I despise television. I even gave it up last year, and now only see a few shows a friend and I watch together. "The West Wing". "24". "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

Until last fall. Then I saw "Firefly", named somewhat whimsically about a cargo ship whose end lights up when it accelerates. But this is no flashy futuristic show about technical wonders, but rather a very nitty-gritty character study of nine very individual people.

Joss Whedon, who created "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel", had an idea for a science fiction show unique to that "Southern California born/spent time in Britain as a teenager" background of his: He read a book about the ground level grunts of the American Civil War called "The Rebel Angels" and wanted to do a TV series about the people who didn't make the history books: the people history stepped on. He wanted to do a story set in a future about a ship and where it went. Not a vast engine of war or a great vessel of exploration and diplomacy, but an old tramp steamer of a ship, so small it didn't even have a mounted gun, that made its way through thick and thin by taking any job, anywhere, no questions asked.

The nine people on board the Firefly-class ship "Serenity" aren't rich, famous, particularly smart or particularly gifted, for the most part. They all have pasts, and not all of them are comfortable about talking about themselves. They live in the aftermath of a major war that lead to the forceable unification of all of humanity, and not all of them were on the same side. The ship's name, "Serenity" is that of the climactic battle of that war, and they find themselves still trapped psychologically in a war that ended six years before. They have doubts, fears, old pains and new concerns, like where their next job is coming from and whether they'll live through it, because the few people that can hire them and will hire them have scant concern for ethics, the law or good manners. Sometimes your employer is more dangerous to you than the law you're trying to avoid.

And this is a show about the outskirts: there are laser guns, hoverships and advanced technology, but few can afford them. Big Dumb Bullets are still cheaper than Flashy Powered Blasters, and on the frontier reliability is more important than fashion, particularly when the other fellow has a habit of firing first. A horse will do you better than a powersled if you have lots of grasslands but no repair facilities or money to pay. A man dressed like a cowboy may have artificial organs and a revolver, or own a space station and need to pick up advanced medicines or even transfer a herd of cows. "Serenity" flies between the Core worlds of advanced technology and the newly terraformed Rim worlds, where people are grateful to have a wooden roof overhead.

It is this peculiar mix of the old and new that fascinates those looking for the unexpected: the comically serious and the deadly comical. Any given episode will shift you from adventure to terror, farce to drama, slapstick to deep thought and a sense of "boy, I didn't see THAT coming" without a sense that no-one is at the wheel, or that the screenwriter is merely playing with your expectations. More importantly, there are no "cheats": every action more deeply reveals the characters and who they are becoming. Unlike the broadcasts, this DVD shows the episodes, including three new ones, in their intended order.

"Firefly" is seldom what it first appears to be, either in terms of appearance or behaviour. No plot works out as expected, and people can surprise you. Joss Whedon indicated that "Buffy" was about growing up, "Angel" is about getting to work and "Firefly" is about being grown up and the choices you have to make as an adult. It's not like any other show you've seen: a story of the nine people who find themselves on board a ship, looking into the black of space, and seeing nine different things looking back at them.

Even if you've seen all the first season episodes broadcast on FOX and are waiting for the forthcoming 2005 Universal motion picture, this DVD has all episodes to date, including the three not previously broadcast in the U.S., and such extras as cast and creator commentaries, a blooper reel to equal any other show in history and a few other easter eggs here and there.

Like such great television shows as "Hill Street Blues", "Babylon 5", "Homicide: Life on the Streets" or "The Supranos", this will introduce you to people and places that will enrich you and your concept of the world. I still hate television. I'm buying this DVD.

I liked Star Trek. But Star Trek was a sterile proto-socialist fantasy, without a comprehensible culture beyond starfleet itself.

I like Star Wars better, but despite the detailed world building it remained a fairly predictable space opera.

Firefly (and the Serenity movie) are the best damn science fiction I have ever watched on a screen. I can't believe that there is no more of this to watch. I will not believe it. I am going to think really, really desperate and evil thoughts until someone gives me another fix.

OK, so I hate reviews that just say something was good and the network is evil for having cancelled it, no matter how true that is. A person reads a review not to determine whether someone they have never heard of likes something, but, hopefully, whether they might like it. So here is my pathetic attempt to describe greatness. Why I loved Firefly

1. Detailed world building. I can easily see how the worlds of humankind shown in this series evolved from the world of today. Any projection into the future is hazardous, but at least this series makes a reasoned attempt at such a projection. I see bits and pieces of the world we know, taken apart and reassembled on another stage, as, indeed, they will have been after the passage of 500 years. Whether it is the Chinese characters in the shop windows, the opulent, almost Raj-like feel of the Tam estate and the clothes worn there, the eclectic, practical, almost wild west garb of the outer worlds, or the oriental but not quite specific derivation of Inara's quarters, I can tell that someone spent a lot of time and energy trying to trace out the lines of this future society. Which leads me to

2. The emphasis on the everyday and practical. There aren't any aliens cluttering up the landscape. What's more, industrial zones look like there is active industry, rural areas have real farmers and miners. Laser weapons exist, but there is a realization that putting a high speed piece of lead through a person is likely to be just as fatal (if not more so) than burning them with a laser. (And I loved the "check battery" indicator on the laser pistol, too.) We also get to see what sort of goods a future smuggler smuggles, and its not always "spice" or precious metals. Firefly deals with medical supplies, concentrated food bars, engine parts, ceramics, seed, even a herd of cows for goodness' sakes. Anything real people might want to get that they may not have. They even talk about buying clay of high quality (though this is a cover) Which leads me to

3. A view of the future from street level. There are few worldshaking events in Firefly, and what there are are seen from the viewpoint of ordinary people, hustlers, dirt farmers, "mudders", mechanics (and, yes, prostitutes, but preachers, too). This show is not about ambassadors, jedi knights, queens, admirals or generals. I think it's significant that Mal was a sergeant in the Independent army, not even an officer much less a field commander. Which leads me to

4. Nine very unforgettable and well formed characters. None of them are particularly extraordinary people (ok, River is, but that's the exception that proves the rule. The series ended when we were just getting a glimpse of how extraordinary she is. The movie tells us a lot more. She is, however, still a "little person") All of them are complicated, all of them are compelling, and all of them could make a suitable paper about character development in a college English class. Sometimes I might think I like Kaylee best; her wide-eyed upbeat attitude, her poor white trash background (being as how that's what I am), her crush on Simon, or the bigger crush she has on engines. I think of her lying wounded crooning "there's my good girl" to the ship. Other times I can't help but like not-quite dumb as a post tough-guy Jayne, who always seems to want to kill somebody (and tries selling out fellow crew members once) but who wears the stupid hat his mother made him and agonizes over the young man who dies for him in "Jaynestown." Actually, I love them all, but I don't have room for more examples. (My daughter, the English major, doesn't care for Inara and Simon. I think she's wrong. The show would be different without them.) All of which leads me to

5. Real people dealing with real moral dilemmas. Mal likes to think of himself as a hardbitten criminal. Problem is, that in the course of the show he is constantly turning down jobs, backing out of them, protecting people with no hope of return, and doing other insipidly noble things. He drives Jayne to distraction, but Jayne is not immune to this malady either. None of them are. Shepherd Book may comment that he seems to have gotten on the wrong ship, and Kaylee may lightly reply to Simon's question about what they are doing with "Crime." but these are basically good people. The epitome of this, of course, is the fact that Serenity takes in Simon and River, despite the trouble this is bound to cause them. On the other hand, evil in the world of Firefly is both less obvious and more real. (Clue: The Alliance is evil). However, there is no leader in black robes with a maniacal laugh shouting out that here lies evil. In point of fact, perfectly good people might and do honestly see the Alliance as a force for good, as exemplified by Inara's statement that she supported unification. No, rather than being told that evil is here, we are shown it. The epitome of this is what was being done to River, but there is much more. "We meddle," says River in the movie. Darn right they do.

6. Contravention of stereotypes. I always thought that if a villain told me he was going to hunt me down and kill me, that, rather than walk nobly away, I would shoot him in the head. Mal does me one better. He kicks the guy into a spinning turbine. Another example: when Mal demands of a recalcitrant crew "Do you want to run this ship?", Jayne replies "Yes!", and all the flustered hero can think of to say is "Well, you can't." Not to mention other cool and different things enumerated above incidently, like the continued use of slug-throwing weaponry (and even non-laser swords and knives).

7. I can't enumerate all the really funny parts. Just one example is when Jayne wants to trade Mal his favorite gun for the woman Mal supposedly married while drunk. "She has a name," says Mal, and Jayne replies, "So does this! Vera . . ." (Vera sees action in at least two episodes. She is indeed a fine gun.)

The one thing I can't get my mind around is that this series is Joss Whedon's work. I am something less than a fan of his other work. I can't imagine in what corner of his brain he was hiding it; I just want to thank him for it. I can't believe I missed the series when it was on tv. I can't wait for another movie. Can somebody take the hint out there? I'm a bit desperate.

Firefly was a show that came on the heels of Fox's usual brilliant decision-making--right after it cancelled my beloved Dark Angel. I first thought this show would be awful, but I sat down and watched it--and it was love. Truly. It's rare to find a show that can be taken seriously that also made me laugh out loud in every episode. The writing was extraordinary, and the actors/actresses were absolute gold. It was really like watching a movie each time around. Yet again, Fox shot itself in the foot and iced another good show. Nonetheless, at least the DVD is soon to come. At least they had the decency to do that. Come on, sing it with me: "Take my love, take my land, take me where I cannot stand. But I don't care--I'm still free. You can't take the skies from me..."