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The 18th Annual William S. Paley Television Festival - Honors: Angel, The Series -
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INTRO Joss Whedon has used his audacious perspective on the vampire mythos to mine every facet of adolescence in his landmark series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. With the noir-tinged Angel, Whedon and co-creator David Greenwalt (The Wonder Years) turn their attention to the travails of adulthood with beguiling results, as Diane Werts of Newsday notes: "Angel upholds Whedon's spellbinding Buffy mantle and expands it, taking his surprisingly mature and witty view of life among the supernatural into an adult realm." Angel [David Boreanaz] originated as a key player in the Buffy universe, a 247-year-old vampire cursed by Gypsies with the restoration of his soul and conscience, consumed by remorse for his past bloodletting and doomed to wander the earth in an agonizing in-between state, neither human nor monster. Tortured by his star-crossed love for Buffy, Angel pulls up stakes and moved to Los Angeles where he functions as a modern-day night-errant in the Phillip Marlow tradition, protecting the innocent in a quest for redemption. He is joined by Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), the high school nemesis of Buffy turned tart-tongued girl Friday; effete "rogue demon hunter" Wesley Wyndham-Pryce (Alexis Denisof); and the charismatic, streetwise Charles Gunn (J. August Richards). This dysfunctional family has gelled into a crack ensemble that counterbalances Angel's signature gloom with warmth, humor, and the occasional bout of savage mockery. Ostensibly a supernatural detective yarn, Angel constantly defies genre expectations: a terrifying assault can turn on a dime into a pratfall, and moments of poignant drama arise from seemingly throwaway, mundane details. It is a testament to the show's nimble mastery of tone that the sight of Angel mangling Barry Manilow's 'Mandy' in a demonic Karaoke bar does nothing to dispel the character's aura of elegant, world-weary brooding. Perhaps the most astonishing feature of the show is Angel's mandate to extend himself emotionally to the humans he protects. Whedon's unsentimental vision steers Angel clear of the New Age sappiness risked by such a notion, constructing instead a moving parable of adulthood: one "becomes human" by moving beyond selfish concerns and engaging with the world. A grown-up idea, indeed. Seventeen years ago the Museum of Television and Radio established this annual festival to celebrate the excellence and diversity of television and to call attention to the achievements of television's creative community. The Festival is fittingly named in honor of William S. Paley, the founder of the Museum and of CBS, who so clearly recognized the importance of collecting and preserving the great heritage of television programming. Bill Paley was one of the towering figures of both radio and television broadcasting. He created what became CBS and by the time of his death in 1990 at the age of eighty-nine, he had remained at or near its helm for more than sixty years. He prided himself on his gut instinct, and he used it to the fullest. But his genius lay in the way he combined his keen eye and ear for popular taste with an impeccable sense or quality and style. Every year he sought out something that had never been done before that would push outward the frontiers of broadcasting. That brought such classics as Playhouse 90, The Defenders, The Waltons, M*A*S*H, and many others to the air. Each year the Paley Festival offers the general public a greater awareness and appreciation of the quality of programming on television. This year the festival recognizes three dramas that pay tribute to the dark, angst-ridden atmosphere of the film noir. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation follows the graveyard shift of the Las Vegas Bureau of Criminalistics as they seek forensic truth in the neon glare of the city's Strip. James Cameron and Charles Egless's Dark Angel imagines a post-apocalyptic age with a leather-clad, nocturnal heroine, Max - whose favorite perch, Seattle's Space Needle, allows her to view the decaying city. And in Angel, Joss Whedon creates nightmarish world where his protagonist, a 247-year-old vampire, seeks redemption from a nefarious past. Through a thirteen-event run, which includes other honorees as Gideon's Crossing, Judging Amy, Boston Public, and the critically acclaimed newcomer Gilmore Girls, the Paley Festival testifies to the vitality and creativity of television, one of contemporary culture's defining art forms. Angel is in its second season on the WB and is executive produced by Whedon, Greenwalt, Sandy Gallin, Gail Berman, Fran Rubel Kuzui, and Kaz Kuzui. Angel is produced by Mutant Enemy, Inc., David Greenwalt Productions and Kuzui/Sandollar in association with Twentieth Century Fox Television. Intro courtesy of the MT&R Paley Festival program |
