10 Things You Didn't Know About Firefly
1. Beating The Censors
Being a show about a rebellious group of ex-soldiers being oppressed by a corrupt government regime, you'd expect a little bit of rebellious language to slip out on occasion. Censors however were not so fond of the idea so a rather ingenious solution was found to keep both the writers and censors sweet.
Using the setting of a 'verse filled with both american and chinese culture, swear words were incorporated into the show by allowing the crew of the Serenity to swear in the Chinese language.
According to Nathan Fillion, when scripts were delivered, they were also packaged with a cassette tape of all the swear words that would be needed for that particular episode.
To ensure they were pronounced correctly, all words were spoken in a calm monotone voice to allow the pronunciation to be as clear as possible. This often led to confusion when it came to delivering each line as the cast were unsure of how to deliver it with the correct inflection or required amount of malice.
Well worth the effort though and ensuring a wider fan base could enjoy the show.