Buffy creator Joss Whedon has a new series, Firefly, on the Fox network. It's a space western, set a few years after the Civil War. The jury is still out.

One of the interesting touches: the wealthiest and highest-status person onboard the Serenity, our tramp freighter on which our heroes scratch a living from the outer planets, is a Licensed Companion -- a prostitute. Everyone defers to her. She's a proper lady -- and has the papers to prove it.