Angel

Buffy is gone, "Firefly" was unceremoniously axed long ago, and Marti Noxon’s new series doesn’t start until midseason, so what’s a fan of the Whedonverse to do? Get reacquainted with Angel, of course. When we last left our heroes, they had signed a seemingly too-good-to-be-true deal with evil law firm Wolfram & Hart, and the show’s fifth season will find Angel running afoul of both W&H employees and clients. Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) is gone for good, but viewers still pining for their favorite Buffy characters will be cheered by the appearance of Spike.

You might have thought he died in the Buffy series finale … and you’re right. Kind of. Spike will appear on Angel as a ghost. Or something. Hey, we don’t pretend to understand how the Hellmouth and its outposts work. Spike gets "stuck" to Angel in some vague, mystical, Whedonesque way, and their ever-prickly relationship eventually leads to what has been described as a "super brawl." Oh, and in case you were wondering about the current whereabouts of the Slayer? Buffy’s in Europe, presumably sharing a flat with Brenda Walsh. Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on The WB, premieres Oct. 1