We all have that one thing we loved, yet it didn't catch on so it quickly disappeared. For some, it's an indie band that had one or two good albums, or a product that you bought on impulse, but never saw again in the stores. For others, it's a TV series – more specifically, Firefly. This year marks fifteen years since the show was first broadcast on Fox, and also fifteen years since the unjust cancellation. The production wasn't difficult, nor was it an accidental success. The show and the movie sequel, Serenity, became what they are today because of the fans, and out of the desire of the creator to make his story complete, no matter what it took. From studios getting in the way to being continued in several comic book titles, a series that didn't even make it a completed season in the first run has become a major sci-fi franchise beloved by many.
Firefly
was created by Joss Whedon, then known for the hit shows Buffy
the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
This new idea was to combine the classic Western genre with the
science fiction world, in such a way that it would be up to the
individual episode to fit into either side. Whedon had an interest in
writing a series about a losing army in a war, and with a name for
himself already in the industry, set out to make this possible – by
writing a two-hour character driven pilot episode introducing our
main cast and the iconic ship, Serenity.
Several then-unknown actors were cast in the show, including Nathan
Fillion (who went on to star in Castle)
and Alan Tudyk (K-2SO in Rogue One),
along with television veteran Ron Glass. The story was simple - a group of smugglers, led by a soldier from the losing side in a galactic civil war, travel from planet to planet, with the "aim to misbehave." The pilot was filmed,
edited, and screened before the executives at Fox – and as per many
projects proposed to the studio, they demanded Whedon write a more
action-focused pilot, to be aired in place of the two-hour one, along
with adding more villains to be closer to their recently-ended
X-Files (the pilot
would eventually be aired as the final episodes on Fox). Following
the weekend writing, a new episode was turned in and Fox gave the
go-ahead to make an additional eleven episodes (not including the
pilot “Serenity” and the second pilot “The Train Job”).
However, it was becoming increasingly obvious that Fox did not like
the way the series was being handled by Whedon, as they wanted
something more along the lines of X-Files
science fiction and not Gunsmoke in
space – and during filming on the episode “The Message,” the
crew received the cancellation notice. It was over before it could
even start, causing Fox to air only eleven episodes – and not in
order, which in turn caused confusion on the part of the home
audience. Whedon attempted to get other networks to buy the show, but
none were interested, and the first season of the planned seven
became the only one.
Despite
the few episodes and little care from the network, Firefly
grew to having a large amount of fans, who bought the DVD releases in
droves to prove to Fox that there was an interest. Whedon himself was
done with dealing with network demands, and upon realizing he owned
the rights to the story and characters (just not the name), he began
work on a sequel movie – also thanks to the “Browncoats” that
showed there was more than just a few people tuning in. Universal
greenlit the film for a Fall 2005 release, and despite giving a lot
of creative freedom to the crew, the studio did come in and make some
demands, such as killing off the characters of Wash and Shepard Book,
as Alan Tudyk and Ron Glass could not commit to doing an immediate
sequel. The script was written down from a three hour epic into a
much more manageable two hour film, and the intention was reworked to
act as a series finale, over a sequel to create more movies out of.
The film, titled Serenity,
was released in September 2005 to positive reviews, and reignited the
Firefly fandom.
However, due to being a September release and not getting an awful
lot of advertisement, Serenity
bombed at the box office, and hopes for a sequel were put down –
until the DVD sales came in, and even then, Universal was not too
interested in a full-budget film. And so, like the show it continued
off of, Serenity
stands twelve years later as a single film, made to finish a story
the fans needed closure on.
Since
then, Firefly has been held up alongside Star Wars, Star Trek,
and Battlestar Galactica
as one of the all-time great science fiction franchises, as well as
often topping lists of shows canceled too soon. Roleplaying games,
editions of Clue,
toys, Funko Pops, and comics have been made, all continuing the
story. But what makes it still have such a large group of dedicated
fans when the series has been over for years now? Simply put, it's
because the show was never given the time to get to the point where
you go “oh great, another season.” Every episode and every moment
hold up, and they're all there for a reason to serve the greater
story. It started the idea of using a movie to finish up a canceled
series, something that Veronica Mars,
The X-Files, and
possibly even Community
have done or are rumored to be doing. People from all walks of life
enjoy the series, from those who can't get enough of space cowboys to
those who hate most science fiction but like Westerns. As with
anything, the fans keep the series going and keep the story alive,
passing it on to others who in turn, tell more people about it – a
fifteen-year word of mouth campaign. Every now and again, the cast
reunites, and rumors circulate over a relaunch. For now though, we
only really have the fourteen episodes and the movie as the main
points in the franchise, and with the occasional comic or short story
sequel, there is still plenty of room to explore the 'Verse.