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"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator Joss Whedon has created an outer-space "Wild, Wild West" in this series that features six-shooters instead of lasers and rugged jeeps instead of hovercrafts.

This series is about humans on Earthlike colony planets fighting the Alliance, made up by the former American and Chinese superpowers. And there are no aliens, as Whedon strives for a more realistic look than "Buffy."

Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), who commands a Firefly-class transport ship, Serenity, will take any job, legal or not, to stay afloat. He also opposes unification of the planets under the tyrannical Alliance.

His crew includes second-in-command Zoe (Gina Torres of "Cleopatra 2525"); Wash (Alan Tudyk), the ship's easygoing pilot and Zoe's husband; Kaylee (Jewel Staite), the young engineer; and Jayne (Adam Baldwin), a tough mercenary who's on Mal's side - for now.

Prostitute Inara (Moreana Baccarin) has her own shuttle docked on the ship.

The wealthy Simon (Sean Maher) is the ship's doctor looking out for his younger sister, River (Summer Glau).

Other reporters and I toured the Serenity in July at 20th Century Fox Studios in Century City. The spaceship is more "Star Wars" and "Alien" than "Star Trek." It's cramped and gritty, and the engine is an old boiler you might find in a school basement. Never mind all the 1970s furniture.

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