Angel

Roush Room ASK MATT

Monday, November 24, 2003 Question: Oh, my God! That was my refrain when the Angel credits started rolling after the Nov. 19 episode. Seriously, I want to know your opinion on this latest episode and on Angel in general. This has been a very different season with the move to Wolfram & Hart and Spike coming over from Buffy. This last episode shocked the pants off me (so to speak). It is reminiscent of when Cordelia stabbed Lilah, it was that much of a shock. I was wondering what you thought and also if the WB was happy with their ratings. Personally, it is my favorite show. That said, I just wondered about your feelings on Tru Calling. I personally like the show, but to each their own. I know it has suffered in the ratings department, but it seems like Fox doesn’t want the show to make it. Seriously, why would they put a new obviously cult show on a Thursday night at the same time as the powerhouse struggle of Survivor and Friends? What were they thinking!?! - Christen

Matt: For a complete take on my reaction to the Angel episode, check out my Nov. 19 Dispatch. But the early response in my mailbag has been uniformly positive. I’ve enjoyed the show this season, but I was getting antsy for Spike to stop being a ghost, so I was thrilled that the episode so quickly resolved that situation and immediately set up this new chapter in the rivalry between Angel and Spike. Loved the flashbacks, and I was rocked by the final scene in which Eve revealed her duplicity by crawling into bed with Lindsey (Christian Kane), the former Wolfram & Hart lawyer who has returned with obviously evil intentions. This series is great fun, and it seems to be holding its own in a very tough time period. I will wait impatiently for new episodes to return in January. (Yes, I know, it’s a long wait, but honestly, I could use the rest - and I advise fans of good genre TV to sample Jake 2.0 on UPN while Angel is on a break.) As for Tru Calling: Unless Fox moves it to another time period, I imagine it’s doomed. But I can’t get too worked up about this one. I love the star, but the premise and much of the execution leave me cold.

Question:What is the deal with programs starting early, running late, running over an hour, under an hour? ER long, Angel short, Sisco short, Bachelor long, and all the rest. It seems no one has to keep a schedule any longer. Does ER actually sell commercial time in part of the hour preceding it? What gives? - James M.

Matt: It’s aggravating, I know, but it’s all about the cutthroat nature of the business. I was intrigued but not surprised when the readout on my digital cable listing noted that NBC’s broadcast of ER officially started a minute before the hour. Like I hadn’t already figured that out. The idea is to reduce the possibility of viewers switching between shows, or (in this case) eating into the last minutes of the megahit on a rival network (CSI). In the case of The Bachelor running over the hour into Karen Sisco, that’s an obvious attempt to hook the fans of the reality show into the considerably less trashy show that follows. Sadly for Sisco, that didn’t work out.

Question: I’ve been watching UPN’s new show Jake 2.0 and really like it, and that scares me, because with my luck it will probably get cancelled. I was wondering if you’ve seen it, what your opinion is and how does it appear to be doing in the ratings race, especially since it’s up against Angel? - Chris K.

Matt: Actually, Jake 2.0 is up against five strong competitors in what I consider the most competitive and overcrowded time period of the week. Being a fantasy-adventure competing with a cult thriller like Angel is especially problematic for the show, and as with so many other UPN series, Jake is a distant sixth place in the time period. The good news is that UPN picked it up for a full season, a most refreshing vote of confidence for a perfectly enjoyable show. I’m looking forward to catching up with Jake as more shows go into repeat mode in the next few weeks. I encourage anyone who’s looking for a fun hour of light adventure with a likable young star (Christopher Gorham) to do the same and check this out while you can.

Question:A friend told me that Fox is going to bring back Family Guy in a year or so. Do you know if this is true? Family Guy is one of my favorite shows, and I watch it all the time on Cartoon Network and I’m dying for some new episodes. Also, since Fox may bring back Family Guy, do you think they’ll also give Futurama another shot? - Bridgett

Matt: There are reports that, because of the success of Family Guy in DVD sales and on Cartoon Network, Fox will put new episodes of Family Guy into production. When, what, where, etc., I just don’t know. There remains a possibility that the Fox network won’t air these episodes, in which case the Fox studio could sell them to Cartoon Network or some other outlet (you’d think Comedy Central might get in a bidding war over a show this funny, but I’m just thinking aloud on that one). Or, since Fox now agrees the show may have been ahead of its time (or possibly over the head of its sometimes clueless executives), it could end up back on the network that spawned it. Given the previous topic of show resurrections, the prospect of new episodes of Family Guy is a very happy piece of news. I wouldn’t count on this starting a trend of comebacks, although I didn’t see this one coming, so who knows? But I would bet that Futurama and - as some diehard fans continually wonder about - Firefly are part of Fox’s past, not future.