Nathan Fillion might be best known for his performance in Firefly, The Rookie, and James Gunn’s DCU, but perhaps his most historically significant role has been all but forgotten by time. Almost two decades ago, he co-starred with Emma Stone in a short-lived TV series that made history in its own way, opening the door to a new world of fandom.

A full-throttle action thriller that shares its name with numerous other releases with more substantial legacies, Drive sees Fillion front an ensemble cast of disparate characters who find themselves in a cross-country car race for a huge cash prize. Along the way, we delve into their various backstories, and find out the truth behind the journey they’re all undertaking.

Marketed by Fox as Prison Break on wheels and originally pitched as a mystery-box thriller following the Lost blueprint, the show ended up playing more like a TV version of Fast & Furious. It’s far from Nathan Fillion’s best show, but it’s still played a vital part in changing how modern television is viewed and consumed by those watching at home.

At the same time, Drive also has a certain nostalgia value in its own right. It remains an entertaining watch, especially for those updates around Peacock’s Fast & Furious TV spinoffs. There’s just as much pedal to the metal as we see in Vin Diesel’s legendary movie franchise, and the Fox series even has its own X account for viewers to interact with.

Back in 2007, social media was still a long way from becoming an integral part of television’s ecosystem. Today, posts on Instagram and X often drive the news around major releases, from teaser clips to behind-the-scenes footage, soundbites, and casting announcements. Official accounts for TV shows serve as an essential direct line of communication between producers and fans.

But 19 years ago, Instagram didn’t even exist, Facebook had yet to become a generalized social phenomenon, and Twitter had only just reached its first one million subscribers. But somebody at Fox clearly saw the way the wind was blowing ahead of time. That’s why they made Drive the first TV show tweeting updates directly to viewers via its own Twitter page.

In fact, it was the first official TV show social media page in history. If you go on Drive’s X account today, you’ll notice that the idea didn’t quite catch on back in the spring of 2007. Much like the TV show itself, this account failed to strike the right tone with viewers.

More importantly, though, it was way ahead of its time. It would be another five years before television studios were successfully able to harness the power of social media, migrating water cooler conversations and forum discussions among fans over to their own online channels and pages.

Nevertheless, Drive deserves credit for looking towards the future before it truly arrived. The somewhat amateurish appearance of the show’s Twitter page is testament to just how early it recognized what social media had in store for the television of today.

Compared to the action-packed car movies of recent decades – including the 2011 release also entitled Drive starring Ryan Gosling – it must be said that Nathan Fillion’s 2007 TV series leaves a lot to be desired. It’s certainly intense, and features some exquisite visuals, but the whole thing never really comes together as a character-driven mystery thriller.

After it consistently attracted fewer than six million viewers, Drive was canceled just a handful of episodes into its run. Its star cast went onto bigger and better things, and the show has become little more than an unlikely piece of trivia. Its social media strategist was onto something, though, even if they picked the wrong series to experiment with.

Release Date

2007 – 2007-00-00

Network

FOX

Directors

Elodie Keene, Marita Grabiak, Michael Katleman

Writers

Ben Queen, Craig Silverstein, Salvatore Stabile, Tom Szentgyorgyi, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, Eoghan Mahony, Kristen Reidel

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  Charles Martin Smith

  Mr. Bright (voice)

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