Why Was Firefly Cancelled and Could It Be Revived?

Joss Whedon’s Firefly hit the sci fi community by storm back in 2002 as the cult-favorite creator brought his grand new space drama to FOX and many believed it could be the next big franchise to rival Star Trek, Stargate SG:1, and Babylon 5. It had cool spaceships, great space adventure, a snarky sense of humor, and a stellar cast of up-and-coming new actors. This show seemed destined to be a hit and sure to establish itself as the next major sci fi genre entry. At least that was the way the fans saw it. But the network execs at FOX were much less enamored with this odd little space show that struggled in the ratings, and they mercilessly pulled the plug on it after only half a season.

Firefly‘s cancellation is the classic story of network execs not understanding the sci fi genre and killing a show before it had a chance. While FOX had done quite well with the genre in the ’90s with The X-Files (which had wrapped up its initial nine-year run the season before Firefly debuted), it had failed to find much success with the other sci fi/fantasy entries such as Dark Angel, The Visitor, and Harsh Realm. And even though space dramas were doing well at that time away from the Big Four broadcast networks (the Star Trek spin-offs, Stargate: SG-1, Andromeda, etc.), FOX did not quite know what to do with the quirky new entry delivered to them by Mr. Whedon.

From the beginning, the network obviously did not get the show. Whedon interjected plenty of humor in his show as he had previously done with Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Angel, but it wasn’t a sci fi comedy. However, FOX execs didn’t grasp that and promoted it as if it were. They also didn’t understand the deeply intertwined mythology of the show and aired episodes out of order, making the ongoing storyline difficult for viewers to follow. FOX didn’t even like the two-hour pilot that introduced the show and its characters, and the network insisted on a different episode to kick the series off (the more action-oriented “The Train Job”). The planned intro episode was not aired until the end of the show’s run which meant that the story was all out of sync. To make matters worse, Firefly aired on Fridays, a night the network had struggled with for years, and it was preempted multiple times during its short run.

Not surprisingly, the ratings for the show were too low to justify its larger budget in the eyes of the network execs, and FOX cancelled the show without giving it much of a chance. If they had understood the show better and/or listened to the creative team, they might have promoted it differently and aired the episodes in order. If they had paid attention to the burgeoning fan support (a preemptive campaign was started before the cancellation announcement), they would have known they had something special on their hands and that they should give it more time (as they did with The X-Files which started out as a low-rated cult show before turning into a television phenomenon). The DVD release of Firefly proved the show had an untapped audience when it set sales records (eventually leading to the big screen continuation Serenity). But the broadcast networks were particularly averse to sci fi at that time, largely ignoring that these shows did not fit well into the Nielsen model used to gauge the success of the average network series.

Since the cancellation, Firefly has cemented its place as one of the all-time great sci fi shows with many many fans lamenting the fact that it was cut short. And for years the sci fi community has directed its ire at FOX for the short-sighted decision that truncated what could have been the next great space-based franchise.

In the twenty years since the show got the ax, there have been talks of a revival multiple times.  As recently as 2020, FOX’s president of entertainment Michael Thorn indicated a possible interest in returning to the show (Firefly apparently did not move over to Disney with the sale of FOX Entertainment).  Thorn had the following to say at the TCAs that year:

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 (that latter show has since moved under the Disney umbrella).

Former Firefly executive producer Tim Minear had some ideas of his own at that time on how a revival 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.  Minear 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 also claimed 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.

But as the years pass by, the likelihood of any sort of revival seems less and less likely.  The show celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and perhaps that could generate some interest in reuniting the crew of the Serenity.  The principals get together on a semi-regular basis at conventions and they always talk about how they would like to return to the show (Fillion even suggested buying out the rights from FOX several years back).  But Joss Whedon has become persona non grata in the entertainment industry with recent claims of abusive behavior, so that may put a damper on anything moving forward.

It is still possible that fans could make one last Call to Action on the social networks, and the 20th anniversary is certainly a good time to drum up interest in a revival, especially if it is a limited series.  But the return of Firefly has been teased before and nothing happened, and with the years passing by, the door is closing on the possibility of the original crew getting back together.  But this is certainly a good time to revisit the show and dream again about what could have been if FOX had taken a chance and kept the series going.

Would you like to see a Firefly revival and would you support fan efforts to make it happen?  Chime in with your comments below.

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