Joss Whedon

Joseph "Joss" Whedon (b. June 23, 1964) is a writer, director, executive producer, and creator of several television series, most famously Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He has also written several film scripts and several comic book series.

Television work

After moving to Los Angeles, Whedon secured his first writing job on the television series Roseanne.

Related Topics:
Los Angeles - Roseanne

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Whedon has been described as the world's first third-generation TV writer. He is the son of Tom Whedon, a successful screenwriter for The Electric Company in the 1970s and The Golden Girls in the 1980s, and the grandson of John Whedon, a writer for The Donna Reed Show in the 1950s.

Related Topics:
Tom Whedon - The Electric Company - 1970s - The Golden Girls - 1980s - John Whedon - The Donna Reed Show - 1950s

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Years after having his script for the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer filmed (the interpretation by director Fran Rubel Kuzui having been poorly received by critics and audiences), Whedon revived the concept as a television series of the same name. Buffy the Vampire Slayer went on to become a critical and cult hit, with the episode "Hush" receiving an Emmy Award nomination for outstanding writing in a drama series in 2000. Whedon wrote and directed the musical episode "Once More, with Feeling", which featured the show's cast in singing and dancing roles. The show ran for five seasons on The WB Network before transferring to UPN for its final two seasons. Though it premiered on Mondays at 9pm, Buffy ran since the middle of the second season on Tuesdays at 8pm. (In the aforementioned musical episode, Buffy makes the Brechtian comment, "Dawn's in trouble. Must be Tuesday.")

Related Topics:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Fran Rubel Kuzui - Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Hush - Emmy Award - 2000 - Musical - Once More, with Feeling - The WB Network - UPN - Brechtian

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Angel

Angel was a spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, featuring her vampire-with-a-soul boyfriend as the title character. It was created by Whedon in conjunction with David Greenwalt. Debuting in September 1999 on the WB, the show was broadcast after Buffy on Tuesday evenings; but when Buffy switched networks in 2001, Angel aired in a number of different time slots, and rarely attained the ratings of its predecessor. The WB cancelled the show in May 2004, but network executives have hinted that it might be brought back in some fashion.

Related Topics:
Angel - David Greenwalt - May 2004

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Firefly

In 2002, Firefly, which Whedon produced with Tim Minear, was canceled by Fox after only 11 episodes. Whedon had been writing a movie script based on the TV series for Universal Studios for about a year when the Firefly series was released on DVD. The excellent sales of the DVD set ensured the movie would be produced, and in early 2004 Whedon announced that his proposal for a Firefly movie had been greenlighted by Universal. Shooting started in July 2004, and the film, Serenity, was released on September 30, 2005 to widespread critical acclaim.

Related Topics:
2002 - Firefly - Tim Minear - Fox - Universal Studios - 2004 - Greenlight - July 2004 - Serenity - September 30 - 2005

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~