We’ve all seen Firefly, right? We all loved it, right? We’re all saddened to see it gone, right? If you answered “No” to any of those questions, then what the hell’s wrong with you?

I’ll admit, I never caught Firefly on TV back when it was still being aired. I’m not a huge TV watcher. I have a very short list of shows that I will always try to watch when they’re on: The Office, Corner Gas, Amazing Race, MXC, Mythbusters, and (most recently) House. There’s a longer B-list of shows, and a couple of shows that I’ve been auditing given the new fall schedule, but that’s for another time. A keen observer will notice there’s not a single sci-fi related show on that list. During its time, Firefly wasn’t on that list either. It simply was not even on my radar. Ask me then or ask me now to name you three sci-fi shows that are currently running, and I wouldn’t be able to do it.

It finally got to the point when practically everyone at where I used to work had seen Firefly. They would giggle with eachother and share their favourite quotes over lunch ’til it just became too much to bear. So they set me up with the DVDs, and I was hooked (BTW, thanks guys). I soon after went out and bought the set myself. That was two (maybe three) years ago. I’ve still only seen the majority of the episodes just the one time, but I like to consider myself one of the browncoats.

I can only speak for myself when I say why I like the show so much. The biggest thing for me was the writing, particularly the dialogue. For me, it’s the wit and humour that made it so refreshing and memorable. There are so many great lines and so many great scenes, that you can’t help but remember and cherish them. And the show seemed to have a very lively quality about it. Compare the handheld footage of Firefly to the typical rigid/panning shots of your other run-of-the-mill sci-fi show, and then tell me which one seems to have more energy.

It’s basically a western set in space. They’re outcasts and outlaws, just trying to make ends meet, being chased by bounty hunters and lawmen at every turn, but in space. A neat idea; a little Doctor Who-ish is some regards (another show that had no qualms about mixing genres), but definitely not a new idea.

What follows are some shows that, although might not have inspired Joss Whedon to create Firefly, might have influenced those of us who love his show to watch it (and get everyone we know to watch it).

SilverHawks (86/87)
I never watched this show when I was growing up. In fact, I don’t think I had ever heard of it until I started doing research for this post. Developed by Rankin/Bass (yup, the stop-motion Rudolph people), it was a followup series to their more popular show, the ThunderCats (another show I never watched, due to a preoccupation with Transformers). It had an electric-guitar-playing cybernetic cowboy… a sign of things to come, obviously.

(The animation looks really good. Was ThunderCats that good? Whatever… they’re cats. What were the bad guys? Dogs?)

The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (86 – 89)
Don’t think I ever watched this one either, but I think I might have seen the toys in the Eaton’s Christmas Catalog as a kid. Must have had some success, as it looks like it ran for a couple of years, and has an official web site. It was created by Robert Mandell, who went on to write and direct Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders. Yeah… I know.

BraveStarr (Sep 87 – Feb 89)
Now I’m pretty sure this was on TV in my area as a kid. If you guessed I never watched it, you’d be right. And if it looks like a cross between the animation styles of The New Adventures of The Lone Ranger and He-Man, that’s because they were all produced by the same animation company, Filmation. A horse that winks? No, thanks. Wouldn’t happen.

I was never a big fan of He-Man, either. Darn those Transformers. They really monopolized a lot of my time as a child. Besides, The Mighty Hercules could kick He-Man’s ass six ways from Sunday.

Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs (Sep 87 – Sep 88)
I saved the best of the 80′s for last. Every Sunday morning on YTV, I’d sit at the dinner table with a hot steaming slice of corn bread smothered with butter and maple syrup, and watch Saber Rider. Not my first anime by any stretch, and I was I little old for it, but it sure had the (pardon the term) raddest theme for a cartoon up to that point in my life, TMNT notwithstanding (with X-Men having since claimed that title).

I’d watched Astroboy and Speed Racer when I was younger, but Saber Rider definitely kick-started my love for Anime. You’ll have to pardon the overuse of all the whip cracking. It’s just so goddamn cool.

Outlaw Star (Jan 98 – Jun 98)
So here we are. It’s a new decade with a new generation of kids. The whole “cowboys on horseback” stuff is gone. The new hero is the outlaw, being chased by bounty hunters. Being good is bad, and being bad is good. Big, complicated, chrome-plated guns are in. Spikey hair… in. What’s a horse? Let’s give him a fancy ship. Oh, and you have to give him a trenchcoat so we can show it flapping in the wind. He is a bad guy after all.

Trigun (Apr 98 – Sep 98)
Haven’t seen it, but I know someone who has recently. Maybe I can get him to say a few words. Looks like the same basic premise as Outlaw Star.

Cowboy Bebop (Apr 98 – Apr 99)
Here’s a bit of a departure. We’re back to following upholders of the law (maybe benders of the law would be more appropriate); bounty hunters. Not very good ones, though. Their bounties usually end up killing themselves or dying in some fashion before our heroes can cash in. A great theme, great animation (with a mix of CG), great characters, and if you listen to the English dub, great dialogue, make this one of the better anime of recent years. I don’t think I need to go further. Enough people have done the whole Cowboy Bebop/Firefly comparison thing.

Firefly (Sep 02 – Dec 02)
And just because I can, here’s the opening to Firefly.

So what does this all prove? Clearly, the idea of the space western is meant to be ingested by the public in stages. Here we have four shows that all came out in the late 1980′s, and three shows that came out in the late 1990′s. I don’t know how much more proof you need that Firefly was simple released completely out of sync of the space western sine-wave. I fully believe, that if Firefly would have been released two years from now, instead of four years ago, it would’ve reached far loftier goals than it has.

But then, I’m just one guy.