FOX Execs Claim They Are “Wide Open” to a Firefly Revival, But Could It Really Happen?

At the TCA’s this week, the question was asked whether FOX would consider doing a revival of Firefly; a show that the network notoriously cancelled back in 2002 before it went on to become a legend. FOX’s president of entertainment Michael Thorn along with Tim Minear (executive producer on Firefly and currently working on the 9-1-1 shows for FOX) both had their take on a possible revival. (I had thought the rights to the franchise went to Disney with the buyout, but from what they are saying below, perhaps not).

Thorn had this to say about bringing the show back:

The macro answer is, any time we look at one of our classic titles, if there’s a way to reinvent it for today so it’s as resonant now as the original was, and is, to the fans, we’re wide open

He went on to say that the possibility of a revival had come up before, but they already had The Orville in the works at that time and did not want two space-based shows running on the network.

Minear seemed more realistic about the possibilities for a revival, though he did have some ideas on how it could work. He mentioned that it would be difficult to get the full cast back together for an ongoing series, especially with Nathan Fillion tied up with Rookie and Alan Tudyk busy with the upcoming Resident Alien. He did mention that he and Joss Whedon had considered the possibility of bringing back just a few characters and working around them.

He also had another idea which may represent the best chance for the show to return. He suggested that a limited-series similar to the X-Files revival might be doable. It would be easier for the actors to work around other commitments and increase the possibility of bringing back most of the original players. He claims that Fillion, Tudyk, and more have expressed interest in returning to the property (we will just ignore Wash’s fate in the Serenity movie) and that he believes an eight to ten episodes mini-series might work.

This news will definitely get Firefly fans excited, but we go through this exercise on a regular basis where somebody suggests the show could come back but nothing ever really happens. Still, among the revival ideas I have heard over the years, Minear’s mini-series is the most feasible. They could do a close-ended story (unlike the way The X-Files messed up its revival), and leave the door open for one or more mini-series to follow as time allows. This also avoids the worst-case scenario of rebooting the show with a whole new cast (the actors were a large part of what made the Firefly great).

But I think this will only happen if fans make a strong push to bring the show back. Minear has set out a template for the revival and FOX has indicated that they are interested. If fans step up with a strong Call to Action on the social networks, maybe we could see the crew of Firefly back in action. We at CancelledSciFi.com would be more than willing to lend our support to these efforts. We don’t run Save My Show campaigns, but we are always ready to enlist the #CancelledSciFiArmy to support any effort to save or bring back a show. So the question is, are there enough Firefly fans still out there willing to push for a revival?

Read more about why Firefly was cancelled at this link.

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