Whedon Watch: 2004

[nerd4hire]

Whedon Watch 2004 INDEX
Rumours, Hoaxes and Facts ​

Page 1
Starts at 05-07-2004

~ Astonishing Xmen
~ Fray 2
~ Serenity
~ Ripper
~ Angel WB 6 part mini-series
~ Faith the Vampire Slayer
~ Buffy Animated

Page 2
Starts at 05-14-2004

~ Joss on WB Angel Movies

~ Angel to NBC
~ Angel to Sky
~ Spike Spinoff
~ British Boyband Singer as Male Slayer
~ Faith the Vampire Slayer
~ Joss on Ripper
~ Animated Buffy
~ Boreanaz on future Angel possibillities, and Serenity rumours.
~ Dark Shadows/Angel connection
~ Puppet Angel
~ Joss on more Illyria

Page 3
Starts at 06-07-2004

~ Spike, Illyria, and Andrew
~ Spike Spinoff
~ Buffy Animated update, and Giselle Loren as Buffy's voice.
~ Ripper

Page 4
Starts at 07-03-2004

~ Update on hoax, rumour, and fact.
~ Fray 2
~ WB Angel Characters Movie Mini-series
~ Whedon for X Men 3
~ Joss on WB Angel movies, Gunn's death, and a Serenity comic.

Page 5
Starts at 08-11-2004

~ Joss on Buffy Animated, and Angel/Buffy film possibillities. Also X men 3, Angel supporting character projects, and WB mini-movies.
~ First mention of the Buffy Season 8 comic from Dark Horse.
~ Joss denies X Men 3 rumours.
~ More WB rumours.

Page 6
Starts at 10-21-2004

~ Avi Arad on X Men 3 rumour
~ X Men 3 rumour is false
~ Joss for Wonder Woman. Story begins.
~ Serenity actors contracted for trilogy.
~ Serenity stuff.


* * *

To the best of my knowledge here is the status of future Joss Whedon projects as of 05-07-2004:

--------------------------------------------------

Astonishing X-Men Comic (written by Joss Whedon)- For sure; Set to come out monthly starting May 26

Fray 2 - Not Yet. Joss promises a sequel, but right now it's "believe it when you see it" status.

Serenity Movie (Firefly sequel) - For Sure (I think); Filming scheduled to begin June 4th 2004 according to IMDB.com.

Ripper (Giles Spinoff) - On again. Off again. Who knows? (Interesting Sidebar: The Ripper page at TVTome has Tom Lenke added to the projected cast).

Angel WB 6 part Mini series - It's just a rumour started by the WB. Personal opinion - completely bogus, as is usually the case with the WB disinformation squad.

Faith the Vampire Slayer - A spinoff of the rumour above from the rumour mongering WB. It's unlikely at this time. To my knowledge Tru Calling has not been officially cancelled.

Possible Angel, or Buffy theatrical release - Not even a Whisper.

Other possible spinoffs - Nothing solid enough to mention at this time.

 

[Mr. Pointy]

Good thread idea n4h - I really would like to see Ripper. Dreamwatch this month has a speculative article which suggests that it would be most likely of all Buffy spin-offs.

 

[Guestage_87]

I wouldn't really want to see Faith or Giles spinoffs as much as I would like to see "Andrew: The Watcher Chronicles" but that's just me. Although, it's good to see that Serenity is underway and hopefully we'll get another Fray sometime soon.

 

[nerd4hire]

Joss's editor for Dark Horse Comics had something interesting to say concerning Fray in an interview:

Q: Are there any plans for Joss to write a follow-up to Fray?

A: Not so much plans, but we are talking about it. He has a few things he wants to write, and the truth is I think it's Fray that he's most interested in.

Source

Also someone from Slayerverse.de claims to have been hanging out with James Marsters at a convention. I generally take anything I hear from sites like Slayerverse.de, Herc from Ain't it Cool, or City of Angels with a grain of salt, because they don't appear to be big fans of accuracy. Nevertheless, here's what he or she said:

During their meeting James expressed how much he appreciated the efforts made by SavingAngel.com and clearly stated that they were not in vain. To loosely quote him, he said: "I don't believe your efforts were senseless. We are discussing a new Spike TV movie project." He was referring to a Spike-centered movie, not one for the Angel series.

 

[Allycat]

You forgot to mention the Buffy Animated Series, which is like Ripper, on again, off again.

And if Serenity is succesfull, its two sequels.

 

[nerd4hire]

Rumours That Affect the Whedonnverse

I read a couple of interesting rumours here MediaSharx

They are from Mediasharx, and therefore have to be taken with a grain of salt. Mediasharx spread the WB 6 part Angel miniseries rumour. Nevertheless here they are.

The first one concerns Dark Shadows:

Meanwhile, BarnabasUndead is reporting that they have heard that the Frog will likely pass on the DARK SHADOWS pilot. The WB reportedly only had two drama slots available for the fall schedule and JACK & BOBBY takes one of them; THE MOUNTAIN will likely take the other. The show, like the 1966 original, would have centered on the Collins family of Widow's Hill and the supernatural events that surround them.

This one wouldn't surprise me. Levin and the WB have taken a lot of flack on Dark Shadows in light of the unwarranted cancellation of Angel. If Dark Shadows were to bomb, Levin would be publicly revealed for the clown he is.

The other rumour concerns the Alyson Hannigan sitcom pilot:

Insiders at NBC are saying that the pilots for JOEY, D.O.T.S. and the untitled one from Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline have tested relatively well, while the Alyson Hannigan pilot HOME & HARDWARE, THE FRIENDLYS, WEEKENDS, and FOSTER HALL have not.

 

[ana8]

I think I posted the whole article on this in AH forum..I really hope that we'll never actually see new Dark Shadows..

 

[nerd4hire]

I should have listened to Buffy Summers. She saw the Dark Shadows thing in her crystal ball.

Actually she was dubious of it ever getting a regular spot, because it reminded her of Fearless, and all the hype that preceded that potential series.

I still think they used Dark Shadows to pressure Joss though. Maybe because I'm a conpiracy freak, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm wrong.

 

[nerd4hire]

Yeah the Buffy animated series... It was originally proposed for Fox Kid's, right?

Here's a quote from an old story:

The cartoon fell foul of restructuring plans for the channel, however, and wasn't required as part of Fox Kids' Saturday morning line-up. In addition, Sarah Michelle Gellar had opted not to voice cartoon Buffy - despite the rest of the cast offering their vocal talents to the series.

And here's something recent they posted at TV Tome.

According to Buffy.nu, there might still be life in this show. During the Cleveland Slayer Convention, Nicholas Brendon apparently mentioned something about the Buffy cartoon being picked up and that he, Alyson and Tony would do the voices for their characters.

This information is unconfirmed, but I just thought you wanted to know.

Nicholas does have drinking problems though, so I don't know...

Nathan Fillion however was alleged to be sober 😉 when he suggested the possibility Serenity could be the first episode of a Trilogy, just as you suggest.

 

[Allycat]

Well on the Animates Series I can tell you, that the girl who does the voice overs for the Buffy games would be willing to voice Buffy over for the series too... I don't know who passed it on, I never saw the actual article, so much for credibility.

 

[nerd4hire]

Oops forgot to post the source for the SMG won't voice the animated series rumour.

http://groups.msn.com/FansofBuffytheVampireSlayer/buffycartoon.msnw

 

[The Q]

Oh i remember mention of the AS aaages ago. They said SMG wasn't going to do it then either... stars eh? 🙂.

As i recall it was going to be set in the early school years again.. so basically "untold tales" type thing

 

[Allycat]

Sort of what the comics did, but then with Dawn added.

 

[The Q]

Oh yeah, Dawn was going to be put in as well. Its all coming back now 🙂

 

[nerd4hire]

Herc from Ain'titcool came out with a trio of rumours today.

The first isn't so much a rumour as Herc's opinion on Buffy.Nu's bogus sounding rumour, NBC is interested in buying a season of Angel. Here's what Herc has to say about that:

It was a very very fakey post, from somebody claiming to have some connection to NBC, but Dark Horizons apparently posted a link to it, which means every human being on the planet who ever read Dark Horizons (Hi Garth! Thanks!) emailed the Herc about it over the last 12 hours.
So I asked someone intimately familiar with the situation, a good man or woman who was decent enough to speedily reply:

Herc -

I wish it were true, but it's a steaming pile of BS. The sets have been struck, the writers are on new shows, etc.

Joss is very focused on SERENITY which starts shooting in three weeks.

Best,

[Someone Intimately Familiar With The Situation]

Herc went on to post some rumours of his own. They have to with Drew Goddard...

You all know that finale-co-writing/directing "Angel" vet Jeff Bell is transferring over to "Alias" next season, yes? Well, ol' "Intimately Familiar With The Situation" also reveals that "Buffy"/"Angel" superstar Drew Goddard (he co-wrote that last, brilliant Italy-set episode) is also migrating to "Alias"! So look for "Alias" to become perhaps the best show ever next season!

also an Elizabeth Craft rumour

Liz Craft (she and her superstar pard, Sarah Fain, wrote the five-star "Underneath," aired a couple Wednesdays ago), recently mentioned in passing that the distaff scribe duo would be hooking up with the next season of FX's "The Shield." (Which is masterminded by yet another "Angel" vet, Shawn Ryan.)

These all come from Herc, so attach the usual grain of salt, but Herc's rumours usually do have some truth mixed in with them.

Source

 

[nerd4hire]

Recent Whedonverse Rumours

These dates are not 100% accurate. They're just to give you a time frame

May 14

Joss on the Possibility of WB Angel movies:

"Part of me is still thinking about TV movies," he said. "The WB did propose the idea of doing something... but it was kind of offhand. There was interest in that, but I haven't heard anybody really pursuing it."

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/entertainment/8653564.htm

Earlier Joss said this on the subject

Joss Whedon, co-creator of The WB's vampire series Angel, discounted the network's reported plans to spin off a series of TV movies next year based on the show, which ends its five-year run on May 19. "The rumored movies are so far just rumors," Whedon said in an interview at the Saturn Awards in Los Angeles. "There are no definite plans to do anything with Angel besides finish out the season as well and as hard as we can."

---------------------

May 13

City of Angel.com claims Britains Sky TV will kick in to see Angel continue. They offer a quote, but don't say who it's from.

SKY were so desperate to keep the show, that they offered to pay half the price for a sixth season, if any network offered to keep it going. There have even been rumours of a sixth season going straight to DVD in the states, and SKY are warming to the idea:

" Yes we have been told about a sixth season going straight to DVD by FOX. They have said they are discussing it. We welcome the idea, we have said that we would be happy to pay some of the cost for the show to be produced, as long as we are allowed to screen it over here in the UK on Sky One."

So for the very vocal Angel fans out there, there is hope. And Sky are looking into every option to keep everybody's favourite vamp going.

---------------------------
May 12

On May 09 someone from Slayerverse.de claimed he heard James Marsters say he was in talks for a Spike spin-off. Herc from Ain't it Cool claims he checked into it with his quote unquote reliable sources, and the story sounds for real to him.

"There is good news though. James Marsters recently told reporters that that he could be spraying the hair white again for a "˜Spike' Spin-off. We heard from a reliable source overnight who backed up this one.

"It's about the only thing that's likely to happen at this stage. Marsters is pretty keen to keep on being Spike. You can't blame, it's a cool character. They're looking at shaping the telemovies around him, only because Boreanaz isn't that interested, not because Spike's the more appealing option."

According to "˜Tabasco', the telemovie might happen before the end of the year "“ but not as early as September as previously rumoured. "Best case scenario for everyone: telemovies go off, Spike gets a series. Whedon's taking a break at the moment though, so don't expect anything official for a couple of months".

May 11

Anything for a Web hit, Buffy.nu reaches into fantasyland to come up with a preposterous story saying they received an Email from an official at NBC claiming NBC was interested in a sixth season of Angel.

Later, under sharp critique, even the unscrupulous Buffy.nu had to come clean. They posted an edit to their story.

EDIT 2:00 PM
We think more and more that this news is a fake because NBC will announce his schedule May 17th, Angel staff/crew are no more available and James Marsters has no more hair !, we will try to investigate further. We are sorry in advance if we all have been fooled.

-------------------------------

May 06

A story broke suggesting British boy band singer Simon Webe of Blue was going to star in a British re-make of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The actual story, looks more like this

BLUE star SIMON WEBBE is writing a new TV horror show - which he's touting as the British answer to American favourite BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER.

The singer is looking to branch out into other areas following a successful career in the boyband, and after making a cameo appearance in new JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT movie THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE, Webbe now claims a TV network is keen to take on his new project.

He says, "They're calling it the British answer to Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

"I've been a footballer, I'm a singer, I have my own production company and I do a bit of acting.

"I couldn't say which one I love best. I'm an all round entertainer."

Blue as Buffy Rumour

Rots o ruck Simon.

---------------------------

There was a Faith the Vampire slayer rumour that originated at Mediasharx.com when a writer quoting a quote unquote reliable source, at WB once more claimed Warner Bros. was coming out with Angel movies in September.

Even the writer of the article had to come out later and admit this was questionable. Tru Calling had yet to be canceled.

 

[nerd4hire]

Apparently there's a Joss Whedon Interview in a recent Issue of Entertainment Weekly. Here's a chunk of it that concerns the animated Buffy:

Q: ANY SPIN-OFFS IN THE WORKS?

A: At present, theres only one: an animated Buffy, filled with "all the things we couldn't afford, and all the jokes that were much too silly."

EW Whedon Interview


Concerning Ripper: There's a great little video, interview with Joss Whedon where he explains the future of the Ripper spin-off.

BBC Whedon-Ripper Interview

 

[nerd4hire]

According to a fan who claims to have attended the recent flashback convention in Chicago, David Boreanaz addressed a couple of rumours concerning himself.

* The rumors that he will have some role in "Serenity" are just that, rumors...he has not been cast for the movie (not yet, anyway).

* And finally, he was asked about the possibility of any Angel telefilms next year, and he said, "I have to be honest...I'm not interested in returning to these characters in a television movie. I would like to do a feature film."

Source

 

[nerd4hire]

It's starting to look official. There will be no Dark Shadows:

No Dark Shadows for WB May 17 2004

Variety has unveiled the WB 2004 Fall schedule, confirming that Dark Shadows has not been picked up for broadcast. As hinted in recent months, the same article reports that: "The WB will likely rest shows midseason by either launching new dramas or reality shows in those slots." However, it seems unlikely that Dark Shadows will be considered as a midseason replacement, with the show conspicuously absent from TheFutonCritic's roundup of midseason projects.

Perhaps the most telling comment about Dark Shadows' misfortune is Variety's verdict that "franchise mania is over," borne out by the similar failure of The Robinsons: Lost in Space. While we understand that some attempts are being made to shop the pilot to other networks, its hopes seem increasingly dim. One possibility is that the pilot could eventually see the light of day on the home video market, though there are no known plans for this at present.

http://www.collinwood.net/news/

 

[nerd4hire]

Now here's an interesting rumour that hits the Whedonverse in 2 places.

Herc from Ain't it Cool claims Jane Espenson, writer of some of the best of Buffy, is going to be writing for Tru Calling this fall.

Source

Oh yeah, and supposedly minor Buffy writer Drew Z Greenberg is going to be writing for the OC, but so what.

I should also mention the rumour Anna 8 posted elsewhere, concerning some comment Alyson Hannigan's mother supposedly made in a local paper claiming Alyson is doing voice work in England, presumably for Buffy: Animated.