My Favorite TV Shows: Firefly

I was one of the few who watched Joss Whedon's Firefly when it originally aired. I watched the first episode, and faithfully watched it every week. And I mourned with other fans when Fox executives canceled the show mid-season.

Many of us who were there from the beginning had the opportunity to later introduce more to the 'Verse when the DVDs were released. More fans were made, and old fans were ecstatic to view never-before-aired episodes.

From the beginning I was immediately drawn in by the richness of the characters, the great acting of the ensemble cast, the idea of cowboys in space, and the handsome ruggedness of the now iconic Captain Mal Reynolds (who was aptly nicknamed 'Captain Tight Pants').

When creating a new TV series, the smartest thing you can do is to write interesting characters your audience has a reason to care about. Firefly had nine (yes, there were times that we even cared about Jayne) such characters. From the question mark that was River, to Wash, the Pilot, whose wife wore the pants in the family. From the beautiful Companion, Inara, to River's naive brother, Simon. And finally, Kaylie, the ship's mechanic and the mysterious preacher, Book.

Each character was rich with back stories, some known and much yet to be discovered. And they all lived in their own little community on a ship called Serenity. They weren't necessarily always considered to be the "good guys" in the eyes of those around them, but they had a moral compass that guided them to do the right thing.

Firefly is a series that can be enjoyed again and again, and I do.

Quippy Quote (there are so many that it's hard to pick just a few):

Mal: We're not going to die. We can't die, Bendis. You know why? Because we are so very pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die.

Jayne: Do you know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with to show you who's in command.

Book: If you take sexual advantage of her, you're going to burn in a very special hell. A level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk in the theatre.