Joss Whedon

The Whedonverse

It’s a nice, general term that encompasses pretty much everything ever done by Joss Whedon. Plus, Whedon himself uses it (at least he did one time on Robot Chicken).

Firefly

When a single show tops just about every list of gone-too-soon programs, you know it didn’t get a fair deal. At least Firefly managed to get high DVD sales, a feature film and a legion of incredibly devoted fans out of its single, short season.

Creative Storytelling

Whedon’s storytelling versatility was obvious in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a series which featured a silent episode (“Hush"), a musical (“Once More with Feeling"), an episode with no music (“The Body") and an alternate-universe hero (“Superstar").

Browncoats

For decades, no fan group has had the power, numbers or devotion to rival Trekkies. But the Browncoats (named after the rebel fighters on Firefly) may come close.

Discovering Stars

What do Zac Efron, Josh Holloway and Wentworth Miller have in common (other than being pretty)? Each of the actors got his start on a Joss Whedon show (Firefly, Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, respectively).

The Musical Episode

Lately it seems like every TV show wants to have a musical episode. But would that even be a thing without the season 6 Buffy episode, “Once More with Feeling?"

Roseanne

He wasn’t there very long (who was though?) and is only credited with four episodes in the second season, but Joss Whedon was responsible for at least a few of the laughs on this hit comedy from the late 1980s.

DVD Commentaries

Joss Whedon has raised DVD commentary tracks to an art form. Not just a description of the episode, Whedon provides true commentary, background information and philosophical musings. Especially good commentary tracks include “Out of Gas" from Firefly and “Commentary: The Musical" on Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.

Scary, Not Sparkly, Vampires

Whedonverse vampires don’t sparkle. Occasionally they’re nice and good-looking. But they’re still monsters who mostly want to eat you.

Elevating the Taster’s Choice Guy

Do you remember those Nescafe-Taster’s Choice commercials that told the story (in 30-second intervals) of a man and woman meeting and falling in love over instant coffee? Well, the man was an actor by the name of Anthony Stewart Head, better known to Buffy fans as Giles. Giles was a step up.

Parenthood (no, not that Parenthood)

Long before the current Parenthood, there was a film. But after that film, there was yet another TV show. The older Parenthood lasted only a season (in 1990-91), but it marked the first show created by a much younger Joss Whedon.

The Maybe-There-Will-Be-a-Movie Delusion

It seems nowadays that every failed show (especially those in the sci-fi genre) makes a grand claim about a movie that will wrap everything up. It almost never happens. But you can thank Firefly and Serenity for the delusion.

Spike’s Poetry

Seriously, this is one of the worst examples of poetry. Ever. Even if Spike’s verses introduced most of us to the word, “effulgent."

Toy Story

Back before he became a celebrated TV guy, Joss Whedon co-wrote a couple of movie scripts. The vagaries of credit attribution removed his name from many of the more prominent scripts, but Whedon was listed as a co-author of the original Toy Story. He even got an Oscar nomination for it!

Casting on Every Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show

An awful lot of people have appeared as regular or recurring characters on programs within the Whedonverse. And they are in high demand. Evidence? Adam Baldwin (Firefly) is now on Chuck. Amber Benson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) has recurred on Supernatural. Morena Baccarin (Firefly) co-starred on V. The list goes on from there.

The Mutant Enemy Monster

The little guy who says “Grr. Argh." at the end of every show is just plain cute.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, movie version

It’s often hard to remember that there was a movie version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer long before the TV show existed. And it’s a pretty decent movie, even if you get Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry as the main romantic leads.

Press for the CW

Typically, no one pays much attention to new shows coming to the CW. But when you add in Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar (and her upcoming Ringer) to the mix, no one really cares which network her show is on.

The Adult Careers of Child/Teen Actors

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan, Seth Green and Eliza Dushku were all known as child/teen actors long before their appearances on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s entirely possible that none of them would be known for much more without the show.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

Dr. Horrible is the story of a wannabe super-villain and his meteoric rise to the heights of evil. Also, it’s a musical. Why not?

Realistic Death on TV

TV characters die all of the time. Usually, however, the deaths are staged in such a way that the audience knows it’s all unreal. In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode, “The Body," this was most definitely not the case. The death of Buffy’s mom was stark, shocking and utterly convincing.

Numfar’s Dance of Joy

That would be Joss Whedon, heavily made up, dancing in the background of an alternate dimension on Angel.

Buffy Season 8

Why should a TV show end when no longer on TV? Joss Whedon ignored a little thing like cancellation and continued the Buffy the Vampire Slayer story with comics that depicted what would have happened in season 8.

Evil Puppets

There aren’t many shows that feature an episode (“Smile Time") in which evil puppets suck brain power out of children. There definitely aren’t many shows that would turn their main character into a puppet for the episode. But Angel did.

Super-Big Super-Hero Movies!

All those big super-hero movies we’ve been seeing lately (Thor, Captain America, Iron Man...)? They’re all leading up to an even bigger super-hero movie, The Avengers. The film, coming in 2012, will be both written and directed by Joss Whedon.

Nathan Fillion

A few short years ago, Nathan Fillion was just another soap/sitcom supporting player. Then, Joss Whedon cast him in the leading role of Malcolm Reynolds in Firefly. That, along with roles as antagonists in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog raised Fillion’s stature to the point where casting him as the lead in Castle made total sense.

Big Bad

On shows with season-long story arcs, there’s usually some villain who must be defeated. Ever since Buffy coined the term, that villain is often known as the “Big Bad."

Angel

Although always overshadowed by its predecessor, Angel was an impressively good show in its own right. Everyone loves a good detective story, and the show’s supernatural take on the genre is one of TV’s best.

Kickass Women

Literally.

Killing Off Main Characters

Joss Whedon has managed to kill off a whole host of important characters in such a way that the deaths both moved along plots and made audiences care. Firefly killed off Wash and Book (in the movie). Angel did away with Cordelia and Doyle. Buffy saw the deaths of Jenny Calendar, Joyce Summers, Angel and Tara.

Also Buffy. Twice.

Summer Glau

She had her first credited role ever on Angel. She represented the show’s central conflict throughout Firefly. She even appeared on Dollhouse. Summer Glau has a lot to thank Joss Whedon for.

Enver Gjokaj as a Teenage Girl

With their characters altering for pretty much every episode, the dolls on Dollhouse had to be able to act. And no one acted better than Enver Gjokaj, who played Victor. His best moment (out of many episodes of greatness) perhaps came when Victor was imprinted with the personality of a teenage girl. The result was terrifyingly believable.

Angel Dancing

The Reavers

Joss Whedon and Firefly brought us zombies before zombies were cool. Granted, the Reavers weren’t technically zombies, but their mindlessness, cannibalism and vague origins seem awfully zombie-like.

David Boreanaz

Before his three years on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and five years on Angel, David Boreanaz was kind of nobody. Afterwards, he was the charismatic, hot guy who got the male lead on Bones.

Scooby Gangs

Sure, the term comes from Scooby-Doo, but would it be a common, pop-culture description of problem-solving friends without its frequent use on Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

Dollhouse

“Daring" doesn’t even begin to describe Dollhouse. With a tough-to-grasp concept, characters with constantly-changing personalities and an intricate mythology, not many people could have made Dollhouse work. Joss Whedon only got to try for two seasons, but the results were impressive.

“Shiny”

Used constantly on Firefly as a substitute for “cool," it’s just an awesome word.

Supporting Veronica Mars with a Cameo

It’s not like he had to do much (Whedon played a car-rental guy in the episode “Rat Saw God"), but it was entertaining to see a famous non-actor on the struggling show.

Internet-Based Series as Profitable Entertainment

Web series have been around for awhile. But, until recently, most people didn’t see them as much more than trifling entertainment. Then, the high profile and actual profitability of Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog proved otherwise.

X-Men, Speed and Waterworld

While not credited with any of the scripts for these movies, Joss Whedon did work on drafts. They probably would have been better with more help from him.

The Firefly Theme

In an era when TV theme songs have been going out of style, Joss Whedon wrote an incredible, Western-sounding ballad that pretty much summed up the entire ethos of Firefly.

Bunnies!

Come to think of it, bunnies are a little scary.

The Whedon Studies Association

There is an actual, legitimate academic organization devoted to cultural studies of Joss Whedon’s work. Really. Check out the Whedon Studies Association and its academic journal, Slayage at these links.

In Space, No One Can Hear…

Anything. Thank you, Joss Whedon, for getting that right in Firefly.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

A brilliant combination of comedy, horror and drama. One of the best depictions of high school ever. Pretty much the definition of “girl power." And one of the greatest shows ever broadcast on television. There may not be enough superlatives in the English language to do justice to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.