Firefly (TV series)

Firefly
The word "Firefly" against a parchment background written in a golden illuminated flowing cursive script
Genre
Created byJoss Whedon
Starring
Theme music composerJoss Whedon
Opening theme"The Ballad of Serenity" performed by Sonny Rhodes
ComposerGreg Edmonson
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes14
Production
Executive producers
ProducerBen Edlund
CinematographyDavid Boyd
EditorLisa Lassek
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time43–45 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkFox
ReleaseSeptember 20 (2002-09-20) –
December 20, 2002 (2002-12-20)
Related
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Firefly is an American space Western drama television series, created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as an executive producer, along with Tim Minear. The series is set in the year 2517, after the arrival of humans in a new star system, and follows the adventures of the renegade crew of Serenity, a "Firefly-class" spaceship. The ensemble cast portrays the nine characters living aboard Serenity. Whedon pitched the show as "nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things."[1]

The show explores the lives of a group of people, some of whom fought on the losing side of a civil war, who make a living on the fringes of society as part of the pioneer culture of their star system. The two surviving superpowers, the United States and China, fused to form the central federal government called the Alliance. 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."[2]

Firefly premiered in the United States on the Fox network on September 20, 2002. By mid-December, Firefly had averaged 4.7 million viewers per episode and was 98th in Nielsen ratings.[3] It was canceled after 11 of the 14 produced episodes were aired. Despite the short life span of the series, it received strong sales when it was released on DVD and has large fan support campaigns.[4][5] It won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2003 for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series. TV Guide ranked the series at No. 5 on their 2013 list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon".[6][7]

The post-airing success of the show led Whedon and Universal Pictures to produce Serenity, a 2005 film which continues the story from the series.[4] The Firefly franchise expanded into other media, including comics and a role-playing game.[8][9]

  1. ^ Brioux, Bill. "Firefly series ready for liftoff". jam.canoe.ca. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ Whedon, Serenity: Relighting the Firefly, DVD extra
  3. ^ "Fox Squashes 'Firefly'". E! Online. December 13, 2002. Archived from the original on April 30, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Russell, M.E. (June 24, 2006). "The Browncoats Rise Again". The Daily Standard. Retrieved July 16, 2006.
  5. ^ Chonin, Neva (June 8, 2005). "When Fox canceled 'Firefly,' it ignited an Internet fan base whose burning desire for more led to 'Serenity'". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 9, 2006.
  6. ^ Roush, Matt (June 3, 2013). "Cancelled Too Soon". TV Guide. pp. 20–21.
  7. ^ Bell, Amanda (November 7, 2018). "Television Shows Canceled Way Too Soon". TV Guide. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  8. ^ "Serenity". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  9. ^ "Review of Serenity Role Playing Game". RPGnet. Retrieved June 29, 2011.

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