Firefly was a 2002 space opera about a crew of shipmates trying to make it together in the 'Verse, a planetary system settled by humanity deep in the future after Earth became uninhabitable. During this time period, eastern and western culture has fused in the melting pot to some degree and characters speak in a new, charming English-Chinese creole.

A quirky, well-written, and well-produced series blending spaghetti western aesthetics and Chinese cultural influences into a surprisingly compelling space opera setting, it was sadly canceled after only part of its first and only season aired. Thankfully a finale film was produced to wrap up the story in 2005. The film, known as Serenity, did an excellent job of providing much-needed closure to a story that otherwise would have ended most unsatisfyingly.

Firefly's cancellation is infamous among space opera fans given the astonishingly high quality of the series, especially for its time. Indeed, the series still holds up quite well today, as its writing and production quality compare quite favorably to modern space operas.

Indeed, while not often recognized as such, Firefly is arguably the first true third generation space opera show, having preceded the much more well-known Battlestar Galactica at depicting space travel more realistically than second generation space operas, adopting fully modern production values, and a high degree of serialization. Firefly was said to have influenced BSG's writers quite a bit. Indeed, there is even a Firefly cameo in BSG's pilot depicting Serenity flying by in the background during one scene.