This interview with Joss on Star Trek and Star Wars and their effect on Firefly and Serenity is all sorts of cute:
Whedon: There’s always the young punk rebelling against his father.I’m rebelling against Han Solo, but if you are going to tell me that Han Solo isn´t the father of Malcolm Reynolds, then I am going to laugh and laugh and laugh.
He then goes on to say:
At the same time, I owe both of those franchises a huge debt. They are both in my personal, how can they not be? It’s that classic thing : I’m rebelling against my father and doing everything he doesn’t do, but I think I look like him.
Read the full quote on TrekWeb via Whedonesque. The entire article is in the latest issue of Cinefantastique.