America’s WB network announced on Friday 13 February that Angel was to be cancelled at the end of the current season. Despite the show’s ratings having improved, the network felt the numbers didn’t justify a sixth season. “It’s the end of an era,” Joss Whedon tells SFX in an exclusive interview. “Even more than the conclusion of Buffy was, because I really don’t know when Buffyverse will appear again in filmed form.”
As fans were disheartened to recently learn, the WB cancelled to show despite the fact that it’s format had been pretty dramatically rejigged to make it more standalone as opposed to featuring long story arcs, and, more importantly, that the show’s ratings had actually been going up. But as far as the show’s creator is concerned, the cancellation will not impact all that much on the series’ finale.
“We had such a hard time getting this season at all that I came into figuring that it might well be our last,” says Whedon. “What I came up with at the very beginning of the year was a season-ender that really would have closure for the entire show as well as the year, but then opened up a lot of interesting avenues should we get our sixth season. I then became convinced that we would, because things were going so well. So while it was a horrible blow to find out that we were being cancelled, I didn’t have to change what we were doing and could proceed straight ahead. What we planned to go out on was very much a statement that applies to what the show has been about since day one.”
In previous interviews, he had noted that he had come up with the perfect note for the “symphony” of Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the end of year five when the character sacrificed her life to save the world, but Angel doesn’t represent quite the same thing.
“While that is a good note for the end of this particular movement,” he says, staying with the metaphor, “I did not feel this particular symphony was over. Originally I wanted to go out after five on Buffy, because I was tired; it wasn’t that I didn’t think there were more stories to tell. And I’m glad I got to do those last two seasons. With Angel, the burnout level is not as high. I don’t have to run it day to day, I’ve had great partners on it and it hasn’t been a drain on me. And it’s really redefined itself so much so many times, that it’s remained very fresh. The show has done extra-ordinary stuff from the very first season.”
Fans might possibly find some solace in the fact that the WB and Fox, the studio behind the show, have expressed interest in potential Angel movies for next season. While initially not holding out much hope for such a thing, from a business point of view Whedon understands why it might be a good idea.
“I’m interested if the manpower exists,” he explains. “But if all of my actors and writers have other jobs, not so much. If I was to find a confluence of people who were into it, there’s a possibility it could be interesting. Without the writers, though, there’s no way I would be interested. You’re never going to put something on screen just because you can. It’s always got to be because you should.”
With the end of Buffy, the cancellation of the short-lived Firefly and, now, Angel, it’s ironic that the writer’s refuge from film has more or less been taken away from him. “It’s definitely hard to find one’s place,” Whedon admits. “I don’t think I ever really belonged; I sort of got my shows on by accident and got lucky that way. But right now is a really bad time. There just doesn’t seem to be a working model and I don’t know anybody who has the code. Is anybody making shows besides Dick Wolf (Law and Order, Crime and Punishment)? I see the networks scaling further back. When they run scared – as they are from cable, TiVo and reality TV – they don’t expand. That doesn’t mean they take wackier chances, it means they entrench and whatever’s working at that moment is all you’re going to see. I don’t really know how to overcome that.”
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Whedon seems confident that this Summer he will start filming the big-screen version of Firefly. While he won’t talk about the project until it’s definitely a go, Whedon is willing to make one observation. “Firefly should certainly change my perspective on film,” he says, “because I won’t be yelling about the guy who’s messing up one of my scripts. Instead, I’ll be making excuses for him, because he’ll be me.”
Reproduced with the blessing of Dave Golder, Editor of SFX Magazine
* Since this interview, Universal Pictures have confirmed the Firefly movie, Serenity, is a go. |
