No, I meant Buffy S6. I just forgot to add Buffy S7.
Firefly aired in the fall of 2002. And was cancelled in the spring. Many viewers complained that Whedon handed the enterprise over to Fury and Noxon in the second part of S6 so he could focus on developing Firefly. (Writers will focus on a new show up to 12 months before it actually airs. Or have been known to. Whedon also, they complained focused too much of his time on launching the ambitious musical. ) They are wrong. The musical pretty much demonstrates that - in it all the themes and subplots of S6 are touched upon. So Whedon was clearly involved.
You are right, however, Buffy S7 - should have been included in my statement. Because another group of viewers whined about Whedon being too distracted during S7 to make it work. This doesn't really hold water - since Whedon was actually the busiest during the portion of the Season everyone liked - that aired in 2002. It was the second part of the season they disliked, when he was actually not involved with Firefly - because it had been cancelled. But it could be argued that he was burnt out by that point - but that would have been true regardless.
My take is there was more than one person involved.
I don't know if you've read kevin levine's blog? He was one of the head writers of MASH and Cheers. He says that by about the seventh season, actors start to burn out on the show - they get bored. They stop learning their lines ahead of time, flub lines, and will often memorize them right before they have to go on - just for a challenge. It's true, I guess of most long running series - the actor is a nomadic animal - who often likes to jump roles, and being stuck in one for a very long time while safe, secure and at times challenging, can for some actors be wearing. Sarah Michelle Geller left All My Children after less than three years - for much of this reason.
It's something I've been complaining about with After the Fall (alone for the most part, though Maggie seems to be with me on the argument also) - that AtF doesn't have the carefully laid out themes of S8 and I think this is the clearest sign of Whedon's lack of direct involvement in the project.
I've heard this complaint twice now. Please explain? Because I do see clear themes in Lynch's story. So I'm not sure what you mean?
They are admittedly noir based (not everyone likes noir) and a bit bleak, but definitely there. Example: The view that even if you are doomed to fail - you must strive anyway, to try to be a better person, to help those outside yourself. Or if you look into the abyss, it looks back at you. Or the theme that we are not at the whim of fate - we can flip the board and fight to write our own history.
Angel is about not being chosen, it's about the desire to be a hero or champion when you aren't. About trying to redeem yourself. And from a psychological perspective - how we handle this alien voice inside ourselves - the fight between the animal nature and the psyche.
I see all those themes. And they are pretty well set out. The plot is actually tighter than Buffy. With a definite end in sight.
I'm not sure what your problems are with the story or Lynch's handling of it? Please clarify.
Whedon's lack of direct involvement in the project
He's actually very involved according to Lynch. He plotted the story out with Lynch, identified the themes, and has told Lynch what characters to add and what to do with some of them.
PS: Sorry about all the typos in this post and the one above.
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Date: 2009-01-21 05:45 pm (UTC)No, I meant Buffy S6. I just forgot to add Buffy S7.
Firefly aired in the fall of 2002. And was cancelled in the spring.
Many viewers complained that Whedon handed the enterprise over to Fury and Noxon in the second part of S6 so he could focus on developing Firefly. (Writers will focus on a new show up to 12 months before it actually airs. Or have been known to. Whedon also, they complained focused too much of his time on launching the ambitious musical. ) They are wrong. The musical pretty much demonstrates that - in it all the themes and subplots of S6 are touched upon. So Whedon was clearly involved.
You are right, however, Buffy S7 - should have been included in my statement. Because another group of viewers whined about Whedon being too distracted during S7 to make it work. This doesn't really hold water - since Whedon was actually the busiest during the portion of the Season everyone liked - that aired in 2002. It was the second part of the season they disliked, when he was actually not involved with Firefly - because it had been cancelled. But it could be argued that he was burnt out by that point - but that would have been true regardless.
My take is there was more than one person involved.
I don't know if you've read kevin levine's blog? He was one of the head writers of MASH and Cheers. He says that by about the seventh season, actors start to burn out on the show - they get bored. They stop learning their lines ahead of time, flub lines, and will often memorize them right before they have to go on - just for a challenge. It's true, I guess of most long running series - the actor is a nomadic animal - who often likes to jump roles, and being stuck in one for a very long time while safe, secure and at times challenging, can for some actors be wearing. Sarah Michelle Geller left All My Children after less than three years - for much of this reason.
It's something I've been complaining about with After the Fall (alone for the most part, though Maggie seems to be with me on the argument also) - that AtF doesn't have the carefully laid out themes of S8 and I think this is the clearest sign of Whedon's lack of direct involvement in the project.
I've heard this complaint twice now. Please explain? Because I do see clear themes in Lynch's story. So I'm not sure what you mean?
They are admittedly noir based (not everyone likes noir) and a bit bleak, but definitely there. Example: The view that even if you are doomed to fail - you must strive anyway, to try to be a better person, to help those outside yourself. Or if you look into the abyss, it looks back at you. Or the theme that we are not at the whim of fate - we can flip the board and fight to write our own history.
Angel is about not being chosen, it's about the desire to be a hero or champion when you aren't. About trying to redeem yourself. And from a psychological perspective - how we handle this alien voice inside ourselves - the fight between the animal nature and the psyche.
I see all those themes. And they are pretty well set out. The plot is actually tighter than Buffy. With a definite end in sight.
I'm not sure what your problems are with the story or Lynch's handling of it? Please clarify.
Whedon's lack of direct involvement in the project
He's actually very involved according to Lynch. He plotted the story out with Lynch, identified the themes, and has told Lynch what characters to add and what to do with some of them.
PS: Sorry about all the typos in this post and the one above.