Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds is a veteran of the war between the Alliance, the repressive central government based in the central, and most developed planets, in the system, and the outer, less developed planets, who had been seeking independence (how a single solar system could support dozens of habitable – even terraformable – planets as the one in Firefly does is just one of the scientific details that the show handwaves away). 90-minute pilot, 13 one-hour episodes, and two-hour feature film.Īfter making his name in televised fantasy with Buffy the Vampire Slayer ( 1997-2003) and Angel ( 1999-2004), Joss Whedon turned to science fiction with Firefly, a short-lived but fiercely adored series (see Westerns) about the crew of a space freighter who ply their trade – sometimes legal and sometimes less so – among the planets colonized by humanity 500 years in the future (a premise Whedon had already toyed with in his script for the fourth Alien film, which introduced just such a crew to the cloned Ripley). Cast includes Nathan Fillion as Malcolm Reynolds, Gina Torres as Zoe Washburn, Alan Tudyk as Hoban 'Wash' Washburn, Jewel Staite as Kaylee Frye, Adam Baldwin as Jayne Cobb, Morena Baccarin as Inara Serra, Sean Maher as Simon Tam, and Summer Glau as River Tam. Writers include Whedon, Minear, Edlund, Jose Molina, and Jane Espenson.

Directors include Whedon, Minear, and Vern Gillum. Producers include Whedon, Tim Minear, and Ben Edlund.

Mutant Enemy for 20th Century Fox Television.

Finding Serenity by Jane Espenson