Serenity Now...
| Published 09/24/04

Graphic by: Jenny Conner

Well, actually it'll be about a year before the release of "Serenity." The feature film, which is directed by Joss Whedon, is based upon the "Firefly" series that premiered on Fox networks in 2002. The release date is scheduled for April 22, 2005, and chances are that it will be sold out.

For those of you who have never heard of "Firefly," or Joss Whedon for that matter, there are some clarifications in order. Joss Whedon has created some of the most popular television series that the Fox network has ever had. He fashioned the entire "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" series from the original movie in 1992 all the way through the six year television series. In case you were too "manly" perhaps to watch Buffy, then you have watched "Angel" - another of Fox's popular series which ran from 1999 to 2004.

"Firefly" is about a group of people on a "Firefly class" spaceship named Serenity and is set 500 years in the future. Inspired by the Battle of Gettysburg and the Reconstruction Period after the American Civil War, the series is about the crew's travels and continuing struggles to stay alive on the edge of civilization. It has been described many times as a "space western" show, very rustic and does not focus on technology as the main part in any episode. The story is truly about these people, from the captain (Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds played by Nathan Fillion) to the mechanic (Kaywinnit Lee 'Kaylee' Frye played by Jewel Staite) and their life about Serenity.

"Firefly" was not as big a hit as "Buffy" or "Angel;" it really wasn't a hit at all. Fox canceled the show after just airing 12 of the 14 episodes that were made. After a short period of time, however, a following did appear. Groups of people would get together and throw parties and watch episodes of "Firefly". The entire season was released on DVD and can be found on Amazon.com for about $35.00. The fan base has spread continuously as people have watched the series on DVD and so spawned hundreds of websites with everything from episode guides to wallpapers to fan fiction.

Firefly @ Scifispace.com sports more news, picture gallery, and various downloads for the Firefly enthusiast.

FireflyWiki.org is also a nice site dedicated to the firefly cause, giving basic information with a clean layout.