 One of the struggles that Whedon had with Fox was the tone of the show , especially with the main character Malcolm Reynolds . Fox pressured Whedon to make Mal more " jolly " , as they feared he was too dark in the original pilot , epitomized by the moment he suggests he might " space " Simon and River , throwing them out of the airlock to die . In addition , Fox was not happy that the show involved the " nobodies " who " get squished by policy " instead of the actual policy makers . 
