AOL Live presented a special 'Angel' watch and chat
in which creator Joss Whedon joined us during the second
half hour of the show. Joss chatted and answered member
questions about 'Angel', 'Buffy,' 'Firefly' and much more.
See what he had to say below!
AOL Host: Good evening, everyone, and welcome
to part two of AOL Live's Watch & Chat for 'Angel,'
which airs every Sunday at 9PM on The WB. We're very pleased
to announce that Joss Whedon, the creator of 'Angel' as
well as 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Firefly,' has
now joined us. Joss, welcome to AOL. It's a huge pleasure
to have you here tonight.
Joss Whedon: Thanks for having me.
AOL Host: Tell us about tonight's episode, which
you wrote and directed. What inspired the idea of having
the characters revert to their teenage personas?
Joss Whedon: It started with Alexis. We talked
about how cool his character had become. But we said a
fond farewell to the blithering bumpkin he was when he
arrived. I got the idea of doing the show where everybody
[was the way they] used to be. We got the same feeling
about Cordelia. She became wonderful and fascinating;
wasn't it fun when she was the biggest bitch in the universe?
Wouldn't it be fun to go back to the old days?
AOL Host: We have our first question, from WheresMyDude8:
You are awesome, Joss. Is there any chance of adding younger
cast members, like you have on 'Buffy'?
Joss Whedon: Vince is a couple of years older
than Dawn -- who plays Angel's son, Connor. It is more
20-something than the rite-of-passage youth of 'Buffy.'
It is possible. It looks like 'Angel' could continue to
run for a while. It is not our focus, like on 'Buffy.'
AOL Host: We have a comment and a question from
a member, who says: Joss, you are a genius and a really
sweet guy. I loved the Vegas episode. Did you actually
film that there?
Joss Whedon: Yes, that was filmed at the Tropicana.
Andy was actually singing in Vegas. The biggest production
values we have probably had, and probably the last.
AOL Host: We have a question from Heyforman124,
who wants to know if you look at any of the Web sites
or message boards about your shows.
Joss Whedon: I do. I look for comments and what
people are liking, not liking, what they are talking about,
all of that stuff. I'm fascinated by it.
AOL Host: How important has the medium of the
Internet been to spreading the word about your shows?
Joss Whedon: I think it has been essential. The
way 'Buffy' and the Internet have interacted has been
unprecedented. I knew I had fans before I got a chance
to see and understand what ratings were, because I would
go on sites and meet people. The community that started
out from the very beginning has just grown and grown.
It is a mob scene now.
AOL Host: Was it fun being able to write
Cordelia as the vain and shallow high school character
she started out as?
Joss Whedon: Oh, my God. It was so much fun.
It is always fun to write people who are extreme like
that. When you do a show for a long time, you get to know
and love your characters. They eventually become sort
of heroic. The worst thing that could happen is the last
year of 'MASH' syndrome -- everybody is lovable, and you
can't create conflict. We are not going through that.
There is real conflict on 'Angel.' It is nice to go back
to the raw beginning when everyone is completely in their
own world.
AOL Host: We have a question from Boxen360: What
is the theme song for 'Angel'? I love it and it touches
my soul.
Joss Whedon: I was thinking how underrated it
was and how beautiful it is. The name is 'The Theme From
'Angel.'' We went to a bunch of local bands and said,
here is the basic idea for the theme. The basic idea for
'Angel' was cello rock, soulful and rocky. Not like 'Buffy,'
but its own melodramatic space. Darling Violetta recorded
it. I think it is really extremely underrated and it does
touch me.
AOL Host: Speaking of theme songs, you wrote
the theme for 'Firefly' in addition to writing that musical
episode of 'Buffy' last season. Have you always wanted
to write songs?
Joss Whedon: Always, always, always. I just started
writing and playing music, more writing than playing.
I had always written lyrics as a kid, but never had music
to put them to. This is kind of a new field for me. The
idea of 'Firefly' was to write something that sounded
old and bluesy.
AOL Host: A member named TwistedLogicGirl has
a question that's on a lot of people's minds: What is
next for 'Buffy' after this season? Will there be another
season?
Joss Whedon: That is a good question. There are
a lot of options. I haven't had definite word from anybody
about whether they are returning or not. Everybody knows
Sarah's contract is up. It is very possible after seven
years she may be a little sleepy. If that happens, there
have been discussions about what permutations the show
might take on. It won't be a watered-down version of 'Buffy.'
If we do a new show, it will be a new kind of show that
works in that world with some familiar faces -- or it
could be 'Buffy,' or it could all go away. The one thing
I have learned in TV is expect everything.
AOL Host: Along those lines, we have a question
from a member who wants to know: If it is the last season
of 'Buffy,' will any of those characters end up on 'Angel'?
Joss Whedon: There are no plans for anybody
to jump the puddle as regulars, just because 'Angel' is
hitting on all cylinders with its own bunch. However,
I think it would be great to see any number of them on
the show, maybe not as regulars, but certainly as guest
spots.
AOL Host: Question from a member: I'm a very
dedicated 'Buffy' and 'Angel' fan. Which is more complicated
to write, 'Buffy' or 'Angel'?
Joss Whedon: Everything is equally hard to write.
Writing is hard. They are hard for different reasons.
'Buffy' is hard because it is completely grounded in human
experience. Every episode has to be about what, you know,
what it feels like to go through a certain period in your
life, in the rite of passage that is your life. We can
never do an episode that is purely fantastical and exciting,
because the show is about growing up.
Joss Whedon: 'Angel' is not like that. It has
become a noirish melodrama of action. We can tell stories
in itself. We are not slavish to 'What does it feel like
to do that?' like on 'Buffy.' Although that is a limitation
on 'Buffy,' it is more grounding. On 'Angel,' it is more
difficult to find a story line that is truly compelling
and feels true to the universe. So they are both hard.
It is all hard. It's work. I'm sorry. Do they have a complaining
font?
AOL Host: Tonight's episode of 'Angel' shows
the characters as teenagers, and adolescence has obviously
been a huge part of 'Buffy' -- what were your teenage
years like? How did you fit into your high school's social
hierarchy?
Joss Whedon: I didn't really fit in. I was very
much an outsider and felt myself to be. I was, you know,
I wasn't despised or picked on, I just sort of didn't
really matter. I tended to come in and make jokes and
leave before anybody told me that they wanted me to leave,
so I didn't have to hear it. That was sort of -- I decided
when I was 14 that was my purpose in life, walk into a
crowd, say something funny, and leave while they were
laughing.
AOL Host: The episodes of 'Buffy' and 'Angel'
that you have directed have been some of the most memorable
ones of them all. Do you wish you had the time to direct
more than you do?
Joss Whedon: If I could direct every one, I would.
I would be tired and cranky and hateful, but, yeah, I
only get to do four or five a year. That is way more than
somebody running a show should be doing, and I'm running
three. So clearly I have lost my head. I love directing.
I love directing all three shows for very different reasons.
AOL Host: A member wants to know: Will you do
a musical episode of 'Angel' like you did on 'Buffy'?
Joss Whedon: David and Charisma have informed
me they know people who can kill me, so probably not anytime
soon. I did a ballet episode. What more can they ask?
AOL Host: We are getting a lot of questions from
members about future crossovers on 'Buffy' and 'Angel.'
Joss Whedon: Faith is appearing on both shows.
We don't have any others planned, but more I cannot say.
AOL Host: NonangelCall wants to know if the electrical
girl from the 'Ground State' episode will be returning
on 'Angel.'
Joss Whedon: Yes. The electrical girl will be
returning fairly soon, in fact.
AOL Host: Can you tell us anything about what
Faith will be doing on the shows later in the season?
Joss Whedon: She will probably be looking really
sexy and fighting people, based on her history. Apart
from that, I ain't saying.
AOL Host: Do you know exactly when she will
be coming back?
Joss Whedon: About the middle of the season on
'Angel.' She'll be returning [there] first, which is where
we left her. Then she'll come to 'Buffy' for the end of
the season.
AOL Host: How much time are you able to spend
on 'Angel' vs. 'Buffy' vs. 'Firefly,' because you are
doing three shows?
Joss Whedon: It kind of equals out. 'Buffy'
and 'Angel,' I spend an enormous amount of time breaking
stories with the writers, trying to find the heart of
the story. That is the most important part. I don't have
to spend as much time on the set of 'Buffy' and 'Angel,'
because they have been in play, and I have producers I
trust who can watch the directors and make sure the actors
are doing what we are looking for. I have actors on 'Firefly'
I trust, but it is the first year, so you spend time on
rewriting, costumes, being on set. When you first start
out with a show, you have to be involved with everything.
After a while, you can let things take care of themselves.
AOL Host: A member wants to know what your favorite
'Buffy' episode is, if you can name one.
Joss Whedon: It varies, very often. I have to
say that 'Innocence,' the episode where Buffy slept with
Angel and he went crazy, will have a huge place in my
heart. That show more purely showed us what we were going
to be able to do with that series, kind of took it to
the next level. Hey, you never forget your first time.
AOL Host: This weekend, as you may or may not
know, there is an academic conference devoted to 'Buffy'
at a university in England. Are you flattered by that?
Have you read any of the scholarly books written about
your work?
Joss Whedon: I haven't read any scholarly books.
I'm very flattered. I wish I could be there. 'Buffy' is
made by a bunch of writers who think very, very hard about
what they are doing in terms of psychology and methodology.
We take the show very seriously. We are perhaps the most
pompous geeks of them all. When somebody says there is
a philosophy behind 'Buffy,' that is the truth. When they
say there is symbolism and meaning in what we're doing,
that's true to. On any show, [there are] sociological
patterns we are not in control of. I think it is absolutely
great. I wish I could go there and be all opinionated.
