I love Firefly. I have loved the show, the ship and the characters for
10 years. I bleed brown. I like to take credit for getting all of my friends into the show. My friend Rick hated everything Whedon until he watched the show and was hooked. He proceeded to purchase copies of the DVDs for his friends to get them into the show as well. My only failure on this front was my best friend David, who called Firefly, “A cute show,” then added, “But I don’t see what all the fuss is about.” If I had been in the same room as him at the time of that statement I would have challenged him to a duel a la Mal in “Shindig.” Fortunately for him I was 600 miles away. You do have to ask yourself how does a show that aired only 11 episodes (not in order) instill such loyalty and love. Not to mention a feature film?
It is safe to say that there are more fans of Firefly and that ‘Verse today then during the show’s initial run. And that fan base just keeps growing. It isn’t just the fans that love the show; it’s everyone who was involved in making Firefly happen. Even Nathan Fillion who played Captain Malcolm Reynolds on Firefly recently paid homage to his past on a recent episode of his current hit show, Castle. When there is a murder at a science fiction convention, Fillion’s character Castle remarks on how he can’t believe that a show that only aired 12 episodes still has fans 10 years later. When questioned about what he enjoys about sci-fi he comments, “Star Wars, Star Trek and that show from Joss Whedon.” Firefly may be gone but it is far from forgotten. Now the Science Channel takes a look at what made Firefly so endearing with a retrospective called, Firefly: Browncoats Unite airing Sunday at 10pm. The show incorporates a round (actually, rectangle) table discussion and San Diego Comic Con footage to give fans a look at the show from the point of view of the people who brought it to life.
Around the table are executive producer and writer Tim Minear, story editor Jose Molina and actors Nathan Fillion (Mal Reynolds), Alan Tudyk (Wash), Adam Baldwin (Jayne), Summer Glau (River) and Sean Maher (Simon). The rest of the cast Gina Torres (Zoe), Morena Baccarin (Inara) and Jewel Staite (Kaylee) were recorded separately. Joss Whedon is only shown in the footage from comic con. Ron Glass (Book) is surprisingly absent from the entire special.
Moderated by Jeff Jenson the group interview is very casual. The cast reminisces about learning they had been cancelled, Nathan talks about his first time on the set and a few surprises; including a dark secret about one of the characters. Firefly: Browncoats Unite really shows just how much these people are like a family. I really enjoyed hearing their stories, some of which I hadn’t heard before. It was great hearing them talk about their days on the set and how Firefly changed their lives.
Firefly has endured for 10 years and it just “keeps flying.” This is evident in the fact that people packed the auditorium to hear the cast speak as you will see in the San Diego footage. Firefly: Browncoats Unite is a great look back at a show that disappeared before its time. Tune into the Science Channel Sunday November 11th for a full day of Firefly. The Science Channel is running the entire series, in order then at 10 pm check out Firefly: Browncoats Unite. Shiny!
