Angel (TV series)
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| Angel | |
|---|---|
| Image:Angellogo.JPG </small> | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Running time | 44 minutes |
| Creator(s) | Joss Whedon David Greenwalt |
| Starring | David Boreanaz Charisma Carpenter Glenn Quinn Alexis Denisof J. August Richards Amy Acker Vincent Kartheiser Andy Hallett James Marsters Mercedes McNab |
| Country of origin | Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States |
| Original channel | The WB |
| Original run | October 5, 1999–May 19, 2004 |
| No. of episodes | 110 |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Angel is a spin-off from the American television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Angel has a darker tone than Buffy, and at times performed better in the U.S. Nielsen Ratings than its parent series.[citation needed] The series was created by Buffy's creator Joss Whedon in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired in October of 1999. Like Buffy, it was produced by Whedon's production company, Mutant Enemy.
The series details the ongoing trials of the vampire Angel, who has his human soul restored to him as a punishment after more than a century of murder and torture of innocents, leaving him tormented by guilt and remorse. During the first four seasons of the show, he works as a private detective in a fictionalized version of Los Angeles, California, where he and a variety of associates work to "help the helpless" and to restore the faith and "save the souls" of those who had lost their way. Typically, this involved doing battle with evil demons or demonically-allied humans (primarily the law firm Wolfram and Hart) as well as battling his own violent nature. (The term "demon" when applied to the Angel universe is often morally value-neutral, as opposed to referring to evil beings exclusively.) In a departure to this the fifth season saw Angel taking over as the head of the law firm Wolfram and Hart in an attempt to fight evil from the inside.
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[edit] Production
[edit] Origins
The character Angel was a regular in the first 3 Seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Based on the strength and popularity of the character, Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt created a short video pitch, often called the "Unaired Angel pilot" for the WB Network.
The original concept for the series was a new interpretation of the old fashioned hard boiled detective genre, which gained popularity in large part through the works of Raymond Chandler.
The show was heavier in tone than Buffy, though some efforts were made to soften the original concept. For example, scenes were cut from Episode 1, "City of", in which Angel tasted the blood of a murder victim; the episode that was originally written to be the second episode, "Corrupt" was abandoned altogether. Instead the tone was lightened, and the opening episodes established Angel Investigations as an idealistic shoestring operation.
A first draft script reveals that Angel was originally intended to include the character, Whistler (Max Perlich) who had already featured in Buffy episodes, "Becoming, Part I" & "Part II".<ref>Topping, Keith, Hollywood Vampire, (3rd edition, includes Season 4) Virgin Books (2004), pages 18-19. Also see: Greenwalt, David & Whedon, Joss, Angel pilot, early draft 20th Century Fox (1999).</ref> In an interview Perlich said, "I never got called again. If they had called I would have probably accepted because it was a great experience and I think Joss is very original and talented."<ref>Dilullo, Tara, "Where are they now? Max Perlich" in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Magazine" #62, Titan Magazines (July 2004 issue), pages 30-31.</ref> Instead, the producers created the Whistler-like character, called Doyle.
[edit] Executive producers
Joss Whedon was credited as executive producer throughout the run of the series, <ref name="whedonimdb">Various authors, "Joss Whedon", Internet Movie Database (updated 2006).</ref> Alongside Angel he was also working on a series of other projects such as Buffy, Fray, Firefly, Astonishing X-Men, and Serenity.<ref name="whedonimdb" />
For the first three seasons, David Greenwalt (who co-created the series with Whedon) was also credited as Executive Producer.<ref>Various authors, "David Greenwalt", Internet Movie Database (updated 2006).</ref> During this time Greenwalt took on the role of show runner (a role that involves serving as head writer and being responsible for every aspect of production). He left to oversee Miracles, but continued to work on Angel as a consulting producer. At the start of the fourth season, David Simkins was made showrunner and Executive Producer, but he left only three months after taking the position over "creative differences"<ref>See O'Hare, Kate, "'Angel' Drops New Producer", Zap2It (August 08, 2002) and Various authors, "David Simkins", Internet Movie Database (updated 2006).</ref> Established Angel writer, Tim Minear took his position for the fourth season before moving to Whedon's Firefly. Jeffery Bell acted as show runner and executive producer for the fifth and final season.
Fran Rubel Kuzui and her husband, Kaz Kuzui were also credited as executive producers throughout Angel<ref>Various authors, "Fran Kuzui" and "Kaz Kuzui", Internet Movie Database (updated 2006).</ref> but were not involved in any writing or production for the show. Jeffery Bell mentions in his DVD commentary for "Not Fade Away" (during the closing credits) that two people were credited and paid for Angel without needing to ever step on the set.<ref>Angel Complete Fifth Series DVD Boxset.</ref> Angel crew member, Dan Kerns also revealed in an essay, that two executive producers "received credit and sizeable checks for the duration of Buffy and Angel for doing absolutely nothing".<ref>Kerns, Dan, "Angel by the Numbers", from Yeffeth, Gareth (editor), Five Seasons of "Angel", Benbella(October 2004), p25.</ref> Their credit, rights and royalties over the whole Buffy franchise (which includes spinoff Angel) relate to their funding, producing and directing of the original movie version of Buffy.<ref>See Kerns, Dan, "Angel by the Numbers", from Yeffeth, Gareth (editor), Five Seasons of "Angel", Benbella(October 2004), p25, and Morgan, David, "Wide Angel Closeup: Director, Producer and Film Distributor Fran Rubel Kuzui" Aol.com (June 10, 1992); "Buffy was a film that I owned, this was the first time I owned a film". Also see Golden, Christopher, and Holder, Nancy, Watcher's Guide Vol. 1. Simon & Schuster (October 1, 1998), "Gail Berman and Fran Kuzui came to [Whedon] to ask if he wanted to do the TV series" (p241). Also see Watcher's Guide Vol. 1, pp246–249.</ref>
[edit] Writing
Script-writing was done by Mutant Enemy, a production company created by Whedon in 1997. The writers with the most writing credits for the series include: David Greenwalt, Tim Minear, David Fury, Mere Smith, Steven S. DeKnight and Jeffrey Bell.<ref>Various authors, "Full Cast and Crew for Angel", Internet Movie Database (updated 2006).</ref>
Jane Espenson has explained how scripts came together for Mutant Enemy Productions series (Buffy, Angel and Firefly).<ref name="espensonwriting">Espenson, Jane, "The Writing Process", Fireflyfans.net (2003).</ref> A meeting is held and an idea is floated, generally by Whedon, and the writers brainstorm to develop the central theme of the episode and the character development. Next, the staff meets in the anteroom to Whedon's office to begin "breaking" the story into acts and scenes. The only one absent is the writer working on the previous week's episode. For the team, one of the key components to devising acts is deciding where to break for commercial and ensuring the viewer returns. "Finding these moments in the story help give it shape: think of them as tentpoles that support the structure," wrote Espenson.
Next, the writers develop the scenes onto a marker-filled whiteboard, featuring a "brief ordered description of each scene."<ref name="espensonwriting" /> A writer is selected to create an outline of the episode's concept — occasionally with some dialog and jokes — in one day. The outline is given to the showrunner, who revises it within a day. The writer uses the revised outline to write the first draft of the script while the other writers work on developing the next. This first draft is usually submitted for revision with three to fourteen days; afterward, a second and sometimes third draft is written. After all revisions were made, the final draft would be produced as the "shooting draft".
[edit] Music
- Main articles: Music in Buffy and Angel and List of songs featured in Buffy and Angel
Angel features a mix of original, indie, rock and pop music.
The opening theme was composed by Darling Violetta, an alternative rock group that performed two songs during the third season ofBuffy. The next year, Angel invited bands to submit demos for the theme music to the show. They asked bands to use "dark superhero ideas" and "Cello-rock"<ref>AngelHART, "Interview - Jymm Thomas of Darling Violetta - interviewed by Angelheart", Watchers Web (1999).</ref>. Darling Violetta watched pivotal Angel-related episodes of Buffy like "Passion" and "Becoming I" & "II" for inspiration. Eventually Joss Whedon accepted Darling Violetta's interpretation of an Angel theme as that most suitable to the show. The theme has a lower tempo than the Buffy theme. It has heavier use of acoustic instruments such as cello and violin. This is perhaps more appropriate for a show about a vampire from 18th Century Ireland on a long journey of redemption. In 2005, the band composed an extended version of the Angel theme called "The Sanctuary Extended Remix", which featured on the soundtrack of the series Live Fast - Die Never.
The demon karoke bar, Caritas is frequently used to spotlight pop hits. There has also been a soundtrack album (Angel: Live Fast, Die Never). The soundtrack mostly consists of scores created for the show created by Robert J. Kral along with a remixed theme, and four other songs from the show.
[edit] Cancellation
On Valentine's Day, 2004, the WB Network "officially" announced that Angel would not be brought back for a 6th season. The one-paragraph statement indicated the news, which had been reported by an Internet site the previous day, Friday the 13th, had been leaked well before the network intended to make its announcement.<ref>KJB, "Breaking News: Angel to End After 5 Seasons. Whedon talks about cancellation", IGN.com (February 13, 2004).</ref> Joss Whedon posted a message on a popular fan site, The Bronze: Beta, in which he expressed his dismay and surprise, saying he was "heartbroken".<ref>Whedon, Joss, Online post, Bronzebeta.com (February 14, 2004). Archived version.</ref> Fan reaction was to organize letter-writing campaigns, online petitions, and attempt to lobby other networks, UPN in particular (the network that picked up Buffy), to pick up the show. Outrage for the cancellation focused on Jordan Levin, the WB's Head of Entertainment, whose recent comments had strongly indicated that Angel would be renewed for a sixth season [citation needed].
Angel's final episode, "Not Fade Away", aired on the WB May 19, 2004. The ambiguous final moments left some fans hoping for the continuation of Angel and the Buffyverse in the future. Joss Whedon has indicated his belief in the finality of the story, noting that the final episode "was not meant to be as open ended as some people have said."[citation needed]
[edit] Setting and story
[edit] Format and themes
While Buffy was built around the angst of adolescence, Angel chronicled the different stages of adulthood. In much the same way as Buffy had been a both an homage and parody of traditional horror films, Angel gave the same treatment to the classical film noir. The first episode even included a Phillip Marlowe-style voiceover. The character of Angel filled the role of the reluctant, streetwise Los Angeles detective who has dealings with a variety of underworld characters. In this case, the "underworld" is a literal underworld of demons and supernatural beings. Many traditional noir stories and characters were explored in earlier episodes, including the ditzy but attractive secretary, the cagey but well informed partner, and clashes with crooked lawyers and meddlesome, too-good-for-their-own-good cops. These were usually given a modern or supernatural twist.The style and focus of the show changed considerably over its run, and the original noir idea was mostly discarded in favor of more large scale fantasy-themed conflicts. The impetus for this change is often attributed to Tim Minear[citation needed], who wrote many of the show's most important episodes. In later seasons, the mythology and stories became increasingly complex; in season four, one of the characters on the show itself described the storyline as "a turgid supernatural soap-opera". Whereas the show initially dealt with the difficulty of being kind to people on a personal basis, the show ultimately focused on Angel's status as an archetypal Champion for humanity, and explored ideas such as moral ambiguity, the spiritual cost of violence, and the nature of free will. The enduring theme throughout the series was the struggle for redemption.
Angel depicted the feelings of loneliness, danger and callousness often attributed to the urban Los Angeles megalopolis. The divisions between the ordered world of the day and the chaotic world of the night have been trademark themes of noir and by depicting a protagonist who literally has no daytime life, the series was able to explore these same themes in more dramatic metaphorical ways. As the series progressed, the creators were able to explore darker aspects of the characters, particularly Angel, who commits a number of morally questionable actions, and periodically reverts to his evil persona Angelus.
[edit] Plot summary
- Main articles: Plot Summary & List of Angel episodes
At the start of the series, Angel has just moved to Los Angeles in an effort to earn redemption for the evil deeds he committed as an unsouled vampire. He is soon visited by Doyle, a messenger sent to him behalf of higher powers. Doyle receives visions that can guide Angel on his mission. Angel also bumps into Cordelia Chase, who is trying to break into stardom. The three group together to form Angel Investigations, a detective agency that hopes to "help the helpless". When Doyle permanently leaves, he passes on his 'visions' to Cordelia, and the ex-Watcher, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce joins the group. Meanwhile the evil law firm, Wolfram and Hart pay increasing attention to Angel. They tempt him toward toward the darkness when they resurrect Darla, Angel's ex-lover and sire — killed by Angel in the first season of Buffy episode "Angel".
Charles Gunn, a street tough who leads a gang of vampire-hunters is initially determined to kill Angel, but slowly comes to accept him and join his cause. Wolfram & Hart's Lindsey primes Darla as its weapon to bring down Angel. But Darla is brought back as a human, not a vampire. But as a human, she suffers from a terminal case of syphilis — which she had contracted in her original life before being sired. Lindsey brings in Drusilla, a vampire originally sired by Angelus, to restore Darla to the cause of evil. Enraged by this, Angel begins to grow darker. He cuts himself off from his staff and attempts to go after the pair himself. In despair he sleeps with Darla ("Reprise"). The next morning he has an epiphany; seeing the error of his ways he banishes Darla and reunites with his group. Lorne, the demon owner of Caritas, reluctantly takes the group to his home dimension Pylea and they return with Winifred "Fred" Burkle, a young former physics student who has been trapped in the dimension for five long years.
To get over news of the death of his ex-girlfriend, Buffy, Angel spends three months in a Sri Lankan monastery, where he encounters some demon monks. He returns to Los Angeles, as does Darla — now bearing his child. The group is puzzled by what might be the first vampire birth. Darla sacrifices her life to save the life of her child, Connor. The gang is eager to care for the infant, but Wesley soon learns of a frightening prophecy that suggests that Angel will murder his son. Feeling disconnected from the group, Wesley does not share this information, and quietly kidnaps Connor. This backfires as he is attacked and the child is seized by an old enemy named Holtz, whose family Angelus and Darla slaughtered two hundred years ago. Holtz escapes through a portal to a hell dimension, and raises the boy as his own. Angel feels that his son is lost forever, he attacks Wesley and banishes him from the group. Weeks later Connor returns, but time moves differently where he has been, and he is now a teenage boy, having been raised by Holtz. When Holtz stages his murder to frame Angel, Connor imprisons his father in a casket and drops it to the bottom of the ocean.
Despite his exile from his old friends Wesley locates and frees Angel. A hellish Beast blocks out the sun over L.A. Although the city survives the sunlight seems to be blotted out permanently. In a desperate attempt to confront the Beast the team remove Angel's soul, releasing Angelus, but manage to restore it. Their efforts do not prevent the coming of Jasmine who was indirectly responsible for the work of the Beast. Jasmine, it turns out, was one of the Powers That Be and plans to solve all the world's problems by giving humanity total happiness through spiritual enslavement to her. Fred is accidentally inoculated against Jasmine's spell by contact with her blood and frees the rest of the gang though they remain hopelessly outnumbered by thousands already entranced by Jasmine. By revealing her true name they are able to break Jasmine's spell over everyone. In the season finale they are met by the ghost of an Wolfram & Hart employee, Lilah, who congratulates them on preventing world peace, and says that as a token of their appreciation W&H would like to give them the Los Angeles branch. To help save Cordelia and Connor Angel reluctantly agrees.
The gang begins to get used to their new life at Wolfram & Hart. Gunn undergoes a special cognitive procedure that transforms him into a brilliant lawyer. The group receive an amulet that resurrects a past companion of Angelus, the souled vampire Spike. Fred finally declares her affections to Wesley but shortly after is possessed by an ancient and powerful demon called Illyria. Wesley is devastated by Fred's death but agrees to help Illyria adjust to her new world. Angel infiltrates the Circle of the Black Thorn, a secret society responsible for engineering the Apocalypse. Angel's group plan to take them out and he tells them to spend the day as if it were their last. The team launches its attack on the Circle, dividing up their targets: Wesley is fatally stabbed. Illyria, concerned for his safety, arrives and grieves for Wesley. Once the Circle has been destroyed the gang rendezvous in the alley behind the Hyperion Hotel. Illyria arrives with news of Wesley's death and Gunn walks up badly bleeding from a stomach wound. The survivors wait as the Senior Partners' army of warriors, giants, and a dragon approaches. The series ends with Angel and his crew rushing into battle, saying, "Let's go to work."
[edit] Characters
[edit] Main characters
- Angel (portrayed by David Boreanaz) - Vampire over two hundred years old. Known as Angelus during his rampages across Europe but he was cursed with a soul which gave him a conscience and guilt for centuries of murder and torture. Angel moves to L.A. in search of redemption.
- Allen Francis Doyle (Glenn Quinn) - Born in 1970 to a human mother and a Brachen demon father in Dublin, he became a messenger for the Powers That Be. He hid behind the flimsy veneer of a ne'er-do-well hustler, seemingly more interested in where his next drink was coming from than helping others.
Image:Angel cast (Angel casefiles).jpg
- Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter) - At Sunnydale High Cordelia was the archetypal shallow cheerleader, who only reluctantly helped the Scooby Gang. She is softened by the loss of her parents' financial support and her failure to find stardom in L.A. She joins Angel Investigations to assist Angel.
- Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (Alexis Denisof) - his failure as a Watcher and subsequent sacking from the Watchers' Council led Wesley to hunt demons. He stumbled across Angel, joined the cause and went on to lead Angel Investigations.
- Charles Gunn (J. August Richards) - From a section of inner-city Los Angeles the police dared not go, Gunn grew up fighting vampires to protect his own. Initially mistrustful of Angel, Gunn eventually joins the group.
- Lorne (Andy Hallett) - Demon of the Deathwok Clan, Lorne lived in L.A. as a the host of a Caritas, a violence-free demon-friendly karaoke bar. As an empathy demon he can see into people's souls when they sing and leads them on their path.
- Winifred "Fred" Burkle (Amy Acker) - A young Texan physicist, she is trapped in Pylea, a world where humans are enslaved by demons, for five years. The harsh life of solitude and serfdom took a serious toll on her social skills and mental health. Angel rescued her and brought her back to L.A.
- Connor (Vincent Kartheiser) - Connor is born in in Los Angeles, California, a "miracle" human child of two vampires. He is subsequently taken to a hell dimension where he spends his childhood and much of his adolescence. He returns to L.A. as an angry young man.
- Spike (James Marsters) - An old vampiric companion of Angel's, the two traveled Europe in the late 19th Centry with their companions Darla and Drusilla. Fights Angel for the Gem of Amarra but joins the team after regaining his own soul.
- Illyria (Amy Acker) - One of the legendary Old Ones, an original pure demon from the Primordium Age, who ruled territory that included modern-day California. When the Old Ones lost their claim over this world Illyria's corpse was placed in a stone sarcophagus, her powers were drained and placed in jewels embedded on her coffin. Illyria is able to return by infecting the body of a human.
- Harmony Kendall (Mercedes McNab) - At High School she was a member of Cordelia Chase's popular clique, the "Cordettes". During her graduation she is turned into a vampire but retains her bubbly persona, pettiness, and susceptibility to stronger-willed people making her largely incompetent as a vampire. She decides to take up employment with evil law firm Wolfram and Hart.
[edit] Others
Many characters on Angel made recurring appearances. Throughout the series there were also guest appearances from Buffy characters.
[edit] Buffyverse spinoffs
Despite being a spin-off itself, Angel has inspired a whole "industry" of books, comics and merchandise. The history of many of these spinoffs can be traced in Buffyverse chronology.
[edit] Expanded universe
Outside of the TV series, Angel has been officially expanded and elaborated on by authors and artists in the so-called "Buffyverse Expanded Universe". The creators of these works may or may not keep to established continuity. Similarly, writers for the TV series were under no obligation to use information which had been established by the Expanded Universe, and sometimes contradicted such continuity.
Many of these works are set at particular times within the Buffyverse. For example, Joss Whedon has written an Angel mini-series of comics, Long Night's Journey which was specifically set in early Angel Season 2. Angel comics were originally published by Dark Horse, which published them from 2000 until 2002. IDW Publishing obtained rights to publish Angel comics in 2000 and has been releasing them since. Most recent releases include Spike vs Dracula, Asylum and Auld Lang Syne.
Following Pocket Books's success with a series of Buffy novels, Pocket Books purchased the license to produce novels for Angel. Twenty-four Angel novels were published. Jeff Mariotte became the most successful Angel novelist, publishing eleven Angel novels. They also published seven Buffy/Angel crossover books that featured settings and characters from both series.
[edit] Undeveloped spinoffs
The cancellation of Angel despite a strong following, and decision by the writers to end the series without providing narrative closure has contributed toward a desire by fans for further stories spinning off from Buffy and Angel.
As late as March 2006, Whedon still talked of the possibility of a TV movie involving Spike to be written and directed by Tim Minear.
[edit] Merchandise and fan films
Angel has inspired magazines, and companion books, as well as countless websites, online discussion forums, and works of fan fiction. Eden Studios have published an Angel role-playing game.
A parody of Angel, Cherub was released from February 2006. Each episode was 7-10 minutes long and released on weekly basis. Its downloads have long surpassed 100 000 downloads,<ref>\kiley, Brendan, Theater News: Fringe TV, Thestranger.com (June 2006).</ref> and Wired said that "it's easy to believe that one day soon, the format [Cherub's] cast and crew are pioneering will challenge network TV the way blogs have challenged publishing.".<ref>Newitz, Annalee, "Fan Films Reclaim the Whedonverse", Wired.com (June 8, 2006).</ref> A second parody of Angel, Vangelis is expected some time in 2007.
[edit] Series information
The first season was introduced in 1999. Each season was built up of 22 episodes. Discounting the Angel pitch tape, the five seasons make up a total of 110 episodes aired between 1999 and 2004.
[edit] DVD releases
Angel DVDs were produced by 20th Century Fox and released from 2001.
[edit] Awards
- Main article: Buffy and Angel awards & nominations
Angel has gathered a number of awards and nominations. It won Best Television from International Horror Guild in 2001.<ref name="awards">Various authors, "Awards for Angel", Internet Movie Database (updated 2005).</ref> It has received many important awards and nominations from the Saturn Awards (presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films): it won Best Network TV Series and Best TV Actor in 2004.<ref name="awards" /> Specific episodes, "Waiting in the Wings", "Smile Time" and "Not Fade Away", have won Hugo Awards for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form in 2003 and 2005.<ref name="awards" />
[edit] International broadcasting
- In Asia, the show was broadcast on Star World.
- In Australia, the show was broadcast on Seven Network.
- In Belgium, the show was broadcast on Kanaal 2.
- In Brazil, the show was broadcast on Rede Globo
- In Estonia, the show was broadcast on TV3.
- In France, the show was broadcast on TF1.
- In Germany, the first three seasons were broadcast on Pro7, the 4th and 5th season are likely to be shown on Kabel1 next year.
- In Indonesia, the show was broadcast on TPI.
- In Ireland, the show was broadcast on TV3.
- in Malaysia, The show was on TV2.
- In the Netherlands, the show was was broadcast on V8, NET 5 and Veronica (Untill episode 10 of the 5th season)
- In Italy, the show was broadcast on Italia 1.
- In Norway, the show was broadcast on TV2.
- In Portugal, the show was broadcast and is currently rerunning on FOX and Sic Radical.
- In the United Kingdom, the show was broadcast on Sky One and its currently repeating on the Sci Fi Channel.
[edit] Footnotes and references
[edit] External links
- Angel at the Internet Movie Database
- Official sites
- Selected fan sites
- All Things Philosophical on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (includes Angel content)
- Buffyverse Dialogue Database
- Buffyworld.com (includes Angel content)
- Slayage.tv - Buffy/Angel academic essays
- Whedonesque.com
- Whedon.info
- Encyclopedias
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