Angel

Entertainment - Reuters TV

Save ’Angel’ Campaign Takes Flight

Sun Mar 21, 8:53 PM ET Add Entertainment - Reuters TV to My Yahoo!

By Chris Gardner

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Angel" acolytes are nothing if not devoted, determined and organized.

Fans of Joss Whedon’s soon-to-be-canceled WB Network drama series sprung into action last month once it became official that the spawn of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" would get the big spike in May. The Save Angel postcards and full-page ads have been flowing into The Hollywood Reporter and other publications for weeks, but "Angel" fans distinguished themselves from past fan-fueled salvage initiatives last week by hiring (at $700 a day) a billboard truck to drive around Los Angeles and park at strategic locations (including THR’s Wilshire Boulevard offices, Warner Bros. and the WB, Paramount, UPN, HBO and 20th Century Fox) for maximum impact and, of course, free media exposure. ("We will follow ’Angel’ to hell . . . or another network," the billboard promises.)

Theresa Fortier, one of the instigators of the http://www.SavingAngel.org Web site, said the group has raised some $22,000 from several hundred donors in just a few weeks. The truck will cruise around for at least another week, and more print ads are likely to be placed.

"We’ve made it clear to (donors) that what we’re doing wouldn’t necessarily save the show, but if no one was gonna go broke, we’d appreciate whatever they could give," Fortier said. "We just want it known that we’re concerned that the end seems near for quality TV drama. We don’t want to lose the one last tie we have to the Joss Whedon universe."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter