Firefly – short-lived television series created by Joss Whedon, which premiered on September 20th, 2002 and was canceled by December of the same year; only 11 of the 14 filmed episodes were aired; DVD sales, a feature film (Serenity), graphic novels, books, and fan conventions have kept up interest in the show.
Browncoat – a diehard fan of the show Firefly.
Browncoat Facts About Me:
- When I watched the first aired episode (“The Train Job”) I had no idea what was going on with Whedon’s new series, but I loved the idea of having the characters swear in Chinese and decided to keep watching.
- By the end of the second aired episode, I’d fallen in love with the series but already figured it wouldn’t stay on long so I recorded the rest, convinced it would never make it to video or DVD.
- I now own three DVD sets, two of which are currently on loan to friends who haven’t before seen the series.
- I’m Kayleegirl on FireflyFans.net. I haven’t visited there in awhile, but I do have one story in the Blue Sun Room (“A Not-So-Shiny Christmas”) which I posted in three parts after giving it to a friend as part of her Christmas gift.
- I saw Serenity seven times when it was first released in theaters, twice with a group of friends and the other five times on my own.
- On my recent visit to Epcot one of my happiest moments was finding—and, of course, buying—a blue jacket in the China gift store that’s very similar to the one Kaylee wears when she first meets Shepherd Book.
I submit the list above so that when I say that my love of this Whedon ‘Verse pales in comparison to that of many Browncoats, I want you to understand my full meaning.
Now, if you’re already a fan of the show, you may recognize that for the last sentence above, I’ve tweaked one of Simon Tam’s lines from Firefly’s the pilot episode “Serenity” to make my point. If you’re a Browncoat, you’ll know the words I’ve changed and the exact context of the original quote. If you’ve never seen or even heard of the show, I’m not surprised. Not your fault. The network-that-shall-remain-nameless on which the series originally and very briefly appeared, seemed set on dooming it from the start. The pilot episode was actually the last episode that network aired. Thus, my initial confusion upon watching “The Train Job.” Who were these characters? Why the mix of Chinese culture with themes from westerns, Civil War films and science fiction? Why was the ship’s captain in the tight brown pants so silly, yet so filled with angst? Why was the big gun toting guy named Jayne? Luckily, I’m a person who gets intrigued by unanswered questions and not turned off. I watched the show, bought the DVDs so I could see the unaired episodes and continue to get psyched about any mention of the show, i.e. I am a Browncoat.
Nathan Fillion—another Browncoat. He had the lead role in the series (Malcolm Reynolds, aforesaid ship’s captain in the tight brown pants) and he continues to take an interest. If you watch Castle and haven’t seen Firefly, then you’re missing a lot of great moments built into Castle’s episodes that only Firefly fans will fully appreciate. Want an example? Sorry. They’re way too difficult to explain unless you’ve seen Firefly, due to the very unique nature of that fictional world. Want to be in the know? Soon you’ll be able to see what all my fuss is about even without ordering up the series on Netflicks, buying the DVD set or borrowing one of mine.
The Science Channel will air all the episodes (in the right order) beginning this Sunday, March 6th. To get a quick rundown of each episode and some idea if what the series is all about check out the episode guide on the Science Channel’s site. To see how much interest Nathan Fillion still has in the show, check out his brief interview at Entertainment Weekly’s site. I hope all the Castle fans and sci fi fans who haven’t seen Firefly yet will watch and enjoy. And hopefully become fellow Browncoats. The more, the better. If our ranks continue to grow, perhaps there will be another movie or a spinoff series someday. (I have a friend—Dave Perry—who thinks I’m crazy for holding onto those hopes, but he’s much younger than I am. I lived through the long the years of seeing Star Trek go from canceled series to major TV, film and publishing franchise. Not to mention fun filled spoofs. Never give up, never surrender.)
For the time being, I can enjoy the small delights of the Monday/Tuesday network TV shows Chuck, The Cape, Castle, and V that give me a chance to see four Firefly alumni in action again: Adam Baldwin (Chuck) who played Jayne on Firefly, Summer Glau (The Cape) who played River Tam; Nathan Fillion (Castle) who played our beloved captain tightpants; and Morena Baccarin (V) who played Inara. It’s not the same as a new episode of Firefly, but it does keep me happy for now.
About FireflyFans.net…I had to take a look-see to get the link for my story and found out there’s a new updated site, FFF.NET Ver 2.0, which is said to be still under construction but looks pretty darn shiny to me. Check it out at: http://beta.fireflyfans.net/main.aspx Best bunch of Browncoats in the ‘Verse. And, if you do get hooked on Firefly and want more, you’ll find lots of fan fiction there in the Blue Sun Room to keep you going.
Dorothy J. Emry's Nerd Writes 
Calling me out? On my birthday, no less?
OK – to clarify my Firefly position. I don’t think they can’t get it back on the air; I think they shouldn’t get it back on the air. I love the show, but it’s almost 10 years old. Let it be what it was.
Here, let me try to put it in Whedonese: remember when they brought Buffy back to life, but once they did she was miserable and didn’t want to be alive? Yeah. That.