For a series that was canceled in the middle of its first season, “Firefly” has an amazing amount of resonance. The legion of fans of Joss Whedon’s 2002 FOX series has driven several networks to pick up the show for syndication runs, which is unheard of for any series with fewer than 100 episodes. Currently, the Science Channel (run by the Discovery network folks) has the broadcast rights for “Firefly,” and they’ve assembled a tasty retrospective of the show’s brief run, amazing fans, and grateful cast and crew on Sunday, November 11 at 9:00 pm CT.

“Firefly: Browncoats Unite” is centered around a raucous table discussion held with actors Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Summer Glau, Adam Baldwin and Sean Maher, along with show runner Tim Minear and executive story editor Jose Molina. The crew was assembled during the “Firefly” tenth anniversary event at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con, where Whedon lauded the fans’ support of the series. Separate interviews with Gina Torres, Jewel Staite and Morena Baccarin were also included in the special.

“Browncoats Unite” works best when the principles are riffing on each other. There’s a lot of good-natured ribbing between the actors – mostly directed to, and coming from, Fillion. There’s still so much chemistry between these actors, a testament to Whedon’s casting. It’s not hard to spot why people still gravitate to the series (which Science Channel will run in a marathon strip leading up to the special, beginning at 6:00 am CT Sunday) – “Firefly” was a perfect match of actor and material.

The special’s best segment is a discussion of the episode “Out Of Gas,” and the concurrent growing realization that FOX was going to cancel the show after a laconic reaction from network brass and sub-standard ratings. Seeing the recollection of the strong range of emotions playing out on everyone’s face as they detailed breaking down (arguably) the series’ best episode against the backdrop of eminent cancellation is a potent bit of television.

Fans who want even more footage from the retrospective can take to Twitter and post a reply to @ScienceChannel with the hashtag #FireflyNov11 for the “Flock To Unlock” campaign. For every 5,000 tweets with the combo, Science Channel will unleash one of four clips that will not see the light of day otherwise.

As an unabashed fan of “Firefly” for the last decade, it was a delight to see the gang back together in “Browncoats Unite.” Science Channel does a solid job of explaining the show to newcomers, as well as giving the hardcore Whedonites a great time capsule of a show gone far too soon.

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