Releasing the DVD is a both an inexpensive move and a smart one.  Friday night has been a death slot for many shows on Fox.  About halfway through the season I flipped it on, and yeah, it was pretty compelling.
of course, the formula is the anti-startrek: The captain is a great war loser; the ship a creaky old boat used primarily to smuggle contraband; the crew includes prostitutes, fugitives, thugs, psychotics and insecure males. I don't think PC had much to do with it (please, we're talking about Fox here), so much as bad ratings coupled with what probably was a pretty significant budget.
  
Come to think of it, while futuristic Dystopia is a formula that sells pretty well on the big screen, I can't think of many TV series that play that angle.  It's usually some optimistic crap.