Journey Planet 58 - Cancelled Too Soon

Firefly debuted on September 16, 2002 and it ended on December 20, 2002 after one season and 11 episodes, although three additional episodes were eventually burned off in July and August of the following year. It is well known that the episodes aired out of order and the network had little faith in the series. The series starred Nathan Fillion as Mal Reynolds, Gina Torres as Zoë, Alan Tudyk as Wash, Morena Baccarin as Inara, Adam Baldwin as Jayne Cobb, Jewel Staite as Kaylee Frye, Sean Maher as Simon Tam, Summer Glau as River Tam, and Ron Glass as Shepherd Book. An honest-to-God space western, it followed the less-than-savory crew around the system trying to make ends meet and avoid the powers-that-be. The series originally aired on Fox in the U.S. and led to an eventual movie as well as novels, games, and a continuation in comics. Firefly is available on DVD and BluRay. It can be streamed on Hulu, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu, Microsoft, and Redbox.

OK, I’ll be honest. In 2002 and 2003, when Firefly was airing on Fox, I wasn’t watching. I’m not sure exactly why, except that I’m not really that dedicated a TV watcher. So I can’t say I mourned when it was cancelled.

I was watching when the movie, Serenity, appeared in 2005. I knew it was a sequel to a well-regarded TV series, and it looked like fun, so I saw it in the theater. And I liked it—but I didn’t fully get it.

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