FIREFLY.

• Author: Mangu-Ward, Katherine
• Position: TV

The short-lived 2002 space western Firefly endeared itself to a certain type of libertarian in the first episode, when a smuggler-captain with a galley full of too-inquisitive passengers harrumphs: "That's what governments are for--get in a man's way."

Libertarian fans took solace not only in the show's leave-me-alone anti-government attitudes, but also in the way it found its audience through then-novel distribution methods despite a botched rollout and midseason cancellation by Fox network execs who misunderstood its appeal and doubted its reach.

Two decades later...