Entertainment · TV & Streaming · 3 hrs ago
Lanterns Outrates Firefly With Critics, but Firefly Leads With Viewers
Nathan Fillion's sci-fi shows Lanterns and Firefly have sharply different Rotten Tomatoes scores.
Lanterns, an HBO and DC series that aired earlier in 2026, has a 91% critics' score and a 67% audience score.
Firefly, the 2002 space western, has a 77% critics' score but a 96% audience score.
Critics rate Lanterns more highly, while viewers favor Firefly.
The difference reflects two kinds of success: strong professional reviews and a more devoted audience response.
Firefly was canceled in 2003 after one season, but it later became a cult hit.
The scores show how critics and audiences can disagree about science fiction TV.
Lanterns has a 91% Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score, higher than Firefly’s 77%.
Firefly leads among viewers, with a 96% audience score compared with Lanterns’ 67%.
The scores show a sharp difference between critics’ and viewers’ responses to the two science-fiction series.
Screen Rant says Lanterns’ grounded approach to a property known for cosmic imagination is one reason it has divided viewers.
Firefly has developed a cult following since its cancellation in 2003.
- Who
- The television series Lanterns and Firefly.
- What
- Their Rotten Tomatoes scores show critics favor Lanterns, while viewers favor Firefly.
- When
- Lanterns aired earlier in 2026; Firefly aired in 2002 and was cancelled in 2003.
- Where
- Not stated.
- Why
- The article says Lanterns’ grounded approach to a property known for cosmic imagination is one reason viewers are divided.
Critics
Viewers
Preferred series
Critics
Critics favor Lanterns, which has a 91% score.
Viewers
Viewers favor Firefly, which has a 96% audience score.
Assessment of Lanterns
Critics
Lanterns has a 91% critics’ score.
Viewers
Lanterns has a 67% audience score.
Firefly aired.
Firefly was cancelled.
Lanterns aired.
- Lanterns critics’ score
- 91%
- Lanterns audience score
- 67%
- Firefly critics’ score
- 77%
- Firefly audience score
- 96%
- Firefly cancellation
- 2003