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Andre has a great write-up on both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it's spinoff show, Angel.
The casualty is quality television, of course. Television that challenges and moves while it entertains, television that utilizes the medium’s inherent serial nature to really connect an audience with characters’ lives, television that goes beyond what television normally tries. Just look at Joss Whedon’s recent history: Buffy ended at seven seasons through a mutual agreement between Whedon and star Sarah Michelle Gellar, but his fledgling (and fantastic) Firefly was unceremoniously dumped after half a season, and Angel was hacked off at the knees during one of its most successful runs.
And I can’t fail to mention Tim Minear’s Wonderfalls. Minear co-produced Angel for years, writing some of the best episodes, and he left to develop a show about a strange girl who hears strange voices. It was yet another expensive, challenging endeavor, and Fox canned it after four episodes. The reality is that Fox will simply make more money by releasing the Complete Series DVD set than they would in advertising revenue by airing the remaining seven episodes.
I was a big fan of both shows; each one took chances and (for the most part), they paid off. The last season of Buffy never quite came together, and the 4th season of Angel (the next to last) was an all or nothing thing -- you either bought all the way into the entire ride, or it was a lost cause. Whedon's writing was some of the best I have seen on TV; I'm going to miss it.
Posted by Casper at May 28, 2004 12:01 AM