Behind the Scenes

Audience Member: "Are there any plans to expand the core cast on the show?"

JW: "What we do is we have is a very solid central love for the people we have. Like Elisabeth when she got herself that other television show. With our players who are not regulars we see when we can get them, we're good with that. And gradually when we begin to build as we did on Buffy, somebody will lock in, maybe become a regular, maybe be a semi-regular. And it just sort of grows. That's what we hoped would happen with J. and very much did. You've seen new characters this year, like the Karaoke demon host. (applause) He's part of the mix now, he's someone we can go to and hopefully as the show goes on there's more and more. It kind of evolves but it can't grow too much."

DG: "But again there's like 69 regulars on Buffy."

JW: "I'm killing them off."

Alyson Hannigan: (from the audience) "Killing them all off?" (laughter)

JW: "But not you, Alyson."

DG: "That's Alyson Hannigan who plays Willow." (applause)

JW: "Someone we could never, ever kill off!"

Audience Member: "How are you dealing with all the attention you're constantly getting from all the female cats?"

DB: "Female cats? Let me put my smoking jacket on. I feel underdressed." After much laughter and a bit of ribbing from the panel that suggested naked pictures of David on the internet, he attempted to get serious. "To answer a bit of that question, I'm very blessed to have a very charmed family and very fortunate to have a mom and dad who built a work ethic responsibility. When you're in a position, especially in Hollywood -- by publicity, by the sheer fact that people gather in your ear 24 hours a day. But the way you remain true to yourself is your heart and your parents and my sister, Bo, who's in the crowd tonight. They are a very strong influence in my life and also these people here who keep me straight."

CC: "Your family does mean a lot and you have to have a strong sense of family and I think that helps."

DB: "Well, you just play a character on the show and that's it, we all do the same thing everyday, we all go to the bathroom the same way."

TM: "Apparently you do it on the Internet." (laughter)

Audience Member: "You're like an old soul and you're so wise. My mother died from a brain tumor last year and all the episodes with Buffy's mother were incredible." (applause)

JW: "My mother also died several years ago and so that did in fact come from experience. That was something I wanted to say about what it was like. I appreciate that."

CC: "Why didn't anyone close the eyes?"

JW: "To make it worse."

CC: "Because that was really disturbing. And I kept thinking, 'Will somebody please close her eyes.' And Alyson is in the audience and her part . . . (applause) . . . it was so phenomenal, it just had everything. It was like 5 minutes of just gushing."

DG: "The only thing I would have added was a laugh track and a little music."

JW: "Alyson did an incredible performance and I had to edit it for a long time. And she spent the entire time (Joss sobs dramatically) 'okay, let's try going over her.' (sobs) This girl can act very beautifully. But talking about how much in advanced our character is planned -- one of the things planned incredibly carefully was that the arc of Angel would be headed into the downward spiral and then the redemption would come on that very episode because I was like, 'They're gonna need it!' "

THE WRAPUP

Charisma reflected on a moment showing how things evolve on the shows. "Actually I have an interesting comment about Joss and his brain. Just taking him in is unusual because he can juggle like, I don't know how he does it. I don't do combination plate very well. It's hard for me to maintain, and he was pacing on the set and directing and he had written the episode and somebody said to Joss, 'What's going on, what are you thinking about?' and he's like, 'I'm thinking about next season's episode 17.' Okay, and we're in Season 1, episode 5. Wow, kinda smart." "I like her!" Joss boasted as he continued to give praise. "It's a process for all of us and I'm very deeply indebted to the writing staff at this point. I believe that I have the three best writers in television with me right here." (applause) "And it's not only that they're sitting with me on stage but I would not have two shows and possibly not even one show on the air if it wasn't for these people. It really is the four of us together and the process of just being in the middle of something completely focused. And you go, 'What if?' It's the best feeling to feel like you can juggle - sometimes we think, 'Hey we got three [ideas] and right now they're all rolling on the ground.' Sometimes it's like everything is just working perfectly and we're all in perfect sync and just so back and forth."

"Yeah, it's true," Tim Minear agrees and offers up an example, "We did a cross-over this year, the vampire cross-over, 'Fool For Love' and 'Darla'. Joss and I were trying to figure out what the episode was going to be for Angel 7 which was 'Darla' we had planned -- David Greenwalt wrote the one you saw tonight 'What do you think of Darla?' I'm interested to see what it means for her to be a human being so I think we should do an origin piece and Joss said to me, 'That's always good.' We sort of looked at each other, 'Maybe we should do both.' And Joss said, 'We can have the B scenes on Buffy and the A scenes on Angel.' So you're seeing what happened afterwards first and you're seeing what happen before . . . I mean that was just great!"

"I'm not sure how to end this," admitted Mr. Batscha with a laugh as he prepared to close the evening. "Just to simply congratulate you on the energy, your enthusiasm, your commitment. The audience obviously, excuse the expression, is eating it up and loving it." Joss was happy to complete the closure on the evening by addressing the audience in his most sincere and softest manner, "I just want to say it is really lovely for us to come here and hear from you guys and to answer questions about Angel that aren't, 'Is that the show on FOX?' We really appreciate your support, I mean obviously we wouldn't be here if you weren't there, so thank all of you so much!" And with that, the cast and crew rose to tremendous applause and cheers.

An evening at the Paley Festival allows one the unique opportunity to witness a side of television rarely exposed to the viewing public, a candid introspective of its actors and creators who represent not only the driving force behind such machinations but also its charm and creative fervor. Unguarded for a couple of hours, happy to share a unique in-sight and a laugh, this amazing ensemble provides a genuine element of creatively that is typically short on longevity yet long in its imagination. Thanks to the preservation of the medium and the efforts of such icons as Bill Paley and the MT&R, that longevity may last as long into Angel's immortality!

Written by CoA Head Writer, Kristy Bratton

CoA Head Writer