Joss Whedon

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.