Angel

•Congratulations are clearly in order ! Alyson Hannigan (Willow of BTVS fame) and our very own Alexis Denisov (Wesley) tied the matrimonial knot last Saturday, October 11th at Two Bunch Palms in Desert Hot Springs, CA. (AKA Palm Springs). TV Guide and E ! TV announced the couple’s official coupling after their nearly 5-year courtship.

And if life just seems like it can’t get any better - Alyson Hannigan just announced her signing with NBC to star in a half-hour comedy, which the network targeted for the 2004 fall season. Until then, the gal will be busy as she joins the cast of "That ’70s Show" for a multi-episode story arc this season as she plays a new recruit at the police academy where Ashton Kutcher’s character also enrolls. •And as long as we’re in the happy news/success report mode - we’re happy to announce that The WB network just confirmed this week that it has placed a full season order with the 20th Century production, for Angel, which has flourished in its new Wednesday night timeslot this season. Hurrah !

According to E ! Online, Angel, which was on the bubble until the very end of last season (argh, please don’t remind us of painful times), returned for a fifth season with its future unclear. Thankfully we were kept in the dark about this little tidbit of information - The WB had an option to cut the show back to 13 episodes if it failed to perform (say it ain’t so !) but instead it’s 5.2 million viewer average is WAY UP from last season’s 3.7 million. Now that’s a relief !

•James Marsters’ band, The Ghost of the Robot is apparently getting ready to put out their second CD. But in a recent interview with E ! Television, James revealed that with his busy Hollywood type schedule and the fact that some members are doing the college thing - it’s taking a little more time than originally thought. Check out the band’s official website.

•Who’s that wolf ? Is it love ? Our brooding hero may have had serious eyes for this week’s guest beast Jenny Mollen, but fans are wondering where we’ve seen her before.

We’re thinking you must have seen her trolling the Hollywood Hills because she appears to be just starting out in what appears to be quite the budding career. Jenny Mollen does have two flicks released this year - the comedy short called "Billy Makes The Cut" and the spooky freak show called "Searching for Haizmann" also starring George Kennedy and Tippi Hedren. Coincidentally enough, "Searching for Haizmann" sports the creepy and very Angel-like tagline, "To become aware of him is to loose your soul." Jenny plays former teacher Grace Robin.

•E ! Television reports some very cool characters should be gracing the Angel set this season. Here is what we have so far : Sarah Michelle Gellar (don’t hold your breath though - it ain’t happenin’ until February or May sweeps), Alyson Hannigan and Juliet Landau which proves the old Joss Whedon adage to be true. Dead on his set doesn’t necessarily mean you are out of a job.

•Our newest cast addition, James Marsters, recently took part in a little sit down with E ! Television’s Kristen who asked all the questions that have been on our minds.

For instance - how did he handle the move from Buffy to Angel ?

According to James, "It really wasn’t much of a transition. I’ve worked with David Boreanaz before, and I worked with Alexis Denisof doing Shakespeare. So, it feels very normal, and I was welcomed with open arms. The people like one another, and I have to say I’m very, very happy here."

And who does he miss most from the cast of BTVS ? "Tony Head. He had an energy that was so clean and warm, and you could just feel healed by being in his presence - swear to God. I’d come in all depressed about one thing or another, spend five minutes with Tony and I’d be fine. He’s an incredible man. All that warmth is genuine."

Hopefully we’ll see an announcement soon about his impending guest-starring role on Angel !

And when it comes to the Angel/Spike dynamic - James is very optimistic. "It’s really cool - there is so much there. They share such a deep connection, even a love. They can’t really talk to anyone around them about what they’ve done. They can’t talk to humans about how they feel about humans, because vampires look at humans as very limited creatures. They come in and out and don’t tell humans much about anything."

Love ? I guess we’ll just have to keep watching to feel the love.

•E !’s Kristen was also spilling the mega-spoilage so if you don’t want to know, don’t read on.

As you may have seen by the final scene last week - for some reason Spike feels a real connection with Fred. He will try (unsuccessfully) to spook the girl, which ends up backfiring and giving the undead one a very ugly "I’m a bad ghost" complex. Fred will let Spike in on the Shanshu prophesy secret that she’s working on that should turn Angel into a human and even goes to bat for Spike and attempts to convince Angel that his old friend/arch nemesis is more like him than he realizes and to get over the whole Buffy thing because they both just care for her.

Expect to see a lot of Spike storylines including an episode that focuses almost completely on him where he heads way, way south - back to hell. Fred will try to help keep him "solid" with a contraption called a "recorporealizer" but fate is fate so we’ll have to just wait and see if it keeps our boy out of the hot zone.