Firefly - The Complete Series

Beyond Firefly on DVD

Watch Stargate: Continuum on DVD

Catch up on Stargate Atlantis on DVD

Check out Sunshine on DVD

But Firefly...

There was a time when Friday nights were reserved for tv time. Picture me, on the floor in front of the tv, begging my kids to play somewhere else... Plleeeeeeaase! It's only on once a week! And then the theme song begins... It's got a bit of a twang... fiddles... And then the words, the spirit. You instantly know what the show's going to be about. It's the American Dream. No... Not the new one about living like Trump in a palace seemingly miles above Manhattan... The real American Dream The one that brought our ancestors. It's about living free, room to stretch out and breathe, self reliance, and self determination. Would a simple television show dare to reach so far?

Firefly dared that and more, bringing the dream to the very stars. Along for the ride are some of the most complex and original characters ever seen in cookie-cutter-land. Then Fox, in true ratings-dazed fashion, lassoed the dream and pulled it down.

If you've ever dreamed of open-spaces, open-minds, and a life lived not without danger but without fear, you must own this collection. You must.


You can't take the skies from me   October 17, 2003
 1133 out of 1220 found this review helpful

Firefly was a show that came on the heels of Fox's usual brilliant decision-making--right after it cancelled my beloved Dark Angel. I first thought this show would be awful, but I sat down and watched it--and it was love. Truly. It's rare to find a show that can be taken seriously that also made me laugh out loud in every episode. The writing was extraordinary, and the actors/actresses were absolute gold. It was really like watching a movie each time around. Yet again, Fox shot itself in the foot and iced another good show. Nonetheless, at least the DVD is soon to come. At least they had the decency to do that. Come on, sing it with me: "Take my love, take my land, take me where I cannot stand. But I don't care--I'm still free. You can't take the skies from me..."


Best I've ever seen   March 21, 2004
 142 out of 154 found this review helpful

I'd never heard of this show until I noticed the customer reviews while browsing through Amazon.com ... The response was so overwhelming that I HAD to check it out. It is without a doubt the best series I've ever seen. I was completely absorbed by the stories and characters, and watched the entire series in one sitting - I just couldn't stop. I hope another station picks up on this great show and carries it forward!! (and I can hardly wait to see the movie!!!)


This show deserved so much better...   October 17, 2003
 72 out of 79 found this review helpful

Buy the DVD; you won't be sorry.
One of the best things on TV recently, Firefly deserved better than the shabby treatment it got from FOX. While it is a SciFi show, like all great SciFi, it transcended the genre. Tight writing, solid acting, and beautiful camerawork made this show a standout. Flawed human characters thrown together in extreme situations made it a show that could have become a classic.
I'm still bitter over FOX's poor treatment and rapid cancellation of this show. It's no wonder that TV is a wasteland with dumb decisions like this one.
Now, let's get that feature movie deal going...


If you can't run, you crawl, and if you can't do that...   January 18, 2006
 28 out of 30 found this review helpful

Firefly is like no other television program. Only lasting one year, with episodes randomly thrown on strange nights on FOX, this series boasted a classic combination of science fiction with a western flair. How could it go wrong? A humorous program that had fun, fought bad guys, and harbored extremely dark secrets. Why did it only last one season? Marketing. FOX, as we all can learn from my review of Outfoxed, is not quite the "fair and balanced" type of programming that it promotes, but instead attaches itself to the hottest trend and pushes it nearly to the point of sickness. For those that would disagree, I ask you to check out how many predictable seasons of American Idol we will have to endure until someone realizes that it lost its steam a many a moon ago. Or how about the disaster of a series called Wife Swap? Honestly, did FOX just ignore the idea of creativity and push directly for insulting "reality" television? From what I see on television today, I could only assume the answer to be "yes". Firefly was a bold, unique, and highly original series that gave us powerful characters, detailed stories, and that Lost itch in the back of your mind that keeps you asking that age old question, "why". Yet, in all of its power, it was cancelled.

Firefly is perfection on a stick. The twang of the guitar, the stone-face stare of Mal, the goofiness of Jayne (is that a girls name?), the questionable past of Shepard Book, the humor of Wash, the power of Zoe, and the innocence of Kaylee is exactly why I fell in love with this show. This is honestly, one of the few series that I could go back from the beginning and watch again, loving every moment of it. Whedon created a masterpiece in my eyes, and a huge opportunity was missed by several major networks to keep this imagination alive.

While some will argue that Firefly was full of nothing more than C-rated actors who were "shallow cut-outs, and whose dialogue never rises above the level of a so-so sitcom", I thought that they brought so much personality and charisma to a smorgasbord of unoriginal programming. I wanted to know the truth behind River and the darkness behind the good Shepard. I continually waited for a snappy comeback from Mal, and was excited whenever he showed humility. Jayne was a big favorite of mine, always questioning authority, yet as loyal as the family dog. The love between Zoe and Wash brought a new layer of honesty to this sci-fi series. It wasn't just about paying for the ship, flying through unmapped terrain, or stealing, it was about humanity. That sense of humanity could be found in the opening episode for this series aptly titled "Serenity". In it, the crew takes upon some passengers with some rather unknown cargo. Inside one of those crates is a girl that will change their lives forever. For this series to work successfully, as it did, we needed human characters that bled, felt compassion, and demonstrated connectiveness to each of us. Mal's ship, Serenity, was a living example of how television could be done creatively and originally.

The characters could only be as strong as the words that were handed to them. Listening to the words that pass through Mal's mouth, the charm of Wash, or even the inconsistent ramblings of River, you could only wonder where Whedon could have gone with all of them. In each of these characters, Whedon had written secrets. While, sadly, we may never know what they all were, that is what made you itch for more episodes. You not only wanted to see the creative "western" adventures that Whedon was sending his crew, but you also wanted to learn more about these band of renegades. They were good, but possibly darkness reigned inside of them. The character most guilty of this (outside of River) was Shepard Book. I loved this character. Whedon drew him with so much passion and conviction, yet with every episode you learned more about this man than imaginable. He is an excellent example of what this series was like. He represented the smart words of Whedon, the humanity of his character, and the secrets that each of these shared. He was a "priest", yet he knew more about the Alliance than anyone aboard that ship. If anyone were to ask me to describe the series in two words, I would simply say, "Shepard Book".

George Lucas is credited with creating this detailed futuristic world that gives us glimpses of a possible future, or a galaxy far far away, Whedon succeeded in this series by giving us a plausible future in the not-too-distant future of 500 years. Prostitution in legal, in fact respected in the community, the Chinese and Americans have forged one super power called the Alliance, and our hero is a war veteran, still not shaken by the loss that his side took due to the Alliance control. While Lucas gives us far-fetched characters and situations, Whedon gives us a imaginative look at our future. I think that is why this series worked so well for me. I could imagine this future. I could see it past the characters. I wasn't bogged down by dopey looking aliens, but instead a plausible man vs. man situation. Firefly was simple, yet so complex.

I could honestly go on forever about how much I enjoyed this show. I have never watched a series where I found myself prepared to watch over and over again. Firefly blends a power mixture of comedy, western, and action all together ... and the characters bleed. Villains die in this series. How often do you see that? If you have not watched this series, or have not spent the money to support it, DO IT RIGHT NOW!

Grade: (proudly) ***** out of *****