So...What the Hell is a "Browncoat"?

I often (well, once or twice) get asked this question by my vast army of loyal readers (one or two), so I'm finally going to 'splain: Simply put, a "Browncoat" is a rabid fan of the late, great, shortlived television show "Firefly" and the movie "Serenity". A Browncoat will tell you without hesitation that Firefly was the greatest TV show...ever. Period.

The show premiered in the Fall of 2002, and died in December 2002 after the knucklehead executives at FOX Television (who didn't like the show in the first place) sabotaged and sunk the show before it had a chance to take flight.

In a nutshell, the show was about nine people aboard a transport spaceship named "Serenity". The setting of the show takes place 500 yrs in the future where we've terraformed and colonized planets and moons in a distant solar system. The central planets are very modernized and "futuristic", while the outer planets are much like the American wild-west of the 19th century. The outer planets had no desire to be under the thumb of "The Alliance", the governing body of the central planets, so there was a war of independence pitting the Alliance against the outer planets, a.k.a. "The Independents", a.k.a. "The Browncoats". Needless to say, the Browncoats were on the losing end of the war. The show picks up six years after the war, following the lives of a former Independent Sergeant named Malcolm Reynolds (played most excellently by Nathan Fillion) and his crew.

But it's not the sci-fi setting that makes the show so wonderful, it's the characters on Serenity, their interactions with each other, and the snarcky dialog... you immediately bond with the characters and feel like "part of the crew".

Anyway, I won't ramble on about the show, here's a link to the Firefly Wiki page if you want to learn more:

http://www.fireflywiki.org/


Needless to say, I highly recommend this series...it's fun, entertaining, and leans very libertarian. You can purchase the complete series and movie "Serenity" on DVD from Amazon.com.



I must warn you though: once you finish the series and movie, you will definitely be craving more and, well, there ain't. (Note: be sure to watch 'em in DVD order, not the screwed up order they were aired by FOX).

Oh, and did I mention: Nathan Fillion f'n rocks. Be sure to watch him Mondays on ABC starring in the new show "Castle"...he's ruttin' hi-larious!