I'm sure most of you other geeks out there will think I'm wasting my breath, but for anyone that hasn't discovered the cancelled Fox TV series Firefly I urge you to go rent or buy it now. I just recently discovered the series after hearing all the buzz about the movie Serenity. I don't get out to the theater much - I think my average these days is about one theater-experienced movie per year. (Just to give you an idea, I think my last few were The Incredibles, the first X-Men movie, and the last Star Wars flick.) So, while waiting for Serenity to come out on video I thought I'd get myself well-versed in the backstory and characters by NetFlixing the TV series.

I've got only one episode left (and I'm sort of savoring my time on that one) and all I can say is WOW! I am totally bummed that such a well crafted, totally enjoyable science fiction series couldn't even survive an entire season on Fox. Creator Joss Whedon says in the bonus materials on the last DVD that he set out to create a science fiction universe that people could relate to and that didn't feature aliens and bumpy foreheads. I think he was totally successful. The characters are great and keep you interested in finding out more about their stories and where things are going and the combination of space and western is just wonderful. It makes me sad that I won't be able to find out some of the secrets in the characters lives by watching the story unfold. I can only hope (no spoilers please) that the movie will answer some of those questions for me. I just have to know more about the "blue gloves" and River's role in the lives of the crew. What a crying shame! Can't the SciFi channel pick this thing up or something?

Anyway, if you are still in the dark like I was check out the DVD of the series before watching the movie. You won't be dissapointed. I was sucked in after watching the premiere, but was really impressed with some of the episodes on Disk 3. "War Stories", "Ariel", and "Out of Gas" are some of the best of the series in my opinion.