Movies - Angel

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Angel was the highly successful spin-off from the American television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer
. Angel had a darker tone than Buffy, and it at times performed better in the U.S. Nielsen Ratings than its parent series. The series was created by Buffy creator Joss Whedon in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired in October of 1999. Like Buffy, it was produced by Whedon's production company, Mutant Enemy.

The series detailed the ongoing trials of the vampire Angel, who had his human soul restored to him as a punishment after more than a century of murder and torture of innocents, leaving him tormented by guilt and remorse. During the first four seasons of the show, he worked as a private detective in a fictionalized version of Los Angeles, California, where he and a variety of associates worked to "help the helpless" and to restore the faith and "save the souls" of those who had lost their way. Typically, this involved doing battle with evil demons (which, on Angel, are distinguished from well-meaning, neutral and innocent demons) as well as tangling with demonically-allied humans and his own violent nature. The term "demon" when applied to the Angel universe refers to the original or pre-Christian definition of the word, which could just as often be morally value-neutral, as opposed to referring to evil beings exclusively. Although not used, the phrase "extra-dimensional alien" (or something similar) would probably be more appropriate in describing certain characters (Lorne in particular) whose intentions were generally not malevolent.

Series concept

The original concept for the series was a dramatic modernization of the classical noir detective story, which gained popularity in large part through the works of Raymond Chandler. In much the same way as Buffy had been a recreation of classical horror films, Angel gave the same treatment to the classical film noir. The central design and format of the series echoed classic noir films — the first episode even included a Sam Spade-style voiceover. The character of Angel was developed here as a recreation of the reluctant, hard boiled Los Angeles detective who has dealings with a variety of underworld characters. In this case, the "underworld" is a more literal underworld of demons and supernatural beings. Many traditional noir stories and characters were explored in earlier episodes, including the ditzy but attractive secretary, the cagey but well informed partner, and clashes with crooked lawyers and meddlesome, too-good-for-their-own-good cops. These were usually given a modern or supernatural twist.

The style and focus of the show changed considerably over its run, and the original noir idea was mostly discarded in favor of more large scale fantasy-themed conflicts. The initial impetus for this change is often attributed to Tim Minear, who wrote many of the show's most important episodes. In later seasons, the mythology and stories became increasingly complex; in season four, one of the characters on the show itself described the storyline as "a turgid supernatural soap-opera".

The series also mirrored Buffy in attaching itself to a higher overarching theme. Where Buffy used supernatural elements as a metaphor for personal issues in adolescence, Angel employed the same kinds of metaphors to explore higher spiritual and moral issues. The central theme of the series was the protagonist's quest for redemption. Just as Buffy was intended to capture a sense of the suburban oppression experienced by many teens, Angel made much use of the feelings of loneliness, danger and callousness often attributed to the urban Los Angeles megalopolis. The divisions between the ordered world of the day and the chaotic world of the night have been trademark themes of noir and by depicting a protagonist who literally has no daytime life, the series was able to explore these same themes in more dramatic metaphorical ways.

As the series progressed, some of the more personal issues on the show were set aside in favor of more high-minded, abstract ideas. Whereas the show originally dealt with the difficulty of being kind to people on a personal basis, more recently the show focused on ideas such as moral ambiguity and the cost of free will. Viewer reaction to these thematic changes over time has been mixed.

Development

While the first 3 seasons of Buffy (the only three produced and broadcast when Angel began its run) focused on the angst of adolescence, Angel chronicled the different stages of adulthood. The "Unaired Angel pilot" was designed to show the WB Network the potential of the series. Initially the show was planned to be darker in tone, scenes were cut from "City of" involving Angel tasting the blood from a murder victim. The episode that was originally written to be the second episode, "Corrupt" was abandoned altogether. Instead the tone was lightened, the opening episodes established Angel Investigations as an idealistic shoestring operation with impoverished employees who sacrificed material comforts in order to do the right thing. As the series progressed, Angel became a single father with a steadily more successful career, who had to deal with a rebellious teenage son. Most recently, he became the CEO of a billion-dollar corporation: he and his coterie of warriors "sold out" and "went Establishment."

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Movies - Angel

Series concept

Development

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