2002 goes differently for Joss Whedon

samcster94

Banned
I am not condoning him cheating on his wife or any of his problematic stuff in his personal life. This thread is talking about his work at the time, which I am a fan of(as it lead to many later shows made by other people I like including iZombie). Firefly was doomed from the start for a mountain of reasons and existing hurt Whedon's other shows. As for his other shows, Buffy needed a better villain to wrap up(a rewritten Dracula possibly), and Angel was a sad mess(it handled Charisma's pregnancy very badly and overused an unpopular character) at that point(but did later get MUCH better). Given saving all three shows is ASBs(the only way to come close is replace Firefly with a VERY similar show that airs in 2003), what can be done to save ONE of these shows(Buffy has stronger ending/Angel doesn't have a damaged season/Firefly(or something similar to it) lives)???
 
Like most fans I would have liked Buffy and Angel to have had less bad bits/charectors/story lines, but this IMO wouldn't have saved Whelan's reputation as a hit TV show maker.

I foresee two options at this time. One as you mentioned would be a modified Firefly/Sifi show with plenty of scope for mutiple series and potential spin offs. A Star Treck for the 2000's. I remember that is how Firefly was promoted her in the U.K. at the time. Another intriguing option would have been to make the proposed Buffy spin off staring Anthony Stewart-Head, "The Watcher". I remember watching an interview where Anthony talked at length about the show and how it was quite far along in development. This running alongside Angel would have given scope to some fan beloved cross over episodes which perhaps could have prolonged the run of Angel so it could have had the proper OTT ending the show deserved. Whelan desperately needed another long term hit. OTL he didn't get it and it took his career a long time to recover.
 

samcster94

Banned
Like most fans I would have liked Buffy and Angel to have had less bad bits/charectors/story lines, but this IMO wouldn't have saved Whelan's reputation as a hit TV show maker.

Fixing Buffy and Angel plotlines wouldn't change much, and OTL Angel actually got better anyway. I foresee two options at this time. One as you mentioned would be a modified Firefly/Sifi show with plenty of scope for mutiple series and potential spin offs. A Star Treck for the 2000's. I remember that is how Firefly was promoted her in the U.K. at the time. Another intriguing option would have been to make the proposed Buffy spin off staring Anthony Stewart-Head, "The Watcher". I remember watching an interview where Anthony talked at length about the show and how it was quite far along in development. This running alongside Angel would have given scope to some fan beloved cross over episodes which perhaps could have prolonged the run of Angel so it could have had the proper OTT ending the show deserved. Whelan desperately needed another long term hit. OTL he didn't get it and it took his career a long time to recover.
I like these two directions. A Firefly-like show that competes against Galactica's grimness(and even actual Star Trek to an extent due to Joss's alternate Firefly show parodying it) would have been nice and I think delaying it for a year would have been smart. The Watcher Idea(not the Faith one) was a smart move, and an alternate direction for it to go would be a younger actor playing early Giles in a period piece. I personally think, due to money(ASH cost a lot of money), it would have been cheaper to have a younger actor do a period piece in the 70's instead as a sophomore hit(obviously would help Angel get more seasons even without actual crossovers). I think the Firefly-like show is a smarter move out of the two(also helps Angel indirectly by making it harder to cancel, especially if you have Amy Acker on this alt-Firefly as a a guest star).
A third direction(with a later POD) is otherwise OTL, but Angel gets a Season 6 as a final season(no early renewal and prevent one network executive from working for WB and it is a near certainty). OTL: Avengers, his next big hit wasn't until 2012 and even that 2010's renaissance fell apart in 2015(after Ultron slightly underperformed and got only slightly above average superhero movie reviews).
 
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