Angel (TV series)

Angel was the popular spin-off from the American television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Angel had a darker tone than Buffy, and at times it performed better in the U.S. Nielsen Ratings than its parent series. The series was created by Buffy 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 detailed the ongoing trials of the vampire Angel, who had 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 worked as a private detective in a fictionalized version of Los Angeles, California, where he and a variety of associates worked 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 (which, on Angel, are distinguished from well-meaning, neutral and innocent demons) as well as tangling with demonically-allied humans and 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.

Series concept

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. 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 Sam Spade-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, 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.

Just as Buffy was intended to capture a sense of the suburban oppression experienced by many teens, 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.

Development

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. While Buffy was built around the angst of adolescence, Angel chronicled the different stages of adulthood. The show was heavier in tone, 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 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. However, harder elements did remain; for example the beloved regular character Doyle was killed midway through the first season, a rare risk for an upstart series. 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.

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.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". [http://www.bronzebeta.com/Archive/Joss/Joss20040214.htm 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. Blame 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.

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."

Characters

Show stars

Angel (Angelus, Liam): David Boreanaz
Cordelia Chase: Charisma Carpenter (1999-2003, appeared once afterwards)
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce: Alexis Denisof (1999-2004, appeared once previously) - credited 'and Alexis Denisof' in seasons four and five
Charles Gunn: J. August Richards (2000-2004, recurring previously)
Winifred Burkle (Fred) and Illyria: Amy Acker (2001-2004, recurring previously)
Spike: James Marsters (2003-2004, recurring previously)
Connor: Vincent Kartheiser (2002-2003, recurring previously, appeared twice afterwards)
Allen Francis Doyle: Glenn Quinn (1999)
Lorne (The Host): Andy Hallett (2003-2004, recurring previously)
Harmony Kendall: Mercedes McNab (2004, recurring previously)

Important villains

Season 1 - Wolfram & Hart, The Senior Partners
Season 2 - Darla, Drusilla
Season 3 - Holtz, Sahjhan, Connor
Season 4 - The Beast, Angelus, Jasmine
Season 5 - Circle of the Black Thorn

Recurring characters

(Not including the villains listed above)

Wolfram and Hart

Allies

Demons and Villains

Throughout the series there were many guest appearances of characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, such as:

Plot summary

A plot summary, which contains numerous spoilers, is available.

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.

Spike movie

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.

Comics

''Main articles: Buffyverse comics and Angel comics

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. IDW Publishing just finished releasing The Curse and Old Friends and is presently releasing, the highly-selling Spike vs Dracula series.

Many more Angel comics are planned for release in 2006. These include: Old Wounds (Angel comic), Lost and Found (Angel comic), Spotlight (Angel comic), Spotlight (Angel comic), Spotlight (Angel comic), and Spotlight (Angel comic).

Novels

''Main articles: Buffyverse novels and Angel novels

After the success of Buffy novels published by Pocket Books, the same company bought the rights to license novels based on the spin-off. While these are not considered Buffyverse canon, they are usually approved by Whedon, and are heavily edited to conform to the known rules of Buffy's world. On occasion, the lore developed in the novels may conflict with that developed in the TV show. Jeff Mariotte became the most successful Angel novelist, publishing eleven Angel novels for Pocket Books.

Other spinoffs

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. There has also been a soundtrack album ( 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 sow.

Cherub: The Vampire with Bunny Slippers, is a parody spin-off of Angel, and is free, downloadable, internet TV show. Each episode is approximately 7-10 minutes long.

Trivia

David Boreanaz (Angel) and Christian Kane (Lindsey McDonald) are the only actors to appear in both the first and the last episodes of the series.

David Boreanaz (Angel) and James Marsters (Spike) are the only actors to appear in the final episodes of both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

David Boreanaz (Angel) is the only actor to appear in the first and final episodes of both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

David Boreanaz (Angel) and Mercedes McNab (Harmony) are the only two actors to appear in the first episode of Buffy and the last episode of Angel.

David Boreanaz (Angel) is the only actor to appear in every episode.

Christian Kane (Lindsey) originally auditioned for the role of Riley on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Joss Whedon originally planned to have Whistler (Max Perlich) serve as Angel’s sidekick through the entire series; but due to restrictions on Perlich's schedule, his character was replaced by Doyle.

Andy Hallett (Lorne) was featured in over forty episodes before appearing in the title sequence as a regular character.

Awards and nominations

Awards won

International Horror Guild:

Best Television (2001)

Saturn Awards:

Best Network TV Series (2004)
Best Actor in a TV Series David Boreanaz (2000, 2003, 2004)
Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series James Marsters (2004)
Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series Amy Acker (2004)

Awards nominated

Emmy Awards:

Outstanding Makeup for a Series Dayne Johnson (2000)

Hugo Awards: