From the very moment that Joss Whedon‘s latest show, Dollhouse, debuted on Fox, people wondered how long it would be before the show was canceled. This is the crystal example of expectations when it comes to fan-favorite shows on the network, and it is really quite unfortunate. However, to many shocked eyes, the show beamed through its freshman season, gaining a solid core of fans along the way; and even more surprisingly, was able to acquire its very own second season order.

Sadly, on this day, the news is much more grim. It has been confirmed that Twentieth Century Fox has officially canceled Dollhouse, cutting off its head at around the half-way mark of its sophomore effort. This will surely infuriate the show’s many fans, especially if those fans were also lovers of Dollhouse‘s older brother, Firefly, which wasn’t even able to finish one season before the axe was dropped. Fox still hears an undying plea from the fans to bring back that show, even five years later…so expect fans of Dollhouse to fight the same fight.

Depressing as it may be, Fox and whoever else that has had the opportunity have still not realized the must-happen decision that needs to be made to bring Firefly back from the dead. Proving that even the actors involved in the show are just as faithful to that “you can’t take the sky from me” mentality as us crazy Browncoat fans, Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) himself has been bringing plenty of Serenity flare to his current gig, Castle. It began with random and subtle references to Firefly as well as other Joss Whedon work like Buffy, but in the latest episode of Castle, Fillion took to a whole new level.

You see, this week’s episode was the Halloween episode, and what better costume for Richard Castle — the mystery novelist-turned NYPD aide — than Captain Mal? The episode is hilarious right off the bat with Fillion getting his costume on and jumping into a room like a superhero where a girl who I assume is his daughter says “Didn’t you wear that like five years ago? Don’t you think you should move on?”, to which he replies “I like it.”

You can click on over to the other side right now to watch the episode of Castle entitled “Vampire Weekend” in its entirety.

Just when you thought that Fox couldn’t enrage you any more than they already have, it has now been announced that Chuck producer Scott Rosenbaum is developing a new show for the television studio that will supposedly be an “epic Western with a sci-fi twist” about a gunslinger who is caught between two worlds. Rosenbaum will be producing the show with Warner Brothers TV and Terminator Salvation director McG‘s Wonderland Sound and Vision studio. No title or further details are known as of this moment.

The big catch in all of this, is that it sounds an awful lot like the basic premise for another former Fox title that just so happens to have a massive cult following of fans dying for its revival: Joss Whedon’s Firefly. Granted, the whole “stuck between worlds” bit sounds like it won’t be identical to Firefly, but it is still enough to scratch your head, and for some, maybe even become more angry.

The Sci Fi (SyFy? If we all refuse to acknowledge that, will they change it back?) channel has already far and away proven that they can take an old TV series, completely restructure it, and create one of the best shows of all time. Now that Battlestar Galactica has come and gone, Sci Fi is developing a new potential series based on Alien Nation with fanboy favorite Tim Minear writing.

Alien Nation first started as a movie starring James Caan and Mandy P in 1988 that turned into a 1989 TV series on Fox. The show was canceled after one season, but has seen five new TV movies made since then, as well. The show is basically a social observation using a fictional setting and aliens known as “Newcomers” who were at first made to live away from humans, but now have been allowed to reside among us; of course this doesn’t stop racism from continuing. The original movie for which this new project is being based followed an L.A. cop (Caan) whose partner is killed while investigating the Newcomers. When the first alien police officer comes to his department, he volunteers to join up with him in order to sneakily try and investigate the death of his former partner.

Browncoats rejoice!

The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is Firefly: The Complete Series on Blu-ray for only $39.99 (that’s 56% off the list price of $89.98).

This is a must-have super awesome deal for any fan of the prematurely canceled television sci-fi series from Joss Whedon.

This Blu-ray edition contains all 14 episodes of Firefly and comes with all the original bonus features from the DVD release, as well as new Blu-ray exclusives, like a new commentary track by Whedon and stars Nathan Fillion, Ron Glass, and Alan Tudyk for the “Our Mrs. Reynolds” episode and a 25-minute discussion amongst the four men regarding the series with references to specific episodes.