I appreciate Fury sharing his honest thoughts, but I wish he didn't list all the reasons why UPN wouldn't be acting in a way that is "financially responsible" in picking up Angel. Let UPN decide that, David! Please.

phlebotinin | February 23, 20:06 CET

Isn't pessimism unamerican? ;-)

Caroline | February 23, 20:10 CET

Lets still keep sending letters, faxes and cards to UPN,TNT and what about HBO?. Hell I'd be willing to pay to see this show,I love it that much. Why couldn't Angel be picked up for more than a year. I thought Joss said he had lots more stories to tell. Would a 2 year deal be more appealing to a network...like Buffy was proposed? At least if they leave the ending open...there could be some hope of a movie or spinoff....Spike Spin off has a nice ring to it......anyway if not I hope we get to see all these fine actors again on our TV screens and maybe even the big screen VERY SOON. I for one do not want to say goodbye to them .

kathylovesspike | February 23, 20:19 CET

Have Hope.

Bryan | February 23, 20:19 CET

Is this the first 100% confirmation that UPN talks are going on.
The optimist in me likes the fact that it's "talks with UPN" plural, which seems that they do have an interest.
Also, though I've always felt that season 6 would be the end of "Angel", doesn't mean that I didn't think they could take the stories further after that. It's just that with season 7 "Angel" would become longer than "BtVS" and not many spinoffs manage that, I do not agree with David Fury's comment that "Angel" only has another year of life in it, it could keep going for ages, I think the fan gang would have to relocate again, but I also think it could keep going.

[ edited by Ghost Spike on 2004-02-23 18:27 ]

Ghost Spike | February 23, 20:22 CET

Maybe the one silver lining in this cloudy statement by Fury is that it looks like the Firefly movie will be a goer.

Seeing the silver lining...must be the American in me! :)

phlebotinin | February 23, 20:32 CET

I think he kind of contradicts Joss Whedon here though. Joss has been quoted many times as saying there's a lot left to tell in Angel's story and David Fury makes it sound like there'd only be one season left anyway. Also, UPN took on Buffy in it's 6th season so I don't get why they wouldn't want Angel which is at the same point of time. And whether people like him or not, Spike coming on to Angel has opened the doors to more storylines. I think Angel has at least a couple more years of story telling left.

I do agree that he's being extremely pessimistic and I don't get why he'd be making these comments while negotiations are going on. This is the type of situation where I wonder if the interviewer is adding stuff to make it sound better. No one in their right mind would be making those kind of comments while negotiating a deal.

But the best thing I took from this interview is Joss is too busy with the Firefly movie to even consider working on an Angel movie. That definitely sounds very promising for us Firefly fans. And that could explain why we haven't seen Joss being more visable in talking about Angel and trying to sell it to other shows (which was probably a key factor in the WB handing them the news at this time).

But I'm going to try and remain hopeful until there is no hope left. So I do agree that everyone should keep doing all the letters and e-mails until there is a definite answer one way or the other. Afterall, we all thought there was no hope for Firefly when none of the other networks wanted it and now there's a movie in production and who knows where that might lead to.

Firefly Flanatic | February 23, 20:34 CET

For the record, I've always been an admirer of David Fury's no bullsh*t policy. He calls 'em like he sees 'em, even when his views aren't popular. It's refreshing, really, compared to the smarmy lies of people like Jorden Levin.

I read another report from the Revue this weekend (private mailing list, sorry) from a fan who talked with Fury about the campaign to save Angel. When she spoke with him about what they are doing, he was initially very hesitent; I think he's concerned about fans putting so much hope and energy (and money!) into a campaign that he feels is doomed to failure. However, he was pleased to hear that so many different factions (B/A'ers, Spike fans, all the colors of the Whedonverse rainbow) are coming together in support of the show; supporting the show gets the big thumbs up, as does making nice with other groups of fans.

wren | February 23, 20:36 CET

"For the record, I've always been an admirer of David Fury's no bullsh*t policy. He calls 'em like he sees 'em, even when his views aren't popular. It's refreshing, really, compared to the smarmy lies of people like Jorden Levin."

Yes, that's refreshing and admirable but while there are still negotiations going on, I think he could hold off a bit until it's a done deal.

As for Levin - slime all the way. That man doesn't have an honest bone in his body and his treatment of Joss Whedon and ME was horrendous.

Firefly Flanatic | February 23, 20:48 CET

When I first read it I thought that if the talks are going on then the campaign probably should as well. But Wren's post makes a lot of sense. It seems that if they are aware of the monetary donations going into it they would definitely speak out. Sending postcards and faxes and petitions is one thing but money is another. I just think that they feel there must be an inkling or they wouldn't let that go on. I'm so confused!

And what the hell did Jordan Levin think? That they'd all be waiting around for call-backs to do a movie of the week? Putting their careers on hold for him? Too bad we can't have a recall election for him.

And then to read below that Keanu Reeves is playing John Constantine?! Cripes, not a good day for my brain...

marmoset | February 23, 21:20 CET

Well, I still notice that Fury first said that there's no chance, and then confirms there are talks with UPN. I guess he didn't tell Joss and the UPN execs that there's no chance. Oh wait, he has NOW.

Look I like David Fury but I agree with blwessels that while negotiations are still going on, you just don't start talking to the press about how useless it all is. You don't need to tell UPN why they shouldn't accept ME and Fox's proposal.

And I think my wife is right and that the 'movie' thing Levin was on about was just some bs to give us fans a crumb of false hope and keep us from getting too angry. Or maybe as a 'cookie' to Joss.

EdDantes | February 23, 21:33 CET

Could a development deal for another spinoff be part of the negotiations with UPN? (I am the eternal optimist.)

Scott | February 23, 21:36 CET

who spit it fury's bean curd? i'm guessing it's that c*nt Levin who canned the show. while honesty is great he could at least lie to us i mean what does it take to tell a few million angel fans a pretty lie?

willowzbitch | February 23, 21:54 CET

"Could a development deal for another spinoff be part of the negotiations with UPN? (I am the eternal optimist.)"

That is a good idea. Perhaps they could have Spike stay on ANGEL for the 6th season (to create story lines for the spin off) but then during the 2005-2006 season start a Spike spin-off on UPN, it could air right after ANGEL.

I'm an optimist as well. I think they'll be a 6th season one way or another. At least I hope so. ANGEL is such an underdog in all of this, plus besides internet articles I haven't seen much mention of it on TV. With, Sex and the City, Friends, and Fraiser all ending this year ANGEL is an after thought for the media. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that a show that I've invested five years of my live to is gone, and without a proper send off. It sure as hell deserves one!

I really would like to from David, James or Joss again.

kerribear | February 23, 22:13 CET

Now what? All things have to come to an end. I can live with that. But apart from a Firefly movie the only spin off I want to see from Joss and co. is "Ripper".

Have you all forgotten about it?

And you could have appearances from Willow or Spike there too. Then again I was never much with the hero thing. Support cast rocks.

[ edited by PowerToThePeople on 2004-02-23 20:35 ]

PowerToThePeople | February 23, 22:34 CET

I wondered about Ripper too. At one time I thought Spike would be a perfect fit on that spinoff, because I'd love to see him helping out Giles. Remember Giles once said he'd like to make Spike a watcher some day. That would be cool. I for one also thought the Slayer School idea was good, and now with the story they opened up with all the new Potentials and Dana...the psyco slayer...it could be really interesting. As long as any spin off has Spike....who cares what it's about...I'll watch it...repeatedly !!!!!

kathylovesspike | February 23, 22:49 CET

Fury isn't being pessimistic. He's a realist. He's also an Executive Producer, and his words carry that weight. His concern about fans spending their hard-earned money on a save angel campaign are my concerns as well.

At this point, the money is better in your pockets. I mean, write letters to share your diappointment, or your support. Write letters to the crew to thank them.

I spoke with a lot of the crew this weekend, stand-ins, grips, editors, and they're all humbled by the fans' love and devotion.

They even helped clean up after the Revue, changing out hot lightbulbs and boxing up decorations, because they were so grateful to the fans for their support all these years.

Speaks volumes, it does.

Allyson | February 23, 22:52 CET

Thank you Allyson, much appreciated and from all the reports I've read about the Revue, everyone had a wonderful time. Really wish I could have been there.

Simon | February 23, 22:57 CET

I actually think that this article is more positive than we think. It confirms that talks are going ahead with UPN, so thats a good sign. Joss himself has said that UPN is a long shot, but he said that about Buffy too, so you never know.

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that we get the result we want. I'm not ready to give up hope yet.

cal | February 23, 23:07 CET

Remember Giles once said he'd like to make Spike a watcher some day.

Uhm that was a dream sequence and it wasn't even Giles or Spike's dream. Not really something Giles said. There's never really been any niceness between them.

Not that would mind seeing Spike on Ripper, but as I said before Joss already stated it would most likely become aone shot TV movie and not an ongoing show.

EdDantes | February 23, 23:21 CET

I wish you could have, too, Simon. I know folks in the ME office read Whedonesque, and think it's wonderful. Me too.

Allyson | February 23, 23:32 CET

*grins like a mad man* Thank you, you've made my day :).

Simon | February 23, 23:55 CET

*Pretends to be really cool and composed*

Ah fuck it.

Yay! Thanks for that, Allyson.

Caroline | February 24, 00:42 CET

I know folks in the ME office read Whedonesque, and think it's wonderful.

Oh, man! I hope they've seen my name in print! Electricspacegirl wants to be famous! Or at least to get a job delivering coffee to Joss.

electricspacegirl | February 24, 00:58 CET

gee, i didn't think you'd be so pleased that I like Whedonesque...oh, wait...

Allyson | February 24, 01:37 CET

From what I understand UPN lost a ton of money from aquiring Buffy, and I thought I read somewhere where the president of UPN said that if they had it to do all over they wouldn't have made the Buffy deal, based on it's disappointing numbers.

From that I can understand why it would be a big shot in the dark for UPN to pick up Angel.

Nuke | February 24, 08:53 CET

The Buffy situation was completely different from the current Angel situation. UPN knew they were gonna lose money when they picked up BtVS, although they lost more than they hoped to. If UPN were to pick up "Angel", they would be buying it for much less than they bought BtVS.

Invisible Green | February 24, 09:02 CET