WHEDON’S

APOCRYPHA

All the projects from great to very

small

5 TV SHOWS

WHEDON’S BUFFYVERSE COMICS

Fray Tales of the Slayers Tales of the Vampires Buffy: The Origin Angel: Long Night’s Journey

NONCANON BUFFYVERSE

ANGEL & BUFFY & SPIKE CONTINUE

MORE WHEDONVERSE Serenity: Those Left BehindSerenity: Better DaysSerenity: The Shepherd’s TaleFCBD “It’s Never Easy” by Zack WhedonSerenity: Leaves on the Wind by Zack WhedonFCBD “The Warrior and the Wind” by Chris Roberson & Stephen ByrneDr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories by Zack WhedonDollhouse: Epitaphs by Jed Whedon & Maurissa TancharoenAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D. & Avengers tie-ins by Marvel

OBSCURE COMICS “Teamwork.” Giant-Size X-Men

#3. 2005 “Some Steves.” Stan Lee

Meets the Amazing Spider-Man. 2006

Superman/Batman #26, Sam Loeb memorial issue. 2006

“Sugarshock.” Dark Horse MySpace Presents #1. 2008.

MARVEL’S ASTONISHINGX-MEN AND RUNAWAYS

EARLY TV: ROSEANNEIn 1989, Whedon wrote four Season Two Roseanne episodes as a staff writer: “The Little Sister,” “House of Grown-Ups,” “Brain-Dead Poets Society,” and “Chicken Hearts.”

These feature Roseanne’s wrestling match with her sister, Darlene’s poignant poem on adolescence, and many other character-building moments on this feminist show.

Many fans notice similarities between the fights of “The Little Sister” and Xander’s goofy fight with Harmony or the soulless fast food jobs Roseanne and Buffy must take to pay the mortgage.

EARLY TV: PARENTHOODWhedon wrote three episodes, “The Plague” (1.3), “Small Surprises” (1.8), and “Fun for Kids” (1.12) for the short-lived Parenthood of 1990-1991, a single twelve episode NBC show following the movie. The recent show follows the same movie, but has a different cast and storyline.

Whedon’s first episode explodes with pop culture references as everyone gets chicken pox: Gil puts on the puppet show “Mr. Socks Gets the Spots,” and his wife Karen describes their daughter as “She’s up, she’s ready to destroy Tokyo.” Tod eats chicken and watches a grotesque zombie movie in juxtaposition to the kids’ illness or Gil quips “Don’t spoil the ending!” when his mother predicts horrible suffering.

“Small Surprises” features an invading raccoon while fourteen-year-old Gary is shutting out his mom.

The final episode sees Tod’s mother the stripper visiting and trying to be part of his life while the children’s grandfather insists he can babysit without being micromanaged.

EARLY FILMS Suspension (like Speed, script online) Afterlife (like Dollhouse, script online) In Your Eyes (finally made in 2014) Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) Alien: Resurrection (1997)

EARLY FILM: TREATMENTS Twister 1994 Speed 1994 The Getaway 1994 Waterworld 1995 Toy Story 1995 X-Men 2000 Titan A.E. 2000

Dusty says someone will rue the day with “Immanent rueage.”BILL: Goin’ green. DUSTY: Greenage. (Twister)Cale says: “Every day I wake up and

it’s still the present. The same grimy, boring present. I don’t think this ‘future’ thing of yours exists” (Titan A.E.).

Howard Payne says in Speed: “A bomb is made to explode. That’s its meaning. Its purpose. Your life is empty because you spend it trying to stop the bomb from becoming.” Compare with Dollhouse: “The dollhouse deals in fantasy. That is their business, but that is not their purpose” (“Man on the Street,” D1.6).

The “Welcome to Wakita” sign in Twister is flapping on the ground, as Spike always leaves the Sunnydale sign.

Enola decorates the Mariner’s boat with crayons in Waterworld, a bit of a parallel to River helpfully fixing the Shepherd’s Bible. Both men resent the interference.

Toy Story blends sci-fi and western tropes with Buzz and Woody, long before Firefly. Whedon tried adding a Kung-Fu Barbie but was turned down.

HITTING THE BIG TIME

Serenity. 2005. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. 2008. Commentary! The Musical. 2008 Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope. 2011. The Cabin in the Woods. 2011. Marvel’s The Avengers. 2012. Much Ado About Nothing. 2012. In Your Eyes. 2014. Avengers: Age of Ultron. 2015.

…AND LITTLE Astonishing X-Men Motion Comics Buffy Season Eight Motion Comics “Whedon on Romney.” 28 Oct. 2012. YouTube. “Evil Robot,” “Zombie,” “When I Speak” Equality Now, 19 Apr 2012: YouTube. There’s also an original Buffy pilot on YouTube, half an hour, with no Angel and

a different Willow. Neil Patrick Harris guest stars in the Glee episode “Dream On,” which Whedon

directed. Whedon directed NBC’s The Office: “Business School,” features an escaped bat

and a bitten character hinting that he’s become a vampire as he turns up his long coat. There’s also a coat over the head to avoid sunlight, reminiscent of many Spike moments.

In The Office’s “Branch Wars,” which he also directed, the “Finer Things” club reads Angela’s Ashes and tries Irish accents (possible nods to Angel) and there’s an obsession with “going for the eyes” (a possible nod to all the eye injuries in Buffy).

UNMADE PROJECTS Buffy the Animated Series Ripper Wonder Woman Script Spike Movie Dr. Horrible 2 The Serving Girl Goners, announced in 2005, was a fantasy thriller intended to be dark yet

inspirational, which Whedon described as “like Buffy, but scary.” Rumors about Wastelanders have been circulating since 2010. It was

envisioned as a five-part series of “internet television,” in the mode of Doctor Horrible (though without the singing). However, the program was postponed because of Avengers, then Avengers 2. It may yet be made. Cowriter Warren Ellis writes:

Wastelanders is where Joss’ sense that too few people followed the example of Doctor Horrible meets my obsession with the Quatermass serials, which were half-hour episodes. Short-form genre serials of the kind that TV just doesn’t make anymore. What we eventually came up with was very much a fusion of British and American styles, and very much a fusion of my style and Joss’ style. And full-on science fiction…Wastelanders is a funny horrible story about the end of the world. I look forward to finishing it.

WHEDONITES ON NEW SHOWS The Guild Husbands Con Man Soooo many fan films

Castle Caprica Supernatural Lost Once Upon a Time

NONFICTION Whedon, Joss. Firefly: The Official

Companion: Volume One. 2006. —.Firefly: The Official Companion: Volume Two. 2007. —.Serenity: The Official Visual

Companion. 2005. Whedon, Joss and Drew Goddard. The

Cabin in the Woods: The Official Visual Companion. 2012.

AND SO MUCHACADEMIATO LEARN MORE…VEFRANKEL.COM