The Sci-Fi 25: The Genre's Best Since 1982

Image credit: Sidney Baldwin

15. FIREFLY/SERENITY (2002/2005)
Created by Joss Whedon

In 2002, Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon attempted to reinvent the space opera with a rough-and- tumble vision of the future set in an Earth-colonized galaxy. Part Western, part sci-fi, wholly unique, Fireflystarred Nathan Fillion as the captain of Serenity, one of those dumpy old ships that don't look like much but get the job done. The TV series tracked the misadventures of his morally ambiguous crew as they tried to make an occasionally honest living by hauling cargo, stealing stuff, and accidentally helping their fellow man. The show was smart, funny, and wonderfully human, and because this is Joss Whedon we're talking about, it also had a highkicking, superpowered wonder woman. Firefly was strange. Firefly shouldn't have worked. And it didn't. Firefly was canceled after 11 episodes...

POP CULTURE LEGACY...only to be revived in 2005 as the feature film Serenity (pictured), thanks to the tenacity of Whedon, the surprise success of Firefly on DVD, and a small army of Internet-based supporters.

THE BEST BIT Saddle up for the show, to see how it all started, and the movie, to see the ending. Then pray that someday, some studio exec will have the guts to make more. —Jeff Jensen