Power Rankings: Firefly, Part 1

(Power Rankings sum up:  Each week, we’ll pick a television show and rank the actors/actresses/contestants/correspondents/etc. based on what they’ve done after the series ended (unless we’re ranking a current series, in which case we’ll have to bend the rules).  Preference will be given to more recent work, but if the work was a long time ago, but much more important/relevant, that will be factored in as well.)

Firefly’s a pretty great show which ended far too soon and I’ll certainly look for an opportunity to talk about it in the future.  For now though, let’s take a look at how the cast are doing these days with a Power Rankings.   To avoid redundancy, we’ve avoided mentioning Firefly feature film Serenity in everyone’s entry; they’re all in it.  Other minor trends to watch include providing voices in the Justice League cartoon and in Halo 3.

9.  Sean Maher (as Simon Tam) – Maher was in episodes of CSI: Miami, Ghost Whisperer, The Mentalist, Human Target, Warehouse 13, and the pilot of Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva.  He was in TV movies Halley’s Comet, The Dive from Clausen’s Pier, and Wedding Wars.  He was in five episodes of ABC Family teen gymnast series Make It Or Break It and was a cast regular on the short-lived NBC show The Playboy Club.

8.  Ron Glass (as Shepherd Book) – By far the oldest member of the cast, Glass did a lot more work before Firefly than just about any cast member, but not as much after it.  Still, he was still acting, which is a lot more than you can say about a lot of former cast members from other shows in their 60s.  He was in episodes of The Division and CSI: NY, two episodes of Dirty Sexy Money, and three of Shark.  He lent his voice to a recurring role in Nick’s Rugrats sequel All Grown Up!  He was also in films Lakeview Terrace and Death at a Funeral.  He gets the edge over Glass for seniority.

7. Jewel Staite (as Kaylee Frye)  – Staite appeared in episodes of Dead Like Me, Huff, and Canadian show Cold Squad.  She was in four episodes of Wonderfalls.  She was a recurring character in seasons 3 and 4 of Stargate: Atlantis, and joined the main cast for the fifth and final season.  She appeared in episodes of Warehouse 13 and Supernatural and in TV movies Mothman, Call Me Mrs. Miracle, and Doomsday Prophecy.  She’s currently appearing in the first season of Canadian drama The L.A. Complex.

6. Summer Glau (as River Tam) – Here’s the first big deliniation in tiers.  While there are no total losers, or really anything close, on Firefly, the final six actors have all had main cast roles in TV shows, and most of them have had multiple.  After the demise of Firefly, Glau was in episodes of Cold Case, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and TV movies Mammoth and The Initiation of Sarah.  She was in seven episodes of The Unit and nine of The 4400 as a paranoid schizophrenic.  She started her biggest post-Firefly role in 2008 in Fox’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.  For two seasons, she played Cameron, a future terminator sent back by John Connor from the future to protect himself.  She portrayed herself in an episode of The Big Bang Theory and appeared in four episodes of Joss Whedon show Dollhouse.  She was in episodes of Chuck and Alphas and starred in one season NBC show The Cape.

5.  Adam Baldwin (as Jayne Cobb) –Ranking the last five (even the last six, really) was extremely difficult.  I was splitting at hairs to pick the next two spots.  Baldwin was in episodes of JAG and NCIS, two of Stargate SG-1, and five in the last season of Angel as Marcus Hamilton, a non-human who is a child of one of the senior partners of the best evil law firm ever Wolfram and Hart.  He voiced characters in three episodes of Justice League, and co-starred in one season Fox show The Inside.  He was in a TV movie of The Poseidon Adventure and in episodes of Bones, Invader ZIM, CSI: NY and Love Bites.  He was a regular in one season Taye Diggs show Daybreak.  He is a frequent video game voice actor, appearing in Halo 3, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Mass Effect 2, DC Universe Online, Mass Effect 3, and Transformers Universe.  For the last five seasons, he’s been a main cast member on NBC’s Chuck as Major John Casey.