Firefly Redux

I meant to post a review of Serenity (3 stars: very well made, but the story will make sense to Firefly fans only), but it got cross-pollinated. In another discussion I was talking about Wild Wild West and got asked why, if I'd already outlined the follow-on novel, I didn't just take that outline, change the clearly identifiable WWWest bits, and write a post-Civil War steampunk novel. I was in the midst of explaining how that book would be a tough sell right now, and that if I really wanted to have a chance of selling such a novel I'd have to reset it in the 25th century, relocate it to the planet Quoxnarg VI, change The Wanderer from a private train to a starshi---

Uh-oh.

Let's see. Hooker with a heart of gold? Check. Salt-of-the-earth preacher with hints of a violent past? Check. Surly ex-Confederate officer whose gruff and cynical exterior hides a hero's heart? Check. Selflessly loyal second banana who "served with the cap'n in the war" and sticks with him now for no readily apparent reason? Check. Somewhat untrustworthy "doctor" whose little black bag contains magic snake oils that can cure anything? Check.

Inarticulate trigger-happy hombre who's awkward and embarassing in social situations but worth his weight in gold in a fight? Check. He's even named Jayne. Jayne? What the heck kind of name is Jayne? Yeah, Jayne. As in, John Wayne.

Oh, my goodness. I was wrong. Firefly isn't an anti-Federation take on the world of Star Trek. It's Stagecoach in Space: The Series. Which means that Serenity is Stagecoach in Space: The Series: The Motion Picture.

There's more. There's lots more. For example, we've also got the 95-lb. girl who, at the utterance of a magic word (Sha-ZAM!), turns into a martial arts killing machine who can toss around villains three times her weight. But rather than go into that now, I'd like to open the floor for discussion.

Anyone here up for a rousing Friday morning game of Spot the Cliche?