Angel

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — David Boreanaz isn’t really listening to me.

The Angel star, you see, has his eye on some leggy babe at The WB’s party here during the press tour for fall TV shows.

"Oh, baby," Boreanaz gushes while I try asking him about Angel’s upcoming season. "Do you see the legs on that one?"

Uh, of course I do. I try again.

"So what do you think about the fifth season?"

"Long and lean, baby," Boreanaz says, eyes darting devilishly. "Long and lean."

For some reason I don’t think he’s talking about the show.

Finally, Boreanaz, clearly not the brooding sort in person, takes his eye off the lady and focuses on me.

"It’s going to be exciting. The characters are going to be different. The environment is going to be different," he says. "I’m looking forward to it."

The WB is certainly looking forward to Angel attracting more viewers next season. The show was in serious jeopardy of getting pink-slipped but was picked up at the last minute after creator Joss Whedon agreed to make it more accessible.

"There’s going to be opportunities... to take Angel out of the tunnels, take Angel out of the darkness and create more of a stand-alone franchise," says Jordan Levin, The WB’s entertainment president.

And Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Spike (James Marsters) will also join the cast. (We knew he didn’t really die!)

Says Levin: "That’ll give us the opportunity to basically take the mythology of both worlds and collapse it into Angel."