Firefly

Author: Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon had already given us Buffy and Angel, so it shouldn't be a shock that Firefly would use all that wisdom, and all those dark tendancies, to put together a complex, rich, and beautiful world. Combining elements of westerns, swashbuckling adventure tales, and good ol' fashioned SciFi space operatics, Firefly managed to become one of the defining shows of the 'Gone Too Soon' genre, having been cancelled by Fox before all the episodes had even aired. The story of the Firefly-class ship Serenity, and it's crew, is classic high-seas adventures, with a rich set of characters that examine everything from sexual mores and values, family obligations, religion, and most importantly of all, what it means to be on the right side, that happens to have lost. That last theme led directly into the movie Serenity, and it basically gives us the only distinction between our main character, Mal Reynolds (played by everybody's favorite Nathan Fillion) and tar Wars' Han Solo; Mal is fighting for what's right, especially when it benefits him otherwise, but isn't afraid to take a loss if its he feels like he needs to. That's just one of the many conflicting states of mind from Joss Whedon's amazing group of characters, and one reason Firefly is pretty much the best show of the last decade. Why it's on the last: Brilliant, but canceled, Firefly gave us the most hard core fanbase in hisotry – The Browncoats.