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Whedon chat on AOL from a couple of weeks ago...

POSTED BY: Hjermsted
UPDATED: Monday, November 25, 2002 20:56
VIEWED: 1158
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Monday, November 25, 2002 8:54 PM

(Apologies if anyone has posted this already)

PART 1

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Joss Whedon Live Chat AOL - Transcript

AOL Live presented a special 'Angel' watch and chat in which creator Joss Whedon joined us during the second half hour of the show. Joss chatted and answered member questions about 'Angel', 'Buffy,' 'Firefly' and much more. See what he had to say below!

AOL Host: Good evening, everyone, and welcome to part two of AOL Live's Watch & Chat for 'Angel,' which airs every Sunday at 9PM on The WB. We're very pleased to announce that Joss Whedon, the creator of 'Angel' as well as 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Firefly,' has now joined us. Joss, welcome to AOL. It's a huge pleasure to have you here tonight.

Joss Whedon: Thanks for having me.

AOL Host: Tell us about tonight's episode, which you wrote and directed. What inspired the idea of having the characters revert to their teenage personas?

Joss Whedon: It started with Alexis. We talked about how cool his character had become. But we said a fond farewell to the blithering bumpkin he was when he arrived. I got the idea of doing the show where everybody [was the way they] used to be. We got the same feeling about Cordelia. She became wonderful and fascinating; wasn't it fun when she was the biggest bitch in the universe? Wouldn't it be fun to go back to the old days?

AOL Host: We have our first question, from WheresMyDude8: You are awesome, Joss. Is there any chance of adding younger cast members, like you have on 'Buffy'?

Joss Whedon: Vince is a couple of years older than Dawn -- who plays Angel's son, Connor. It is more 20-something than the rite-of-passage youth of 'Buffy.' It is possible. It looks like 'Angel' could continue to run for a while. It is not our focus, like on 'Buffy.'

AOL Host: We have a comment and a question from a member, who says: Joss, you are a genius and a really sweet guy. I loved the Vegas episode. Did you actually film that there?

Joss Whedon: Yes, that was filmed at the Tropicana. Andy was actually singing in Vegas. The biggest production values we have probably had, and probably the last.

AOL Host: We have a question from Heyforman124, who wants to know if you look at any of the Web sites or message boards about your shows.

Joss Whedon: I do. I look for comments and what people are liking, not liking, what they are talking about, all of that stuff. I'm fascinated by it.

AOL Host: How important has the medium of the Internet been to spreading the word about your shows?

Joss Whedon: I think it has been essential. The way 'Buffy' and the Internet have interacted has been unprecedented. I knew I had fans before I got a chance to see and understand what ratings were, because I would go on sites and meet people. The community that started out from the very beginning has just grown and grown. It is a mob scene now.

AOL Host: Was it fun being able to write Cordelia as the vain and shallow high school character she started out as?

Joss Whedon: Oh, my God. It was so much fun. It is always fun to write people who are extreme like that. When you do a show for a long time, you get to know and love your characters. They eventually become sort of heroic. The worst thing that could happen is the last year of 'MASH' syndrome -- everybody is lovable, and you can't create conflict. We are not going through that. There is real conflict on 'Angel.' It is nice to go back to the raw beginning when everyone is completely in their own world.

AOL Host: We have a question from Boxen360: What is the theme song for 'Angel'? I love it and it touches my soul.

Joss Whedon: I was thinking how underrated it was and how beautiful it is. The name is 'The Theme From 'Angel.'' We went to a bunch of local bands and said, here is the basic idea for the theme. The basic idea for 'Angel' was cello rock, soulful and rocky. Not like 'Buffy,' but its own melodramatic space. Darling Violetta recorded it. I think it is really extremely underrated and it does touch me.

AOL Host: Speaking of theme songs, you wrote the the

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Monday, November 25, 2002 8:56 PM

Part 2

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AOL Host: Tonight's episode of 'Angel' shows the characters as teenagers, and adolescence has obviously been a huge part of 'Buffy' -- what were your teenage years like? How did you fit into your high school's social hierarchy?

Joss Whedon: I didn't really fit in. I was very much an outsider and felt myself to be. I was, you know, I wasn't despised or picked on, I just sort of didn't really matter. I tended to come in and make jokes and leave before anybody told me that they wanted me to leave, so I didn't have to hear it. That was sort of -- I decided when I was 14 that was my purpose in life, walk into a crowd, say something funny, and leave while they were laughing.

AOL Host: The episodes of 'Buffy' and 'Angel' that you have directed have been some of the most memorable ones of them all. Do you wish you had the time to direct more than you do?

Joss Whedon: If I could direct every one, I would. I would be tired and cranky and hateful, but, yeah, I only get to do four or five a year. That is way more than somebody running a show should be doing, and I'm running three. So clearly I have lost my head. I love directing. I love directing all three shows for very different reasons.

AOL Host: A member wants to know: Will you do a musical episode of 'Angel' like you did on 'Buffy'?

Joss Whedon: David and Charisma have informed me they know people who can kill me, so probably not anytime soon. I did a ballet episode. What more can they ask?

AOL Host: We are getting a lot of questions from members about future crossovers on 'Buffy' and 'Angel.'

Joss Whedon: Faith is appearing on both shows. We don't have any others planned, but more I cannot say.

AOL Host: NonangelCall wants to know if the electrical girl from the 'Ground State' episode will be returning on 'Angel.'

Joss Whedon: Yes. The electrical girl will be returning fairly soon, in fact.

AOL Host: Can you tell us anything about what Faith will be doing on the shows later in the season?

Joss Whedon: She will probably be looking really sexy and fighting people, based on her history. Apart from that, I ain't saying.

AOL Host: Do you know exactly when she will be coming back?

Joss Whedon: About the middle of the season on 'Angel.' She'll be returning [there] first, which is where we left her. Then she'll come to 'Buffy' for the end of the season.

AOL Host: How much time are you able to spend on 'Angel' vs. 'Buffy' vs. 'Firefly,' because you are doing three shows?

Joss Whedon: It kind of equals out. 'Buffy' and 'Angel,' I spend an enormous amount of time breaking stories with the writers, trying to find the heart of the story. That is the most important part. I don't have to spend as much time on the set of 'Buffy' and 'Angel,' because they have been in play, and I have producers I trust who can watch the directors and make sure the actors are doing what we are looking for. I have actors on 'Firefly' I trust, but it is the first year, so you spend time on rewriting, costumes, being on set. When you first start out with a show, you have to be involved with everything. After a while, you can let things take care of themselves.

AOL Host: A member wants to know what your favorite 'Buffy' episode is, if you can name one.

Joss Whedon: It varies, very often. I have to say that 'Innocence,' the episode where Buffy slept with Angel and he went crazy, will have a huge place in my heart. That show more purely showed us what we were going to be able to do with that series, kind of took it to the next level. Hey, you never forget your first time.

AOL Host: This weekend, as you may or may not know, there is an academic conference devoted to 'Buffy' at a university in England. Are you flattered by that? Have you read any of the scholarly books written about your work?

Joss Whedon: I haven't read any scholarly books. I'm very flattered. I wish I could be there. 'Buffy' is made by a bunch of writers who think very, very hard about what they are doing in terms of psychology and methodology. We take the s

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Monday, November 25, 2002 8:56 PM

Part 3

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AOL Host: Raven wants to know: Besides 'Buffy' and 'Angel,' which characters have you had the most influence in developing?

Joss Whedon: Well, I developed all of them. That is my job.

AOL Host: Question from another member named KRC, who wants to know: Do most shows have a shelf life, and if so, how do you keep the characters alive and interesting?

Joss Whedon: If the writers are still excited when they come into a story and the actors are still doing their best, the show is fresh. With 'Buffy,' it's easy -- easier because the show kind of recreates itself every year. Every year we have a different sort of mission statement. At the same time, it is the same bunch. People do change, but it is the same core group. But it doesn't feel more difficult now than it did in the second year or the third year. It is really about the enthusiasm. When that goes away, then the show goes away.

Joss Whedon: Also a lot of shows are -- and usually the more successful shows are formula shows, where you know what is going to happen. Jessica Fletcher is going to solve the murder. There is a shootout in the warehouse. Sonny Crocket is going to be depressed. Scully is not going to believe it is a monster. Feel like that. That makes for hit shows, as opposed to cult shows. The problem is that really does get tiring. Those end up having a shelf life, because it is so difficult to find something new to say about all of that. So we have that advantage. Although it is also kind of a disadvantage.

AOL Host: Question from a member who points out that in last week's episode of 'Angel,' there was a picture of Cordelia's parents. Will they appear on the show and meet 'Angel'?

Joss Whedon: Maybe. We have no plans.

AOL Host: 'Firefly' is part science fiction and part classic Western. Would you have liked to make it a purely Western show or is the sci-fi component just as important to you?

Joss Whedon: I grew up on sci-fi more than any single thing. I love sci-fi. The reason I chose to combine it with the western elements, as well as many other elements, is because I'm interested in history, the history of this country, and I'm interested in life when it's hard. And, you know, that sort of feeling we're barely making it and we're all in this together, as opposed to the distancing, shiny, alien-filled, Spandexy sci-fi there has been a lot of. I wanted to do is show that felt like it wasn't so contemporary it would be dated. So I basically took the past and the future and made a very conscious decision to say, well, they are just about the same thing.

AOL Host: Do you have any more plans to write comic books like the one you did for Dark Horse called 'Fray'?

Joss Whedon: I plan to finish 'Fray.' I just gave the artist issue seven. I have hundreds of plans to write billions of comic books and create an entire comic book empire. Unfortunately, like an idiot, I started running three TV shows. So those comic books will not appear in the near future. I have overextended myself, and I am dying.

AOL Host: What comics have influenced you, if any?

Joss Whedon: When I grew up, very much reading the Marvel universe -- Spider-Man, Warlock, Daredevil. The X-Men, of course. Nowadays, you know, pretty much anything Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis, Alan Moore put on the page, I'll pick up.

AOL Host: We are almost out of time. We have time for a couple more questions. Can you give us any hints about where this season of 'Angel' is going towards?

Joss Whedon: It is going towards, you know, some horrible, horrible pain and apocalypse. Tonight's episode is very much a gay romp. We had an enormous amount of fun filming it. The actors and I, I mean, we lost a lot of time because they couldn't stop laughing while we were working. That won't happen anymore. Things are about to get pretty dark. I just can't say any more than that.

AOL Host: Will Buffy ever find out about Angel's feelings for Cordelia?

Joss Whedon: I think at some point she probably will. She will laugh and laugh, and they will all

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