Vintage Pick: “Firefly”

In 2002, Fox took a risk on fantasy master Joss Whedon’s first foray into sci-fi with the television series “Firefly.” Set 500 years in the future, humans have overpopulated and polluted the Earth into an unlivable state. An alliance of the last two superpowers on Earth, America and China, were able to make the moons and planets within the universe livable, but not everyone complies with their overruling ways.

Enter Captain Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds (Nathan Fillion). Scouring the edges of the universe in the junky ship “Serenity” Mal and his crew of outcasts take any job they can while staying out of the hands of the alliance.

The crew includes Inara (Morena Baccarin), a legal prostitute, Kaylee, the young genius engineer (Jewel Staite) and a preacher (Ron Glass), to name a few.

While transporting passengers from one planet to another they pick up Dr. Simon Tam (Sean Maher), who is hiding his fugitive sister River (Summer Glau) within the ships cargo.

Simon and River soon become a part of the crew and it becomes the sole job of Serenity to keep them safe. The show then follows the crew as they take on numerous diverse, but always illegal, jobs while watching out for River and Simon.

It’s difficult to put into words the depth each character is given in only 14 episodes. Every single one of the nine crew members is given a backstory that is revealed subtly over the half-season yet viewers easily find themselves deeply caring for them after just one episode.

Although the show was cancelled halfway through its first season, “Firefly” found a devoted audience through the DVD releases. Three years after its cancellation, “Firefly” was resurrected, with the original cast and director, in the form of a feature film.

Deemed a failure by Fox TV execs, the little show that could proved them wrong by lasting 10 years as a cult classic hit. Creating a film, comic books and video games, “Firefly” has found new life through its devoted fans. Anyone who hasn’t seen this comedic mix of science and western is missing out on a great new obsession.