating at an abbey, the nine regular characters appear in every episode. " Ariel " is the ninth episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon.

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). Caleb, played by Nathan Fillion, is a Fictional character in the Television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer created by Joss Jasmine is a Fictional character, a Deity in the fourth season of Television series Angel. Marcus Hamilton is a Fictional character that appeared on the final season of the TV series Angel. Baccarin was originally intended to portray Eve in Angel's final season, but in the end was unable to commit to the role. Eve is a Fictional character appearing in the fifth season of the cult Television series Angel. 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

Main article: List of characters in the Firefly universe

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. This article is about characters in the television series Firefly. For the daytime equivalent see Recurring status. A recurring character is a Fictional character, usually in a Prime time This article is about the British performer For the Comic book character see D Smuggling, also known as trafficking, is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons past a point where prohibited such as out of a building into a Prison This is a list of fictional Planets and moons from the Firefly / Serenity Fiction. 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. " Shindig " is the fourth episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Serenity Those Left Behind is a 2005 three-issue Comic book Limited series published by Dark Horse Comics.
• 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. Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally He appeared in "The Train Job" and "War Stories".
• "Saffron", played by Christina Hendricks, is a con artist whose real name is unknown. Christina Rene Hendricks (b May 3 1978 is an American Actress best known for her role as Saffron in Fox's short lived series Firefly A confidence trick or confidence game (also known as a bunko, con, flim flam, gaffle, grift, scam, scheme In the series she also used the aliases "Bridget" and "Yolanda", leading Mal to jokingly address her with the compound "YoSaffBridge" in the episode "Trash". " Trash " is the eleventh episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. She has a habit of marrying her marks in the course of her scams. A confidence trick or confidence game (also known as a bunko, con, flim flam, gaffle, grift, scam, scheme A confidence trick or confidence game (also known as a bunko, con, flim flam, gaffle, grift, scam, scheme She first appeared in the episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds" as Mal's involuntarily-acquired wife.
• "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, except them.

Reception

Critical review

On the day it premiered, the Boston Globe ran a positive review, stating that Firefly ". The Boston Globe (and Boston Sunday Globe) is the most widely circulated daily Newspaper in Boston and in New England, . . 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. "^[51] However, Tim Goodman with the San Francisco Chronicle panned it. The San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H 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. "^[52] 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. "^[52] Other critics appeared to dismiss the show after the first two episodes, "The Train Job" and "Bushwhacked". " Bushwhacked " is the third episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. In its October 3, 2002, review, Salon.com stated:

. Events 42 BC - First Battle of Philippi: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight an indecisive battle with Caesar's See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Saloncom, part of Salon Media Group ( often just called Salon, is an online . . 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.

—Carina Chocano, ^[51]

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. ^[51] 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.

—Jason Snell, ^[53]

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.

—Emily Nussbaum, ^[54]

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.

—^[55]

Cult status

In 2005, New Scientist magazine's website held an internet poll to find "The World's Best Space Sci-Fi Ever". New Scientist is a weekly International science magazine and website covering recent developments in science and technology for a general English -speaking Firefly came in first place, with its cinematic follow-up Serenity in second. ^[56] Also, as of May 2007, it is the highest rated science fiction show of all time according to an online poll conducted by tv.com. TVcom is a website owned by CNET Networks. The service was launched on June 1 2005 and replaced the popular TV Tome website ^[57]

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. Events 1457 BC - Battle of Megiddo (15th century BC between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The iTunes Store is a software-based online Digital media store operated by Apple Inc Fictional narratives (and works of art exist beyond their completion e Lost in Space is a Science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, produced by 20th Century Fox Television, and 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. As of March 12, 2008, all fourteen episodes are available on-demand through the Hulu.com service launched by FOX's parent News Corp. and NBC Universal. Events 538 - Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Hulu is a website that offers free ad-supported Streaming video of TV shows and movies from NBC, FOX, and many other networks and studios News Corporation (often abbreviated to News Corp) (,,) is one of the world's largest media conglomerate companies by Market capitalisation NBC Universal is a media and Entertainment company formed in May 2004 by the combination of General Electric 's NBC with Vivendi Universal ^[58]

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. Brad Wright is probably best known for his work on two hit Sci-Fi Channel series Stargate SG-1 and its Spin-off show Stargate " 200 " is the sixth episode of the Science fiction Television series Stargate SG-1 s tenth season, and the two-hundredth " 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]. " Wormhole X-Treme! " is an episode from Season 5 of the Science fiction Television series Stargate SG-1. "^[59]

The follow-up film, Serenity, was voted the best science fiction movie of all time in an SFX magazine poll of 3,000 fans. Serenity is a 2005 space western Film written and directed by Joss Whedon. SFX is a British Magazine devoted to Science fiction and Fantasy subjects especially media-related topics but not containing fiction ^[60]

Firefly was later named as number 25 on TV Guide's list of "The 30 Top Cult Shows Ever". TV Guide is the name of a North American weekly magazine about television programming ^[61]

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. Browncoat is a term applied to fans of the short-lived television series Firefly. Their efforts included raising money for an ad in Variety magazine and a postcard writing campaign to UPN. Variety is a weekly entertainment trade newspaper founded in New York in 1905 by Sime Silverman United Paramount Network ( UPN) was a Television network that broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States and that was in production for over eleven While unsuccessful in finding a host network, support for the show led to a release of the series on DVD in December of 2003. DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is ^[2] Eventually, enough interest was shown to convince Universal Studios to produce a feature film, Serenity. Serenity is a 2005 space western Film written and directed by Joss Whedon. ^[3] Numerous early screenings were held for existing fans in an attempt to create a buzz and increase ticket sales when it was released widely. ^[3]

On June 23, 2006 fans organized the first worldwide charity screenings of Serenity in 47 cities, dubbed as Can’t Stop the Serenity or CSTS, an homage to the movie’s tagline, "Can’t stop the signal. Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. "^[62] The event raised over $65,000^[63] for Whedon's favorite charity, Equality Now. Equality Now is a Non-governmental organization that works to protect the human rights of women around the world In 2007, $106,000 was raised,^[64] with a goal of $150,000 in 2008.

Another campaign on June 23, 2006 referred to the date as Serenity Day,^[65] 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. Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. On this day, Serenity and Firefly were ranked second and third, respectively, on the DVD Best Sellers list. The date for both campaigns were chosen because it is series creator Joss Whedon’s birthday.

In July 2006, a fan-made documentary was released, titled, Done the Impossible, and is commercially available. Done the Impossible is a documentary of the TV show Firefly made by fans for fans 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 Equality Now.

NASA Browncoat Astronaut Steven Swanson^[66] took the Firefly and Serenity DVDs with him on Space Shuttle Atlantis' STS-117 mission, which lifted off on Friday June 8, 2007. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program Browncoat is a term applied to fans of the short-lived television series Firefly. An astronaut or cosmonaut (космона́вт) is a person trained Steven Ray Swanson (born December 3, 1960 in Syracuse New York) is an American engineer and a NASA Astronaut. Space Shuttle Atlantis ( Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-104 is one of the three currently operational orbiters in the Space Shuttle fleet of STS-117 was a Space Shuttle mission flown by Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'', launched from pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center Events 68 - The Roman Senate accepts emperor Galba. 536 - St Silverius becomes Pope (probable Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The DVDs will permanently reside on the International Space Station as a form of entertainment for the station's crews. ^[67]

The song "A Man Named Jayne", by Luke Ski, is a parody of Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue" written from Wash's perspective. The great Luke Ski is the Stage name of Luke Sienkowski, a Parody, Filk and Rap Musician who writes records and performs Johnny Cash (born J R Cash; February 26 1932 - September 12 2003 was a Grammy Award -winning American country Singer-songwriter. " A Boy Named Sue " is a country song written by Shel Silverstein and popularly sung by Johnny Cash. It describes Serenity's crew being captured by what they believe to be the Alliance. Their captors are revealed to be FOX Network executives, canceling the show. The crew escapes, only to join forces with the characters from Futurama, another FOX series which suffered the same fate. Futurama is an Emmy Award -winning animated American sitcom created by Matt Groening, and developed by Groening and

Awards

Firefly won the following awards:

• Emmy Award: Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series, 2003
• Visual Effects Society: Best visual effects in a television series, 2003 (episode "Serenity")
• Saturn Award: Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award, Male, 2003 (Nathan Fillion)
• Saturn Award: Saturn Award for Best DVD Release (television), 2004
• SyFy Genre Awards: Best Actor/Television Nathan Fillion, 2006^[68]
• SyFy Genre Awards: Best Supporting Actor/Television Adam Baldwin, 2006
• SyFy Genre Awards: Best Special Guest/Television Christina Hendricks for "Trash", 2006
• SyFy Genre Awards: Best Episode/Television "Trash", 2006
• SyFy Genre Awards: Best Series/Television, 2006

The series was also nominated for the following awards:

• Visual Effects Society: Best compositing in a televised program, music video, or commercial, 2003
• Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA, "Golden Reel Award": Best sound editing in television long form: sound effects/foley, 2003
• Hugo Award: Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, 2003 (episode "Serenity")
• 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)
• Golden Satellite Award: Best DVD Extras, 2004

Broadcast history

Main article: List of Firefly episodes

Firefly consists of one two-hour pilot and thirteen one-hour episodes. This is a list of the winning and nominated programs of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Television series, Miniseries The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in Science fiction, Fantasy The SyFy Genre Awards, considered one of the first major virtual entertainment awards is a product of the Science fiction and Fantasy Web site SyFy Portal For the album by The Jam see Sound Affects. Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced Sounds The Foley artist on a Film crew is the person who creates many of the natural everyday Sound effects in a film which are recorded during a session with a Recording The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best Science fiction or Fantasy works and achievements of the previous year The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form is an award given annually by members of the World Science Fiction Convention for the best science fiction The following is an episode list for the Joss Whedon Television series Firefly. 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 Whedon had designed the show to run for seven years,^[69] and the show had a loyal following during its original broadcast,^[70] low ratings resulted in cancellation by FOX in December 2002 after only eleven episodes had aired in the United States and Canada. ^[71] 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. United Paramount Network ( UPN) was a Television network that broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States and that was in production for over eleven The campaign was unsuccessful in securing the show's continuation. ^[72]

The Onion A.V. Club cited several actions by the FOX network that contributed to the show's failure, most notably airing the episodes out of sequence, making the plot more difficult to follow. The AV Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion eaters. ^[73] For instance, the double episode "Serenity" was intended as the premiere, and therefore contained most of the character introductions and back-story. The word premiere (or première, from the French première, "first" generally means "a first performance" In Narratology, a back-story (also back story or backstory) is the history behind the situation extant at the start of the main story However, FOX decided that "Serenity" was unsuitable to open the series, and "The Train Job" was specifically created to act as a new pilot. ^[10] In addition, Firefly was promoted as an action-comedy rather than the more serious character study it was intended to be, and Variety magazine highlighted Fox's decision to occasionally preempt the show for sporting events. Action movies are a Film genre where action sequences such as fights, Shootouts Stunts Car chases or explosions either take precedence Comedy film is a genre of Film in which the main emphasis is on humor. Variety is a weekly entertainment trade newspaper founded in New York in 1905 by Sime Silverman ^[71]

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 on April 19, 2004, and region 4 on August 2, 2004. DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is Events 536 - Byzantine General Belisarius enters Rome while the Ostrogothic garrison peacefully leaves the city Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1012 - Martyrdom of Alphege in Greenwich London. 1529 - At the Second Diet of Speyer "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 338 BC - A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " 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. The aspect ratio of an Image is its width divided by its height Anamorphic widescreen is a videographic technique utilising rectangular (wide pixels to store a Widescreen image to standard 43 aspect ratio. 2 0-1 channels (dolby surround labelsvg|right|200px|thumb]] Dolby Surround was the earliest consumer version of Dolby's multichannel analog film sound decoding format By September 2005, its DVD release had sold approximately 500,000^[74] copies and was one of the top movers at Amazon.com for months. Amazoncom Inc ( is an American electronic commerce ( E-commerce) company in Seattle Washington. 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. Events 1358 - Republic of Dubrovnik is founded 1709 - Peter the Great defeats Charles XII of Sweden Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[75] FOX has recently remastered the complete series in 1080i Hi-Definition for broadcast on Universal HD. Universal HD is an HDTV Cable television network owned by NBC Universal. The series returns to Universal HD in April 2008. ^[76] In April 2008, Jewel Staite stated at a convention that she had provided commentary for a new release of Firefly; when queried, Fox Home Entertainment announced that the series would be re-released on Blu-ray Disc. On disc based video formats an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers that plays in real time with video ^[77]

Episode #	Title	Original Air Date	Broadcast #	Production #
1	Serenity	December 20, 2002	11	1AGE79
2	The Train Job	September 20, 2002	1	1AGE01
3	Bushwhacked	September 27, 2002	2	1AGE02
4	Shindig	November 1, 2002	6	1AGE03
5	Safe	November 8, 2002	7	1AGE04
6	Our Mrs. Reynolds	October 4, 2002	3	1AGE05
7	Jaynestown	October 18, 2002	4	1AGE06
8	Out of Gas	October 25, 2002	5	1AGE07
9	Ariel	November 15, 2002	8	1AGE08
10	War Stories	December 6, 2002	9	1AGE09
11	Trash	June 28, 2003	12	1AGE12
12	The Message	July 15, 2003	13	1AGE13
13	Heart of Gold	August 19, 2003	14	1AGE10
14	Objects in Space	December 13, 2002	10	1AGE11

Spin-offs

Several spin-offs from the television series have been released in the years following its cancellation, spanning various media. " Serenity " is the original two-hour series pilot for the Firefly science-fiction television series created by Joss Events 69 - Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. " The Train Job " is the second episode of US science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon, although Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. " Bushwhacked " is the third episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Events 489 - Odoacer attacks Theodoric at the Battle of Verona and is defeated again See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. " Shindig " is the fourth episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Events 996 - Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk Bishop of Freising which is the oldest known document using the name Ostarrîchi See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. " Safe " is the fifth episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Events 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great a Celebration See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. " Our Mrs Reynolds " is the sixth episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Events 610 - Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. " Jaynestown " is the seventh episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Events 1009 - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. "Out of Gas" is the eighth episode of the Science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Events 1147 - The Portuguese, under Afonso I, and Crusaders from England and Flanders conquer Lisbon after a See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. " Ariel " is the ninth episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Events 655 - Battle of Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. " War Stories " is the tenth episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Events 1060 - Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary 1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. " Trash " is the eleventh episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Events 1098 - Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. " The Message " is the twelfth episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. " Heart of Gold " is the thirteenth episode of science-fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Events 43 BC - Octavian, later known as Augustus compels the Roman Senate to elect him Consul. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. " Objects in Space " is the fourteenth and final episode of the science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon Events 1294 - Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months Celestine hoped to return to his previous life See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. A spin-off (or spinoff) is a new Organization or Entity formed by a split from a larger one such as a Television series based on a pre-existing

Feature films

Serenity

Main article: Serenity (film)

When attempts to have another network pick up the show failed, creator Joss Whedon decided to try to sell his concept as a film. Serenity is a 2005 space western Film written and directed by Joss Whedon. Through a connection, he was introduced to Mary Parent with Universal Pictures, who immediately signed on after watching the episodes on DVD. Mary Parent is a producer for and former President of Production for Universal Studios ^[78] By June of 2003, actors Nathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin confirmed this on the official Firefly forum, as did Whedon in several interviews. ^[79][80][81] 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. Events 522 BC - Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumâta securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1399 - Henry IV is proclaimed King of England. 1744 - France and Spain defeat the Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 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 US box office gross of $25. 5 million and a box office gross of $13. 3 million elsewhere. ^[82] Serenity won film of the year awards from Film 2005^[83] and FilmFocus. Film is a weekly film review show on BBC television The first series was broadcast in 1972 (BBC South East only under FilmFocus is a British Film Website which has been running since January 2004. ^[84] It also won IGN Film's Best Sci-Fi, Best Story and Best Trailer awards and was runner up for the Overall Best Movie. IGN (abbreviated and formerly known as I magine G ames N etwork is a multimedia news and reviews Website that focuses heavily on Video ^[85] 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^[86] and the 2006 Prometheus Special Award. Winners of the Nebula Award for Best Script. The stated year is that of release awards are given in the following year Rotten Tomatoes is a Website devoted to reviews information and news of Movies. The Spacey Awards (also referred to as The Spaceys are Awards presented by the Canadian cable network Space. The Hugo Awards are given annually by members of the World Science Fiction Convention for the best science fiction or fantasy works The Prometheus Award is an award for Libertarian science fiction novels given out annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society which also publishes a quarterly journal

As a form of viral marketing for the film, Whedon released the R. Tam sessions, which are set before the television series. Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to Marketing techniques that use pre-existing Social networks to produce increases in Brand awareness The R Tam sessions are a series of five short videos released by Joss Whedon over the internet which were set within his fictional Firefly universe They were released unofficially by Whedon via the internet from August 16, 2005 to September 5, 2005. Events 1384 - The Hongwu Emperor of Ming China, Emperor Dong hears a case of a couple who tore paper money bills while fighting Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1590 - Alexander Farnese 's army forces Henry IV of France to raise the siege of Paris. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

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. ^[87]

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. " Objects in Space " is the fourteenth and final episode of the science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon As Whedon stated, the film is "Mal's story as told by River. "^[88]

Serenity sequel

On October 4, 2007, Alan Tudyk said that sales of the newly-released Serenity: Special Edition DVD had led to "talk [of] doing another movie". Events 610 - Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Alan Wray Tudyk (born March 16 1971 is an American Actor. Biography Early life Tudyk of Polish descent was born in El Paso ^[89] Joss Whedon has since discounted that statement as being "wishful thinking. "^[90]

Comics

Main article: Serenity (comics)

Several comic miniseries have been set in the Firefly fictional universe, all of which have so far been written by Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews, illustrated by Will Conrad, and published by Dark Horse Comics. Several comic book miniseries have been released under the Serenity title set in the fictional universe created for Joss Whedon 's Firefly television Dark Horse Comics is one of the largest independent American Comic book publishers behind dominant publishers Marvel Comics and DC Comics

The first three-issue miniseries was released in July through September of 2005, titled Serenity: Those Left Behind, and was intended to bridge the events of the series and the film: depicting Inara's departure and Book's announcement of departure, introducing several of the new characters from the film, and concluding some unfinished storylines from the series. Serenity Those Left Behind is a 2005 three-issue Comic book Limited series published by Dark Horse Comics. Each issue was released with three different covers, each by a different artist and depicting one of the main characters. Those Left Behind was significantly more popular than expected, with the first two issues requiring a second printing during the initial release. Issue #1 was Dark Horse's highest selling comic until the release of Buffy Season 8 in 2007, and the trade paperbacks for the miniseries are amongst the most highly sold Dark Horse products. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight is a Comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics.

A second three-issue series, titled Serenity: Better Days, was released in March, April, and May of 2008. Serenity Better Days is a 2008 three-issue Comic book Miniseries published by Dark Horse Comics, based on the 2002 The series sees what happens when a heist goes right and the crew finds themselves on easy street. "This new story will take place in the 'Firefly' years i. e. , everyone's alive," says Whedon. "Basically, they pull off a heist and everything doesn't go completely wrong. This, needless to say, has never happened, and it's about how they deal with success. "^[91]

During the 2007 Browncoat Cruise, a Firefly convention held aboard a cruise ship, Ron Glass announced (with Whedon's permission) several pieces of Shepherd Derrial Book's backstory, as well as that Book was to be the focus of the third miniseries: A Shepherd's Tale. Ron Glass (born July 10, 1945) is an American Actor. He is known for his roles as the witty Detective Ron Harris in the Television ^[92] The comic was later confirmed by Scott Allie, senior editor at Dark Horse Comics, who stated in the letters section of Serenity: Better Days #1 that a comic based on Book's past was slated for a late 2008 release. Scott Allie is an American Comics writer and editor currently the Senior Managing Editor for Dark Horse Comics. ^[93]

Roleplaying game

Main article: Serenity (role-playing game)

A role-playing game entitled Serenity, published by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd, was released in 2005. Serenity Role Playing Game is a Science fiction Role-playing game released in 2005 and set in the universe of the movie A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. Serenity Role Playing Game is a Science fiction Role-playing game released in 2005 and set in the universe of the movie Margaret Edith Weis (born March 16, 1948 in Independence, Missouri, United States) is a fantasy novelist who along with The first adventure, Out in the Black by Laura and Tracy Hickman, was released on March 15, 2006. Tracy Raye Hickman (born November 26, 1955 Salt Lake City is a best-selling fantasy Author, best known for his work on Dragonlance Tracy Raye Hickman (born November 26, 1955 Salt Lake City is a best-selling fantasy Author, best known for his work on Dragonlance Events 44 BC - Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[94]

Books

Two non-fiction books about the series, Finding Serenity: Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly and Serenity Found: More Unauthorized Essays on Joss Whedon's Firefly Universe were edited by Jane Espenson, with Glenn Yeffeth and Leah Wilson respectively. Finding Serenity Anti-heroes Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly is a compilation of essays edited by Jane Espenson with Glenn Yeffeth Jane Espenson is an American television writer and producer who has worked on both situation comedies and serial dramas. The collections of essays analyze the various themes and ideas of Firefly. ^[95] Joss Whedon, along with most of the cast and many of the crew, were interviewed for Titan Books' two-volume Firefly: The Official Companion. The books contain previously unpublished photographs, along with the shooting scripts for all the episodes. ^[96][97] Other non-fiction works dealing in part or in full with the series include The Firefly Episode Guide: An Unofficial Independent Guide with Critiques by Mimi Noyes (Seattle: Lightning Rod Publishers, 2005); The Existential Joss Whedon: Evil and Human Freedom in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly and Serenity, by J. Michael Richardson and J. Douglas Rabb (Jefferson, N. C. : McFarland, 2007); and The Psychology of Joss Whedon: An Unauthorized Exploration of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly'', by Joy Davidson and Leah Wilson (Dallas: BenBella Books, 2007).

In 2005, it was proposed that a series of novels tying into Firefly be published. Fantasy and science fiction author Steven Brust was asked to write the first book planned for the series, titled My Own Kind of Freedom, but the project was cancelled because of "various economic realities" before he could complete the novel. Steven Karl Zoltán Brust (born November 23, 1955) is an American Fantasy and Science fiction author of Hungarian ^[98] Brust released the finished novel on his website in February 2008. ^[99]

Computer game

On December 7, 2006, The Multiverse Network announced that it had obtained the rights from Twentieth Century Fox to develop a massively multiplayer online game based on the series. Events 43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero assassinated 1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The Multiverse Network Inc is an American Startup company creating a network and platform for Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs and 3D ^[100]

Notes

References

External links

• Firefly at the Open Directory Project
• Chinese in Firefly - English translations of the Chinese words and phrases used in Firefly and Serenity

The Open Directory Project ( ODP) also known as dmoz (from directory

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