Angel
What next for Whedon?
Since the cancellation of Dollhouse I’ve been thinking a lot about why it’s creator, Joss Whedon, seems to keep making the same mistakes. Some people have commented that it’s because he’s a bit of a diva, or perhaps it’s just that he is a victim of his own hype and success.
I haven’t blogged much about Dollhouse’s cancellation, mostly due to a lot of other people already what I had to say. As a series it was deeply flawed and didn’t always get it right, but the thing it always had underpinning it was that it was just so different. That difference in approach to a theme is classic Whedon, as much as the layered characters and pithy dialogue. It wasn’t Buffy or Angel and it certainly wasn’t Firefly. It was it’s own beast, with it’s own issues.
Did the US network, Fox, step in and mess it up? Maybe. Did the show tiptoe around it’s loaded subject matter? Of course it did. It was about human slavery, prostitution and a person’s hunt for self when they’re stuck in that world. It’s heavy stuff, too heavy no doubt than a lot of everyday TV watchers.
The fans watched though. Us rapid fan boys and girls who lap up anything “The Whedon” does and then sit around for months and years afterwards talking about how good it was. How it was canned too soon. Despite the fact that we fans meant the almost guaranteed success of the internet musical Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog we are not enough to keep a major US TV network happy.
So what next? There is that episode of Glee that is coming up, but that won’t be a Whedon show. It will be an episode of Glee directed by Joss Whedon, not written. Then of course there is the much rumored follow up to Dr. Horrible. They’d be mad not to really. Will Joss Whedon go back to TV? I’ve heard it said that he’s not interested, at least not in it’s traditional format.
I’ve talked about this with a few people and I reckon there are two formats that would suit a Whedon style story down to the ground:
- Mini-series format – Torchwood did it for their Season 3 and it was amazing. I reckon Joss Whedon could really blast this format. 5 x 1.5 hour episodes, back to back and really concentrating on the story. Though he’s have to work on that slow build up thing of his that seems to happen in every series , bar Firefly.
- Online streaming – This is the other format that has been mentioned a lot. A regular show, with proper production values which is shown only on the internet. Anyone who wants to watch it pays a subscription, and then at the end of the season the DVDs are released as normal. No networks exerting control or pulling the strings. The technology is there and the fan base as well, pretty much all of whom are very internet savvy.
So those are my vague thoughts on the matter. It’ll be interesting to see what comes next, whether it be ‘net based, TV or another movie.
Modern vampires – the neutering.
I recently finished George R. R. Martin’s Fevre Dream – a vampire novel set on steamboats in the Pre-Civil War South of the US (some spoilers follow). I recently watched season 1 of True Blood. I’ve read a bit about, and heard people discussing, the Twilight series. And I was always a big fan of Angel.
So it was with some interest that I read this article about how vampires have lost their bite, as it were. Because all of these examples feature vampires who are trying to redeem themselves, especially through their lack of human blood-letting.
Largely due to goths and Anne Rice, I’ve always found vampires sort of annoying. But last year I made a vampire the big bad of a WFRP campaign I ran and I’d happily use them again. But the article’s right – vampires are far more interesting as charming but powerful and diabolical monsters than as safe but sexy wimps.
Let’s make vamps a threat again – no friendly vampires looking to reunite with humanity. No sexy vampire boyfriends. No animal blood drinking softies. Let’s get vampires in our games and our fiction who rip out throats, seduce and then slay and do all the nasty vampire things we know and love.
As a side note, I’d really recommend Fevre Dream as well – it’s very well written and having read so much of Martin’s work through A Song of Ice & Fire, it was interesting to see him tackle something quite different.