Fox Is ‘Wide Open’ to ‘Firefly’ Revival – ‘If There’s a Way to Reinvent It for Today’

TCA 2020: Fox’s entertainment president Michael Thorn and “Firefly” EP Tim Minear tell TheWrap what could make it work

| January 7, 2020 @ 5:30 PM Last Updated: January 7, 2020 @ 10:05 PM
Firefly Cast

FOX

“Firefly” executive producer Tim Minear recently reawakened fans’ demand for a revival (or maybe just made their cries louder than they already were) when he tweeted out a picture from the final day of shooting on Joss Whedon’s short-lived, cult-classic Fox series. And then Whedon added fuel to their fire by retweeting this.

Since Minear started this whole thing, TheWrap asked both him and Fox’s president of entertainment, Michael Thorn, what it would take to revive the Nathan Fillion-led space western at the Television Critics Association press tour Tuesday.

“The macro answer is, any time we look at one of our classic titles, if there’s a way to reinvent it for today so it’s as resonant now as the original was, and is, to the fans, we’re wide open,” Thorn said. “I loved ‘Firefly,’ personally, and I watched every episode. I didn’t work on it, but I loved the show. It had come up before, but we had ‘The Orville’ on the air and it didn’t make sense for us to have, as a broadcast network who is very targeted, to have two space franchises on our air.”

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And while “Orville” has since moved to Hulu, freeing up that “space franchise” territory, Thorn points out that Minear is already “very busy” at Fox right now, showrunning both “9-1-1” and its upcoming spinoff “9-1-1: Lone Star.”

“But it’s a good idea,” the Fox exec said.

The 20th Century Fox Television-produced “Firefly” premiered on Fox in September 2002 and was canceled after eleven of the first season’s fourteen produced episodes were aired. But since then, the show has amassed a very serious fanbase. Along with Fillion, the show starred Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, Summer Glau and Ron Glass.

“In this crowded marketplace, if you can start with some kind of brand awareness and IP that has a vocal support and, in this case, a crazy, passionate love for it, you’re ahead of the game,” Thorn said.

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As for Minear, he says he and Whedon have been talking about a revival at different points over the past decade.

“Joss did sort of revive it by making ‘Serenity,'” Minear said, referring to the 2005 film that acted as a big-screen series finale for the show. “But we have talked about different permutations and how that might work. Do you take two of the characters and put them in a different place and sort of retell a new story with two old characters, with new characters?”

“You’re not gonna get everybody back — unless you did something like a limited series, like they did for ‘The X-Files.’ Then maybe you could get these people to come back. ‘Cause Nathan is a little busy doing ‘The Rookie.’ But I also know, ’cause I just texted a little bit with Nathan over the weekend, when I posted those pictures from ‘Firefly’ and he got very sentimental. Everyone who worked on that show dearly loves it and they all still talk to each other. I still see Alan occasionally.”

Basically, Minear thinks the only way “Firefly” could be revived is in a limited series format.

“I would love to see, like, an eight- or 10-episode limited adventure in that universe.”

Winter TV 2020: Premiere Dates for New and Returning Shows (Photos)

  • winter premiere dates 2020 ABC/AMC/NBC/Netflix
  • Netflix
  • Say Yes to the Dress America TLC
  • Sister Wives TLC
  • Luke on 'Naked and Afraid: Alone' Discovery Channel
  • America's Got Talent: The Champions - Season 1 NBC
  • "The Bachelor" Peter Weber ABC
  • Love and Hip Hop Miami VH1
  • Manifest - NBC NBC
  • Ellen's Game of Games - Season 2 NBC
  • James Holzhauer Jeopardy Tournament of Champions ABC
  • Wild 'N Out Nick Cannon VH1
  • Gordon Ramsay's '24 Hours to Hell and Back' Fox
  • the haves and the have nots season 2 premiere ratings OWN
  • Schitt's Creek Pop TV
  • Vanderpump Rules - Season 7 Bravo
  • CBS
  • Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist - Season 1 NBC
  • Netflix
  • Undercover Boss CBS
  • Catfish MTV MTV
  • Criminal Minds CBS
  • curt menefee america's top dog A&E
  • Party of Five Freeform
  • Netflix
  • AJ AND THE QUEEN Netflix
  • Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt For The Bone Collector - Season 1 NBC
  • Jason Bateman The Outsider HBO
  • New Pope HBO
  • Grace And Frankie Netflix
  • Syfy
  • 68 Whiskey Paramount Network
  • CNBC
  • Killer Inside The Mind of Aaron Hernandez Netflix
  • grownish Freeform
  • Everythings Gonna be Okay Freeform
  • Apple TV+
  • Diary of a Future President Disney+
  • Sex Education Gillian Anderson Netflix
  • BBC America
  • Avenue 5 HBO
  • 911 Lone Star Fox
  • HBO
  • Nat Geo
  • Home Town HGTV
  • Legends of Tomorrow The CW
  • Project Blue Book History
  • Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens Comedy Central
  • CBS All Access
  • Station 19 ABC
  • OUTMATCHED Fox
  • The Bold Type Freeform
  • Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Netflix
  • Netflix
  • Hulu
  • Netflix
  • Showtime
  • Our Cartoon President - Showtime Showtime
  • YouTube
  • USA Network
  • Miracle Workers_ Dark Ages TBS
  • NEXT IN FASHION Netflix
  • Miz and Mrs - Season 1 USA Network
  • The Stranger Netflix
  • bojack horseman season 5 trailer Netflix
  • Ted Bundy Falling for a Killer Amazon Prime Video
  • ragnarok Netflix
  • Masked Singer Season 3 Fox
  • Spectrum
  • McMillion$ HBO
  • Desus and Mero Showtime
  • Will Arnett Getty
  • CBS All Access CBS All Access
  • Katy Keene The CW
  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Season 6 NBC
  • USA Network
  • Indebted - Season Pilot NBC
  • Edie Falco Tommy CBS
  • USA Network
  • Mythic Quest Apple TV+
  • Locke and Key Netflix
  • MacGyver CBS
  • high maintenance HBO
  • Showtime
  • Showtime Showtime
  • OWN
  • ABC's 'For Life' ABC
  • Survivor CBS
  • The Soup Jade Catta-Preta E!
  • Narcos: Mexico Diego Luna Netflix
  • Love Is Blind Netflix
  • High Fidelity Hulu
  • Hulu
  • Ellen DeGeneres in 'Visible: Out on Television' Apple TV+
  • Outlander Season 5 Starz
  • American Idol ABC
  • Duncanville Fox
  • Extreme Makeover Home Edition HGTV HGTV
  • NBC
  • John Oliver on 'Last Week Tonight' HBO
  • Sacred Lies Facebook Watch
  • The Chef Show Netflix
  • Gentefied Netflix
  • Amazon Prime Video
  • Better Call Saul AMC
  • The Voice - Season 17 NBC
  • Little Big Shots - Season 4 NBC
  • Sophia Lillis I Am Not Okay With This trailer Netflix
  • Altered Carbon Netflix
  • MTV
  • RuPaul's Drag Race Vh1
  • AMC
  • Breeders FX
  • Twenties BET BET
  • The Deed: Chicago - Season 2 CNBC
  • Dave FXX
  • Castlevania Netflix
  • DEVS -- Pictured: Nick Offerman as Forest. CR: Miya Mizuno/FX FX
  • Better Things FX
  • Cake FX FXX
  • Amazing Stories Apple TV+
  • Hillary Hulu Hulu
  • The Most Dangerous Animal of All FX
  • ride with norman reedus AMC
  • Neil DeGrasse Tyson Cosmos Nat Geo
  • Council of Dads NBC
  • On My Block Netflix
  • Elite Netflix Netflix
  • Flack Pop TV
  • The Wall Chris Hardwick NBC
  • HBO
  • Don Cheadle in Black Monday Showtime
  • Pilot The CW
  • The Plot Against America HBO
  • My Brilliant Friend HBO
  • Motherland Fort Salem Freeform
  • Hulu
  • Hank Azaria in 'Brockmire' IFC
1 of 138

Here’s when 137 broadcast, cable and streaming series debut and come back

Winter is well underway and with it, naturally, comes the Winter TV season. In honor of the colder months and their small-screen offerings, TheWrap has rounded up the premiere dates for not just the new and returning shows on Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS and The CW, but also the ones for the eagerly anticipated series hitting cable channels and streaming services this winter. Click through our gallery to find out when your favorite winter shows will be back and when your possible new favorites will debut.

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