Joss Whedon

Although his Fox series "Dollhouse" is no more, Joss Whedon has a reason to be happy this year: He will receive the 2010 Vanguard Award from the Producers Guild of America (PGA). The award, which recognizes achievement in new media and technology, will be presented to Whedon on Jan. 24 at the 21st annual PGA Awards.

Emmy nominee Whedon is a smart choice for this year’s award; although he’s built the core of his fan base with cult favorite television series such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Firefly" and "Angel" (as well as feature scripts for "Toy Story," among others), he established himself as one of the few writer-producers in traditional media to have a strong grasp of the potential for entertainment on the Internet with his Emmy-nominated 2008 Web series "Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog." The musical project, which poked fun at romantic comedies and superhero tropes, was frequently cited by entertainment and technology publications and sites alike as the most successful working model of how to create independently produced Internet content that also draws a profit (outside of the adult film industry, of course). Whedon’s savvy and forward thinking are certainly worthy of such a tribute, which in the past has been paid to such visionary filmmakers as James Cameron, George Lucas and John Lasseter — the last of whom, by the way, will receive the 2010 David O. Selznick Award in Motion Pictures from the PGA at the same event.

Whedon’s response to the honor was typically wry and self-effacing: "This is an honor I didn’t expect and probably don’t deserve," he wrote - but also acknowledged the path that "Dr. Horrible" was blazing in new media. "This is a time of radical change in media delivery, and I’m honestly proud that the PGA has singled me out as someone who sort of knows what’s going on."