If cancellation is hard on TV fans, imagine what it’s like for the show’s creator.
After successfully launching “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (which began as a movie) and its spin-off, “Angel,” Joss Whedon poured his heart and soul into his first entirely original idea for television, Fox’s “Firefly.”
Nathan Fillion starred as war veteran Malcolm Reynolds, the conflicted captain of a space freighter full of misfits, struggling to survive by both legal and illegal means in a future universe that blended sci-fi and Western elements.
Despite the enthusiasm of Fox programming chief Gail Berman at her initial announcement of the series, problems began to surface by the time the pilot was in production in early 2002. The two-hour pilot was shelved in favor of a one-hour episode that had been written over a weekend, just before the deadline for announcing the new fall schedule in May 2002.
The series launched in September 2002, but was on hiatus by late November, and off the air after the eventual airing of the pilot on Dec. 20.
All this info and more are contained in Whedon’s commentary for the pilot, which is part of a DVD boxed set of the entire run of “Firefly”–including three unaired hours–out this week.
“Seeing them all there, knowing that it was really happening, was a very big deal for me, because I felt strongly about the show,” Whedon said. “I loved it so well, and I wanted people to be able to see it. I didn’t want it to disappear.
“To have that out there, and for people to be able to see what we did, really makes me excited,” he added.
Along with the episodes and Whedon’s commentary, the DVD includes commentaries by other writers, cast members and crew, a set tour by Whedon, Alan Tudyk’s audition for the role of pilot Wash, a gag reel, deleted scenes, Whedon crooning the title song (which he wrote) and another musical performance by cast member Adam Baldwin.
Rumors continue to fly about a “Firefly” movie, including talk that production would begin this month.
“That is delightful rumor,” Whedon says. “That would be terrific except that that simply can’t happen. I’m a little busy, but I have hope. I am working on a script, and that’s all there is yet.”
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale ([email protected]) and Joe Knowles ([email protected])