Firefly is an American science fiction television series created by writer/director Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, under his Mutant Enemy Productions. Its naturalistic future setting, modeled after traditional Western movie motifs, presents an atypical backdrop for the science fiction narrative. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear.

Firefly premiered in the United States and Canada on the FOX network on September 20, 2002. It was cancelled after only eleven of the fourteen produced episodes were aired. Despite the series' relatively short life span, it received strong sales when it was released on DVD, and has impressive fan support campaigns. It won an Emmy in 2003 for "Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series". The post-airing success of the show led Whedon and Universal Pictures to produce a film based on the series, titled Serenity after the fictional Firefly-class spaceship featured in the show.

The series is set in the year 2517, after humans have arrived at a new star system, and follows the adventures of the renegade crew of Serenity, a Firefly-class spaceship. The ensemble cast portrays the nine characters who live on Serenity. Whedon pitched the show as "nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things".

The show explores the vicissitudes of people who fought on the losing side of a civil war, as well as the pioneer culture that exists on the fringes of their star system. In addition, it is a future where the only two surviving superpowers, the United States and China, fused to form the central federal government, called the Alliance, resulting in the fusion of the two cultures as well. According to Whedon's vision, nothing will change in the future: technology will advance, but we will still have the same political, moral, and ethical problems as today.

Firefly (2005) is an independent film directed by Pete Marcy and produced by Failure Boys, a small production company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was shot in Minnesota and Wisconsin with a $6,000 budget.

Captain Malcom 'Mal' Reynolds is a former galactic war veteran who is the captain of the transport ship "Serenity", Mal his crew of hired transporters, Mal's ensign Zoe Warren, Zoe's husband, pilot Hoban 'Wash' Washburne, muscular former combat soldier Jayne Cobb, young engineer Kaylee Frye, former Alliance medical officer Simon Tamm, his teenage sister River (Both on-the-run from the Interplanetary government "The Alliance"), the beautiful "companion" Inara Serra and religious man Shepard Book do legal or illegal jobs (smuggling, protecting, guns-for-hire, robberies) as the Serenity crew travels across the outskirts of Outer Space for food, money, anything to make a living on, as The Serenity crew tries to stay under the radar of The Alliance and pulls dangerous jobs in the Alliance controlled star systems. Written by Daniel Williamson

Mal Reynolds was a Sargent in the war fighting for the Independance side. When the Independance lost to the Alliance Mal bought a transport ship named Serenity. Now with his crew, Zoe his first mate and fellow army veteran, Zoes husband Hoban 'Wash' Washbourne the pilot, a tough guy named Jayne, a beautiful 'campanion' Inara, a young mechanic Kaylee, a preacher called Shepard Book, a doctor named Simon and his psychic sister River who are on the run from the law, they all must do legal and illegal jobs to make a living while trying to stay under the Alliances radar. They do what they have to do to survive but are constantly getting into trouble. Written by amanda

In the distant future, Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds is a renegade former brown-coat Sargent now turned smuggler/rogue who is the commander of a small spacecraft with a loyal hand-picked crew made up of first mate Zoe Warren; pilot Hoban 'Wash' Washburn; gung-ho grunt Jayne Cobb; engineer Kaylee Frye; fugitives Doctor Simon Tam and his psychic sister River, where they travel the far reaches of space in search of food, money, and anything to live off on. Written by Anonymous