Angel

After Eliza tanked the spinoff, Joss Whedon and his merry band of producers went to Fox and the WB and pitched a whole new direction for Angel. The show has a loyal audience and makes consistent ratings, but it isn’t generating big numbers or pulling in new viewers; I’m fairly certain they decided on some radical surgery because Angel is also in danger of tanking.

David Greenwalt told Zap2it a few weeks ago, and I quote: "I’m not sure we’re going to blow up the hotel, but the notion is of them going to a place that is more like an advertising agency, lots of glass and light. It’s going to be great — visitors from the Buffyverse, including a possible regular from the Buffyverse. I think these ideas are so strong that it could run two years. It would be a whole new show. We’d put the characters in a new situation, both financially and physically. It’s all about us saying, ’OK, you’ve been on the Greenpeace ship saying, ’Hey, Shell Oil is bad.’ What happens if you actually have to go work for Shell Oil? What happens if you had to be on the inside, grow up, get a real job?’ I’m really excited about it."

What does this sound like to you? That Greenpeace/Shell Oil thing makes it sound like Angel and his crew are going to work for Wolfram and Hart, doesn’t it? How on earth could they make that work? Not long after this announcement, we heard that both Spike and Giles might be moving over to Angel. (To which I say, hallelujah! My two favorite characters? There is a God, and it’s not Gina Torres.) The addition of Giles makes one wonder... what if the new direction has something to do with the Watcher’s Council? (Thanks to Dan for that idea.)

This week, David Boreanaz told an audience in L.A. that several Angel characters are going to bite the dust. "Several." He said, "several." I’m assuming it doesn’t include him. Angel already has seven cast members; if they add Spike and Giles, that’s nine, which is too many for a show with a WB budget. Heads are clearly going to roll, and I bet that they’ll be making decisions based on who will work best in the new scenario.

I hope they take this opportunity to cut Charisma Carpenter loose; the character of Cordelia has been jerked around and screwed with so much that I don’t like her any more. I used to love Cordelia, dammit. And the feminist in me hates to say it, but I’m not a big fan of Fred’s, either. I think Connor is fascinating, but I wouldn’t miss him. The two characters I like best are Wesley and Lorne. I’m also very fond of Gunn. If the new direction has anything to do with the Watcher’s Council, Wesley is probably not gonna get the axe. Yay.

Want to bet that Joss Whedon plans to use the next year of Angel to lay the groundwork for another Buffyverse spinoff?