I have just recently watched about a week's worth of Firefly shows on the tube and like very much.
Reminds me of a cross between Star Trek/Gunsmoke/Little House on the praire. You have all the Western character types represented: The sherrif, the side kicks, the love interests, the preacher, the saloon girl, and the doctor.
I like your Star Trek/Little House analogy. I haven't heard that description from anyone else, but it fits pretty well!
Yeah, the TV series is very strong. I've watched all the episodes on DVD a couple of times. The movie is good as well -- it does some things better than the TV shows, while I think the TV version was better in a few ways.