Meandering Musings

Although, I could swear that monkeys have flown out of his ass before, so you never know...

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Joss can get things done in a great hurry when he's really into doing them, and, as with WW, he can take forever when he's not. Since I doubt that 'Ripper' would do much to further Joss's career, or make him tons of money, I have to assume it's a project that he's excited about or he wouldn't bother.

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I think Joss definitively proved with Serenity that when he really wants to, he find some way to make it happen.

Which was why I added the second snark, as that was always my feeling about the languishing "Spike Movie" thing. I always felt that if Joss had really wanted it, he would have made more than token efforts creating it.

So, yeah, if he's actually interested in doing Ripper, I think he can make it happen.

I'm still on the fence between whether this is another token effort or whether this time he actually is interested.

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Possibly he works on things when not weighted down by crippling writer's block. I think it's a very encouraging sign that he's even talking about working on it. After the way the Fox scumbags and WB treated him I would not blame him for developing writer's block about ever doing anything on film again for the rest of his life.

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They've produced several of his shows. I'm sure that there are a lot of producers/writers in LA who would like to be treated as badly.

Show business is a tough business. Most tv shows are cancelled. And these days, they're often cancelled quickly. I don't think Joss is being singled out in this regard.

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I don't think he's being singled out either. (I single him out personally, because he's the only one whose shows I actually want to watch, so of course I'd like to see them get more air time!) I would expect anyone in his position to be pretty hard hit when things he loves and has worked hard on and that are good get cancelled.

And I would expect those people to quite possibly develop writer's block for awhile, perhaps quite awhile, afterwards. I would expect the ones who actually believe in what they do to be harder hit than the ones who are just trying to make a quick buck with the latest formulaic crapfest. And I think Whedon is quite passionate about his work.

And of course one could say if they can't stand the heat, why don't go they become accountants. But it's precisely these people that I don't want to see leaving the industry entirely, because when they can work, their work is so much more worth watching that the crapola covering 99% of the screen 99% of the time.

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I guess I just don't have that much loyalty to a producer. I loved the Whedonverse and in many ways still do. But I've had other fannish loves. Those that came before I had head of BtVS and those I've met since. And there will probably be still more in the future.

With those experiences, I've learned that a writer/producer whose work I've loved in one venue can easily produce drek in another (case in point, David Milch whose Deadwood I adored, but whose current show I cannot be bothered to watch).

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My reaction was different. When they cancelled Angel, I cancelled cable, and I refuse to pay for TV ever again. For awhile I used to say "until Whedon has a show on again", but now I would say, I refuse to pay for it period. Because I just don't trust the people that make it anymore. It is enough for a series to sound interesting, as far as I can tell, for it to vanish in 7 episodes or less. At least, anything my friends like disappears without a trace in no time. So I am just not going to commit my attention or emotional energy to any series with less than 3 seasons under its belt before I get there.

I am willing to rent DVDs of series after the fact, of course. I will occasionally watch an episode or so of something at a friend's house (I saw an episode of Deadwood, and it was brilliant. I've seen a couple of episodes of Heroes, and it was fantastic. I saw a bit of the first season of Lost, and it was kinda interesting, but. I love Cracker.

But I'm not a fan, as in "a participator in fandom" anymore. I do miss conversations with people watching things at the same time I'm watching them, but I'm not willing to care about a medium driven entirely by the profit motive - even though the writers aren't. When good things get onto TV and stay there, it's pretty much an accident, and they get ripped off again pretty quick. I am just not willing to care anymore.

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I suppose I don't expect as much.

Yeah, I was rather pissed when Farscape was cancelled prematurely, but I'm thankful for what I had of it.

Rome only had two seasons, but I'm quite happy I watched it.

Deadwood also died a premature death, but it was great television while it lasted.

Friday Night Lights will almost certainly never last. I fully expected for it to not have a second season, but I'm damn glad I got season 1.

For those who like genre and/or off-beat shows, it comes with the territory that they are often short-lived, but, quite honestly, I've almost reached the conclusion that it's better to be short-lived than to outlive the inspiration and enthusiasm for them.

And I admit to being one of the one's who thinks that Joss may be a tad overrated. He has talent, but he also has weaknesses.

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He does have weaknesses. He had, however, strong unconventional real female characters and damn do I miss that. But certainly he had weaknesses. If he keeps working, he will outgrow some of them, but nobody's perfect even after a lifetime of practice.

I think however since the Whedonverse was my first and only fandom, I'm like someone who has only ever fallen in love once, and is therefore convinced that the object of their adoration is the only possible adorable object. I mean if I let myself fall in love again it would move Whedon off his "god" pedestal onto a more credible "extremely talented writer with his heart in the right place" spot. But I don't want to fall in love again, because it hurt so much last time!

Though I was watching House in the second season, and actually it was kinda fun. but so obviously flawed that I didn't invest, I just enjoyed the show.

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He does have weaknesses. He had, however, strong unconventional real female characters and damn do I miss that. But certainly he had weaknesses. If he keeps working, he will outgrow some of them, but nobody's perfect even after a lifetime of practice.

I think however since the Whedonverse was my first and only fandom, I'm like someone who has only ever fallen in love once, and is therefore convinced that the object of their adoration is the only possible adorable object. I mean if I let myself fall in love again it would move Whedon off his "god" pedestal onto a more credible "extremely talented writer with his heart in the right place" spot. But I don't want to fall in love again, because it hurt so much last time!

Though I was watching House in the second season, and actually it was kinda fun. but so obviously flawed that I didn't invest, I just enjoyed the show.

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So he's had five years to write a Ripper script and there's nada, even if Aunty Beeb will pay off The Murdoch Empire to give Joss something to put on IMDB that isn't years old?

Not impressed, Whedon.

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I think 'no longer the town wunderkind' is a factor here. LA has newer, shinier genre toys. It's going to be increasingly difficult to rest on his laurels. Hollywood is very much what have you done for me lately.

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I suspect that someone, probably his agent, has explained to him in words of one syllable that he has to get some thing out now or face the commercial wilderness and that producing the slowest runs of comics ever ain't it. Hence the biggin himself up.

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Yeah, his agent probably wasn't thrilled with the way the Wonder Woman thing went (though writers being replaced is common).

It seems somewhat...um... searching for a word here. Anyway, I noticed when Joss finished BtVS he was all about "I want to work in movies!" and now he's back to "I want to work in television!" (Meanwhile, he's actually working in comics.)

I bet he'll have a project of some sort in the near future (and maybe Ripper is it). What happens with that project may set the tone for his future career.

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But why should there be a script? Why should he be interested in working on it rather than other things, or rather than taking a break before deciding to come back to it? I would be delighted if there were a Ripper movie. But it's Whedon's business if he wants to write one or not.

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mlgm.livejournal.com

I think Joss is officially no longer the wonderkind.

I have to laugh seeing Joss and his complaining after reading about the Futurama panel. I know Joss loves to complain about being screwed by the networks; but really Fox seems to have bent over backwards for him.

Matt Groening and the Futurama folks? (And as much as I loathe to admit it Seth MacFarlane and Family Guy), now they got screwed. Big time. And they got their revenge. Success.

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I think you've hit it the ex-wunderkind theory.

I was sort of stunned by his mentioning Cloverfield. Is he part of that? And if he is, is he really, really hacked off that it's being referred to as J.J. Abram's project?

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I think the ref was the journo attributing something to Drew.

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Ouch.

Wonder whether it stings that Drew now has Lost on his resume and that Fury now has both Lost and the emmy winning season of 24 on his.

On the other hand, Marti has been fired a few times.

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We should do a poll on how long it takes for Greys to boot her.

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I thought they already had. (And I'm not being snarky. I'm serious. I thought I heard that she'd been let go.)

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For every pitcher who does become Sandy Koufax, there are ten others who could, but didn't, for one reason or another. Most of those have perfectly fine careers, though.

Joss is like that. There's a very brief window for a guy like him where people in Hollywood think "this guy could be Steven Spielberg". And after a while, they realize that he won't be. I think Joss is not really constitutionally suited to being that level of star, even if the world opened up in front of him to allow it. He just needs to adjust, and find a place where he'll be free to make stuff he wants to make. He's a big fish in the comics pond, so he might wind up mostly staying there, although I'd like to see him create a show for basic cable or HBO. So far, I don't think he's manged to downsize his budgetary expectations enough for that.

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Yeah, I get sort of a Kevin Smith-type vibe from Joss. The cult niche suits him. Clearly, he can inspire devotion in an audience, but it's not going to be a widespread, mainstream audience.

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darynthe.livejournal.com

I really don't expect anything else from Joss. He is the 00's Orson Wells. His first was so big and so important that everything that entailed consumed his creative freedom. I can live with it.

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Somehow, I don't see Joss as a Harper Lee or Margeret Mitchell who seem/seemed to be satisfied and embraced creating only one high profile work. I tend to think Joss may dread being 'the guy who created BtVS and AtS.'

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That's why Firefly.

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But, while it has a cult following, I don't think to Hollywood at large it was perceived as a win.

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Directing a movie that is well-received critically (which Serenity, for the most part, was, even by non-Firefly fans) but doesn't make money kind of goes both ways. I think it raised Joss's stock as a talent, but also tattoed the "cult following" term even more indelibly across his forehead.

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That's probably true.

He should probably try to get a 3 year deal with Sci-Fi or something and see if he could do something of BSG level success. That would raise his profile again.

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shapinglight

He doesn't even have a script for Ripper yet? Blimey, I thought the project was a little more advanced than that.

Not that I ever expect to see it.

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Well, one thing to it's advantage, such a movie might resurrect Giles from the self-parody he became of himself during Season 7.

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shapinglight

I hope so, though I have a horrid feeling that Giles in the BtVS season 8 comic is continuing along that same path regardless.

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I think that, like most writers, Joss does not put virtual pen to virtual paper until someone agrees to pay him for it.

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usedtobeljs

The Ripper project is exactly where it was five years ago, in terms of development (or lack thereof).

The BIG difference now is that Tony Head's been working on British TV in a host of things (from Little Britain to major guest-starring roles to voice-overs to a high-profile role in the upcoming six-part series Sold) -- I wouldn't be surprised if the BBC's renewed interest is because ASH is actually a bigger name now than he was during BtVS.

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I don't worry about ASH's career. He's on solid ground.

And I admit, the biggest temptation of Ripper for me is in no way Joss Whedon, but the slim hope of Giles returning to the Giles I liked. Season 7 Giles and what was heard of him in Season 5 AtS tarnished my Giles love. I would like Ripper-Giles again.

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usedtobeljs

I can understand that feeling -- it happened to me with Spike in Season Seven, not Giles, but I get your disappointment.

Unfortunately, Whedon would be writing Ripper, so... :-(

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queenofattolia.livejournal.com

Why is Joss popping up so much this week? Because it's obvious he suddenly thought "OMG -- I'd better go out there and remind people I'm alive." And, apparently, not doing much of anything.

Heh.

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Heh. My really snarky self is wondering whether it's the fact that he attended ComicCon and rather than being the center of attention, everyone was tripping all over themselves for the likes of Heroes, Lost, J.J. Abrams (and Star Trek), and the next Indiana Jones.

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