Bye, Bye Vampire TV

The Tyee.ca

I can't remember if it happened right after my 25-year-old brother was injured in a serious car accident, or a few months later when he was diagnosed with cancer (between those two milestones my parents split up and launched into an ugly divorce). But at some point five years ago the insipid lives of the characters on Friends started to annoy instead of mildly entertain me, and it seemed like nothing on television captured my attention fully enough to stop worrying about my family problems.

That was until I discovered Joss Whedon's critically-acclaimed series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which a teenage "vampire slayer" (played by Sarah Michelle Geller) fights demons, ghosts, vampires and other supernatural forces to restore order in suburban Sunnydale. It stood out in a sea of shallow sitcoms, mindless reality TV shows, grim crime series, overhyped medical dramas and other dull series. For me, Buffy had all the necessary elements for high entertainment value: a grim alternate reality that made my own problems seem small, heroic characters, mystery, fast-paced witty dialogue, incredibly loyal friends, supernatural elements, and battles where good almost always defeated evil.

Buffy fulfilled my need to stretch my imagination and find respite in the comfort of blissful escapism. After Buffy ended last season, the more adult spin-off Angel, featuring Buffy's ex-boyfriend, a vampire with a soul who seeks to redeem himself by fighting evil, filled the void. But now that Angel has been vanquished by the WB Network - the last episode aired Wednesday night - I'm left wondering at the death of this masterfully written and produced fantasy series. A recent article in the Toronto Star refers to this as an "end to an era of smart TV."

In the beginning

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, originally written by Whedon as a feature film starring Kristy Swanson and Donald Sutherland, did fairly well in theatres in 1992. Five years later, Whedon developed it into a TV series, which ended last year when leading actress Geller decided to leave to pursue film roles.

Due to the success of Buffy and some of its characters, Buffy spawned a spin-off series called Angel, starring David Boreanaz as Angel, a youthful-looking 250-year-old vampire with a soul who works as a private detective to help people troubled by supernatural problems. In general, while it was not as well-known as its parent show Angel received better ratings than Buffy and was WB's second highest rated series with adults between the ages of 18 and 34.

Its end marks the end of an era featuring more than vampire and demon hunting on television. It's the end of a series that despite brilliant writing, wry, witty dialogue, impressive make-up and special effects, never really got its due on television. It never won an Emmy and didn't achieve the high ratings that many lesser series received.

Fans resist death knell

 

Since WB announced it would not be continuing to carry Angel several clubs have formed to lobby WB and other networks to pick up the show for a sixth season. These groups' web sites include savingangel.org They have organized rallies in Los Angeles featuring the slogan "Let's fight for quality TV," letter writing campaigns, and online petitions.

In an attempt to quell angry Angel fans, WB recently released this statement: "For the last seven years Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer have been cornerstones of our network. The sum total of the work done on those shows has produced some of the proudest moments in our history. Like some of the great series that are leaving the air this year, including Frasier and Friends, the cast, crew, writers and producers of Angel deserve to be able to wrap up the series in a way befitting a classic television series and that is why we went to Joss to let him know that this would be the last year of the series on The WB."

However, Whedon has said publicly that he hopes his actors and crew are busy with other projects and has not committed to making a couple of specials. Furthermore, leading actor Boreanaz has said that he's reluctant to perform in the role again unless it's made into a film for theatrical release.

'Keep on fighting'

Unlike the tearful good-byes and tributes given to Friends and Frasier, Angel seems to have disappeared into the night under the cloak of darkness, with only a small cult following protesting its disappearance. In fact, the final episode, entitled "Keep on Fighting" ended with Angel and his loyal group of demon-fighting friends preparing for yet another battle against the forces of evil to avert an apocalypse. There was no storybook ending, just a sudden and disappointing anti-climactic finish with several loose ends.

Whedon said in an interview published by Associated Press that "keep on fighting" refers to the leading character's fight against evil and for personal redemption, but is also as message to thousands of fans desperately trying to keep Angel around for one more season.

However, for now it looks as though Angel, like its much-loved characters, has simply vanished quietly into the night.

In the meantime, viewers interested in revisiting Angel can catch a 12-hour marathon on the Space Channel on Monday, May 24, starting with the very first episode, featuring 10 episodes selected from the series' five seasons, and ending with the series finale.

Brenda Jones is a frequent contributor to The Tyee.