I just finished writing my syndicated column on Buffy and Angel and I just posted that stuff about how emails get into the Corner and I get the following email from a former producer of Angel:
Jonah, I note sadly and with great dejection that my e-mail to you of 5/21 has gone unread. I whine. And I reproduce it for you here (it was regarding your musing that “Angel” might have some, um, afterlife):
> Yes, Jonah, you’re wrong. There’s no plan nor hope that another network is gonna pick up “Angel.” David went blonde and James shaved his head. Wow. Must really be The End. And I speak with some inside info, having written and produced “Angel” for four years with Joss, along with several fantabulous episodes of “Firefly.” (though I wasn’t on “Angel” this last season, as I was busy getting cancelled all over again on Fox with “Wonderfalls.”)
Joss ended “Angel” the way he did because “fighting the good fight” and how “there is no big win” was always the mission statement of “Angel.” The fight goes on. It’s a series of battles, small and large. And a series of series cancellations if you happen to be on Fox on Friday nights, I might add. But I digress. And if the finale seemed rushed, it’s probably because every episode of every season is rushed. <
That said, I wanted to chime in on the Vamps-Shouldn’t-Photograph thing. Mostly because I’m supposed to be writing and this seemed like time better spent. Anyway! I notice that a reader wrote to you:
“It has been established within the Whedon-verse that you can photograph a
vampire. On an episode of ANGEL, Cordelia and Angel are looking at an old
photo with Angel in it. Cordy remarks, “So vampires DO photograph. The just
don’t photograph WELL.”
The scene was actually between Cordy and Wesley. Yes, I’m a geek, but I also wrote that scene and that line. I tried to explain this seeming problem in an earlier episode by having Angel explain re: why he turns up on film: “It’s not physics, it’s metaphysics.” Sadly, that line was cut (shot, but cut) because the episode was nine minutes over in its first assemblage. So I suppose that doesn’t count.
However we were not inconsistent: In fact, Angel could not be photographed before we wrote that he’d show up on film. (Hey, if it works for some pols, should work for a TV writer who’s just tryin’ to spin a yarn, yes?)
Your devoted –
Tim Minear