They never really cared about it...it wasn't what they thought it would be (an "action sci fi"), they never showed the pilot until after (ironically the last episode they showed), they advertised it weird..."the girl in the box" thing which again, made no sense to anyone since they never showed the pilot.
Fox...they either hit or miss with their decisions and they aren't consistent. They have had so many great shows that they cancelled. Firefly fans are lucky enough to have Joss lobby so hard that even cancellation couldn't stop it. He loved this show so much, he had to finish telling it.