Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon Meets ’Veronica Mars’

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) "Buffy" fans, consider the torch passed.

Joss Whedon, the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" creator who gushed online about UPN’s "Veronica Mars" this summer, has been rewarded with a guest spot on the show. The network says he’ll play a rental-car manager who has a scene with Veronica (Kristen Bell) in this season’s sixth episode.

The cameo came about after Whedon effusively praised "Veronica Mars" on the Buffyverse-centric web site Whedonesque.com. Posting to the site’s (which is independently run) boards last month, Whedon wrote: "My peeps and I just finished a crazed Veronica Marsathon, and I can no longer restrain myself. Best. Show. Ever. Seriously, I’ve never gotten more wrapped up in a show I wasn’t making, and maybe even more than those. Crazy crisp dialogue. Incredibly tight plotting. Big emotion, I mean BIG, and charismatic actors and I was just DYING from the mystery and the relationships and PAIN" (caps all his). "... These guys know what they’re doing on a level that intimidates me. It’s the Harry Potter of shows."

"Veronica Mars" creator Rob Thomas, whose show has often been compared to "Buffy," returned the praise on his own site, and also dropped the news that Whedon would make a guest appearance, which UPN has confirmed. The "Serenity" writer-director has popped up before on his shows "Angel" and "Firefly," but he’s never appeared on someone else’s.

Whedon is the second cult auteur booked for a guest spot on "Mars" this season. "Clerks" and "Chasing Amy" director Kevin Smith, a friend of "Mars" producer Dan Etheridge, will play a convenience-store clerk in the show’s second episode.

"Veronica Mars" begins its second season on UPN Wednesday, Sept. 28.