The science fiction TV-show Firefly has been surrounded by controversy ever since FOX Networks canceled the original show in 2002. The series was the brainchild of the talented writer/producer Joss Whedon (behind such acclaimed shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angle), but it did not live up to network expectations and was canceled before the last few episodes aired.

Firefly is set in 2517 where the human race has left earth and terraformed a large number of planets in a distant solar system. It follows the crew of the spaceship ‘Serenity’, a lovable bunch of rascals holding on to their independence in an authoritarian civilization. The series mixed science fiction with the old fashioned Wild West genre and did so with remarkable success. The idea of horses and hip-slung revolvers in space might initially have dampened the enthusiasm of die-hard science fiction fans, but over time it proved Firefly’s strongest card – since its DVD release the fanbase has grown tremendously and the series has gained many followers outside the traditional science fiction demographic.

Shortly after its cancellation Joss Whedon managed to persuade Universal Pictures to fund a film based on the series. In order to differentiate the film from the series it was titled ‘Serenity’ (premiering in 2005) after the ship so central to the story (a Firefly class space freighter). Perhaps due to Firefly’s lackluster performance on FOX Universal offered Whedon a limited budget (rumored to be less than $40 million, or about half of a normal science fiction film budget). Despite the financial limits Whedon managed to produce a true science fiction classic and over the years ‘Serenity’ has won many science fiction awards. However, the critical acclaim did not reflect on the box-office takings. Serenity performed poorly and only broke even on international release – killing any idea of a sequel.

The lack of success, both on networks and in the cinema, should technically have doomed franchise to oblivion, but Firefly simply refused to die. It has now been 6 years since audiences’ last saw a new Firefly product, but the fanbase has steadily continued to grow, rather than decline to a handful of die-hards as would normally have been expected. Today the majority of Firefly-fans never even saw the original series, but knows the franchise only from the DVD releases. However, newcomers and old hands alike have one thing in common: They want more!

Now the fans of Firefly (called Browncoats in a reference to a rebel army in the series) have been behind a new initiative to reboot their beloved show. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly actor Nathan Fillion (who played Serenity’s captain Malcolm Reynolds) jokingly remarked, that if he won $300 million in the California lottery, he would buy the rights for Firefly and reboot the franchise. What started as an off-hand remark was quickly jumped on by fans and became the ‘Help Nathan Buy Firefly’ campaign. Initially the idea might simply have been a friendly show of appreciation rather than an actual attempt to purchase the rights for Nathan Fillion (something Fillion was quick to distance himself from, by publically telling people not to send money). However, the online initiative soon became a regular movement with more than a hundred thousand registering their approval on Facebook and pledging more than one million dollar within just a few days (via a nonbinding pledge system available on the HelpNathanBuyFirefly website).

While it was obvious that buying the rights for Nathan Fillion was a dead end, the overwhelming success of the campaign prompted the people behind it to investigate the possibility for actually producing a Firefly product funded entirely by fans (a so called crowd funding model). This in turn led to the formation of an organization called Unstoppable Signals (another Firefly reference), with the idea of enabling/financing the production of more Firefly. Technically Unstoppable Signals would handle investments from fans and provide funding for Joss Whedon.

Maybe there was something slightly crazy about the whole thing, but the plan was actually not without merit. Fan-funding is a concept already known and discussed in the entertainment industry and within days the Vice President of the SyFy network openly registered his support by tweeting ‘I would love to see a fan-funded model work’. Joss Whedon however, was not so supportive. Through his sister-in-law he made it clear that no one in the Whedon clan could support the idea – a setback that initially floored the movement. A few days later the now infamous, but basically innocent, sister-in-law let it be known that by the phrase ‘not supporting’ she actually meant ‘not involved in’ – the race was back on.

Nearly one month later Unstoppable Signals are still working hard to make a fan-funded version of Firefly take flight. There are many obstacles in their path, but perhaps the steepest is the rumored unwillingness of FOX to sell the rights – without the rights no Firefly can be produced. Another, although perhaps smaller, problem is Joss Whedons busy schedule. He is currently making both The Avengers and Captain America: The First Avenger for Marvel Studio and is set to continue with Marvel superhero films for the next few years. Naturally it’s possible to produce Firefly without Whedon in control, but a reboot is unlikely to succeed without some form of connection to him. So it does not bode particularly well for the fan movement.

However, other developments are working in favor of the Unstoppable Signals initiative. The American video streaming company Netflix seems to be moving away from its role as purely an entertainment distributer. Early in Marts 2011 it was reported that Netflix had brokered a $100 million deal to produce two 25 episode seasons of ‘House of Cards’ (a British political thriller novel written by Michael Dobbs originally aired as a miniseries on BBC in 1990). Such a new business model would not only put Netflix in line with the traditional networks it would change the entire industry.

With Netflix’s move away from the role as a simple distributor there can be little doubt that we will see a change from advertisement based entertainment to a pay-to-experience model in the near future. This might not kill traditional network television, but it’s bound to emerge as a strong contender. With a growing marked for on-demand wares, video streaming companies are far better situated to service the customers. However, the question remains: will anyone be willing to capitalize on the Firefly franchise?