Well, the Firefly DVD’s out, and it was worth the wait. All the original episodes are here, as well as two others that weren’t shown. What’s nice is that they’re arranged in chronological order, rather than the shuffled mess that Fox chose to present them in.
In case you don’t know, Firefly was a great sci-fi/western show written by Joss Whedon (Buffy, etc). It received a lackluster push from Fox, and like the much-deserving-but-ultimately-slighted Futurama (which also received a great treatment on DVD), it ended up dying in relative obscurity. Despite this, the show had a fervent following, and fans were willing to wade through the pre-emptions and random schedulings to see it. When Firefly was cancelled, a large group even went so far as to take out a full-page ad in Variety to petition its reinstatement.
In the end, though, Fox just didn’t know what to do with it, and the show folded. It’s a helluva shame, because the first season showed all the earmarks of a great series. Firefly easily had the potential to be the next Star Trek–and I say that with no irony whatsoever. It had a great ensemble cast who obviously loved what they were doing, a unique premise, and imaginative execution.
Whedon obviously had a rich and deep story arc planned for the series, and the fact that it was cut off too early is obvious from watching it again. What we’re left with is 14 tightly-written and wonderfully acted episodes, three of which were never aired. The stragglers are a bit of a revelation, as they obviously weren’t cut for lack of quality. My favorite of the bunch is “Heart of Gold,” which has the crew defending the honor of an old-west brothel. On a barren moon. With lasers.
Several episodes have commentary tracks, and Whedon’s comments during the Serenity pilot show that Fox signed for the show on Whedon’s credentials alone, but didn’t know how to market it once they saw it. As such, the third episode (“The Train Job”) was aired first, while the two-hour pilot was the final pair of episodes to air. Some material does carry from one episode to the next, and viewers could be forgiven for losing a bit in watching them out of order.
Sad as it is to see it go, this set is wonderful. It’s just that I’d love to have seen all the threads spin out. After going through these episodes again, I’m left with a bittersweet feeling, and I really want to know what becomes of the characters. Luckily, a feature-film is in the works, and has apparently begun shooting. As one of the interviews on the disc says, perhaps the movie will get such a good reception that someone’ll get the idea to make a TV series of it.
I’ve got an older writeup of the show, with a bit more description here.