The demand for a Firefly revival was recently reawakened after the show's executive producer Tim Minear tweeted a photo from the final day of filming on Joss Whedon's short-lived, cult-classic science fiction series that aired on Fox. Wheded also raised up the hype by retweeting the photo.
At the Television Critics Association press tour on Tuesday, TheWrap asked Minear and Fox's president of entertainment, Michael Thorn, what it would take to revive the space western
"The macro answer is, any time we look at one of our classic titles, if there's a way to reinvent it for today so it's as resonant now as the original was, and is, to the fans, we're wide open," Thorn explained. "I loved ‘Firefly,' personally, and I watched every episode. I didn't work on it, but I loved the show. It had come up before, but we had ‘The Orville' on the air and it didn't make sense for us to have, as a broadcast network who is very targeted, to have two space franchises on our air."
Firefly premired on Fox in September 2002 and was canceled after eleven of Season 1's fourteen produced episodes were aired, but since it's cancelation, the show has amassed a huge fanbase known as Browncoats. The show starred Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, Summer Glau and Ron Glass.
"In this crowded marketplace, if you can start with some kind of brand awareness and IP that has a vocal support and, in this case, a crazy, passionate love for it, you're ahead of the game," Thorn added.
Minear said that he and Whedon have been talking about a Firefly revival at different points over the decade, but he said that the only way it could be revived is in a limited series format.
"Joss did sort of revive it by making ‘Serenity,'" Minear told TheWrap, referring to the 2005 film that served as the finale of the Fox series. "But we have talked about different permutations and how that might work. Do you take two of the characters and put them in a different place and sort of retell a new story with two old characters, with new characters?"
"You're not gonna get everybody back — unless you did something like a limited series, like they did for ‘The X-Files.' Then maybe you could get these people to come back. ‘Cause Nathan is a little busy doing ‘The Rookie.' But I also know, 'cause I just texted a little bit with Nathan over the weekend, when I posted those pictures from ‘Firefly' and he got very sentimental. Everyone who worked on that show dearly loves it and they all still talk to each other. I still see Alan occasionally."
"I would love to see, like, an eight- or 10-episode limited adventure in that universe," Minear said.
Would you like ot see a Firefly revival even if it's in a limited series format?
Related: Firefly Revival Should Explore Captain Mal's Relationship With Inara, Says Morena Baccarin
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