Firefly is an American television series. Its mix of science fiction and Western themes made it unique among television series. It was aired on FOX, and its creator, writer/director Joss Whedon, was also the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, all also under Mutant Enemy Productions (his production studio). Whedon was billed as executive producer along with Tim Minear.

Firefly did not debut to a great initial reception. Out of its 14 first-season episodes, only eleven were shown and those out of order -- the kiss of death for a series with serial plotlines -- due to a decision at the network. It premiered in the US and Canada on September 20, 2002. Despite its short lifespan, however, it got very strong DVD sales and had impressive support campaigns. It won an Emmy in 2003 for "Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series." The success of the show after the fact led to a film based on the series called Serenity, named after the ship featured in the show.

The series is set in the year 2517. It follows the adventures of the crew of Serenity, a Firefly-class spaceship. Whedon pitched the show as "nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things". The crew were all on the losing side of a civil war, now making a living as best they can on the outskirts of society. They explore the frontier culture of half-civilized worlds, traveling among the fringes trying to stay under cover and still make a living. In the universe of Firefly, the US and China fused to form the central federal government, known as the Alliance, setting an unusual mixture of Asian and Western themes.