Why calls for a Firefly revival never really die out is proven partly by the cult classic’s Rotten Tomatoes score, which impressively ranks even higher than another critically received series starring Alan Tudyk. Tudyk boasts a long and illustrious catalog of work – though one of his best-recognized roles was in the Firefly series’ cast of characters as spaceship pilot Hoban “Wash” Washburne. Infamously, Firefly was cancelled after one season because of low viewership numbers, but the early 2000s series still managed to forge an incredible legacy for Tudyk and in popular culture.
Tudyk is no stranger to roles in critically praised and beloved TV shows and films, so it’s interesting to see how the renowned but short-lived Firefly series stacks up against the many. More accurately, Tudyk has abundant highly rated projects on Rotten Tomatoes, including an ongoing series averaging a towering 97%. Firefly outranks it, and a good majority of titles starring Tudyk on Rotten Tomatoes, in one key way, giving great context as to why there has always been and possibly always will be a push for a Firefly revival.
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Alan Tudyk’s 10 Best Movies & TV Shows, Ranked
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Firefly’s Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score Easily Beats Resident Alien
Resident Alien Has A Higher Critics Score On RT
Resident Alien
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A television adaptation of the comic book series, Resident Alien is a sci-fi comedy that stars Alan Tudyk as an alien who crashes on Earth with one mission – destroy humanity to save the planet. When Tudyk’s character takes the identity of a doctor, he arrives at a small town and begins to act the role preparing his plan. As time passes, he develops human emotions against his will – but his plans are further complicated when he meets the son of the mayor – who can see his actual appearance.
- Cast
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Alan Tudyk
, Elizabeth Bowen
, Judah Prehn
, Levi Fiehler
, Corey Reynolds
, Alice Wetterlund
, Sara Tomko - Release Date
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January 27, 2021
- Seasons
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3
- Network
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SyFy
- Writers
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Chris Sheridan
, Biniam Bizuneh
, Sarah Beckett
, Emily Eslami
, Jeffrey Nieves
, Tommy Pico - Directors
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Robert Duncan McNeill
, Kabir Akhtar
, Shannon Kohli - Showrunner
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Chris Sheridan
- Where To Watch
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Peacock
Resident Alien, which stars Alan Tudyk in the lead as the body-snatching alien “Harry Vanderspeigle,” has been a resounding hit with critics, scoring an average 97% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. Comparatively, Resident Alien’s critics’ score has the upper hand over Firefly’s average 77% Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score by a good margin. However, while Resident Alien’s heart, humor, and mystery give it an advantage over the latter, it lacks something that Firefly has been nurturing for nearly two decades – which is a fierce cult following.
Resident Alien season | Critics’ Score |
1 | 94% |
2 | 100% |
When judging the two Tudyk series by their audience score, Firefly, at 96%, far outpaces Resident Alien’s 86%. Firefly’s audience score isn’t just higher than Resident Alien’s but all of Tudyk’s other shows, such as the animated Harley Quinn series, the ABC sitcom Suburgatory, and the adult animation Grimsburg. Firefly’s audience score is so high on Tudyk’s catalog of projects that it’s his second-highest overall, including his vast filmography, only losing out to Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Raya and the Last Dragon by 1%.
Firefly Revival Hopes Won’t Go Away, But Will It Happen?
Is There Going To Be A Reboot?
The sheer audience support for Firefly is why revival requests have persisted since its cancellation. The beloved show spawned a feature film, 2005’s flop Serenity, and multiple comic series to assuage fans of the loose ends brought on by season 1. However, the attempts to expand the media franchise weren’t enough for Firefly’s enduring cult franchise, prompting even more hope that a revival would burgeon to do the series justice.
At one point in time, rumors about Disney’s interest in rebooting the series circulated but were quickly eclipsed by unfortunate events like accusations of Firefly director Joss Wheadon’s vicious on-set behavior and the failure of other Disney+ reboots such as Willow and National Treasure. As such, any hope of a Firefly revival was obliterated. Still today, nothing about a revival has been confirmed, leaving Firefly‘s cult following hanging indefinitely.
Firefly
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Set in the year 2517, Firefly follows the crew of the Serenity, a smuggling ship operating on the fringes of Alliance space. Captain Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) is a veteran of a civil war, bitter about having fought for the losing side and now making his living as an outlaw smuggler out among the distant colonies forgotten and ignored by the Alliance. However, after taking on paying passengers, Mal finds himself caught up in a conspiracy likely to bring the whole Alliance military down on him and his crew.
- Cast
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Ron Glass
, Morena Baccarin
, Alan Tudyk
, Adam Baldwin
, Summer Glau
, Gina Torres
, Nathan Fillion
, Sean Maher
, Jewel Staite - Release Date
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September 20, 2002
- Seasons
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1
- Writers
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Joss Whedon
- Directors
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Joss Whedon
- Showrunner
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Joss Whedon