Do The Networks Hate Whedon? The Creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse

Well, someone has to ask the obvious question, right? If you're a Buffy fan – or just a general Whedonite – then it must have crossed your mind at some point during the past few years, packed as they have been with the cancellation of one awesome Whedon created series after another.

Buffy is the first series that brought Whedon to general public attention (and the only one that didn't come to an untimely end, thus far). Prior to that he worked on other people's film and TV work as a scriptwriter, and turned in a script for the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer film. (But don't blame him too much for that. The final version is supposed to bear little resemblance to the original in Whedon's head.)

The Beauty and Genius of Buffy The Vampire Slayer

But Buffy was a sparkling polished gem that was too brilliant for the networks or the general public to ignore. It survived for seven seasons and reached a denouement satisfactory to the fans and the original creator, despite often suffering rumours of being on the point of being cancelled along the way. However every subsequent series from the hand of Whedon suffered the fate of being judged at the hands of unappreciative execs who just didn't seem to 'get' what he was all about. Angel reached an untimely end at the finish of season five, allegedly because Whedon tired of waiting for a verdict on the series being picked up for another season and pressed the issue. Firefly and Dollhouse didn't get anywhere near that far, even!

What Does Whedon Say To These People?

Is it just paranoia to wonder if Whedon has irretrievably offended some powerful Mr Big in the American network TV system? Is he a monster of tactlessness who has stepped on one sensitive big toe too many? Or too much of a maverick for political subtlety, demanding way too much artistic control and being sufficient of a pain in the posterior to neutralise the money limitless quantities of DVD boxsets might bring in? Is he difficult to work with? Is he a bit of an auteur?

Of course, it might all be much simpler than that. Whedon's TV shows are effects heavy and laden with set pieces, stunt work and elaborate sets. (They are. They are. I'm not counting Oz's cuddly, utterly rubbish 'werewolf' suit. Werewolf? Weremonkey, more like. It was like a furry teen-boy size babygro.) Maybe they're just too damn expensive to make, cutting into the profits, such that a more straight-ahead series with a lower gross can actually bring in a greater net profit? (I'm thinking of One Tree Hill at this point. Has a worse, more bog-standard series ever been green-lighted for season after season after gosh-darned season? Those teen girls must be rushing out and buying every season's boxset with religious fervour for it to make enough money to get picked up time and again. Either that or someone really has the goods on some Mr Big's naughty habits.

Did Firefly and Dollhouse deserve to get shot down in fiery flickering flames? Were they just bad shows that didn't deserve more than a couple of seasons? Well, you couldn't get a one of Firefly's boggle-eyed devoted fans to agree to that proposition. Known as 'browncoats', their devotion is such that I really wouldn't recommend even bringing such a hypothesis up in the presence of one. Such as me. The follow-up feature film 'Serenity' was pretty damn exciting, too. Its super-creepy villain The Operative, played by respected Brit actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, was a major highlight (although Chewy was sadly robbed of the role of the eleventh Time Lord in venerable Brit sci-fi series Dr Who. Robbed, I tell you. It's a national tragedy.)

However I myself loved Dollhouse even more than Firefly, despite initially being dubious about the premise. It managed to turn some initially irritating and creepy characters into sympathetic magnets for our compassion and concern. And stand-alone episodes were brilliantly merged with some deeply unsettling and spooky over-arching ideas.

Is it a pattern that's fated to continue? Will future series from the creative hub of Whedon's fertile brain just get shorter and shorter? We can only hope, and pray, and continue to buy the boxsets.