Joss says "And … I can't write novels that are long." Sounds as though he has tried though. Wouldn't that be awesome? Joss novels?

[ edited by Lioness on 2004-08-12 18:26 ]

Lioness | November 30, 09:00 CET

You spelt Joss wrong.You spelt it as Josh, for the title.

TheSlayer246 | August 12, 20:23 CET

Out of interest why is Joss doing a conference call at this time? About.com, AICN, comingsoon.net and now Scifi.com are all running with the same material.

Simon | August 12, 20:28 CET

There was a Serenity junket the other day.

TaraDi | August 12, 20:32 CET

Another variation on the interview with yet more details now included.

It is really good to hear that, even at this point, Joss is already wanting to return to television at least part time. The fact that he is now able and willing to delegate responsibilty means that all of the different type of Whedon fans could get what they want. He will be able to concentrate on Serenity, get back to the slayerverse and also maybe even get a third all new project off the ground.

Add to that the fact that the WB is looking to make up for it's mistakes and get us Whedon fans back and it all sounds very promising to me.

Disciple of Spike | August 12, 20:33 CET

Ah thanks for that TaraDi, I was wondering what the reason was.

Simon | August 12, 20:34 CET

Simon, you think that maybe there is a reason he is making so much noise about wanting to return to television and the slayerverse at this time?

Maybe to have something set up in time for when Serenity is done and dusted?

Disciple of Spike | August 12, 20:34 CET

Maybe Joss is hedging his bets. If Serenity is a success, all the indicators point to a trilogy. If it isn't, he knows he can fall back on the Buffyverse for something to do. Ideally, I think he would rather make the Firefly movie trilogy and appoint a showrunner he knows and trusts to handle the Buffyverse TV movies. Plus I think he wants to show the fans that yes he is still interested in continuing the Buffyverse.

But seeing as I have never met the man and more than likely never will, it's very hard to second guess him just by going on his interviews.

Simon | August 12, 20:43 CET

Agreed, Joss can be a hard guy to read at the best of times.

However i tend to believe that he doesn't say things for the sake of it. I think he respects his fans too much to lead the on if he has absolutely no intention of following through with something.

I would definately agree that he will probably choose to focus on Serenity himself though leaving the slayerverse in the capable hands of others at Mutant Enemy.

Just as long as the slayerverse continues and at the level of quality we are used to i'll be happy.

Disciple of Spike | August 12, 20:57 CET

I don't think it would be a case of Serenity 2 or a new Buffy-verse series, Joss has always seemed to be such a workaholic, he must feel like he's doing bugger all these days, a monthly comic and a movie! I'm pretty confident we'll see another series set in the 'verse, and I don't think we'll have to wait for the Firefly trilogy (fingers crossed) to be over, to do a series Joss just has to set it up, and try and get some of his old writers back, if he feels it's too much he can take a step back and let other people run the show while he's working on movies (he's done it before, Marti Noxon pretty much ran Buffy's sixth season, though he did manage to have 3 TV shows and write a musical that year, so it's understandable he needed a little help).

Not sure why he's not sure if his ideas will fly these days, he's only been gone from TV for a few months, and with the exception of Jordan Levin, everyone seemed to love his work.

Ghost Spike | August 12, 21:58 CET

When he says he isn't sure his ideas will fly, I think he is talking about the economics of the day. Networks like cheap reality TV. Scripted TV with actors, special effects and large crews are very expensive when you compare them to unscripted reality tv with relatively small crews. Scripted TV will have to learn to cut costs to begin to match up on the balance sheet.

You can wrap up my concerns for Joss in two words. Sam Raimi. Sam Raimi is a lot like Joss. He made a name for himself on TV. He had a few outside interests that amused people. Then he took his talents to the big screen ... and suddenly found that he had no time for the small screen anymore. I'm awaiting Serenity with baited breath (mostly because I just had some anchovies), but I'm a little scared that we're going to lose Whedon in the land of the small screen when the money of the big screen really starts rolling in ... We haven't seen Sam return to the Small Screen since Cleopatra 2525 and Jack of All Trades in 2000.

jgsugden | August 12, 23:58 CET

Jgsugden, i think we are all pretty much aware of the dire situation the television world is in right now because of cheap, tacky reality shows. However it is going to take people like Joss, and the dedicated fanbases he creates, to make a noise and change things so that the networks have to return to airing a diverse selection of shows including scripted drama and genre shows instead of just finding the cheapest possible fad that will make as many people as possible happy whilst they kill an hour in front of the box. Some of us need more than throwaway television.

As far as your comments about Sam Raimi, there is no good reason to believe that Joss would make the same decisions as Raimi did. Two different people with two different opinions who have been put in similar situations, that's all.

Having said that if Joss' last television work had been Cleopatra 2020 and Jack of All Trades i think i would want him to go onto movies and stay there, lol.

Disciple of Spike | August 13, 00:52 CET

Not sure why he's not sure if his ideas will fly these days, he's only been gone from TV for a few months, and with the exception of Jordan Levin, everyone seemed to love his work.

I imagine it's because Angel was just cancelled and his last new idea was cut down only 11 episodes into (it's fantastic) run. I'm sure that's enough to make anyone nervous and dubious about their chances of getting past the beast that is reality tv and short-sighted tv exec's

Paul_Rocks | August 13, 04:50 CET

Ah...selective media reporting at its finest. One interview, three different views reported. Which is what sets Whedonesque apart from the others. Our members work very hard checking out questionable reports because we seek the truth. Good job, people!

This pretty much falls in line with what we already know. Joss wishes to return to TV, but he's holding off until he's sure a network will support his show. No surpise after seeing how FOX ruined his "Firefly" series. I'm also happy he's willing to use a supporting show runner with a possible new TV series. David Greenwalt and Marti Noxon are free at the moment, aren't they?
He's shopping around with other networks which, I hope, includes cable (Come on HBO).

Trying to figure out the ten characters he could wrap a TV movie around. Spike, Faith, Willow, Giles, Fray, and Illyria could all be main leads. Guess we could add Wesley, Gunn, and Tara to the list since Joss has never let a little thing like death stop a character's return before. Supporting roles could cover Xander, Andrew, and Dawn. Would love to see the craze slayer Dana again. Anyone else?

Madhatter | August 13, 11:43 CET