No recent television creator has generated more critical, scholarly, and
popular discussion or acquired as devoted a cult following as Joss
Whedon (b. 1964). No fewer than thirty books concerned with his work
have now been published (a forthcoming volume even offers a book-length
bibliography), and ten international conferences on his work have
convened in the U.K., the U.S., Australia, and Turkey. Fitting then that
this first volume in the University Press of Mississippi's Television
Conversations Series is devoted to the writer, director, and showrunner
who has delivered Buffy the Vampire Slayer ( WB, 1997-2001; UPN,
2001-3); Angel ( WB, 1999-2004); Firefly (FOX, 2002); Dr. Horrible's
Sing-Along Blog (webcast, 2008);and Dollhouse (FOX, 2009-10). If Whedon
has shown himself to be a virtuoso screenwriter/script doctor, director,
comic book author, and librettist, he is as well a masterful
conversationalist. As a DVD commentator, for example, the consistently
hilarious, reliably insightful, frequently moving Whedon has few rivals.
In his many interviews he likewise shines. Whether answering a hundred
rapid-fire, playful questions from fans on the Internet, fielding
serious inquiries about his craft and career from television colleagues,
or assessing his disappointments, Whedon seldom fails to provoke
laughter and reflection.
