2008 Advisor
jmdobies
Austin, TX

Great Sci-Fi Western Never Given a Fair Shake by Fox Network

5 star rating

Blogger, a man, parent of two, Lover of quirky, unique films, a storyteller, forty something, a carnivore, Sci-Fi fan
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JUN
24
2008
In a perfect world, or at least one with network executives that care about quality programming, Firefly: The Complete Series would contain more than 14 episodes. Making its debut on the Fox network in the fall of '02, Firefly was shuffled around the schedule, with episodes shown out of order, and never got a chance to find an audience. It was cancelled in 2003, but returned in 2005 as a feature film, Serenity.

A labor of love for writer-producer Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel), the series is a cross between Star Trek and The Wild Bunch, a combination space opera and adult western. Nathan Filion heads a strong ensemble cast as Mal Reynolds, Captain of Serenity. His crew consists of second-in-command Zoe (Gina Torres); her husband Wash, the pilot (Alan Tudyk); sweet but highly capable engineer Kaylee (Jewel Staite, absolutely charming in the role); and thick-headed soldier of fortune Jayne (Adam Baldwin, perhaps best known as "Animal Mother" in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket). They are joined by Inara (Morena Baccarin), a "companion," otherwise known as high-class, intergalactic prostitute, a priest (Ron Glass), and brother and sister fugitives Simon and River Tam (Sean Maher, Summer Glau).

The writing is generally strong, combining science fiction, action, comedy, and even eroticism (especially the episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds"). The music, by Greg Edmonson, is evocative, and the theme song, co-written with Whedon, is near-perfect.

Firefly is an intelligent, wonderfully produced television series. In an era when there is so much absolute crap on TV, it is unfortunate that a show like this did not get a chance to find an audience and explore the characters more fully. Thankfully, there is the movie version, and so I've heard, a sequel in the works.



I_thumb_up Firefly - The Complete Series is recommended by jmdobies

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EvieBoo wrote on Aug 20, 2008 at 1:26AM

Fox was insane to cancel this. Brownoats carry greenbacks! Here's to hoping for sequels to the BDM or a return of Firefly to television.

steve9631 wrote on Jun 25, 2008 at 6:45PM

Good review. I knew nothing of the series until I viewed a couple of episodes on an airline entertainment console . There afterwards I became a fan. A sequel would be cool, I hope the rumors are true.

5 star rating
"Joss Whedon is a genius!"
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