"I really get a sense of empowerment... that all these people from all over the world can come together, to rally around what might seem like a trivial matter: a television show about a vampire with a soul."

That warms my heart and makes me cry. I'm so glad I'm not the only one.

electricspacegirl | February 19, 08:51 CET

Heartwarming and tearful were the effects I was going for. Thanks for the kind words.

-simon

Whedonage | February 19, 09:12 CET

Thank you Simon for putting it together so quickly. It does make me feel somewhat better knowing so many people are feeling the same way I am. It just isn't time for Angel to go, there's more to tell of his story. Felt the same lost feeling when they cancelled Firefly too.

Firefly Flanatic | February 19, 09:15 CET

Wow this is unprecedented as dar as I know. I mean, with buffy everyone was prepared and that show had run it's course a little more. Plus both Sarah and Joss being ready to move on and all.... But this! Man the response has been amazing.

It does make me feel somewhat better knowing so many people are feeling the same way I am

Couldn't agree more, blwessels...

EdDantes | February 19, 10:15 CET

Oh, Simon, I didn't realize that was you. I didn't put 2 and 2 together. Thank you so much Simon. I also have been amazed at the fan response about the news. I sure hope it helps keep Angel on the air somehow.

electricspacegirl | February 19, 12:07 CET

Hmmm potential good news on the UPN front as far as can they afford Angel....
Broadcasting & Cable, 2/11/2004 11:01:00 AM
Releasing fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday morning, the company reported higher revenue for CBS and UPN in the quarter, as well as gains for syndication powerhouses The Oprah Winfrey Show and Dr. Phil.

There was more but the rest reffered to Viacom as a whole not to UPN.

RavenU | February 19, 13:05 CET

simon I think to avoid any confusion here, just use your username SaveAngel at Whedonesque and don't sign off your posts with your real name. And good luck with your campaign.

Simon | February 19, 13:06 CET

Simon this is wonderful. I think it's amazing how everyone, everywhere is pulling together for something that has touched their lives. It's much more than just a show about a vampire....I couldn't agree more. I've never written a letter to save a show but I've been writing letters to everyone to save Angel. Hopefully something good will come out of this.

lala | February 19, 19:04 CET

Here's to hoping the campaign to save Angel becomes a footnote in television history. Not in a "despite unprecedented efforts by fans around the globe, the WB executives stubbornly refused to see what a huge mistake they hade made" or "eventually they realized, but by theyn it was too late" kind of way. More like "HBO came to the rescue, giving Joss Whedon complete creative control and the cast the recognition they deserved."
After watchin "Smile Time" I began to wonder if network executives are evil puppets, but then I realized there would be no room for a demonic hand up their "puppet hole" because their heads are already there.

bloodflowers | February 19, 20:46 CET

And another great quotable from bloodflowers that merits repeating:

After watchin "Smile Time" I began to wonder if network executives are evil puppets, but then I realized there would be no room for a demonic hand up their "puppet hole" because their heads are already there.

You come up with the bestest one-liners!

marmoset | February 19, 21:02 CET

Wow, thanks stakeholder! You don't know how nervous I was typing out my delurking post yesterday. Mega butterflies in the stomach.
I also think it would be great if fighting the good fight to save Angel was the catalyst that led to network executives snapping out of their collective dependence on "reality" tv. Last time I checked, I was living my own life in actual reality. That's quite enough, thank you very much. I have no interest in people in contrived situations who seem to have no problem humiliating themselves for money or just want to be famous for the sake of being famous when they have no talent or nothing to say. Angel's not about escaping from reality, it's about feeling it more.

bloodflowers | February 19, 22:01 CET

bloodflowers -- I share stakeholder's enthusiasm for your one-liners. Way to delurk. Shoo any residual butterflies away, pronto. And please keep 'em coming. The posts, not the butterflies.

I couldn't agree with you more about the greater realness of Angel than of those so-called "reality" shows. That label is a crock. The people who produce "reality" shows are cynically aware that the label is a crock. They in fact are a crock.

[ edited by phlebotinin on 2004-02-19 20:11 ]

phlebotinin | February 19, 22:08 CET

Even when shows are scripted and the characters have "real" professions with "real" situations (but are invariably a doctor, lawyer or cop) I'm just bored. Save or kill the patient. Win or lose the case. Beat up the suspect and they take away hot-head cop's badge. Nap time. I like that even though Team Angel work for an evil law firm, they aren't even lawyers (although though Gunn has the knowledge) and anything can happen. It seemed kind of cool and subversive when David Boreanaz and James Marsters were on the cover of TV Guide. The only two soulled vampires on television. Crazy.

bloodflowers | February 19, 23:56 CET

Regarding "reality" tv, did you see this funny quote on fireflyfans.net (I can't remember who said it, Ghoulman maybe):

And by the way, calling it 'Reality TV' is like calling my ass a Fruit Roll-Up.

heh heh

marmoset | February 20, 01:39 CET

I also get bored with most scripted "real life" dramas on tv, bloodflowers. I think that's because they're crap, not because they don't have cool fantasy stuff like in Buffy/Angel. I'm not bored watching something like Othello, and that isn't fantasy. What I think Buffy/Angel (and, say, Othello) have that most tv (and film and novels and plays) doesn't is complex layers of narrative that touch on deep, mythic themes of heroism, sacrifice, faith, friendship, family, love, hate, death, treachery, good, evil, etc. The "realest" stuff there is! And it's masquerading as ghettoized genre tv.

Some doctor saving a patient in a scripted tv drama isn't compelling in and of itself. We've all seen it a trillion times. We know what to expect. It's all too often portrayed with such triteness that we lose interest in the real life or death issues that underlie the drama. So, snore.

phlebotinin | February 20, 02:38 CET

Simon: Yes, I only realized that our given names might be confusing after I posted; but then, having grown up in the States, I rarely came across another Simon.

I'll post up an update as to how the SaveAngel.org campaign is doing later. For now, I have to get some sleep. Unfortunately it turns out I actually can't manage to keep vampire hours for two days straight.

Whedonage | February 20, 03:37 CET

Wait, there's 2 Simons? Ok NOW it makes sense! I was wondering why Simon had 2 accounts. I thought he was talking to himself. I must be sleep deprived.

[ edited by electricspacegirl on 2004-02-20 01:57 ]

electricspacegirl | February 20, 03:56 CET

phlebotinin--When I said anything can happen on Angel, I wasn't referring to the mystical as much as the laughing one minute, crying the next, and having the bejeezus scared out of you after that capability. On top of timeless and complex themes. My brain hurts. The multi-layeredness (if that's even a word) of Buffy and Angel has ruined me for other shows. It's also why I can watch episodes more than once. Although I can watch something like Joan of Arcadia or The Sopranos and understand that the writing is pretty good, they are not in my gut, I'm not drowning in them as Spike would say. In my neck of the woods, I have been watching the four-part In Search of Shakespeare (on PBS) before Angel. It's a perfect companion to it, actually. Yep, I just equated Angel with Shakespeare too. I think Mr Whedon would be proud.

bloodflowers | February 20, 05:21 CET

JW is the Shakespeare of our time.

cal | February 20, 05:26 CET

Yep, a comparison to Shakespeare isn't wrong. Shakespeare did not set out to be solely high-falutin', he sought to actively entertain while tapping into humanity's deepest shared passions and fears and emotions. JW does the same and with the added subversive twist of conveying said complex and powerful themes through tv vampire shows.

Got what you originally meant, bloodflowers, and was agreeing and throwing in my two cents. The multilayeredness and the genre switching/melding and the deep in the gut stuff. The sheer mythic core of it. Joseph Campbell would have had a field day analyzing Buffy/Angel if he'd lived long enough to see them.

You're right: Sopranos is full of great writing and acting and complex plot structure, and it exists on more than one level. I love it. But I don't drown in it, as you say. It doesn't invade my dreams. One of my favorite things that Joss Whedon said was in a NY Times interview ("Must-See Metaphysics," 2002): "I don't want to create responsible shows with lawyers in them. I want to invade people's dreams." Exactly.

phlebotinin | February 20, 08:33 CET