Angel

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Posted at the Bronze Beta:

Joss says:
(Thu May 8 17:14:46 2003 140.98.210.253)
Hi kids,
No, this is not the evil anti-Joss. I wear no goatee/van-****/fu-manchu facial hair. I follow not the path of the scar-faced Spock.
I am the real deal. The gala mandala. The free chi.
I merely wish to spread good will hunting and Matt Damons to all by stating that Angel will definitely
be back next season. The official news spews next week.
Kai and I love you all, love each other, love ourselves, make love to elves, and are often fresh on Hobbits.
Bugs and Krishnas to all!
Joss

source: http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~hsiao/media/tv ... 30508.html

Now whether that was really Joss is up to you to decide

[K-man]

Total agreement here......the finale was awesome! I hope the above thread from Candygirl was in fact from the real Joss. They can't end it now. I agree with Lance, this season was great, but as far as getting better, just when I think they can't top last season....they do it. I love the ideas and writing on this show. I also wonder what Gunn saw in the kitty's eyes. I just hope that if/when they come back, Connor stays up in the hills with his new family. Thanks Candy for keeping us up on the status of Angel.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

WB will officially announce next season's lineup Tuesday at 10:30 am at the Sheraton New York and Towers in NY - fingers crossed!

ETA: you can view the official schedule here on Tuesday morning.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Apparently the above post was a fake and Joss has posted The Truth over at Bronze Beta:

joss says:
(Fri May 9 18:39:45 2003)

OKAY! for the first time ever, someone pretended to be me with some measure of success! Congratulations. Here's exactly what came of it: the brass at the WB saw the post, thought it was me, and got wicked pissed off. The fact is, they are still deciding the schedule, and Angel's future is still in doubt. Making them angry at this stage is, shall we say, unhelpful. Hopefully my colorfulness will make it clear I'm me, I don't have time for the usual funny.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

From Variety.com

Warner Bros. TV's "ER" will remain open on NBC until at least May 2006, while 20th Century Fox's "Angel" -- with new cast addition James Marsters-- is taking flight for a fifth season on the WB....

'Angel' wings in

As for "Angel," Frog has ordered another full season of the Joss Whedon-creative skein and will air the show Wednesdays at 9 p.m., with relocated hit "Smallville" as its lead-in. Frog has an option for a sixth season.

What's more, Paradigm-repped Marsters has signed on to reprise his "Buffy" role as punker vamp Spike. Other "Buffy" regulars may also make guest appearances next season, while Whedon has vowed to write several scripts and direct episodes of the show.

Jeffrey Bell and Tim Minear will be exec producers/showrunners.

Charisma Carpenter, who plays Cordelia, is not expected to return as a series regular.

"Angel's" recent ratings perfomance should have made it a shoo-in for a renewal.

Still, WB execs wanted to see how their drama development turned out, and, more importantly, needed to hammer out a new license fee deal with 20th. While "Angel" isn't a particularly expensive skein to produce, it doesn't do very well in repeats, making it tougher for the Frog to turn a profit on the show.

"Until we knew at what price we could close a deal for the series, as well as what the rest of our schedule cost, we couldn't make the call," WB Entertainment chief Jordan Levin said.

Still, unlike the rancorous Frog-20th negotiation over "Angel" sibling "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Levin said the "Angel" talks repped "a cordial, non-emotional negotiation.

"It's a deal that's acceptable for both of us, and also ultimately respects the fans of the collective 'Buffy' and 'Angel' mythologies," Levin said.

print source: Mon, May 12, 2003, Los Angeles edition

[lance]

On behalf of Angel fans everywhere...




YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!

Great Thanks to MSCL.com's own, Candy, font of knowledge, girl.

Best,

Lance Man

[lance]

Candygirl,

Given that Angel has been renewed (thanks God) and that Spike will be appearing on Angel are you going to keep you avatar as Spike? Maybe get a different image? How about one with Spike wearing his leather jacket, that would be cool.

Best,

Lance Man

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Yup, it's now official that Angel has been renewed for a fifth season and James Marsters will be a regular; however, it seems that Charisma Carpenter and Vincent Kartheiser will not be returning as regulars. Take that with a grain of salt, since "regular" refers to being included in the opening credits (and, of course, money!) - they may still appear as "guest stars" or "special guests" on a regular basis.

[K-man]

K-man is too happy/excited to type right now!

[Natasha (candygirl)]

I normally don't watch Angel (my boyfriend watches every week though)

Sammi, your boyfriend rocks!

[Natasha (candygirl)]

I don't know how reliable these sources are, but Charisma Carpenter's fansite is reporting the following:

The WB announced today that ANGEL has been renewed for a 5th season. You can read the announcement here. As many of you will invariably notice, Charisma Carpenter is no longer listed as a cast member.

We are able to confirm today that, as per the WB cast listing, there are no plans at the present time for Charisma to return to the show. However, if the opportunity presents itself, the possibility exists that she could return as a guest star or in a series recurring role (similar to Lorne). For the fifth season, Andy Hallett and James Marsters join the cast as series regulars.

For those of you wishing to voice your concerns over this change, we will be providing addresses for you to write in the next couple days.

Another site reports:

ANGEL beauty CHARISMA CARPENTER has quit the hit TV show.

The sexy star - who played rich girl CORDELIA CHASE in both Angel and original series BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - wants to spend more time with her young family.

A source says, "She just doesn't want to do it anymore."

[lance]

Candygirl,

Anything, that you know of, to the rumour that Angel was top heavy with regular cast members and with James Marsden's appearance that a regular cast member had to go?

Best,

Lance Man

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Hey, that's James Marsters (although I wouldn't mind James Marsden too because damn he has some cheekbones to rival Spike's)!

What I heard from Spike himself as far back as a few months ago is that he and Joss wanted to bring Spike over to Angel, but that (as always) money was the issue.

There was talk of having a 10 episode arc with Spike, but James Marsters said his preference was to be on Angel for the entire season.

Although he wanted to become a regular cast member, he specifically stated that he didn't want someone else to have to go at his expense.

As far as the show's budget goes, the WB said that the show isn't expensive to produce so I don't know how much adding one cast member would affect that statement. True, the show has grown from three regulars in the first season to seven by the end of the fourth season but seeing as they were already paying for seven regulars this season, I highly doubt that JM's salary is so high that they would have to knock out TWO regulars just to pay him.

Charisma Carpenter was still under contract, which leads me to believe that she had a say in her not continuing as a regular. When she announced her pregnancy, she said that she would continue on the show - no maternity leave. They allowed her to appear minimally at the end of the fourth season and she intended to rest up during the hiatus and return to do the fifth season. Given the experiences I have had working with other new moms, I think she really meant all of that when she said it and then once the baby was born, she realized that she would rather be at home with him.

I don't have a lot of speculation about VK though. It's possible that he wanted to leave the show or ME felt that his story was done. It's also possible that he will continue to appear on the show regularly since many ME characters have been vital recurring cast members without being in the opening credits (Faith, Tara, even Lorne until this March).

ME tends to stick with what they believe is "true to the story" (even if we don't agree with it), even if it means taking away a beloved character (like killing Tara). If they think that Angel was supposed to sacrifice his relationship with Connor in order to give his son the life that he always wanted, then that's what they do. Especially since that gives Angel one more reason to brood

I don't think, however, that VK's status as a regular means he is necessarily off the show. Think of the possibilities - a few weeks without any Connor then Mr. Top 10% is somehow recruited to W&H without Angel's knowledge and no one else understands the pained looks on Mr. Angel's face. Or Connor discovers his superpowers and goes looking for answers. There are a lot of possibilities for a Connor storyline that don't require him to be a regular.

Right now there are a lot of rumors flying, but I am not convinced that any of them are true...yet. Time will tell.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Anything, that you know of, to the rumour that Angel was top heavy with regular cast members and with James Marsden's appearance that a regular cast member had to go?

Much more official coming from ME:

David Fury repeated on the Succubus Club chat that NO ONE was fired because of James Marsters.

He said that Spike has always been special, that he was an anomaly in the vampire world. LMPTM showed that Spike did in fact retain part of his soul when he died, and that's why Spike could love Buffy and feel for Dawn and Joyce, and ultimately make the choice to go get his soul back.

He and Tim Minear both said James was always pegged to go to whatever spin-off was planned, and that the WB picked up Angel because James was part of the package.

[lance]

Anything, that you know of, to the rumour that Angel was top heavy with regular cast members and with James Marsden's appearance that a regular cast member had to go?

Much more official coming from ME:

David Fury repeated on the Succubus Club chat that NO ONE was fired because of James Marsters.

He said that Spike has always been special, that he was an anomaly in the vampire world. LMPTM showed that Spike did in fact retain part of his soul when he died, and that's why Spike could love Buffy and feel for Dawn and Joyce, and ultimately make the choice to go get his soul back.

He and Tim Minear both said James was always pegged to go to whatever spin-off was planned, and that the WB picked up Angel because James was part of the package.

Marsters, Marsters...

I'll get it right, eventually. Thanks for the updates. I am quite glad that Spike will be appearing on Angel next year.



Best,

Lance Man