After reading the exchange between the interviewer and David Boreanaz, I'm really hoping he's one of those guys with hidden depths.

We're talking well hidden, practically invisible depths.

Saturn Girl | July 17, 17:31 CET

Well, another article mentioned that Boreanaz was buying shots for Joss and the entire cast; he doesn't sound particularly sober there either. :-)

wren | July 17, 17:57 CET

Joss & David were celebrating. They'd been held over the fire for several weeks, and at the last moment the series was spared the axe. They got a reprieve. Getting celebratory drunk and leering at women is to be expected.

"That'll give us the opportunity to basically take the mythology of both worlds and collapse it into Angel."

This I don't like. The operable word here is "collapse." I don't want the BuffyVerse to collapse into the AngelVerse. The WhedonVerse should expand, not collapse. I want Ripper the Series. I want Zeppo the Series. I want Cleave Land the series. In short, I want Hellmouths a plenty. I want a cable network that's nothing but Whedonesque programming twenty-four seven.

I'd settle for one tv series apart from Angel that focuses on the continuation of the Slayer storyline. Buffy would quickly get written out of it. The other principals from BTVS would take cameo to 'recurring' roles. Bring in some new blood and then keep that blood flowing. It'd be like Buffy the Next Generation. ...Only uh, better! Yeah that's it. I'd tune in, anyway. The important thing is the story, not the celebrities that the story creates. They're just byproducts. In fact I'd be happy if they just got another woman to play the role of Buffy. That wouldn't be difficult to write into the story. Buffy's soul has jumped bodies before.

Preferably someone who doesn't think films about an animated dog are a step up from well-written tv shows.

[ edited by ZachsMind on 2003-07-17 16:30 ]

ZachsMind | July 17, 18:20 CET

In fact, ditch the whole 'Slayer must be girl' thing. I don't need a rolemodel, thanks. I'd love a series about the COW.

Caroline | July 17, 18:24 CET

I agree with you, Zach. Buffy was about Buffy Summers, not Sarah Michelle Gellar. Its the same as with James Bond, Superman, Batman, etc: all these heroic characters who trascended the actors that portrayed them (albeit some actors did more convincing portrayals.)
The Slayer franchiase could be a very lucrative thing; A story could be made with any Slayer in any time period with any number of interesting plot lines--and just think, Kristy Swanson (though lead actress in a subpar film) could be proud to know that she was the first Slayer and the first Buffy.

protector | July 17, 18:44 CET

Well I think "Ripper the Series" could partially be about the new Council of Watchers, since Ripper, Wood and Wesley are pretty much all that's left. Actually, a tv series featuring those three guys and a handful of the S.I.T's would be kickin'. Throw Willow into the mix and you've got Watcher's Council the Series, alright.

Have it take place in England to benefit ASH. The show should revolve around Giles as the central figure, and filming in England allows ASH to be with his family. They could build a more complex rapport/animosity variable between Wes & Wil since Alexis & Alyson have some cool chemistry between them. If the writing is top-notch, those two would probably not mind an extended honeymoon in England, where they get to work together a lot. And Denisof has proven that he can work like "Paul Drake" to ASH's "Perry Mason." I mean if ASH is starting to get a bit up in years and doesn't wanna do the more physically intensive stuff, Denisof can function more in that capacity. He's more than cut his teeth in that area on Angel. Besides, you'd also have DB Woodside taking up the slack.

Bring Ophelia back and build a love triangle between Giles, Wood & Ophelia. I miss Ophelia. [oops. meant Olivia.]The potential there was great. This would be a large opportunity for character dynamics.

Explain that there's something bigger than a Hellmouth in England, which is the real reason why the COW never migrated to Sunnydale. Expand the rogues' gallery to include not only demons and vampires but also ghosts, mad scientists, genetic anomalies, and demigods that make Glory look like a casual blind date.

Joss? If you write it, they will come.

[ edited by ZachsMind on 2003-07-17 17:21 ]

ZachsMind | July 17, 18:51 CET

More Giles on a horse is needed.

But isn't Ripper going to be a two hour TV movie?

Simon | July 17, 19:02 CET

It's Olivia not Ophelia but the actress' first name is Phena. Go figure.

Hembie | July 17, 19:06 CET

Just a question cause really I'm going mad, when do the real spoilers come out???? I'm dying here.

Hembie | July 17, 19:07 CET

Hembie, spoilers will be posted later on today or tomorrow morning as the latest casting sides for episode one are out.

Simon | July 17, 19:12 CET

Omigod, Simon - find us a summary! With the ASSB down I'm completely out of the spoiler loop today, but the desperately curious can find hints about the sides at the Buffistas board.

Spanky???

wren | July 17, 19:18 CET

Tis done.

Simon | July 17, 19:28 CET

Ooh yeah. Definitely Giles on a horse. That should be the first thing we see in the credits every episode. Giles on a horse. And then Wesley outstretching his arm and a knife shoots out of his sleeve. That's definitely something we'd need to see in the opening credits. I think Ripper the tv movie is a gone idea now. Had they gone into production back in late season six to early season seven when the idea first surfaced it would have been perfect but they just couldn't juggle the time. If it happens, I won't be unhappy, but it'd be best if Ripper the special evolved into Watcher the midseason replacement. And they started working on it like, yesterday. =)

ZachsMind | July 17, 19:43 CET

Thanks Simon you're a life saver I was getting ansy. Now to wait with bated breath....

Hembie | July 17, 19:45 CET

Instead of Olivia, I think I'd like to see Anya as sidekick cum love interest. But she's a ghost, ya see, a funny, wry ghost and he can never get her. Oh, the pain. He goes a bit 'odd' and reckless and a bit 'Peter Salter' (ASH's character in Spooks).
I'd love it.

Caroline | July 17, 23:16 CET

I want a cable network that's nothing but Whedonesque programming twenty-four seven.

That's a beautiful dream, Zach. I'd love to see that.

I'd be really interested in a CoW series. We've gotten glimpses of the world outside of the Hellmouth and LA, but haven't really gotten anything in detail. I'd like to see what's going on in the other 99% of the world, ideally with a series focused around rebuilding the Council, but other options are available, too. Like focus on a military style unit, similar to the one Riley ended up in.

kishi | July 18, 01:24 CET

kishi, the Riley idea might be the best I've heard (okay, I do still wait for Ripper to be made, no matter what format) because it is so far from Buffy, there wouldn't be much for comparison. It would give Joss and company a great oppurtunity to spoof and improve on the Aliens/Predator genre. It would give them the ensemble cast feel that Joss loved working on Firefly, really make anyone expendable, and make the execs happy with a monster of the week-ness. Plus, it would give them great oppurtunities for guest shots, crossovers with Angel, whatever.

jack knight | July 18, 01:33 CET

Everyone is right, any variation on casting and plotting as long as it fits into the "Joss"verse would probably work since it's so well constructed.

Did anybody else feel weird about the line saying Joss was making the series more "accessable", could this be code for dumbing down Angel?

vpecoraro | July 18, 03:54 CET

I wouldn't worry about Angel being dumbed down. They just want to keep the episodes more self-contained so new audience members don't have to know every piece of the show's mythology to follow along.

Unitas | July 18, 05:40 CET

Without any comment from Whedon or other ME types, I was happy to hear that Angel was reverting to stand-alones. The big arc on that series has never worked well. I think that Whedon would never have agreed to make the series more "accessible" unless he could do it the way he wanted to.

sioux | July 18, 06:28 CET

I hope Saturn Girl is right about David Boreanaz having "well hidden, practically invisible depths" to his personality. He sounds like a testosterone-driven moron in this article.

LB | July 18, 08:23 CET

Actually I recently went through Angel Season One on dvd, and I think the episodes in that first season which were self-contained worked a lot better than the ones that were too dependent on previous events. I mean much of season one consisted of self-contained stories. Yet there were also events in each episode that echoed on to the rest of the season. When Doyle died and passed his gift on to Cordy, that was handled incredibly well, in a way that shouldn't have confused newcomers to any given episode.

I guess Whedon's just kinda going back to the beginning with Angel. You create a foundation from which to establish each episode, and use that as a launching pad for their adventures. In Angel Five, the launching pad appears to be Wolfram & Hart.

Some things change, but the more things change, the more they stay the same.

ZachsMind | July 18, 08:38 CET

I think that the key idea is balance. There needs to be more of a balance between character arc, episode arc, and overall season/story arc. Too much character arc, you tune in at the middle of the season and go, WHO IS THAT PERSON IMPERSONATING MY FAVE CHARACTER? Too much straight episode arc, those who have invested in the characters feel shortchanged because they're not being rewarded for staying with the show and remembering. And too much season arc, and newer people are stuck with, I MISSED TWO EPISODES, NOW I'M SCREWED AND DON'T UNDERSTAND.

brother_grady | July 18, 16:28 CET

Now I understand, self contained episodes work for me. That was always my pet peeve with X-Files, I loved the monster of the week episodes but the mythology building episodes always left me lost because I would invariably miss most of them.

vpecoraro | July 18, 16:53 CET

ZachsMind, something "bigger than a Hellmouth" in England? Yes, it's all those people attacking Albion, England's mystical center.

aaronsw | July 19, 02:40 CET