This Week’s Poll: Best Joss Whedon Show
Our Weekly Poll feature returns for its third season and to open it we’ve got a tricky one for you; which is Joss Whedon series is the best? Now we all know that Whedon has a loyal following with his fans devoted to his various shows so asking them to pick the best one out of them is probably like asking a Nun to pick her favourite disciple – but that’s exactly what we are doing this week. So will it be Buffy the Vampire Slayer who triumphants or his most recent offering Dollhouse? As ever we’ve got a small feature to accompany the poll to fresh your memories.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: 1997 to 2003
The first incarnation of Buffy was a film in the 1990s which is, and was at the time, considered a Box Office flop. However, that didn’t stop Whedon for pushing ahead with the Buffy project and reworking it as a television series – probably the best thing he ever did. Teen actress Sarah Michelle Gellar was cast as the teenager blonde beauty Buffy Summers who by day struggled with her classes and by night battled things that go bump in the night – usually, unsurprisingly, vampires. The series was hugely popular with teen and young adult audiences tapping into the language, apathy and values of the audience that was watching.
Starring alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar was British actor Anthony Stewart Head as librarian Giles, Alyson Hannigan as Willow who later becomes a witch and a lesbian, Nicholas Brendon as Xander, Charisma Carpenter as desperate socialite Cordelia and David Boreanaz as vampire with a soul, Angel. After three seasons – set during Buffy’s high school years – the series got a spin-off in the form of Angel with Boreanaz and Carpenter heading up the cast. There were many crossovers between Buffy and Angel over the years with cast members frequently jumping between the two – Gellar herself appearing in two episodes of the spin-off.
Buffy wasn’t just a show about slaying vampires and various other evils though; it was also a show about growing up, finding your way in the world and accepting who you are. The series dealt with some very meaty subjects from Willow’s homosexuality to the issue of dealing with grief through the deaths of Joyce Summers (Kristine Sutherland), Tara (Amber Benson) and even Buffy herself in the fifth season finale. The issue of love – and the hell that it brings – was also a recurring theme with Buffy’s love for Angel and later Spike (James Marsters) often a point of tension between her and her friends.
Angel: 1999 – 2004
After three seasons on Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Angel, the vampire with the soul, actor David Boreanaz was given his own spin-off series set in Los Angeles. Actress Charisma Carpenter, who played socialite Cordelia, also crossed over to the spin-off as one of the main cast and midway through the first season they were joined by Alexis Denisof reprising his role of Wesley from Buffy. The theme of Angel was the vampire’s quest for redemption from his past crimes by helping those in need in Los Angeles; Cordelia and Wesley aiding him in this. The series quite literally dealt with the issues of good versus evil by almost reversing it somewhat; the good was the vampire while the bad were the humans – law firm, Wolfram & Hart. The lines between good and evil were often portrayed as blurred though as Angel’s war with the devious law-firm lead to some very questionable actions.
As a spin-off from Buffy the series featured many crossover elements with its first season alone featuring guest appearances from Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seth Green and James Marsters. As they series progressed other cast members from Buffy crossed over such as Alyson Hannigan to inform Angel of the death of Buffy (following her sacrifice in the fifth season – she was resurrected in Buffy’s sixth year) while in the fifth season of Angel actors James Marsters and Mercedes McNab became regular cast members.
Angel did establish a identity of its own though being somewhat darker and more adult in tone that its parent series with the battle between Angel and Wolfram & Hart being the story-arc crossing seasons – and going into many dark places. Vampire Darla (Julie Benz) was resurrected by the law-firm to tempt Angel into becoming Angelus – his dark, evil vampire self. Other key characters within the Angel spin-off included Kate Lockley (Elisabeth Rohm), Lilah Morgan (Stephanie Romanov), Lindsey McDonald (Christine Kane), Doyle (Glenn Quinn), Gunn (J. August Richards), Fred (Amy Acker), Lorne (Andy Hallett) and Connor (Vincent Kartheiser) – Angel’s son via Darla.
Firefly: 2002
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 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.
Dollhouse: 2009 – 2010
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 a
nd 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. The concept of Dollhouse revolves 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.
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. A second series was ordered by Fox and produced and in an attempt to boost ratings a series of genre guest-stars were lined up such as Jamie Bamber, Michael Hogan, Summer Glau and Alexis Denisorf. The series was cancelled though following more disappointing ratings for the episodes.
