I love this Dauber fellow. I believe it was also Dauber who wrote a beautiful tribute to BtVS in the Christian Science Monitor when Buffy rode off into the sunset. The Christian Science Monitor gets a lot of respect in distinguished journalistic circles and I'm proud that they're so firmly on our side, tv-wise.

phlebotinin | March 18, 04:49 CET

And finally, a critic should never, under any circumstances, hold a candlelight vigil outside of the home of series creator Joss Whedon, singing outtakes from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode and shouting "I feel your pain, Joss!" at regular intervals. Nor, for that matter, should anybody else.

Hee! Actually, that kind of vigil sounds like fun, but I might look a little crazy if I was the only one doing it.

electricspacegirl | March 18, 04:54 CET

Fabulous.

Oh, and it was the same guy who wrote the BtVS piece.

[ edited by stakeholder on 2004-03-18 03:15 ]

marmoset | March 18, 05:10 CET

Lovely piece! Jeremy Dauber strikes the perfect tone IMO, between rational critic and impassioned fan. Angel fans are everywhere, WB! Beware!

punkinpuss | March 18, 05:26 CET

That would be fun if a bunch of fans could do that outside Joss's window. I know we'd all know the words too!!

Firefly Flanatic | March 18, 05:43 CET

where do we go.. from here...

jenguin | March 18, 07:39 CET

If someone can hunt down his addy, I'll rent a van and we'll all go. Maybe we should sing "You can't take the Joss from meeeeee...."

Rogue Slayer | March 18, 07:53 CET

Cool. I'm so loving the online support for Angel's untimely demise, even if the cerebrally-challenged nits at the WB remain blithely unaware of how ill-considered their decision appears to almost everyone outside the Hollywood bubble (especially when what's slated to replace 'Angel' is so painfully derivative and creatively bankrupt).

(Insert appropriately colorful Elizabethan curse here.)

[ edited by Wiseblood on 2004-03-18 08:02 ]

Wiseblood | March 18, 09:59 CET

This was a cool piece. And he wrote about Buffy too? Christian science....interesting how people from many different corners of society found these shows. I think it's a very good sign of their inherit quality.

And I'm all for singing outside of Joss' house. I'll bring my guitar, haha. "We die-ed.....several weeks ago-oo. Joss please make us fee-eel, like it isn't soo-o...."

Gawd, I'm a nerd....;-)

EdDantes | March 18, 11:44 CET

Great article.

LOL EdDantes! :-)

cal | March 18, 14:55 CET

"A critic should not opine that the network executives responsible for such a decision are, at best, craven slaves to the almighty dollar and at worst a group of empty Armani suits with heads full of a material which is neither brains nor sawdust."

My sentiments exactly!! Great article.

lala | March 18, 18:06 CET

Here's the link for Dauber's tribute to BtVS from May 2003:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0530/p25s01-altv.html

I particularly love Dauber's his smear against the Top Model swill that replaced Buffy on Tuesday nights. I also love the line, "you know, the way art is supposed to work." Anyone who is unafraid to matter of factly state that BtVS is art is a hero in my book.

EdDantes, strangely, The Christian Science Monitor is not a religious newspaper. I'm not sure why or how that happened, since it is ultimately associated with the Christian Science church, but the Monitor has become known for its relatively "objective" journalistic excellence. And they sure know good tv when they see it!

"We die-ed....several weeks ago-oo. Joss please make us fee-eel, like it isn't soo-o....first Buffy, now Angel, the WB really blooo-ooows......let Levin fry in greeee-aaase."

phlebotinin | March 18, 19:42 CET

Thanks for the link phlebotinin. I thought you had to pay for archived csmonitor stuff.

It's true, the paper is a highly regarded and great paper. It does have a small religious section in it with prayers and stuff. It's pieces are great though. They are known for not only being less biased within articles but also covering issues that get ignored in other press. It makes sense to some extent as they aren't owned by a major conglomerate.

I'm not sure if all the people who write for it are members of the religion or not. Though I must say, with the exception of medical issues, all the Christian Scientists I've met have been remarkably tolerant, open-minded and erudite.

marmoset | March 18, 19:54 CET

From what I've heard, I believe that many if not most of the journalists at the Monitor are not Christian Scientists. But to echo stakeholder, all of the Christian Scientists I've met have indeed been tolerant and erudite.

You can find many of the articles surrounding BtVS's ending on the www.slayage.com site, in their archives. Some of the article links no longer work because the articles have since disappeared and/or have been transferred after a certain period of time to the "gotta pay to see this" section of the respective newspapers. But plenty are still available for viewing.

phlebotinin | March 18, 19:59 CET

Thanks for posting that link phlebotinin, that's a great article about the end of Buffy. It kind of struck a chord with me though. It just makes me really sad to realize that we will soon be living in a rotting TV wasteland, with fewer and fewer quality shows every moment. Having no Joss shows on the air isn't just depressing as hell, but it's also symbolic of the fact that true artists are being pushed out of TV land and replaced with models, Simon Cowells, people who will eat cow brains to be famous, little people looking for love, etc.

But I suppose next year I'll still have Alias, Gilmore Girls, The OC, Six Feet Under, and, Fox willing, Arrested Development and Wonderfalls. Yet that large portion of my soul that only Joss knows how to fill will be empty and collecting dust.

MindPieces | March 19, 00:52 CET

The website includes a brief explanation about thier history and goals.

http://csmonitor.com/aboutus/about_the_monitor.html

A newspaper whose motive is “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind,” as its founder charged, would have a "leavening" effect on society, as well as on individual lives — to use a metaphor Eddy herself appreciated and used. The idea is that the unblemished truth is freeing (as a fundamental human right); with it, citizens can make informed decisions and take intelligent action, for themselves and for society.

abbylee | March 19, 10:35 CET