Joss Whedon

A comprehensive analysis of Whedon’s role in shaping the twenty-first-century TV landscape, featuring unique access to drafts of scripts and other source material. The book offers both detailed assessments of individual episodes and overarching histories of production. An essential and timely contribution to TV scholarship.

Joss Whedon is one of the most influential figures in popular culture today. A mainstream filmmaker with an independent sensibility, he is equally at home working on blockbuster productions like The Avengers and more personal projects. But it is in his television work, particularly the era-defining Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that Whedon has done most to develop his distinctive style and themes.

Celebrating and analysing the TV shows as works of mass-mediated public art, this book rejects the straightforward notion of Whedon as ‘television auteur’. Instead, it explores the wider industrial, technological, political and economic contexts that have both influenced and been influenced by him. Based on key source material, including drafts of episodes from across Whedon’s career and unique correspondence with Whedon collaborator Jane Espenson, it offers unparalleled insights into the creative process behind such favourites as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse and Firefly.

Energetic, engaging and informed by meticulous scholarship, this book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Joss Whedon’s work. It is also a timely and important re-invigoration of television studies. It will appeal to students and scholars of contemporary history, pop culture, aesthetics and mass art, as well as fans who want to learn more about the shows they love.

This book assesses Joss Whedon’s contribution to US television and popular culture. Examining everything from his earliest work to his most recent tweets and activist videos, it explores his complex and contradictory roles as both cult outsider and blockbuster filmmaker. Crucially, the book insists on the wider industrial, technological, political and economic contexts that have both influenced and been influenced by Whedon, rejecting the notion of Whedon as isolated television auteur.

Using key source material, with exclusive access to drafts of many of the episodes across Whedon’s career, as well as unique correspondence with Whedon collaborator Jane Espenson, this book offers unparalleled access to the creative process that helped produce the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse and Firefly. Energetic, engaging and informed by detailed scholarship and theoretical rigour, the book is not just an essential addition to the study of Whedon, but a timely and important re-invigoration of television studies in general.