Buffy De-Whedoned

In what can only be described as a travesty in the making, the rumored Whedon-less remake of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is apparently going forward. If you listen closely, you can hear the sound of fanboys, male and female, around the world making whatever sound is the opposite of "Squee!"

Torchwood. Now with Espenson

It appears that Jane Espenson, a well regarded writer for Buffy and Battlestar, has been added to the writing crew of the new, fourth season of Torchwood, which scheduled to air in 2011 and will feature a stongly serialized storyline like that of Season 3's Children of Earth mini-series.

Mouth Jewelry

Ah, remember Alyson Hannigan's first on-screen date with Seth Green? Maybe not, because it didn't happen on Buffy. Nope it was in the 1988 film My Stepmother is an Alien, and you can see it here.

And Your Mamma, Too

SFX has just posted an amusing list of science-fiction's greatest insults. Check it out and see how many you recognize.

It Must be Bunnies!

I've had the songs from "Once More with Feeling" stuck in my head for the last several days. Someone please help me.

I Wish To Do More Violence

(This post contains major spoilers for Season 5 of Angel and Season 1 of Dollhouse.)

So, what spurred me to rewatch Fred's death and Illyria's occupation of her body was a conversation I had with Nick about Amy Acker's ability to potentially portray multiple imprinted personalities as an active on Dollhouse. As Nick said, when Fred is transformed into Illyria, the "change to her accent, inflection, expression, and body language [is] just striking." I'd love to see Amy Acker's Whiskey sent on various engagements, possibly as flashbacks. Sadly, since Acker's pilot, Happy Town,* was picked up for a full season, and since she will be a regular on that series, I doubt we'll see much of her in Dollhouse Season 2, and what we do see will probably be as Dr Saunders.

By the way, speaking of Whedon alumni on Dollhouse, it appears that Joss Whedon is actively trying to get Summer Glau into the 'House, though not as an an active. He figures she's too good at that kind of role, and needs a challenge.

* This show looks like Twin Peaks, minus the fun, David Lynch-y aspects.

Why Can't I Stay?

(This post contains major spoilers for Season 5 of Angel.)

I just rewatched Fred's death scene. It's almost unbearably hard to watch. I'd guess that response indicates superior writing and acting.

Straight-Up, Balls-Out

I once heard Joss Whedon say of Buffy the Vampires Slayer, "Oh yeah, we forgot to make it scary."  It sounds like, when it came time to write his upcoming horror movie Cabin in the Woods, he didn't forget.

In Popular Culture

xkcd is great, if for no other reason than because it allows me to put up a one-sentence, one-link entry with eleven* tags.

* Well, it would have been eleven, but I reached Blogger's 200-character limit at ten. Can you guess which one is missing?

Weetabix for Spike's Blood

Here's another metaphor I've been using lately, in one form or another:

Weetabix for Spike's blood, metaphor. Any food added to a dish solely for texture.

Buffy Toon

Ever wonder what the stillborn Buffy the Animated Series would have looked like? Well, wonder no longer. The 3-and-a-half-minute trailer created to sell the show has hit the Tube of You.

Another Sign of Impending Cancelation

According to Joss Whedon himself, the former Fred, Amy Acker, has been cast in Whedon's upcoming series, Dollhouse. Now, the last time I got excited about a show featuring Ms. Acker before it even aired, the series in question was quickly canceled. I can only hope that doesn't happen this time. Even this little snippet of Whedonish in the comment tickled me to no end, so I'm really hoping this show outlives the initial 7-episode order:

All in all, pound for pound, soup to nuts, man vs beast, it's a pretty amazing ensemble. I'm not sure how I landed this troupe, but rest assured I'm gonna write bestest good word for talkacting to them yes! They're in good hands.

Once More, With Feeling, Dick

Whedonesque just pointed me to this interesting article from yesterday about Dick Cheney's editing of Intellipedia.

Oh, the Hairanity!

(Warning: This post contains spoilers for Seasons 3 and later of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)

I don't want to turn this blog into a pale imitation of Go Fug Yourself or The Superficial, but what is the deal with Alyson Hannigan's hair lately?

I mean, her 'do was quite cute---even sultry---in its various and sundry incarnations while she was portraying Willow on Buffy, even when she was playing Willow's vampire doppelganger or Willow Gone Bad. It's been attractive since then, too. While filming How I Met Your Mother, her hair has been pretty in both red and even brown. (Seriously, brown.) She's even looked cute in a slightly crooked ball cap and driving suit. But now she has these long, blunt bangs that hang down to her eyelashes. Not only does this cut look very 70s, but it makes me feel like I need to brush something out of my own eyes.

(By the way, I'll be sorely disappointed if I don't get a comment from Nick on this post.)

The Body

(Warning: If you haven't seen the fifth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, don't go poking around to find out what I'm talking about. Trust me.)

Alison and I watched "The Body" from season 5 of Buffy tonight. Ugh. It was just as tough to watch this time as it was the first time I saw it. A truly excellent 42 minutes of television, though.

A Minor Criticism of Technique

Can anyone throw a punch worse than Sarah Michelle Gellar?

The Mikies, Angel Ed

It's about time I burdened my readers with yet more unsolicited opinions in the form of some kind of best-of list. That's right, the time has come for the the Michael Awards for Excellence in Whatever He Darn Well Feels Like, Angel Edition. (Note: this post contains significant spoilers.)

• Favorite vampire: Spike.
• Scariest vampire: Angelus.
• Scariest puppet: Angel.
• Character who evolves the most: Cordelia. (Honorable mention to Wesley.)
  
• Least favorite member of Angel Investigations: Connor.
• Least favorite couple: Gunn and Fred.
• Couple that made the least sense: Wesley and Lilah.
• Most touching death:* Fred. (Honorable mention to Wesley.)
• Best-introduced character: Illyria.
• Most fabulous demon: Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan.
• Best sideways storyline evolution: Angel Investigations moves into Wolfram & Hart.
• Best grudging friendship: Angel and Spike. (Honorable mention to Spike and Illyria.)
• Actor who does the best job of playing multiple characters: Amy Acker.
• Favorite non-Buffyverse television series that has more than one member of its cast appear on this series: Firefly.
  
• Best one-gag character: Numfar.
• Best love interest for Angel: Nina Ash.
  
• Funniest character: Spike.
• Most attractive character: Illyria.**

And, the moment you've all been waiting for...

• Favorite character: I'm going to have to get back to you on this one; there are many factors to consider.

I'd like to read your comments on this topic.

* There's much more competition here than in the corresponding category on Buffy, mainly because no main character returns from the dead on this show.

** I believe I'm noticing a trend here.

Curse You, Joss Whedon!

Thanks to Nick and Amy's ongoing generosity with their DVD collection, Alison and I finished watching the entirety of Angel tonight. Sigh.

The Fun Police

Whedonites in the readership may be aware that sing-along screenings of the Buffy musical episode Once More, with Feeling are held in theaters across the country. Well, were held. F*x has ordered a termination of the events, stating that they exceeded the series' licensing agreements.

Alison summed up the situation quite succinctly: "F*x is evil. They're like the fun police!"

Ripper Lives

A lot of news came out of Joss Whedon's panel at ComicCon. The most interesting bits to me are as follows:

• Whedon is "finishing the score for a short film he'll be directing called The Serving Girl." It will be a---get this---ballet and will star---you guessed it---Summer Glau.
• He's still working on Goners, though it hasn't been greenlit.
• Whedon "and former Buffy scribe Drew Goddard have written a horror script together called A Cabin in the Woods." Whedon described it as a "horror film to end all horror films."
• The oft-discussed Giles solo film, Ripper, is finally moving forward. Apparently, Anthony Stewart Head is on board with the project, which will be produced as a 90-minute TV movie by the BBC. Rumors have suggested that Ripper would be a prequel to Buffy taking place when Giles earned and was called by that nickname, but, given Head's age, I can only speculate that the film would take place after the series.