Nathan Fillion and 'Firefly' Costars Celebrate Cult Hit's 20th Anniversary: 'We Kept Flying, Didn't We?'

The Fox series also starring Jewel Staite, Gina Torres, Morena Baccarin and Alan Tudyk ran for one season in 2002

firefly 20 year anniversary
Photo: Jewel Staite/Twitter

The cast of the short-lived space western Firefly is marking 20 years since the show debuted.

Star Nathan Fillion reminisced about the Fox series — which ran for one season in 2002 — as he shared a cast photo on Instagram Tuesday.

"Has it already been 20 years?" the actor, 51, began his post.

"I've talked a lot about Firefly in my time, answered a lot of questions about it, and yet, still, I don't have the right words to honor it," he shared. "As a learning experience, nothing has taught me as much about my craft and the industry. As for my career, nothing has given me as solid a foundation. And as for love, I never knew how much love a little tv project could bring to my life."

Fillion continued, "To the cast- thank you. You have no idea how much you mean to me. To Joss [Whedon] - in 20 years I've still not found a way to express what you've done for me. To the fans- without you, space is vast, cold, and empty. With you, space becomes a home for all of us, and there's no place I'd rather be. To those of you who have never seen Firefly, we'll see you soon enough. Happy Anniversary, all."

Costar Jewel Staite also posted her fond memories on Instagram.

"20 years ago today, we premiered," she wrote. "Our time slot was less than shiny, we almost didn't get a series order at all."

She continued, "But we kept flying, didn't we? Thank you for making us mighty. Forever my TV family. I love them, and our Browncoats, with all my heart. Happy anniversary!"

firefly 20 year anniversary
Nathan Fillion/Instagram

The series — also starring Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk and Morena Baccarin — tracked the exploits of nine crew members and passengers on the spaceship Serenity in the year 2517 as they traveled through space.

Firefly was canceled after 11 of its 14 episodes were aired — accidentally out of order, according to Screen Rant. Fans clamored for a reboot, though it never came.

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Firefly can be streamed in full on Hulu.

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