Fox’s Demands For Firefly’s First Episode Put The Writers Under The Gun
By Collier Jennings/April 4, 2022 8:27 pm EST
For starters, there was the marketing. An initial promo for the show used wacky sound effects and Smash Mouth’s “Walkin’ on the Sun.” It referred to Morena Baccarin’s Inara Serra as a “cosmic hooker.” And it contained perhaps the most groan-worthy pun, suggesting “Firefly” was “out there.” Because outer space. Cue laugh track.
Leaves On The Wind? Not Exactly.
“[Fox] never really understood what ‘Firefly’ was and never loved it. This was all happening right before the 2002 upfronts, and the network was trying to decide if it was going to go for another season of their sci-fi show ‘Dark Angel’ or pick up this Joss Whedon space show. They couldn’t see in their head what an hour of this show would look like and told us they weren’t sure we’d get a pickup. Joss and I said we’d write a first episode over that weekend before the announcements and they said OK. Then we asked ourselves, ‘Are we crazy? Can we do this in two days?’”
Planes, Trains, and TV Pilots
“Firefly” has managed to find life in other media, including comics and novels, but it owes its lasting power to “The Train Job.” Despite a network that never really knew what to do with the series, and circumstances eventually leading to its cancelation, the pilot helped set the tone for what would come — including the feature film “Serenity.” As Wash would say: It truly was a leaf on the wind.
