Firefly

For a “sci-fi western” set 500 years in the future, whose pilot cost more than $8 million, Firefly is most noteworthy for what it doesn’t have. There are no aliens, no teleporters and no lasers. And sadly–given creator Joss Whedon’s track record with Buffy the Vampire Slayer–no laughs or thrills. There seems to be an interesting back story: the crew of a salvage spaceship scratches out a living just after a bitter galactic civil war. (An alliance of Americans and Chinese won–and they’re the bad guys.) But to locate it under the sleepy heist plots is beyond your TV’s primitive technology. –J.P.