Firefly: The best sci-fi out there?

I was at a conference for work last summer and a bunch of sci-fi people were talking about, well, sci-fi. One guy mentioned a series called Firefly. He said it had a small run on television, but he felt it was one of the better sci-fi shows he ever watched. I was curious, so I happened to ask a friend of mine about this series. He and I are in the process of watching X-Files from start to finish (that is for another blog entry). Well, as fate would have it, this friend just happened to have borrowed the Firefly DVD series from a student of his. So we watched the first episode and were quite impressed.

The show is gritty and has a strong wild west theme to it. This reminded me of how Gene Roddenberry had sold the original Star Trek series to Paramount telling them it would be a "wagon train to the stars." But Firefly is refreshing in the sense that the show is about a diverse renegade crew on a small ship trying to survive through cargo runs and smuggling. It has a mixture of great special effects, excellent character development, and solid story lines.

The show, unfortunately, had a short run on the Fox network. However, the characters and the show continued through a film called Serenity. I am still watching the original series on DVD, but I am also finding the story of how this show continued to survive after Fox pulled the plug very interesting. It once again illustrates what can be done when a sci-fi show has a strong fan base with a director like Joss Whedon who truly believes in his product. I am always amazed on how short sighted some television networks are when it comes to sci-fi. I am not sure if Firefly is the best sci-fi ever produced, but it certainly deserved a fairer shake than it got.

Below is the first part of an interesting documentary on Firefly's continued evolution. You can also watch Firefly episodes here. And to learn more about the power of a strong fan base, this site is worth checking out.