Shout Out / Firefly

• The planet Miranda in Serenity is a Shout-Out to William Shakespeare's Tempest and by extension, Huxley's Brave New World. Of course, this is also a reference to real-world naming conventions, as all the moons of Uranus are named after Shakespearean characters, and one moon is in fact named Miranda.
• In the pilot, when the crybaby is released, Wash gives a shout out to The Beatles song of that name.
• In "Out of Gas", we learn that Serenity's first mechanic was a guy named "Bester." Later we hear Mal call him "Alfred." Alfred Bester was an important author in the post-war, founding era of modern sci-fi (as well as a character in Babylon 5).
• In a deleted scene from the pilot episode, Simon's encyclopedia can be heard mentioning a General Richard Wilkins who led the Alliance forces at the Battle of Serenity. Mayor Richard Wilkins was the Big Bad of season 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, also created by Joss Whedon.
• "I was aiming for his head." - Avon says exactly the same line with regards to Travis in Blake's 7.
  • This Shout-Out gets a Shout-Out in the Castle episode "Boom!" Not unusual for that series, though, considering the male lead.
  • The Criminal Minds episode "L.D.S.K." also has a Shout-Out to this line from the character Dr. Spencer Reid, who is portrayed as a serious fan of the sci-fi genre.
• A113 can be seen on top of the train in "Train Job".
• A subtle one to A Little Night Music. YoSaffBridge ran off with a security programmer named Heinrich who worked for her husband. At the end of A Little Night Music the main character's wife runs off with his son named Heinrick.
• The Weyland-Yutani logo is visible on the heads-up display of the anti-aircraft gun used by Mal in the pilot.
• Jayne's line "I was gonna get me an ear too" is very likely a Shout Out to Reservoir Dogs.
• One of the fictional historical figures is called Shan-Yu.
• Jubal Early's line "Well, here I am" could be a reference to the song "Space Oddity" by David Bowie: "For here am I, floating round my tin can…"
• You might be aware that Joss Whedon is an avid reader of Henrik Ibsen. Mal being left naked in the middle of a desert is a Shout-Out to Peer Gynt, who ended up robbed and naked in the middle of the Sahara at one point in the play by a Bedouin girl who seemingly fell for his act.
• The cut down rifle Zoe usually carries is the same prop as the "Mare's Leg" from Wanted: Dead or Alive.
• In the opening of Shindig the Starlight Intruder from Dark Empire can be seen in the background.
• Another episode has an imperial shuttle from Star Wars and there are several appearances of a small figure of Han Solo in carbonite.