The final nail has been hammered into Television's coffin. It happened on Friday, February 13, when the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off, Angel, one of the most popular shows on the WB network, and most successful drama spin-offs ever, was cancelled. How fitting that one of the only decent shows found on television today would be cancelled on the nationally renowned bad luck day- Friday the 13th! Now, mind you, Television is not dead yet-no, it will continue to sputter along, exhaling its last breaths, which will surely be filled with such toxins as Reality TV and Dawson's Creek rip-offs. But eventually, we the viewers will turn off our televisions. Why? Because there's no more originality!
You readers may think that this is the whiny baby cry of a girl who is about to lose her favorite TV show. You could think that, but you'd be wrong! This is the outcry of an original thinker-an artist in my own right. I paint with words and ideas. And goddamnit, I think others should do the same! There is something to be said for what a little creativity can do for the mind and the spirit. And television, hell, even the movies nowadays----the ENTIRE entertainment industry is squelching that. Television shows lately seem to fall into one of seven categories, with a few rare exceptions: Police drama/comedy, Law Drama/Comedy, Medical Drama/Comedy, Family drama/comedy, BIG nighttime soap opera, or, Reality television. And when they do fit these, roles, they do it oh so tightly. Anything with a quirk is not accepted. There is no room for genre tales. No, I am not bemoaning my Angel-but rather I have been spurned into my rage because of it! This has been building up all season long-as network executives decided it would be a fun idea to give people money for lying in a box of scorpions, I was dreaming up this little rant!
Angel creator Joss Whedon said it best in an interview with entertainment magazine staple Variety, "I thought that if a show was really good and doing really well (in the ratings), it was renewed. I was apparently misinformed." He then followed by saying, "I do understand the business of it," he said. "But to me, when they're scrambling to hold on to their audience, their revenue, their dignity, it doesn't seem the best decision. And it's certainly not the classiest." Then, Whedon added, "If there's no place for quality in the equation, I don't know why we're here." And frankly, Joss, neither do I. Why spend seven seasons of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and five seasons of Angel building characters when WB CEO Jordan Levin will just inform you of your cancellation at the end of this season when you've only got five episodes left in your shooting schedule to wrap the series up. Casting sides were already being leaked out onto the internet for Episode 17 of the 22 episode season when word of the cancellation got out. And then Levin had the nerve to behave as though this was done as a favor to the Angel writing team. In his press release, Levin, who is known for making huge mistakes with his network (canceling the potentially stellar Birds Of Prey, Promoting Tarzan as though it was the second coming of Christ, and anything that has to do with the last three seasons of Charmed), explained, "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." How on Earth is it possible for a series to wrap up eight years of mythology (and that's what the Buffyverse is-mythology) with five episodes? Never mind the fact that the WB press release concerning the shows 100th episode, which aired on January 21st, stated the following. "ANGEL is currently The WB's second highest-rated series with adults 18-34." While a look at the ratings will tell you that Angel has been steadily gaining since the start of Season five, the network is said to have axed Angel because, while the show had a cult following, it could not gain new viewers-um...excuse me! How can there be a steady increase in the ratings of a show that is not gaining any viewers? Hmm....something smells fishy...
This is not the first time that a great show has been swept away like so much rotten cheese. Last season, the much beloved Sci-Fi Channel born show, Farscape, which was one of the channels first original series, was axed merely a couple of days after filming the last episode of the season, leaving viewers in horror as they realized that the season finale cliffhanger, one in which series leads John and Aeryn are literally blown up into tiny bits seconds before the end, was actually the series final bow. Thankfully, the WB was kinder with the timeliness of their announcement than Sci-Fi, but the insult is still there-when you fall in love with the shows characters, when the writing is such that it inspires others to write, when the series has more websites about it than you can fit on a top 100 list, a show has a following. And a following should not be ignored!
There are still some original shows on the airwaves that should still be around next year. Much like this season of Angel was a Vampire story dressed in a law backdrop, the CBS series Joan of Arcadia is a brilliant family drama with one quirk. The main character speaks to God on a regular basis. Now that's TV that has (almost) never been seen before. I'll take any series like this one as opposed to the Gimmick-a-week offerings of media "gems" like Charmed and Smallville.
Basically, I'm pissed and this is me in my anger. If you're a viewer that likes reality TV and you don't agree with my ravings, answer me this-Why should it all be reality TV? The problem with networks today is that they find one thing with a mass market appeal, and then that's all they can have! Especially when the show is cheaper than the actual plot-driven television shows we've all grown to know and love. Ever since Survivor, the reality phenomenon has continued to blossom, while networks leave their established fictional shows to die a slow death. Turn on your TV-any station-and count how many commercials they show for, say, Survivor as opposed to Joan of Arcadia-you'll find the ratio to be very biased. Variety is the spice of life people! Get something new in your repertoire! Until then, I'll tune into the measly offerings you network executives have presented to me and when I find that diamond in the rough, I'll grab onto it and run with it until the very end! I guess my TV will spend alot more time off than on this year.
Send your comments and or questions to JManzano@ybfree.com.