Angel

Jeffrey Bell, co-executive producer of The WB’s Angel, told SCI FI Wire that the vampire series is significantly lighter in tone this year, its fifth. "Oh, I would say it’s several degrees lighter, but then again, we’re not hosting an apocalypse this year," Bell said in an interview. "When you host an apocalypse, people are not real happy. It’s very hard to go do some funny story when the sun has been blotted out and a beast has ripped out your innards and killed 5,000 people and there have been earthquakes and whatnot."

Bell said that choices made early last season forced the writing staff to turn out darker episodes. Now, Bell said, with Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) in a coma, Connor (Vincent Kartheiser) given a new home, and Angel (David Boreanaz) and the Fang Gang ensconced in their new digs at the law offices of Wolfram & Hart, Angel is much more in keeping with the episode-to-episode tonal changes of the first three seasons.

"Last year, we realized Angel and the guys didn’t win many episodes," Bell said. "At the end of every episode, it was like, ’Oh, and they go get their ass kicked.’ This year, we’re able to mix it up much more. There are victories. People are saved. There are also losses and people not being saved, but it’s not all losses and people not being saved. We’re trying to look at the gray area of the situation, which is, ’OK, we’re trying to do good for an evil corporation, and we’re trying to do it from within. That means we’re going to turn our heads about the minor things so that we can do the larger good.’"

Bell cited the upcoming "Life of the Party" episode as a good example of a lighter Angel episode. "[It’s] just a full-on romp that’s a lot of fun," Bell said of the show, in which Lorne (Andy Hallett) attempts to throw the ultimate Wolfram & Hart Halloween party. "That’s the fun of being on a show like Angel, that the tone can change not just from week to week, but scene to scene within an episode. We can have something terrible happen at a very funny moment, and we’re trying to exploit those opportunities as much as possible."

"Life of the Party" airs Oct. 29 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The WB.