| ATV Icons: Joss Whedon |
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| Written by Doug Lambert |
| Tuesday, 26 January 2010 01:08 |
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Joss Whedon’s earliest work on television is probably largely un-credited because of the nature of his role. The writer worked as a “script doctor” within the industry and would be called in by producers to spruce up scripts and dialogue if they felt the original script wasn’t working. However, due to the nature of their role they are often un-credited in the final production and so their work is largely unknown.
In 1992 Whedon’s first incarnation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer hit the cinemas. The film was directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui and starred Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland, Paul Reubens, Rutger Hauer and Luke Perry. Stylistically it’s very different from the television series which would follow a few years later; the film is a parody of the clichés and convictions of the vampire film/teen film rather than the somewhat darker overtones of the television series. The film was a moderate box office hit but had mixed reviews but is now overshadowed by the success of the television series and when fans or even a casually television viewer thinks of Buffy they immediately think of things associated with the television series rather than this film.
It was some five years later before the next entry into the Buffy franchise was seen and this time it was a television series based on Whedon’s original concept of the vampire slayer and totally disconnected to the
To play the lead role of Buffy Summers actresses Katie Holmes and Selma Blair were considered but the role went to Sarah Michelle Gellar who had been a regular in the ABC daytime soap All My Children. The actress was originally cast for the role of Cordelia Chase but was eventually cast as the lead instead. Actresses Julie Benz, Elizabeth Anne Allen, Julia Lee and Mercedes McNab all auditioned for the role of Buffy but were cast in other roles in the television series. The show was a mid-season replacement on the WB Network but proved a hit for the network and subsequent seasons were commissioned. Buffy typically averaged four to six million viewers per episode which by other network’s standards was not a huge amount but for the newish WB Network it was a hit it had been waiting for. The rise of Buffy helped the WB establish itself although after five seasons the series switched to UPN for seasons six and seven. It wasn’t just America where the series proved a success but also the United Kingdom where it aired on Sky1 and BBC Two. The successes of the series in the UK lead to some filming taking place there during later seasons.
At the conclusion of Buffy’s third season Whedon and David Greenwalt decided to develop a spin-off
The format of Buffy and Angel were very similar in terms of story-telling. The shows were “story-arc” heavy and established their own mythology very quickly which made them popular with fans. Although
Buffy ended in 2003 after seven seasons which was a standard length of time for shows such as the Star Trek spin-offs to run for. Although the X-Files had run longer, though Babylon 5 had lasted five years, it was felt that seven years was the right length. Also actress Sarah Michelle Gellar felt the time was right to move on and had stated she didn’t wish to do another season. With this in mind Whedon wrapped up Buffy, moved James Marsters over to Angel, and looked at various spin-offs from the show. Whedon had long convinced a spin-off series for Anthony Head’s character of British Liberian Giles. In 2001 it was widely reported that a mini-series, titled Ripper, would air as a co-production between the BBC and Whedon. While the idea of Ripper never went away, being revived at several more points over the next few years to little effect, Whedon decided to instead to concentrate on a spin-off series for another character – slayer Faith [Eliza Dushku who had appeared in both Buffy and Angel. It seemed there was a real chance of a spin-off focusing on the rogue slayer but the actress eventually turned it down favouring new series Tru Calling instead.
In 2002 fans of Whedon were eagerly awaiting his new show Firefly which would air on Fox. The series was set in the 25th century and follows the adventures of a renegade crew following a civil war in which
In 2008 Whedon met with actress Eliza Dushku, who he had worked with on both Buffy and Angel, to discuss ideas for a possible new series. Whedon came up with a concept that interested the actress and he took the project to Fox. Following the cancellation of Firefly by the broadcaster Whedon had stated he wouldn’t work with Fox again however, in the interval years a new management team had taken over and Whedon felt confident things had changed. The concept Whedon had would be developed into his current series – Dollhouse.
As the series had been developed with Eliza Dushku in mind it was no surprise when she was cast as the lead female in the series – Dushku also acts as producer on the series. The concept of Dollhouse revolves
Dollhouse experienced a somewhat troubled road to broadcast with the original opening episode Echo being pushed back to second slot so a new episode – which better explained the shows concept – could be filmed. Later on Echo was pulled from the run completely although sections of the episode were used in several other episodes. The show’s original final episode of season one, Epitaph One, was pulled by Fox as they felt although the original opening episode hadn’t been used all 13 episodes had been filmed. However, producers on the show disagreed feeling the axing of Echo meant the show hadn’t clocked up 13 episodes until the end of Epitaph One. The episode was not broadcast on Fox but was on the DVD’s of the series.
Dollhouse was not a strong ratings performer for Fox and many expected to the show to be cancelled. However, Fox decided to cancel The Sarah Connor Chronicles instead and renewed Dollhouse
With the cancellation of Dollhouse there is speculation amongst Whedon fans that he will return to the Buffy universe and try to re-launch the franchise on television by reviving projects such as Ripper and the Spike movie. Whedon's next project will be directing an episode of the musical-comedy series Glee which has taken America by storm and he's also reportedly in talks with the FX channel on developing a new science fiction series.
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1992 television movie. It was Gail Berman, an executive at Fox, that persuaded Whedon to develop his idea as a television series and a short pilot was filmed and shown to various networks until it was picked up by the relatively new WB Network. Whedon served as executive producer on the new television series as well as lead writing meaning he shaped the “story arcs” that were to become a feature of the series and constructed individual episode storylines and wrote many of the scripts for the series. Whedon wasn’t the only writer on the series however with others such as Marti Noxon, David Fury, David Greenwalt and Jane Espenson all proving scripts for the series as well as many others. Marti Noxon also served as a show runner for the television series in its sixth and seventh seasons while others later contributed towards spin-off series Angel. 
series for actor David Boreanaz who played vampire Angel in the series. The duo had been impressed with Boreanaz’s acting during the third season of Buffy and felt he could carry his own show and so they developed Angel, a series set in Los Angeles following Angel as he protected the innocent against various evils that haunt the city. Crossing over to Angel as series regulars were Buffy actors Charisma Carpenter and Alexis Denisof. Actors Seth Green, Sarah Michelle Gellar and James Marsters all appeared in the first season of Angel in crossover storylines and James Marsters would later return to the spin-off as a season regular.
some episodes were “monster of the week” format others were there to further the story-arc of the particular season and the show’s mythology. In Buffy the “Scooby gang” would often fight a “big bad” per season while this was somewhat the case on Angel too the spin-off featured a constant foe, demonic law firm Wolfram & Hart. Perhaps the serialised nature of both shows and their continuity heavy references made it difficult for the casual viewer to dip in and out of the series but for the fans it is what made them popular and later shows such as Battlestar Galactica would often become serialised heavy. Buffy and Angel were by no means the first show to rely on such a format with Babylon 5 and X-Files also developing along similar lines slightly before the arrival of Buffy but they were certainly an import part in moving away from the “monster of the week” format and towards a “story-arc” format.
In 2004 after five seasons spin-off series Angel was cancelled to the surprise of many. Ratings and critical attention for the fifth season had improved and the spin-off was expected to be renewed for a sixth Year. Despite the rise in ratings the WB Network instead cancelled it. Following its cancellation there was much discussion of a television movie focusing on another vampire, Spike [James Marsters] but these discussions eventually came to nothing as well. 
their side lost. The series was produced with Tim Minear and amongst the cast were Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau and Gina Torres. Despite the project being highly anticipated ratings proved to be its downfall with ratings falling to as low as 4 million per episode. After 11 episodes, out of 14 which were ordered, the series was cancelled by the broadcaster. However, strong DVD sales of the series led to a movie, Serenity, being produced in 2004. However, the movie wasn’t a huge hit at cinemas and only made a profit once it was sold on DVD. There were rumours of a follow-up sequel movie which would air on television instead of a cinematic release. It was stated that Universal were interested in producing the television movie for the Sci Fi Channel which it owned and would later release it on DVD. However, these rumours have come to nothing and Whedon has since played down the chances of any sequel being produced. 
around a group of establishments which house groups of agents whose personalities and skills are adapted and wiped for each assignment they are given. The establishments are underground and therefore often hired by rich clients for various purposes. After each assignment the agents memories are wiped and they are unaware of their true nature. The series charters Echo on her slow journey towards self-awareness. Canadian actor Tahmoh Penikett, who had finished work on Battlestar Galactica, was cast alongside Dushku and further cast members included Australian actress Dichen Lachman, Fran Kranz and Olivia Williams. Former Angel actress Amy Acker played a recurring character in the first season but was only available for three episodes of the second season.
Stargate spin-off Universe. Fox committed themselves to showing all 13 episodes they had aired but announced that during the November sweeps Dollhouse because it had sold well on DVD and because DVR figures were good for the show. In an attempt to boost ratings for the second season a series of genre guest-stars were lined up such as Jamie Bamber, Michael Hogan, Summer Glau and Alexis Denisorf. The second season returned to lower ratings and was even beaten by new would be taken off the air. For many this was the final nail in its coffin and shortly after news Fox was cancelling the series broke. However, Fox did keep their word about airing all 13 episodes that had been ordered. 
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