Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon on state of sci-fi: ’Many good shows are canceled early’

Joss Whedon — who’s now enjoying his temporary status as a Gleek for having directed a May episode that guest stars Neil Patrick Harris — is in no mood to eulogize the state of the sci-fi genre on TV right now, mostly because he doesn’t think it’s necessary. “When a show works, it works. When they don’t, they don’t,” he said Monday night at a Glee premiere party. “It has nothing to do with whether they are genre or not and sometimes it doesn’t even matter if they are good. Many good TV shows have been canceled way too early. It goes in waves and we have to figure out how to ride them and sometimes you wipe out. We are surfers not prognosticators. Certainly some blame can be placed on studios and networks who don’t nurture shows or give them time to catch on.”

As for directing a upcoming episode of Glee, Whedon confesses the Fox dramedy is “the hardest show to shoot on all of television” but he loved the experience. ”I have actually gone from fan to stalker which is weird because I am friends with them,” Whedon said. “I had such a good time and I actually knew most of the songs in the episode so I didn’t feel old and out of it. They handed me the script and the songs and that allowed me to just be a director. I just got to be a director trying to make an episode of Glee that was not worse than all the ones I love. I want to do it again sometime.”

A Glee insider told The Ausiello Files that Whedon’s episode will feature flashback scenes that show the popular Bryan ”picking up all the girls and getting the solos” while geeky Will ‘’sits off in the sidelines.” The stage for a present-day rematch is set when Harris’ character — now a board member at William McKinley High — announces his intent to cut the arts programs at the school. ”Show choir ruined his life, made him feel he could be a star, but all he could do is book Carnival cruises,” explains the source. ”Now he wants vengeance.” -With reporting from Carrie Bell