Wow. She made much better use of her time than I did. Thanks Raven U.
And I said this elsewhere but I'm the one who shouted out about Tim Minear which I only knew because of Whedonesque. I can't wait for my shirt to arrive.

Lioness | August 31, 21:13 CET

I think it would be great for a team of writers to take on a Spike project. Having the likes of Tim Minear, Jane Espenson, Doug Petrie and Steven DeKnight collaborating would be fantastic, just look at "Conversations With Dead People". They're all very versatile but also bring their own strengths. I think really any long-term Buffy or Angel writer would be fantastic at any future projects, even if Joss isn't too hands on.

I find his comments about Joss strange, considering how complimentary he has always been in the past. Perhaps now that he isn't on Buffy or Angel and a Spike movie isn't certain, he feels he can be more truthful?

I have to disagree with him when he says that "Joss wrote/directed so little of Spike on Buffy". I can't comment on the directing side of things, only those present at the time could, but from the perspective of a writer I think Joss wrote for Spike fantastically.

Take "The Gift" for example, which had some of the most beautiful lines from Spike, along with a lot of humour.

Perhaps it was because Joss was slightly less hands on with Buffy in its later years (when Spike was the most heavily featured) and Angel in general? I know he was of course guiding everything and heavily involved with a lot of stuff, but just in terms of actually being credited with writing certain episodes. A lot of the big episode for Spike just weren't written by Joss, like "Fool for Love", "Crush" , "Seeing Red", "Grave" or "Beneath You".

Razor | August 31, 22:59 CET

I'm very much surprised about what James has said because I pretty much thought the whole Spike and Dru thing was very much Joss' idea. In fact I thought a lot of Spike's lines may well have come from Joss because I know he actually wrote many parts of episodes that he was not actually credited for.

Cider | August 31, 23:19 CET

Maybe Joss just felt very secure in letting James just do his thing.

Melisande | August 31, 23:35 CET

Interesting thought about bringing James back as a different character next season. Are they banking on him being a ratings booster already?

Rogue Slayer | August 31, 23:52 CET

Stunt casting on The WB? Never.

Moving on, at a guess Joss has said to James he can't relate to Spike much, and finds it hard to write for that character. Either that or James was havin' a bit of a dig, who knows?

If it does go ahead, I understand Tim is lined to write and direct. So, you pretty much won't get a selection of other writers for that. Tim can write pain and scary stylised in growing themes better than any other writer I've ever seen, and these are certainly areas of Spike I think have dramatic quality worth exploring.

gossi | September 01, 00:14 CET

Well, from everything i've been reading in the current tv mags most people are pretty much assuming that this will be the final season of Smallville regardless of ratings.

Mind you if James does manage to create a massive "spike" (sorry, had to!) in the ratings then things may change.

Buffysmglover | September 01, 00:29 CET

Razor, I don't think James was intending to slight Joss with his comments. He has mentioned before that he thinks Joss is a great writer/director and thought it was unfortunate that he hardly appeared, if at all (remember he was cut entirely from "The Body"), in Joss's episodes. This just sounds to me like a possible explanation for why Joss didn't do more Spike-centric eps.

I'd love to have a Spike movie written by anyone competent, but the combination of the four suggested people sounds fantastic to me.

com4tador | September 01, 00:51 CET

Hi, its me, the person who runs the multimedia project and talked to James. Please keep in mind these are not James exact words, but rather me paraphrasing what he said to me based on my imperfect memory. I can tell you that there was no indication at all of any dig at Joss, in fact, he seems to continue to have the utmost respect for Joss. Personally, the thing I'll never forget is the "I brag about this project ..." line. :)

killinj | September 01, 01:43 CET

Thanks for the clarification killinj, nice to hear from the source! I think you asked some pretty good questions and got a lot out of your 30 second spots.

[ edited by Grace on 2005-09-01 02:38 ]

Grace | September 01, 04:37 CET

Congratulations, killinj, on such a rich validation of your good works. That he so quickly remembered the Modesto donation, and that he shows off to show biz friends with tales of your efforts...? Well, that just makes it all worth it, don't it? Well done, you.

And by the way, 'com4tador'...? Phenomenal name. So, so fun.

barest_smidgen | September 01, 05:32 CET

Well, from everything i've been reading in the current tv mags most people are pretty much assuming that this will be the final season of Smallville regardless of ratings.

Really??? I'm kind of stunned. Isn't SV the WB's second highest ratings-getter?

Joss' bitch | September 01, 14:06 CET

No, Smallville has constantly lost it's audience by double digits the last 2 years. It ranks around 4th-5th place in dramas on the WB (which ironically is where Angel was). The show however is cheaper, since it is made by the WB and therefore they get a price break from there sister studio. This may be the last season as after this season their contracts will be up for renewal which means the actors will ask for either more money and/or credit on the show (ie producer credit). Depending on how that goes this may be the last season for Smallville and not because of ratings alone. Although they will have to start gaining fans in order to stem the cancelation, if they loose any more I doubt the WB will pick them back up cause they are one of the more costly shows to produce.

RavenU | September 01, 16:06 CET