by Diana Hurlburt

Created on: January 29, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

Joss Whedon is a god; I'm firmly convinced of it. What other single person has managed to create so much good in the world of entertainment? Don't even say 'Aaron Spelling'. The only other TV maven who comes close is J.J. Abrams, creator of Alias and LOST (okay, and Felicity). I mean, let's think about this:

First, there was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Ah, Buffy-possibly my favorite television series of all time. Even its detractors can't deny the impact the Buffster has had on pop culture: from Valley Girl slang ('Slayage' and 'What is your childhood trauma?!' leap to mind) to the weird idea of a girl kicking butt to (arguably) the revitalization of vamp nail polish and vampires as sex symbols. Buffy, the Scoobies, and all their demonic foes were undeniably nerdy and unquestionably cool, and they deservedly claimed a spot on TV Guide's Top 50 Television Series of All Time-Number 41.

Then there was Buffy's successful spinoff, Angel. As spinoffs go, Angel was pretty fabulous, and sometimes even performed better ratings-wise than its parent series. The show being staffed by some of Joss's most popular characters, including Cordelia Chase, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, and of course Angel himself, probably helped. Angel, like Buffy, was focused around fighting evil; unlike Buffy, Angel had a somewhat darker tone, and was in all more of a crime drama-a sort of neo-noir. Its gritty air didn't stop it from winning numerous awards during its run time, including a Best TV Actor and Best Network Series in 2004 at the Saturn Awards.

Finally we have Firefly, the third and certainly most delightfully weird of Joss's contributions to the boob tube. Firefly can be considered science fiction, as it is set in outer space, but then there's the matter of the cowboys. All in all an experimental series, Firefly was sadly short-lived-it was not even allowed to finish out its first season, but was canceled after eleven episodes. The fan backlash to this was amazing, to say the least; fans shouted foul often enough and loud enough that all fourteen episodes were released on DVD, and a film (Serenity) was made. Thus Mal, Kaylee, Jayne, and the whole funky-bunch lot are resting on their laurels as the mostly highly rated sci-fi show of all time, according to tv.com.

So there you have it: three reasons why Joss Whedon should be canonized as a saint. Boogie on down to the Bronze, Caritas, or the local skyplex, and see what you've been missing.

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