Firefly (2002–2003)

Five hundred years in the future, a renegade crew aboard a small spacecraft tries to survive as they travel the unknown parts of the galaxy and evade warring factions as well as authority agents out to get them.

Creator:

Joss Whedon

Stars:

Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Nathan Fillion	...	Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds (14 episodes, 2002-2003)
Gina Torres	...	Zoë Washburne (14 episodes, 2002-2003)
Alan Tudyk	...	Hoban 'Wash' Washburne (14 episodes, 2002-2003)
Morena Baccarin	...	Inara Serra (14 episodes, 2002-2003)
Adam Baldwin	...	Jayne Cobb (14 episodes, 2002-2003)
Jewel Staite	...	Kaylee Frye (14 episodes, 2002-2003)
Sean Maher	...	Dr. Simon Tam (14 episodes, 2002-2003)
Summer Glau	...	River Tam (14 episodes, 2002-2003)
Ron Glass	...	Shepherd Book (14 episodes, 2002-2003)

Storyline

Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds is a former galactic war veteran who is the captain of the transport ship "Serenity". Mal and his crew, ensign Zoe Alleyne Washburne; Zoe's husband, pilot Hoban 'Wash' Washburne; muscular mercenary Jayne Cobb; young mechanic Kaylee Frye; former Alliance medical officer Simon Tam; his disturbed teenage sister River (both on the run from the interplanetary government "The Alliance"); the beautiful courtesan Inara Serra; and preacher Shepherd Book do any jobs, legal or illegal, they can find as the Serenity crew travels across the outskirts of outer space.

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Plot Keywords:

alliance | pilot | captain | future | spacecraft | 

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Taglines:

Meet the most spaced-out crew in the galaxy.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

20 September 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Firefly: The Series

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mutant Enemy, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min 42 min (15 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chinese phrases are often inserted into the English dialogue, sometimes to get around censors. Some ship signs are in Chinese.

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Goofs

The Chinese characters for "Blue Sun" change from throughout the series. On Jayne's T-shirt, "Blue Sun" is Qing Ri, but in logo signs, it's Lan Ri. In ancient China, as well as Japan, green and blue were seen as different shades of the same color. The character Qing was used to represent both green and blue. In modern China, Lan is the character used for blue.

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Quotes

[opening narration for episodes: Safe, Ariel, War Stories, Heart of Gold]
Mal: Here's how it is: The Earth got used up, so we moved out and terraformed a whole new galaxy of Earths. Some rich and flush with the new technologies, some not so much. The Central Planets, thems formed the Alliance, waged war to bring everyone under their rule; a few idiots tried to fight it, among them myself. I'm Malcolm Reynolds, captain of Serenity. She's a transport ship; Firefly class. Got a good crew: fighters, ...

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Connections

Referenced in The Big Bang Theory: The Large Hadron Collision (2010)

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Soundtracks

"The Ballad of Serenity"
Performed by Sonny Rhodes
Written by Joss Whedon

User Reviews

addicting

I felt I had to comment on this show because of another persons negative opinion on it(target audience of 8 or 9 years). I find this show addicting and the characters far more interesting than many sci-fi shows that have gained far more publicity because of their special effects. Each character is very well developed and entices the audience to want to find out more about them. As a personal response as to why weapons haven't developed beyond the space western....several of the episodes show scenes of past and current technology far more advanced than the weapons used in the show on a regular basis.laser guns,magnetic grapplers,floating cities,multiple brain surgeries involving nerve manipulation,killer sonic tech,and much more. The show is set on the frontier of known space with characters that are not rich. A regular western gun is all that can be safely used on a spaceship. Another gun, whether laser or high caliber projectile weapon will pierce the hull and cause major problems for the crew..if not kill them outright.

The social intricacies of the companions and the "Houses" they come from, the military training of the "shepherd" preacher, the developing psionic powers of "the crazy sister-river" and all the others leads me to believe that Whedon put a lot of planning and thought into each character and the personal world they live in. They all seem to have a substantial, believable past. They all seem to have personal goals that are not necessarily tied to the show...as if they could leave at any time if their lives and beliefs take them that way. This comes across as very believable.

While others are entitled to their own opinion, all of this, in my opinion, makes me think this show is worth every penny spent to produce it. I also own it.