As I recall the story, Firefly was Whedon's price for doing another season of the extremely lucrative Buffy. The execs never wanted it. After Firefly (and Buffy) were shot, Josh declined to do yet another season of Buffy. The execs kept their word and aired Firefly, doing pretty much everything they could to ensure it failed - airing episodes out of order on inconsistent days/times, against the world series. It was a "subtle" reminder of who held the power.
I can't think of another ensemble show where pretty much the entire cast does such a fantastic job (Tudyk was weak IMO). Anyone proposing Friends or Seinfeld can see themselves out. Cheers wasn't as evenly balanced across the cast.
I'd love to see the (untold) preachers story done as a book or movie.
Now back to speculating about 0440's identity. If they are 20% gray, that would seem to rule out Tyler.