Firefly / Serenity - Joss Whedon

 I discovered Joss Whedon via Buffy...like most people. I thought the film was very funny (Thank YOU Paul Reubens), and really enjoyed the series. The break-off show Angel was also very enjoyable...for the most part. Each series, at some point, case a younger actor whose character, or portrayal was just not great. I'm sure the issues were more with the writing and directing, but it is what it is. What really came out of those two shows were a core cast of actors that Whedon kept working with. Look at Dollhouse, as well as Dr. Horrible, or even Agents of SHIELD. You could even watch The Cabin in the Woods, or Much Ado about Nothing, and you will keep finding the same actors popping up. Which is great if you like the actor, and for me Buffy was my intro to Nathan Fillion. I think he is a fantastic actor, very funny man, and very handsome. According to his Wiki, he had filmed Firefly before he played the role of Caleb in the last five episodes of Buffy. I always thought it was the other way around because I didn't watch Firefly until it came out on DVD. 

Firefly is another Whedon project that he called "Cowboys in Space" or a "Space Western." The premise is a ship called Serenity, captained by Mal - Fillion's character, that is a smuggling ship as well as providing legit transport when needed. For the most part each episode acts as a stand alone story, though there is an overarching story of getting River and her brother to a certain location and safe from the Alliance. The Alliance came about after a large civil war and it created a large government that runs close to everything. Naturally, some people live away from the Alliance, or live on planets that don't have as much as others and so they are like the early pioneers and settlers of the west. The writing is standard Whedon, meaning it is clever, smart, funny, and gets the audience to invest in the characters, and there always seems to be some interesting twist. The show ran for less than one season. In fact the network aired 11 episodes out of the 14 that were filmed. Once the DVD came out it really got attention and created some die-hard fans known as the Browncoats. Quite a few of the actors in this series also were in Buffy, or Angel, and most have gotten much better known in the years after this. Years after the series ended, Whedon was given the opportunity to do a film which completed the River storyline in many ways. That film was named Serenity. It is darker than the TV show was, but it is still quite good. I think both the series and the film are very fun and quite enjoyable - especially if you like the writing style of Whedon, and the actors.

Yes, I know there are issues with Whedon that have come to light after all this was done. I purchased and watched all of these originally before that news came out.