Firefly was a science fiction TV show created by Joss Whedon that aired from 2002-2003 but was cancelled after one season. However, it grew a large cult following and became a multi-platform media franchise including a film, webseries, novels, comics and games. The film continued the story after the TV finale, while comics and novels expanded the story further and allowed for more character development prevented by the show's early cancellation. Though cancelled, the engaged fan base helped keep the Firefly world alive and their support was later channeled into promotional efforts for the franchise's further content.

2. What is Firefly?
• Short-lived science fiction
television show created by
Joss Whedon.
• Originally aired from 2002-
2003, was cancelled after
one season.
Since then, has gained a
cult-like following and
expanded into a multi-
platform media franchise.

3. That includes a film, Serenity…
…an online
miniseries, R. Tam

4. ...a novel... ...along with a role-playing
game, fan sites and fan fiction...
...numerous comics...

5. ...with a massively multiplayer online game
(MMOG), Firefly Online, planned for the future
(and this is based on a series that left the air
more than 10 years ago!)

6. The film takes
places after the
events of the series
finale…

7. …while the comics
continue the story
where the film left
off, expanding the
diegesis of the
original series and
allowing for
character
development, which
was stunted due to
the early
cancellation of the
show.

8. Firefly is unique in that if it hadn’t been cancelled
and continued to remain on the air, it probably
wouldn’t have grown into the multi-platform media
franchise it is today.

9. • In the absence of content between 2003 to
2005, fans kept the show alive by producing
numerous transmedia works, such as fan
fiction, and mounting large support campaigns
to spread the word about the show.

10. • Such fans of television shows serve a
“productive, industrial function”
(Johnson, 2007, pg. 68)
• With “the intersection of television and new
media via multiplatforming”, the television
industry was able “to begin participating in this
new economy of free labor.”
• In order to promote Serenity, the show’s fanbase
was “channeled into the promotional sector to
foster ‘grassroots’ buzz” about the show.

11. 2005

12. World building

13. • Those Left Behind, 2005
• Better Days, 2008
• The Other Half, 2008
• Float Out, 2010
• The Shepherd's Tale, 2010
• Downtime, 2010
• It's Never Easy, 2012
• Leaves on the Wind, 2014

14. ‘We don't have studio executives sweating every
decision and that's very nice.’
- Joss Whedon, 2013

15. 'I always thought of it as wanting as many
people to read it as watched it ... You always
want to write for everybody - I don't want to
exclude anyone from the party.’
- Whedon, 2013
'How do texts create two or more implicit
readers? By constructing a sedimentary
multilayer text that needs different cognitive
skills to be interpreted.‘
- Scolari, 2009

16. ‘Each franchise entry needs to be self-contained
enough to enable autonomous consumption.’
- Scolari, 2009