'firefly' is a 'Jericho'-like fable of justice, community, and hope

December 15, 7:48 AMTV on DVD ExaminerJohn Stahl

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Mal and 'firefly' family

Although I want to comment on some of the parallels between the short-lived 2002 scifi western comedy "firefly" and "Jericho," most of the focus will be on "firefly" itself. In a nutshell (pun intended), both shows depict the strengthening of a community that overcomes serious threats to their survival that include an oppressive government. Granted the illegal nature of the theft and smuggling in which the "firefly" crew engages causes much of the trouble that it experiences.

Both shows also have loyal organized fans who have had some success in having their stories continue beyond their cancellation. A "Jericho" ranger has even told me that some rangers who support that show are combining forces with the browncoats who support "firefly" to get both shows back on the air or directly on DVD in some form. A true coalition of the willing is always good.

The DVD set of "firefly" contains the 11 hour-long episodes that aired in the fall of 2002 and the three that Fox never broadcast. The decision of Fox to not air the pilot that introduced the characters and how they came to fly around in the firefly-class spaceship as the first episode of the series is well-known as a significant reason that the show did not last. I admit that I stopped watching after the first  two aired episodes because I had diffciulty following the stories.

The DVD set sensibly places the pilot at the beginning of disc one. This feature-film quality presentation would have almost certainly led to Fox committing to a full year of "firefly" if it had aired when it should have. The Fox executive who chose to not do so is likely the same one who killed the animated scifi comedy "Futurama," which has come back very strongly with a series of spectacular direct-to-DVD films.

"firefly" takes the creative idea, which yes is a variation of an episode of the original "Star Trek" series, of combining advanced space travel with an old west atmosphere that exists in the uncivilized portions of a universe in which humans have created a seeming paradise after we sucked earth dry of its resources in the not-too-distant future but long after next Sunday A.D.

On a practical level, combining these elements and giving the characters a traditional look will help the show avoid looking dated for quite some time.

I like the fact the diverse group of characters that includes a roguish captain, a sociopathic violent henchman, a high-class prostitute, a minister, and a cultured doctor and his sister who torture by the government has shattered emotionally lay down their lives to protect each other despite the fact that many of them dislike each other greatly and have conflicting needs.

A scene in which the doctor asks the captain why he returned to rescue him after leaving him stranded in a very bad situation even though the captain does not like him and the captain replied that it was because the doctor was part of his crew illustrates this well. For his part, the doctor sustained a savage beating and faced the threat of the loss of an eye protecting the henchman who delighted in displaying hatred of him.

A scene from the first season of the current Fox show "Bones," which I will review next week, shows how the same sentiment exists regarding many biological families. Mega-intelligent and socially awkward forensics anthropology intern Zac, who shares my love of "firefly" and other good scifi, comments that the belief that his work with corpses and skeletons is weird makes going home for Christmas miserable. When asked why he goes, he says in his soft understated emo voice that it is because they are his family and they love him.

Returning to "firefly," the great extras include an amusing gag reel that was made for a Christmas party that sadly became a wrap party for the series; this feature also includes nude footage of a cast member. Fortunately, it is not the older gentleman and "Barney Miller" vetrean Ron Glass.

Other features include a much too short tour of the firefly ship by series creator and fanboy god Joss Whedon and a longer and more satisfying series of interviews with every series star and the writers and producers.

I could, and will, write much more about this exceptional program but encourage anyone who thinks that they will like it to check it out on DVD and let me know what you think as an addition to this entry or an e-mail to tvdvdguy@gmail.com.