[jocon307]

So, does it take place in the 1800s?

[68skylark]

It's an unusual premise -- it's set about 500 years in the future, when poor people seeking opportunity are colonizing a lot of distant, arid, rural planets. So it combines elements of sci-fi and westerns. It may sound odd, but Joss Wheedon is so brilliant it really "works."

[Arthalion]

Nope, it's a ways into the future. Here's the basic plot line: The Earth is "all used up", so humanity moves to another star system with dozens of habitable planets. The "core worlds" are a collection of socialistic, empire driven, government-knows-best nanny states governed by an odd mix of democratic communism with technology and a liberal world view straight out of Star Trek. The outer worlds, on the other hand, are more conservative, farming oriented colonies that are strikingly like the American Old West. The series was set right after a civil war in which the core worlds basically kicked the butts of the independence minded outer worlds. The show itself revolves around the crew of a single small freighter ship who were fighters for the rebellion, but unlike most Sci-Fi series it really isn't a "ship" show. Heck, they haven't even explained how the engine works yet :)

IMO, it was one of the most original sci-fi shows to be shown on TV in a decade, and it had a great subtext about the importance of protecting freedom, and the need for vigilance against government corruption. Unfortunately, Fox REALLY screwed the show up. They didn't run the pilot until halfway through the first season, they ran the episodes out of order, and they put it in the worst time slot they could find. The reality is that Fox never wanted the show, but they had a contract with Joss Whedon that required them to run it. Since they couldn't get out of it contractually, they killed it off as quickly as they could.

If you're interested, the SciFi channel will be rerunning the series this fall...in order, and with the pilot this time. I'm just hoping that the movie and ratings on the rerun do well so they can bring it back into production as a series.