(dramatic music) - [Narrator] What was that? The story of "Firefly", on a basic level, is the same story that so
many other TV shows have had. A great idea is turned into a pilot, the studio picks it up on it's potential, and a season is made. The studio is disappointed
with the numbers and the show is canceled. (man grunts) - To soon. I see that now. - [Narrator] But if all
of those other TV shows are patches of ice on the water, "Firefly" is an iceberg. What we see on top is
only a part of the story. There is a whole lot more to it once you take a deeper look. "Firefly" is a story about loss... the loss of what could have been. As humans, once we truly
connect with something or someone on a deeper level, it's loss can rock us
deeply and dramatically. We mourn the loss of
the talent, art and hope in every generation and every time. People remember how they
felt when John Lennon, Kurt Cobain and Tupac Shakur died. They remember where they were when the Space Shuttle Challenger
exploded during take off with America's first teacher on board. Losing Heath Ledger after
his life changing performance as The Joker. Knowing we'd never see
another Chris Farley movie. We feel robbed of the
joy their future success could still bring us. What if The Sex Pistols
or Temple of the Dog had made a second album? What if Corey Feldman and
Lindsey Lohan hadn't destroyed their budding acting careers? Then we root for and celebrate
those who defy the odds. Could anyone but Robert Downey
Junior ever played Iron Man? After his battle with drug addiction, the world said, "Well,
there goes another one with great potential." But he fought his way back
and his return to Hollywood has made RDJ one of the
acting icons of our time. It is proof that potential
greatness is worth fighting for. But in all of those cases, we, the fans are helpless bystanders witnessing history and
victims of the outcome. But there are a few rare cases when an opportunity presents itself so that fans can actually
influence and change history. - They're not gonna see this coming. - [Narrator] "Firefly"
may be a story about loss, but it is also a story about passion, tenacity and how the fans
helped accomplish something that had never happened before in the history of entertainment. This is the story of the greatest
Science Fiction franchise that almost was. This is the story of "Firefly"! And you've never heard
it told like this before! Make sure you stay tuned
until later in the show where we'll be showing
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Stay Shiny graphic design from the amazing artists at MixedTees.com. - The amount that people
have done for this movie, who's only benefit is to be apart of it, is extremely moving. - [Narrator] "Firefly"
is perhaps better known for the fight to save it, than for the art it left behind. While "Firefly" is loved by millions of fans around the world, it left a very small mark on the TV world, airing on the Fox Network
for a short 14 episode season in 2002. It would be it's one and only. But those 4 months in the winter of 2002 would end up being only a
fraction of the "Firefly" story. While greatly misunderstood by Fox and the general TV viewing audience, fans of the show understood the creative and complicated world
Joss Whedon had created and wanted more of it. And while "Firefly" wasn't the
first science fiction TV show to have an organized
fan base try to save it, it would be remembered for it. But let's get back to that in a moment. First... the beginning. "Firefly" being created at all is a series of chance situations, whim, luck and timing. It was created by a man who didn't want to become a screen writer and green lit by a woman who was coincidentally
sitting in the right chair at the right time. The man who didn't want
to be a screen writer was Joss Whedon, who had
already achieved cult fame with his TV shows "Buffy
the Vampire Slayer" and it's spin off "Angel." Whedon was not only the son
of a Hollywood screenwriter, but he was also the grandson of one, too. His grandfather wrote for classic TV shows like "Donna Reed," "Andy Griffith" and "Dick Van Dyke." And his father, a writer
for "Captain Kangaroo," "The Electric Company"
and the "Golden Girls." Joseph Hill Whedon, who would
name himself Joss in college, did not want to follow in his father and grandfather's footsteps. Whedon instead chose to become
an independent film maker. Despite not wanting to be
a 3rd generation TV writer, broke and unable to support himself, Joss moved to Los Angeles to
live with his father in 1987. This step backward would end
up launching Whedon's career. And along this path was the year 2517, Humanity lived in a new solar system where there were Browncoats, an alliance, and things were shiny instead of cool. Joss quickly realized he needed
a way to make decent money to get out of his father's
house and into his own space so he could focus on making movies. His father suggested Joss
give sitcom writing a try. And with the support of his
father and a few lucky breaks, Whedon would eventually find himself writing for the number one
Nielsen rated show on TV... "Roseanne." As impressive as it was to be a writer on one of the country's top shows, Whedon as a junior writer
didn't garner much attention and though he contributed
to a few important episodes on the show, he found himself
at work with nothing to do. Disliking the joke-joke-joke
structure of sitcoms, Joss spent the rest of
his days on "Roseanne" working on a little movie script titled "Martha the Immortal Waitress". - What are you talking about? - [Narrator] Although you would know it as "Buffy The Vampire Slayer." You may be asking yourself,
"What does the movie "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
have to do with "Firefly"?" The answer is everything. After "Roseanne," Whedon's fledgling agent shopped his "Buffy"
script around Hollywood and it was finally optioned in 1991 by Sandollar Productions. The young production company founded by legendary
country star Dolly Parton, was essentially unknown,
but they liked the script. The story may be all about Buffy, but "Firefly" was born that day too. Unknown to anyone at the time, there was an important future executive working for Sandollar
that would be responsible for "Firefly" being made. Gail Berman would go on to become Fox's President
of Entertainment, but in 1991, as a Sandollar executive, she was desperately trying to convince a Japanese distribution
company to partner with her to bring Joss Whedon's "Buffy"
movie to the big screen. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
would hit theaters in July 1992 earning over $16 million dollars and was considered a success. Despite it's success, Joss Whedon would ultimately be unhappy with the final version of the film. The dark and comedic
action-horror film of empowerment he had scripted would instead
end up a campy comedy. This battle over vision and tone would be a theme during
Whedon's career that, as we'll see, especially impacted the fate of the "Firefly" TV series. Despite Whedon's disappointment
in the "Buffy" movie, it's success gave him an opportunity to hone his script writing
talents on movies like "Speed," "Toy Story" and "Alien Resurrection." (alien growling) Although he was making a name for himself as a script doctor, Whedon found himself dissatisfied with seeing major changes to his script when the movie finally hit the big screen. Starting with "Roseanne," this problem occurred on
nearly everything he wrote. It was the mid '90s. Whedon was good at what he did, but something was missing. At the same time, Gail Berman was looking
for a way to capitalize on teen-centric high school life. Shows like "Beverley Hills 90210," "Party of Five" and "My So Called Life" were popular at the time and Berman wanted to return
to Joss's Buffy character. She thought "Buffy" was
exactly what was needed for television. While obtaining permission
to go ahead with a series, one of the requirements
of the "Buffy" contract was that Joss Whedon had
the first right of refusal if "Buffy" was ever redeveloped. It was exactly what Whedon
had been waiting for. He would finally be able
to control his creation from script to screen. The rest of the story is TV history. Joss Whedon develops "Buffy" and "Angel" and gains a cult fan following
as one of Hollywood's young gun show runners. The term Whedon-verse is invented and suddenly every studio
wants to work with him. It was 20th Century Fox
who would come calling in early 1998. Whedon signed a future
film and TV deal with Fox that "Firefly" would
eventually be born from. Gail Berman's role in
Whedon's life at this point can't be understated. She helped get his first movie made and she also made it possible
for Joss to spread his wings with both "Buffy" and "Angel." Berman also served as Executive
Producer for both shows. So in 2000, when Berman
became the President of Entertainment for Fox, with Whedon also under a
future film and TV deal, the power team would be in a position to bring Joss's next vision
to bigger audiences... or would they? - I can kill you with my brain. - [Narrator] "Firefly"
wasn't born in Hollywood. It was born 5,437 miles away in London. Whedon was on vacation with his wife, Kai. And while he wasn't supposed
to be thinking about work, under his deal with 20th Century Fox, he needed to deliver them a new series. Joss had written the script
for "Alien Resurrection" and was a huge fan of outer space Sci-Fi, but he found TV was lacking gritty realism that wasn't an alien rip off. Whedon was also reading a 1975 Pulitzer prize winning historical novel called "The Killer
Angels," by Michael Shaara. It tells the story of the
1863 Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War from the perspective of the soldiers. Whedon became fascinated with
the small, every day moments of the soldiers' lives. Today, everything we need
is instantly available, but Whedon was drawn in by the idea that the things we take for granted today could be the difference
between life and death for those soldiers. Joss then imagined characters
like those soldiers traversing the Western landscape creating history on the frontier
with every step they took. He didn't want the people who made history to tell his story. He wanted his story to be about
the people being stepped on while history was made. The inspiration for "Firefly"
also came from the 1939 John Ford movie "Stagecoach," which follows nine
characters that band together as they cross the open
frontier between the Arizona and New Mexico territories. Ford's "Stagecoach" included a driver, a doctor, a reverend and even a prostitute. The skeleton of "Firefly"
was coming together, right down to the threat
of Savage Apaches, which in space would become
the blood thirsty Reavers who live on the outskirts
of civilized space. In "Firefly", Whedon saw an opportunity to tell this story again in a future where humanity
must leave the earth and brave the frontier again. There are no laser guns,
transporters, aliens or clean spaceships. His show would be about
how politics affect people on a personal level. Whedon didn't care about the Federation or the Jedi Council. He wanted to show how
the small people survive when the powerful people make decisions. But even great ideas need
to get past Fox executives. And as we mentioned before, Whedon had a friend at
the top in Gail Berman. She wanted Joss on Fox. She recalls going to the "Buffy" offices to talk to him about it. Shortly after, he gave her
the fully fleshed out idea for "Firefly". She was surprised it was a space show. She didn't think that's
where he was headed, but she also thought,
"Wherever Joss is going is where I want to go." While there were
disagreements about things like having a married couple on the ship, Berman trusted Joss. So in December 2001,
she greenlit "Firefly" with an order for 13 episodes. A month later, Fox gave
Whedon's production company, Mutant Enemy, $10 million dollars to develop and shoot the pilot. At $8.7 million dollars, Joss
would deliver it under budget, but that didn't mean
executives were happy about it. But we'll get back to that in a moment. First, "Firefly" would need a cast. The actors who helped
create the "Firefly" we love were not initially considered
the important element of the show... at least in the eyes
of the show's creator. Whedon warned his cast early on that there was a reason why
he named the show "Firefly" after the spaceship and
not after a main character. According to Adam Baldwin, who
played Jayne on the series, Joss told them he'd had
that experience before and didn't want to go there again. "You are all expendable. And if I choose, you can go at any time." Of course he was referring to either "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" or it's spin off "Angel," both named after the main characters. And with no public feud ever coming out between "Angel's" David
Boreanaz and Whedon, the likely source of Whedon's distress was likely actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played the televised
version of "Buffy." According to sources familiar
with the Buffy production, early in the show's run, Gellar had a severed
relationship with Whedon to the extent that she
didn't want his name spoken around her. After years of frustration
for the talented writer who powerlessly watched
directors and even actors make changes to his scripts, it was no surprise that Joss took a my way or the highway approach to the productions he was in charge of. Gellar's 2021 comment that she doesn't want
to be forever associated with the name Joss
Whedon may shine a light on the their relationship, which would explain Whedon's threat to the young "Firefly" cast. Joss was happy that his new show would have an ensemble cast and he would include
several character types that his fans would be familiar with. The loner with a distinct
sense of justice, the dependable side kick, the book smart person of reason always being pushed to new boundaries, and of course the young female superhero, a Joss Whedon specialty. And Joss chose is actors
for "Firefly" well. Whedon called "Firefly" the
best cast he ever worked with during "Firefly's" 10th anniversary panel at Comic-Con San Diego. - So we had the best
cast I'll ever work with. - [Narrator] If you have a spaceship, you are also going to
need someone in charge. Captain Malcolm Reynolds would
become the western frontier Han Solo that Whedon was looking for. Nathan Fillion had just finished
the canceled ABC sitcom, "Two guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" and had been offered a talent
deal by 20th Century Fox. The studio wanted a show for him and he was brought in to meet with Joss for the role of Mal. But that wasn't the first time Fillion had been up for a Whedon role. Back in 1996, Fillion was passed over for the part of Angel on "Buffy," although he never met Joss
during the audition process. So he didn't recognize him when he was ushered into
a room to chat with Whedon about the role of Mal. He noticed a little guy in the corner with a ripped sweater and scraggly hair. "Nice guy," he thought. "When is Joss Whedon going to get here." During the conversation he
realized little guy was Whedon. They talked for about
45 minutes about work, other shows and of course "Firefly". Whedon told Fillion that
he'd love for him to audition and thought he'd do well in the part. But the audition did not go smoothly. Fillion was asked to do multiple readings until he finally became confused. He told the casting people he
didn't know what was going on. They said he was reading the
lines the same way each time. After the break down in communication, Fillion received the direction he needed and everything clicked into place. During the audition process, Joss didn't have a finished pilot script. The show was only a
rough 18 page treatment. So Fillion had a lot of questions. And Whedon was more than
happy to discuss them. Fillion later said that no
one has ever been so complete in their vision as Joss. From music, to lighting
and special effects, Fillion explained that Joss knew exactly what he wanted to do. (gun firing)
(man grunts) "Firefly's" second
officer would need to be loyal to her captain, but married to the pilot and
find a way to make that work. Gina Torres, who had played the title roll in "Cleopatra 2525" wasn't interested in doing
another science fiction show, but she was compelled by the
"Firefly" source material. She remembers thinking that her character would be in a very interesting dynamic. After talking with Joss, she would learn that
Zoe was career military and she loved her husband. Torres was given the chance to fill out her character from there and felt blessed that
Joss trusted her enough to let her do that. Before he was "Dodgeball's"
beloved Steve the Pirate and one of Disney's main go
to's for voice over characters, Alan Tudyk was Hoban "Wash" Washburne, "Serenity's" pilot and
husband to Zoe on "Firefly". The only notable thing Tudyk had done on television before "Firefly" was to be on an episode
of "Frasier" in 2000. He was more recognizable on the big screen from the 2001 movie-- (dramatic music) - Hello. - [Narrator] Which he
played in with Heath Ledger. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Tudyk recalled getting the pages
for "Firefly" and thinking, "What is this? I can't audition to be
on a show for seven years with just two pages of
information about it." But after calling a friend for advice and revealing it was
a Joss Whedon project, the friend said, "Do it. You have to do it." Tudyk sent in his audition tape of him playing with dinosaurs
and promptly forgot about it. When they called him back
a couple months later, he said, "Firefly"? You must be mistaken. What's that?" Of course he went on to get the role and today it is the performance
he is best known for. Believe it or not, "Firefly"
wasn't the first time Jewel Staite played the
engineer on a spaceship. In fact, the 13 year old version
of Staite played Catalina, a rainbow-haired ship's engineer from Titan on the Nickelodeon
kid's show "Space Cases." The Canadian series
aired from 1996 to 1997 and included guest stars like
Mark Hamill and George Takei. So when the opportunity
to play Kaylee Frye, Serenity's engineer on "Firefly", she must have been jumping
at the chance right? Actually, no. According to an interview
she did with RadioFree.com in 2005, she was more
interested in auditioning for the roll of River Tam. This is because the role of
Kaylee was described as chubby. The 23 year old actress was
thin with a fast metabolism and she wasn't sure the role of Kaylee would be right for her. Staite remembers bringing
it up to her agent who then reached out to
Whedon's people who said, "No, Jewell is a Kaylee type for sure." Trusting the process, Staite sent in her video
audition and hoped for the best. Shortly afterward, she was asked to come to
Los Angeles to meet Whedon. Before her screen test at Fox, Staite was asked to
audition in front of Joss at the Mutant Enemy offices. Staite recalls being petrified. "Buffy" had just celebrated
it's 100th episode and there were congratulations
posters up on the walls. She was in awe that she was there at all. Then Joss came out of the audition room with a big warm smile
and she was put at ease. She felt like he was in her
corner from the beginning. She recalls that later
during her screen test in a room full of Fox executives, she would find his warm
smiling face in the crowd and it would make her feel better. After she won the role, they immediately brought
up Joss's requirement. Would she be willing to put on
15 or 20 pounds for the part. Jewel was able to put on 15 pounds before going on set 3 weeks later. She said it was hard
and she felt sluggish. It was hard for her to keep the
weight on during the season, and she lost it immediately after. Later, when they did the "Serenity" movie, Joss told her she didn't
need to gain the weight again because he knew how
tough it had been for her the first time. - Sex? (suspenseful music) The hell with this?
(gun cocking) I'm gonna live. - [Narrator] Adam Baldwin, 20
years older than Jewel Staite and 9 years older than Nathan Fillion was remarkably youthful
looking in his "Firefly" role as mercenary Jayne Cobb. The mistrustful character's main purpose was to serve as Captain Mal's muscle... a bodyguard of sorts. But this wasn't the first time Baldwin played someone's heavy. In fact, his very first paid acting job in front of the camera was for the 1980 movie "My Bodyguard." Baldwin played a giant among children, and that character like Jayne is actually a bit softer on the inside than what you initially see. Baldwin was the most
recognizable face on the cast when the show started. Prior to getting the role on "Firefly", he had been in 34 big screen
movies and 32 television roles. Needless to say, Adam had been busy. From "Full Metal Jacket" to "Wyatt Earp" and five episodes of "The X-Files," Baldwin was a working class actor. And "Firefly" was
initially just another way to keep working. Baldwin found out about
the role and auditioned. He later found out that Joss had seen some of his earlier work and thought he would be a strong fit for the character of Jayne. Baldwin connected with the role. He was familiar with the character because of the westerns he'd
grown up watching as a kid. He liked to play the scruffy characters. So with a little gruffness in his voice that Joss had to tone
down from time-to-time, Baldwin would turn Jayne
into a timeless character. During the season, Baldwin admits that he thought Joss
was going to kill Jayne. He said he lived in fear of it. During the 8th episode "Ariel," Jayne goes against Captain Mal and tries to get rid of their fugitives. Mal hits Jayne over the head
and sticks him in the air lock about to send him to his
death in the vacuum of space. Baldwin thought Whedon might actually kill off his character. Instead, we learn that Jayne
is deeper than he seems and we see real remorse in his character. As a result, Mal let's him live and Whedon gives us high class drama that would only add to making the series that much harder to lose. - Shiny. Must be bad guys. - [Narrator] Baldwin may have been worried about his character being killed off, but for Morena Baccarin, she wasn't even initially cast in the role as Companion Inara. That honor was bestowed
on Rebecca Gayheart, who was initially hired and then fired after only one day of filming. Gayheart, a teen model who
rose to national attention as The Noxzema girl in the early 90s, was let go due to a lack of chemistry between her and the rest of the cast. As chance would have it, the same day Joss decided
to make the change, Baccarin was having
lunch with her boyfriend and Gayheart's manager. While Morena was getting
the call to audition, Gayheart's manager was getting
the call about the firing. During Baccarin's audition process, she immediately felt a
great rapport with Whedon. When she tested in front
of studio executives the next morning, Whedon was there supporting
her in the same way he had with Jewel Staite. When it was over, she was expecting to have to go back and do a few scenes differently, but Joss came out and said, "Congratulations, you have the job." - I'll be in my bunker. - [Narrator] Like Morena, Sean
Maher, who played Simon Tam was in contention for the role. Neil Patrick Harris,
previously Doogie Howser MD and now most known for
his character Barney on the hit sitcom, "How
I Met Your Mother," was in competition for
the role with Maher. Sean wasn't much of a science fiction fan and agreed to talk about the project because he wanted to meet with Joss. As Whedon described
the world of "Firefly", Maher said he almost
fell out of his chair. He liked Simon Tam's character, but it was Whedon's personality and vision that sealed the deal for him. Maher had been looking
for a permanent home while on a holding deal with Fox. After short stints on a few series to include seven episodes
of "Party of Five," Maher would become most well known for his role on "Firefly". Simon Tam's sister, River, was the female super hero Joss Whedon couldn't resist writing into his stories. And the choice for this critical role would end up going to Summer Glau, whose acting credits up until this point included one episode on
Whedon's other TV show, "Angel." When she first moved to Los Angeles, she was a ballet dancer, but she was auditioning
to become an actor. As luck would have it, Whedon wanted a dancer
for the "Angel" role. Despite exaggerating a bit on her resume about her past acting experience, Whedon saw something he
liked and gave her the part. So when the role for River came around, her small part on "Angel"
and experience with Whedon, would help her get the part. She considers her work on "Firefly" to be her first real acting job. - (whispering) Miranda. - [Narrator] River may have
been Summer's first acting gig, but the actor who would
play Shepherd Derrial Book had been acting for a long time. Ron Glass started acting in 1973 on an episode of "All In The Family," but he was first well known
for his recurring role on "Barney Miller" from 1975 to 1982. Glass's only other trip
into science fiction TV had been an episode of
"Twilight Zone" in the '80s and an episode of "Star Trek Voyager" only a couple years earlier. During his audition for Book, Glass recalls being
intrigued by the character, but what really made him want the role was Joss's reaction to
hearing Ron perform the words. Glass described Whedon as
having an emotional reaction to his audition and he
realized how dedicated he was to the work and that
more than anything else made him want to be a part of "Firefly". - You're going to burn in a
very special level of hell. A level they reserve for child molesters. And people who talk at the theater. - [Narrator] Once the cast was set, it was time to start production. While most shows start with a script, this one would start with a song. And that song would play
a more important role Usually the first step in
creating a television series is writing a pilot. But Whedon doesn't necessarily
do things by the book considering he'd already
cast the whole show without a script. But that's not all he did
before writing the script. Whedon also wrote the theme song. In fact, he wrote the theme song right after Fox greenlit the show. And that decision would turn
out to be an important anchor for Whedon while creating the show. The folksong, which is a somber yet simultaneously uplifting
message about independence was written after the Battle of Serenity. Whedon realized everything
he was going to put Captain Mal through was in that song. And it was the song that would help keep Whedon focused on his
message while writing the pilot. "You can't take the sky from me" would become a focal point in the show and Mal's character would
be built around this idea. During the original pilot "Serenity," this idea would come through clearly in a few lines of dialogue. Simon was complaining to Mal that-- - Half of the people on
the ship had been shot or wounded including yourself. - [Narrator] Mal said. - We're still flying. - [Narrator] Simon would reply. - [Simon] That's not much. - [Narrator] And Mal
would finish it by saying. - It's enough. - [Narrator] And that
was exactly what Whedon wanted the world to feel
when they saw his new show. Just keep going. This idea was so important, keep flying would eventually
become a fan rallying cry. But more on that in a moment. "Firefly" was exactly the show
Joss Whedon wanted it to be from the beginning. He felt he was capturing
history in the future. And it was important to him
that the verse be created by remnants of the earth
that had been left behind. Whedon felt that with the US and China as the current earth super
powers, in the verse, those two cultures would come together to create the culture of the future. This idea was inspired
by his wife's experience living and teaching English in China as well as his own
interest in the country. He decided that in "Firefly"
the English language would be peppered with long
bouts of swearing in Chinese. That idea in theory ended up becoming a little
more difficult in practice. Joss explained that in Chinese, you can say something
that's paragraph's long in like two syllables. So he kept having to write
longer and longer curses so people could hear the Mandarin Chinese. This made it more difficult for the actors to memorize and repeat. Years later the question would be asked... If the verse is half Chinese, how come we never see any Chinese people? During the 10th anniversary panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2012, Whedon addressed the topic
by essentially saying, it wasn't a mission
statement who he was casting for a particular role, but it was a mission statement that cultures inevitably blend. He liked the utopian idea that the future was a
blending of cultures. While Whedon was busy writing and directing the pilot
episode of "Firefly", he started to realize he was
going to be spread very thin trying to oversee three
shows simultaneously. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
was in it's 6th season and "Angel" was in it's third. He already had people running
his day-to-day operations on those two shows and knew
he'd need someone to do the same on "Firefly". But he needed someone
he could really trust to help develop the show
and keep everything going when he couldn't be on set
or in the writer's room. Tim Minear was already
working for Whedon on "Angel" and he was the first person trusted to break a story without
Whedon on any of his shows. Joss had already been
screening the pilot for Tim and was asking for his notes. Minear recalls not believing
he'd ever have the opportunity to work on "Firefly", so when Whedon asked him if he wanted to come fly his spaceship, Tim eagerly said, yes! Minear, who had been an assistant director on the film "Platoon," didn't see the war he was
stepping into with "Firefly." Whedon had already fought
the battle with Fox over having a married couple
and a high end prostitute before the project was
greenlit in December 2001. But that was only the
beginning of the trouble the "Firefly" production
team was about to have with their new network. In January 2002 things started moving. During the shooting of the pilot, the studio did not like what
Whedon was showing them. They felt the show was too dark. They wanted more action. They wanted it to be lighter
and they wanted Captain Mal to be funnier. Fox wanted to appeal to
a younger demographic, but Joss wanted to make
the show he wanted to make. In the end, Whedon tried to
meet the studio half way. Joss started doing reshoots. He included an opening war
scene to create more action. He included dialogue that
displayed Captain Mal's sense of humor as well. But despite doing reshoots, the network was still
not happy with the pilot. In May, when the network
started putting together it's 2002-2003 schedule for
it's upfront presentation for advertisers, "Firefly"
was expected to be held until 2003 as a midseason replacement. Fox was losing it's Sci-Fi
mainstay "The X-Files" and they had the James
Cameron produced "Dark Angel," which was expected to be
renewed for it's third season. Then on May 10th, Whedon
was told by the network that they weren't sure they
were going to pick up the show and they wanted a new
pilot script by Monday. Whedon and Minear had two days to come up with a completely new idea that studio executives would like. Joss and Tim spent the weekend
at the Mutant Enemy offices trying to beat the deadline. Whedon wrote half of the script
and Minear wrote the other. By Monday morning, they had
written "The Train Job." The network liked it and on May 16th, during the networks
upfronts to advertisers, "Firefly" was added to the
fall roster and "Dark Angel" had been canceled. It was good news, but also bad news. Because "Firefly" had also been scheduled into the Friday night death slot. "Firefly" was starting
with an uphill battle and only four months until the
first episode needed to air. Up to this point, Whedon
had been very frustrated trying to work with the
network on his pilot. Gail Berman had faith in him, but Joss had failed to deliver the "Buffy" type action
series set in space and they weren't sure
what to do with the show. The narrative has been that
Fox wanted "Firefly" to fail. And while perhaps some people in Fox didn't care for the show, businesses themselves
don't like to lose money and Berman especially didn't
want to see Whedon's show fail since she's the one who pushed for it. The network will say
that not enough people watched the show. Fans will say that Fox
didn't try hard enough. And while there were many things that Fox did wrong leading
up to the launch of the show, the most devastating it did was putting it in the
Friday night death slot. Although the decision to put
"Firefly" in the death slot was not as nefarious as fans believe. According to Adam Baldwin, Fox
only had two, one-hour slots open for the 2002 fall season. Wednesday nights at 9 PM
and Friday nights at 8 PM. So there were not a lot of
choices for the network. The new show "Fastlane"
starring Tiffany Amber Thiessen of "Beverly Hills 90210" fame and up and coming stars Peter
Facinelli and Bill Bellamy, was a show smack dab in the
middle of Fox's wheel house. Executives were excited
for their new dramedy inspired by "Bad Boys" and "Miami Vice." The Friday night slot had
also just been occupied by the show "Firefly" was replacing, so it's not a surprise about who ended up on Friday night and who
ended up on Wednesday night. Jewel Staite remembered driving
home from work one night along Sunset Boulevard and "Fastlane" was having
a huge premiere party with a red carpet and
press and everything. Her thought was, "Cool,
I better start packing." Years later she would tell this story and say they may have received
the attention back then, but they don't have "Fastlane"
conventions today do they? And while" Fastlane "was
enjoying premier parties, Alan Tudyk remembers Fox
making the actors on "Firefly" pay for their lunches. He'd never had that experience on anything else he'd ever done. It was becoming obvious that "Firefly" was going to be an underdog show. The Friday night death
slot is not a fiction of some fans biased mind. Shows like "Firefly" go to die there, because young adults aren't
usually home to watch TV on Friday nights. And "Firefly" was intended to be a young adult audience show. Fox had already canceled nine shows in the previous 10 years that
aired during the Friday night prime time slots. The studio should have known then that any show airing on Friday nights would not be able to keep up
with shows on other nights. Especially for the young audience. In the 16 years after
"Firefly" was canceled, 31 other shows have found their death during Fox's Friday night line up. That's 40 shows in 26 years. The "Firefly" team didn't know it yet, but they never had a chance. "Firefly" was the worst ranked Fox TV show in the fall of 2002 with
an average 4.7 million viewers per episode. Had "Firefly" been on WB, it would have been the network's
4th highest rated show. And had it been on UPN, it would have been their number two show right behind "WWE Smackdown" and ahead of "Star Trek Enterprise." But Fox demanded higher ratings as one of the big four networks. And the last rated show of the season was going to have a hard time being brought back for another. It's also important to
remember that reality TV was king at that time and Fox's top shows were "American Idol" and the
short lived "Joe Millionaire." But outside of those shows, Fox was in a race for last with ABC. Their next biggest show was "The Simpsons" all the way down at number 40. So to be fair, viewership for Fox overall wasn't great that year. It wasn't just "Firefly." And for those "Firefly" cast members who were jealous of "Fastlane," they might find it
ironically pleasing to know that when they were canceled, "Fastlane" was moved into
their Friday night timeslot and canceled themselves
only a few months later. But the Friday night death slot was not on the minds of Joss Whedon, his cast and his crew. Whedon had hand picked
every person himself. "Firefly" was exactly the show Joss wanted it to be from the start. He cared deeply about his new universe and he was creating it
with care and passion. The actors and crew that
were making the show with him also created a deep connection
quickly with the show and several of them would say "Firefly" was the experience they measured all of their future shows against. Whedon's choices for each role resulted in genuine chemistry
between the characters that leapt off the screen and created a connection with fans. And according to the
cast and crew and Whedon, Nathan Fillion helped
create that chemistry and was the anchor of the show. Not only was he the Captain of Serenity and leader of their band of misfits, he was also the captain of the glue that held everyone together. Whedon had originally wanted
someone older than Fillion to play Mal. But once he spent time
with the young actor and took him through the audition process, he knew he was the one. Morena Baccarin would say it was Fillion who set the tone as the lead of the show. Sean Maher described Nathan
as an amazing presence who knew everyone's name. Adam Baldwin told a story
about how Fillion showed up at his 40th birthday party
right after they met. He didn't even know me, he recalled. Nathan doesn't get enough credit for helping us pull through the series. Baldwin said that Nathan
had an air about him that inspired us to be
loving toward our characters and the characters around us and to be giving so we
all have our moments. This is why we fell so
in love with "Firefly" and why were so crushed that
it was gone before it's time. Jewell Staite remembers
Fillion inviting everyone to his house on the
weekends to swim in the pool and play Pictionary. During the 10th anniversary
panel at Comic-Con San Diego, Whedon told Fillion and the
crowd there was never a moment when he didn't think
Nathan was the captain. He went on to say that Nathan was there to make sure everyone
was having the best time and doing the best work. That's usually the job
of the executive producer or the director. Stars of shows have a responsibility that most actors aren't up
to like Nathan Fillion was. And while everyone would
say Fillion set the tone, Nathan would say it was a team effort and ultimately he would be right. Summer Glau credits her
performance as River with the role being at the
right time in her career. Glau being a new actor naturally felt a little like an outsider. And even though she felt like she was in a protective
environment with her cast, she did make a lot of mistakes. River was going through this as well and she felt like what she
was going through in real life was also coming through the character and making the performance
that much better. Jewell Staite credits Whedon's writing as being one of the things
that brought everyone together and allowed fans to fall in love. The character of Kaylee
is a warmhearted charmer who seemed genuine. Each actor brought a genuineness and love to their characters and that
is ultimately what allowed fans to fall in love with the show. The fact that anyone could
follow the show closely enough to fall in love is a
minor miracle in itself. There were so many problems with the show at the network level, that if taken into a court of law, Fox would still be paying
reparations to the "Firefly" team for their mishandling of the series. After The Friday night death slot and the "Firefly" team feeling like unsupported
network outsiders, there was the marketing for the show. The question will always be, why would Fox direct the marketing team to make promo videos without
first talking to the people making the series? Was it bad leadership, bad
communication or a lack of care? Perhaps Chris Buchanan, who was in charge of
Mutant Enemy at the time and was shown the promo in advance is at fault for not
demanding it was changed? Regardless, "Firefly" promos
talked about a cosmic hooker and a whacked out space cowboy set to the music of Smash
Mouth's, "Walking On The Sun." It was a disaster. Alan Tudyk remembers the announcer mispronouncing their names and it becoming a running joke on set. The story goes that Fox sent
the promo reel to Buchanan and when the marketing guy
asked him what they thought, he told the guy it was great
but it wasn't our show. The marketing guy would tell Chris that his job was to get
people to watch the show and then they'll figure out
what it is and they'll stay. The promos were so off base that anyone other than a Joss Whedon fan who might be interested in what
the show was actually about, would have been turned off by the promo. And it only gets worst. Forget the fact that Fox required Whedon to create a new pilot that didnt set up the
characters correctly, but the network would then
go on to air other episodes so ridiculously out of order that the plot and character archs didn't always make sense
from episode-to-episode. And on top of that, Fox was constantly preempting the show for Major League Baseball and
even an Adam Sandler movie. The air dates looked like this. Episode 2, 3, 6, preempted, episode 7, 8, 4, 5, 9, preempted, preempted, episode 10, 14 and 1. Episodes 11, 12 and 13 didn't even air during the original run and
would be released in mid 2003 when the Sci-Fi Channel brought the series to the United Kingdom. So it shouldn't be a surprise
that the cast and crew were under extreme pressure each week when they kept repeatedly showing up at the bottom of the ratings. Jewel Staite would explain that they felt like incredible underdogs and they were just waiting each week for the cancellation announcement to come while still putting
forward their best acting and hoping that things
would work out somehow. But of course it didn't. On Thursday, December 12, 2002 while they were filming
the episode, "The Message," Tim Minear remembers Whedon showing up while they were shooting on the
bridge and pulled him aside. The show had been canceled. Joss and Tim decided to
tell everyone right then instead of waiting until
after the day of filming. Adam Baldwin recalls
never seeing Joss so mad. Joss told them that he
didn't have good news. They pulled the plug and
this is the last episode. Baldwin's daughter was
on set that day with him and he remembers an assistant
director knocking on his door and telling him to get to the set because they'd just been canceled. His daughter was doing her homework. Baldwin looked at her and thought, "I've got money saved, but now what?" Filming stopped for the day and they all went to
Fillion's house to get drunk and forget their broken
hearts for the night. The crew was back on set the next day and still had to shoot for another week to complete the shooting, despite knowing they were canceled. Minear reminisced that
you would never know from the actors performances that they had just been canceled. Tim said they had to shoot a scene where they were all laughing. No one was in the mood to laugh, but you'd have never known
it when watching the episode. On the last day of shooting, they were finishing up
the episodes "The Message" and "Heart of Gold." As each cast member finished
filming their final scene, the assistant director would
say, "That's a "Firefly" wrap." The rest of the cast
and crew would applaud and the actor gave a speech. Then it was on to the next scene. Everyone stayed that day waiting
for the others to finish. They were a family and
that's how they would end it. Minear remembers going
home at the end of the day. The show was finished and they were tearing down the spaceship. When he got home he turned on the TV and they were finally
airing the "Serenity" pilot. Joss Whedon was so upset he wouldn't accept the cancellation. He'd promised his actors that
if this was good, it would go. He kept telling the
cast that it wasn't over and that he would take it someplace else. He pulled his agent,
lawyer and Minear together and tried to find a
new home for "Firefly". To Fox's credit, they gave
him the go ahead to try. Whedon had talked about
trying to keep the set and film on his own. It was going nowhere at that moment. No other network wanted the show, but Whedon wasn't one to give up. In fact, Joss had been
working on saving the show as soon as he realized they
might really be canceled. And he used the best weapon
he had in his arsenal... the fans. In November while the show was airing, Fox gave hope to the series by ordering two more scripts into production, but four days later the
network preempted the show for an Adam Sandler movie. It was at that moment Whedon
and the "Firefly" team started reaching out to fans for help. Several cast members
started posting messages directly to fans on the
official "Firefly" website, while Joss Whedon's wife, Kai, reached out to the
webmaster at JossWhedon.net and asked for help getting
the word out about the show. From that, a fan led campaign called "Firefly": Immediate Assistance coordinated an army of fans who called themselves Browncoats. Named for the show's rebel resistance, fans began loudly asking for
"Firefly" to stay on the air. Fans started out by sending
postcards to news outlets asking journalists to cover
"Firefly" in their columns. They organized viewing parties
throughout the United States and Mutant Enemy provided publicity photos and a copy of Nathan Fillion's recipe for seven layer bean dip. Then fans reached into their
pockets to save "Firefly". On December 9th, in Variety Magazine, a full page ad was placed by fans that featured the headline, "You Keep Flying, We'll Keep Watching." The ad brought Joss Whedon to tears. But despite the passion from the fans and the "Firefly" crew, they couldn't convince Fox to
continue running the series. At 4.7 Million views per episode, "Firefly" was Joss Whedon's
highest rated show, even higher than "Buffy" or "Angel." But the views were too
low for Fox's standards, which expected the show to bring in 12 million plus viewers per week. Gail Berman would eventually say that if she could do it all over again, she likely wouldn't take
"Firefly" off the air. But back in 2002, that
decision had already been made. Despite the show being canceled, the fans had not given up hope. They began writing UPN asking
them to pick up the show. "Firefly's" viewing audience
would have been big numbers for the struggling network. But while UPN said the
show appealed to them, they didn't feel it was a good fit for their current programming needs. "Star Trek Enterprise" was fulfilling their science fiction
fan needs at that time. "Firefly" seemed done for the moment, but it was still far from over. Fox did a lot of things
wrong with "Firefly," but they did something very good that would end up giving it a chance. At that time, very few television series had been brought to DVD. But they took a chance on "Firefly" and released the DVD set on Dec. 2, 2003 nearly a year after the show was canceled. Fans started buying the DVD set in droves. The fans were proving that "Firefly" had very real commercial value. The word was passed among fans that everyone should buy a DVD set. Fans also raised over $14,000
to purchase "Firefly" DVD sets and have them placed
aboard 250 US Navy ships so sailors could watch the
show during deployments. Joss felt the surge of
support from the fans and it gave him an opening. Since timing and luck are as big a part of Hollywood
success as anything else, it just so happened that Mary Parent, the co-head of Universal Pictures had wanted to do something
with Whedon for some time. He had previously turned her down explaining he was too busy
running multiple shows, but after the cancellation of two shows, he suddenly had more time on his hands. Mary asked him again if there
is something he wanted to do and this time he told her he wanted to do a "Firefly" movie. Luckily Mary loved the "Firefly" story and felt that it had ended too soon. She told Joss to write a script. Mary knew she could make the movie if it appealed to both
fans as well as people who had never seen the show and it was done for the right budget. In early September 2004, something happened that
had never been done in Hollywood before. A single season canceled
TV show got a movie deal. Mary loved the script, loved the DVD sales and all
of the "Firefly" fan sites. Universal was able to acquire the rights to a "Firefly" movie from Fox, and Whedon would eventually agree to a very low budget of less
than $40 Million dollars and a shooting schedule of 50 days. He would both write and direct the movie. Universal had high hopes
for a multi-film deal. All "Firefly" needed to do
was be moderately successful and show that the property
would be profitable. With this in mind, the studio asked the actors
to sign multi-film contracts. This is the real reason
Alan Tudyk and Ron Glass were killed off in the movie. They couldn't commit to doing sequels and Joss felt he needed to remove them in case there were future films. Joss had a tough job ahead of him. He had to make a movie for a fan base who had just fought to
bring their show back and an entirely new potential fan base that had never seen the original TV show. Whedon feared writing a script that alienated both audiences. He was also concerned
there wasn't enough time to have 10 characters, each
with a complex back story. Typically, he would introduce
characters to the audience at the same time he was
introducing the characters to each other. But these characters
already knew each other. He also found it difficult to put the Mal and Rivers
character's into the film as they were, and River's
character ends up changing pretty significantly in the film. She would go from a meek mind-reading disturbed young lady in "Firefly," to an all out bad ass ninja
super hero in "Serenity." The type of female character Whedon loves. Joss's original 190 page draft
was a kitchen sink version in which he touched on
all the major play points from the series. This is why you see River
being rescued by her brother, Mal's gruff my way or the highway persona and of course Kaylee and
Simon's potential love interest. In the end, Joss was required
to size down the script to make it fit the budget. There was no way Universal
was going to make a three hour plus movie based
on a canceled TV series. This made it difficult to
give all of the characters meaningful storylines. While that decision wouldn't impact fans who already knew the show, it would be a confusing element
for people new to "Firefly." Even with the trimmed down script, Universal estimated that
filming would require 80 days with a budget of over
$100 million dollars. To cut costs, they wanted
Whedon to shoot overseas. But Joss didn't want to move his family, so he insisted that filming
could still be local and he cut the budget in half. The budget was for $40 million dollars, but Joss shot it for 39, which was considered incredibly low for a science fiction
film with special effects. The end result is that
Whedon simultaneously retold the "Firefly" TV
show while also writing it as a sequel to it's only season. River, Simon and Mal got
fully fleshed backstories while Inara and Book's characters pick up after the series leaves off. Kaylee, Zoe, Wash and
Jayne are not developed, but stay true to the show. Fans of "Firefly" would get it, but would new fans have
a hard time understanding the purpose of these
seemingly minor characters. British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor is excellent in his bad guy role as the determined
operative and his character is more fleshed out and
enjoys more screen time than anyone other than Mal or River. Having a great bad guy
is good for a movie, but more time for the
bad guy means less time for the other characters from the series. Whedon may have been in
an impossible position trying to appease both audiences while being forced to keep
the movie under two hours. As a result, Whedon would
have to lean the movie in one direction or the other to avoid leaving out both groups. But let's get back to that in a moment. First, it was time to rejoice
the return of "Firefly!" Less than two years after the
series had launched on Fox, the crew was making a movie. Baldwin recalls Joss's face after seeing the ship rebuilt from scratch at the gigantic stage at Universal. Whedon was so happy. It reminded him of a kid in a candy store. The movie set was also filled with the joy of being back together and getting to live in the "Firefly" universe once again. Jewel Staite remembers thinking that they didn't have to
worry about losing their jobs or not being able to pay their mortgages. They had this beautiful
piece of unfinished business to attend to and for six glorious months, they would get to play it
out just like they wanted to in total bliss. But it wasn't exactly the
same as it had been before. Whedon gave new things
for the actors to explore. Staite's now famous
"Twixt my nethers" line was initially played as a whisper. Joss asked her why she was whispering. Kaylee isn't inhibited. She'd shout that as loud as she could to get her point across no
matter who was listening. Staite remembers thinking, "Oh yeah, of course she would." During the scene where one of the Reaper's harpoons Jayne's leg as he clings to the crew's small hovercraft, Mal must shoot the rope to set him free. Nathan Fillion remembers thinking he was going to do it slowly taking aim. But Whedon had him shoot quicker saying, "Malcolm Reynolds shoots
better the angrier he gets." Even Whedon was able to make adjustments. He's usually iron tight when it comes to his character's dialogue, but one of the most
memorable lines from the film came when Joss told Fillion
to say something Mal would say while the Reavers were
bearing down on them. So Fillion said, "Faster,
Faster, faster would be better!" Today it's a classic Whedon-verse line. After honing his producing skills for over eight years
across three TV series, he had become a teacher of his craft. Now directing a feature film, Joss went from seasoned
teacher to floundering student. He gives Mary Parent at
Universal a lot of credit as his mentor. She taught him more about making movies than anyone had before. Joss would say that making
"Serenity" was very humbling, difficult and sometimes very frustrating, but ultimately the best
thing in the world. This was the building blocks that helped him learn
before he would go on to make memorable "Avengers" movies. On April 26, 2005, Universal
issued the first trailer for "Serenity." The odds of "Serenity" turning
into a multi-movie franchise with a $40 million dollar
budget was very high. Universal would need
to see a decent return on their investment to
greenlight the second movie. "Must Love Dogs" would make
$43 Million domestically in the US in 2005. Surely a "Firefly" movie could do better? Some would argue that what happened next would be the first of
three daggers to the heart of "Serenity' and the future of "Firefly." Up until this point, fan interest in the
upcoming movie is huge. Success for the film
seems almost guaranteed to spring into multiple movies and perhaps "Firefly" could be the first to go from canceled TV show, to the movies and then back to TV. But just like Fox messed up
the marketing for "Firefly," the marketing by the studio for "Serenity" may have tripped up the
movie before it ever started. Universal would choose
a grass roots method to advertise the film. The film was on a tight budget. Universal was sticking their
necks out for "Firefly," but they were only willing
to stick it out so far. A great marketing
campaign can often double the cost of production. This grass roots method
would not only save money but help spread the word
about the upcoming opening of the film in September. While their hearts may have
been in the right place, Universal may not have thought
the entire process through. Shortly after the trailer's release, Universal announced an unprecedented plan to promote the film. On May 5th, the studio would
start screening the film for fans in 10 cities in hopes
of creating an early buzz for non "Firefly" fans. The showings sold out very quickly, but instead of luring non "Firefly" fans, it ended up being mostly super fans who were following the news on "Serenity" and would have done almost
anything to see the movie early. The May 5th pre-screenings
were so successful, on May 26th, they did it again, increasing it to venues in 20 cities. Word spread quickly and "Firefly" fans, excited about the opportunity
to see the movie early, started calling local
theaters and buying tickets. All 20 cities were sold out before the official
announcement was even released to the public. This prompted Universal
to create a 3rd round of pre-screenings on
June 23rd in 35 cities as well as a final screening
at Comic-Con International. Thousands of rabid "Firefly"
fans banded together to try and get into these early viewings. According to people who attended them, some cities had multiple
theaters offering the movie as many as three times
on pre-screening days. That means that as many
as 100,000 "Firefly" fans may have seen "Serenity"
three to five months before the movie ever came out. Did Universal really think
they could show the movie to that many people and
expect to hold excitement for the film's blockbuster
release in September? They did! In fact, they counted on it. During the preview screenings, Whedon inserted a message before the film. It said, "All the work the fans have done have helped make this movie. It is, in an unprecedented
sense, your movie. Which means if it sucks, it's your fault. If this movie matters to you, let somebody know, let everybody know. Makes yourselves heard. If you don't like the movie,
this is a time for quiet... for months of silent contemplation." Was the energy and anticipation of 100,000 "Firefly" fans wasted
before the movie's launch? According to Joss Whedon's biography, there were some who
questioned whether buzz for such a niche film could
be sustained for five months. It would be difficult for fans who had already seen the
movie to bring the same energy to the release in September. Mary Parent would say that going
to the first pre-screenings was an unbelievable experience. It would be alot to ask
even the biggest superfans to be as excited watching
the movie a second time. It's impossible to say
what would have happened had they waited, but
it's certainly possible that buzz would have helped "Serenity" more on opening weekend. To be fair to Universal, they went all in on
the guerilla marketing. Between August 16 and September 5th, they released five short
films on the internet known as "R. Tam Sessions" that show counseling sessions
with the character River Tam while she was being held
in the learning facility at the academy. Joss Whedon actually plays
the counselor in these shorts. Also on October 5th after
the movie was released and likely because of the
lackluster box office returns, Universal made the first nine minutes of "Serenity" available online. This was a desperate last
effort to show people how great the movie was
and try to kickstart a wave of new viewers to boost
the box office sales. "Serenity's" second dagger
was the name itself. There was some confusion
over why the movie was not being named
"Firefly" after the series. "Firefly" would have
been more recognizable and create a larger box office buzz. On June 3rd, 2004,
Whedon explained the film would be released as "Serenity" in order to differentiate between the movie and the TV series. But later he would say that
Fox wouldn't allow Universal to use the name for the movie and so he used "Serenity" because it was the name of the ship. What's strange is there is no explanation as to why Fox wouldn't allow Universal to use the name "Firefly" on the movie. While it very well may be true, there is no official statement by Fox or Universal about this. Fox had canceled the TV show
and given the movie rights to Universal. Why would they not allow them
to use the name "Firefly?" They wouldn't be making
their own "Firefly" movies. So what gives? For now, mums the word. And while we may never
know the whole story, nor can we know if it would
have made a difference in the success of "Serenity," it definitely wouldn't have hurt it. The third dagger for "Serenity" was what we had alluded to before. Whedon needed to choose a
direction for the film to go. Would he lean more toward the fandom or more toward potential new audiences? Let's hear it from a superfan
who left a 5 star review. Thousands of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes mostly praise the movie, but this is what an
overwhelming number of fans said in their reviews. "Serenity" is a fantastic
capstone on the TV series it's based upon. In some ways, it actually ends up being even better than "Firefly." With that said, "Serenity"
would be nowhere close to as good as it is if you hadn't watched "Firefly" before it." This and hundreds of reviews
like it say similar things. Everyone overwhelmingly agrees that you needed to see the series to really understand the movie. So what happened? Even as good as Joss Whedon is, he would be hard pressed
to create the movie it needed to be in under two hours. A choice needed to be made. It would seem that, in the end, Joss Whedon chose his fans. He made sure that if there
wasn't another movie, this would pretty much end the story. The fans were the reason the
movie was being made at all. He likely hoped his entertaining story would also bring in new fans, but he could be certain
fans who knew the show would enjoy the movie. Most of the regular characters
serve little purpose in the movie, but fans who
watched "Firefly" would get it. The other issue is that
Whedon ended the movie on a down note, which
isn't typical for movies you expect sequels for. He killed off two of his main characters, gave them a funeral and
then ended the the movie with Mal and River alone on the bridge. They had been the main characters, but it didn't feel like
the crew of the "Firefly" was going on more adventures. "Serenity" would gross an underwhelming $25 million dollars domestically. International sales would
allow the movie to break even, but it didn't earn the money
Universal had hoped for. Rumors of a sequel
started in December 2005 when IGN FilmForce reported
that Universal would create a made for TV movie on the Sci-Fi Channel contingent on strong
DVD sales of "Serenity." But in January 2006, Whedon said he doubted
there would be a sequel and in October 2006 he flat
out stated on whedonesque.com that he wasn't working on a sequel. Rumors of a sequel would persist
pushing DVD sales in 2007. Joss would go on to say that
he was still thinking about a sequel, but he wasn't
sure if anyone else was thinking about it. But if you think "Firefly" and "Serenity" died with their movie, you'd be greatly mistaken. In July 2005 Indie
publisher Dark Horse Comics release the first of 18 comic books as a canonical continuation of the "Firefly" television
series and the" Serenity" film. The initial three issue miniseries "Serenity: Those Left Behind" was written by Joss
Whedon and Brett Matthews. "Those Left Behind" is
set after the events of the "Firefly" series
and serves as a bridge to the "Serenity" film. It was originally planned
to be an anime project, but it fell through leading to the story being released in comic book form. Dark Horse published the
comic books until 2017 and in 2018 Boom Studios
assumed the "Firefly" license and began publishing a
series of "Firefly" comics with Whedon acting as a consultant. The comic books were a treasure for fans who were upset that the
shows and movie had ended. Comic books were a great way
to continue telling the story, but perhaps the best way for fans to continue experiencing
the "Firefly" universe is through conventions. According to Nathan Fillion, the cast of "Firefly" has
been attending conventions since 2003 and the fans have
been right there with them. Comic conventions have popped up in almost every major US city since "Firefly" left the air in 2002 and that included
conventions overseas as well. And the cast and crew of "Firefly" have been actively attending
for the past 18 years. Whether it's panels with several members or a 1-on-1 question and answer session or autograph signings, the people who created
the "Firefly" universe are to this day actively
engaging their fans. After a decade, the fan
support was still colossal. During the 10th anniversary convention at San Diego Comic-Con in 2012, more than 7,000 fans crowded into a room that typically holds 4,000 people. The panel that included a tearful moment with Nathan Fillion was memorable as the cast and crew reminisced
about the show and movie. Browncoats waiting in line all night for a chance to be a part
of the historic panel. Conventions aren't just a great chance for fans to meet the
people who made the show, but it's also a chance to
meet other fans of the show. It's an opportunity for
them to come together and share theories, ideas and stories of the science fiction series that was taken from them too soon. And as long as people are still carrying the flame of "Firefly" with them to conventions around the world, "Firefly" will keep flying. For having such a short run, "Firefly" and "Serenity"
have made a lasting impact on our world. In June 2006, fans organized the first worldwide charity screenings
of "Serenity" in 47 cities. The event was titled
Can't Stop the Serenity, an homage to the movie's
tagline, "Can't stop the signal." The event raised over $65,000 for Joss Whedon's favorite
charity Equality Now. To date over $1,300,000
dollars has been raised by Can't Stop Serenity for the charity. In June 2007, NASA
astronaut Steven Swanson, a self-titled Browncoat took the "Firefly" and
"Serenity" DVDs with him on Space Shuttle Atlantis. The DVDs were added to
the media collection on the International Space
Station as entertainment for the crews. As "Firefly" nears two decades in age, the past is now in the history books, but the future has yet to be written. With Disney, the new owner of "Firefly", it will be interesting to see if the mouse takes a stab at a franchise
whose fans still love it as much today as they
did nearly 20 years ago. It would be great for the verse to get a second life with Disney as long as things stay shiny, Browncoats come first and
"Firefly" keeps flying into the future. Do you think the magic of
"Firefly" can be recaptured again? Let's talk about it in the comments below. Also check out this Shiny graphic design at MixedTees.com as well as their other
"Firefly" inspired designs. Get 20% off your purchase by using coupon code "THEPOPCAST." The link is in the description below. Don't want the show to end? Become a Popcast member
by hitting the Join button to get exclusive content including behind-the-scenes live streams, Discord access, wallpapers
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Oh My God I miss this show!
Came here to post this. Excellent breakdown and very well made. Genuinely made me sad though, I love this show still.