Verdict: Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon

Another week, another verdict. This week I look at the geek overlord Joss Whedon and whether his recent catalogue matches the cult of personality.

History:
The young Joss was born to father and fellow writer Tom Whedon, he had a love of Monty Python, films and writing. After writing scripts for TV-shows such as Roseanne and Parenthood, he then moved into a brief job as a script doctor (Note: He worked on Pixar's first film Toy Story in this capacity) before returning to television to create the hit TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Dollhouse. He has recently been secured as the director of Marvel comics upcoming Avengers movie.

Thoughts:
Okay because there is more than one show I am judging him on, I'm going to look at all of them separately.

The cast of Firefly... Crowned geek gods one and all

Firefly was Joss Whedon's Space Western Drama that only lasted one season. The problem with the show was a poor timeslot and mishandling by FOX. I thought the show itself was really good, it managed to make relatable and interesting characters regardless of which episode you watched as well as imbuing them with humour. The show rightly enjoys a cult status now as fans (known as "Browncoats") get together to act out elaborate staging of their own adventures in Whedon's 'Verse'. The thing about Firefly is that it is frustrating, not the Davies kind of frustrating where brilliance can be crushed under mediocrity, but the kind of frustration where something that is good goes unfulfilled. Yes I know he tied it all up with Serenity, but aside from a couple of invested character deaths I didn't feel anything for that movie. However I don't hold that against him because having that unfulfilled universe allows literary geeks (like me) to fill in the blanks ourselves (see the outbreak of RPFirefly forums)

The Doctor is on the Rise

Dr Horrible's Sing-along Blog on the other hand was a piece genre smashing brilliance, taking a superhero story and not only flipping it to make the villain the protagonist, but also embedding it with some wicked humour and music! Seriously it was this on it's own  that made me like Whedon and it was Firefly and his writing experience that allayed fears for the Avengers. The fact that I not only feel empathy for the Geek who considers himself a joker with a conscious, but also laugh when the same guy breaks into song is something really rare to find on the internet. Yhea that's right, not only is it awesome but Dr Horrible's Sing-along Blog has also broken away and proven to the TV fat cats that you don't need their healthy swag of money to make something profitable and well loved.

Stompity stomp stomp

Summing Up:
So, I wonder what I think of Joss? He has been a constantly stellar writer and continues to make, and be put in charge of some hot geek properties (*cough* Avengers), so yeah this one is easy.

Verdict:

Hugo and the Doctor, 2 friends tied at the hip.

So the illustrious Hugo awards for science fiction have come and gone for another year and we at the far end of the Geek spectrum are left to awe at the winners and loser we find before us. So rather than delve into the sections on Books and fan-fiction that I know nothing about and have no interest in I'll skip to the Film and TV categories and de-construct them.



BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION - LONG FORM
Nominees:
Avatar Screenplay and Directed by James Cameron (Twentieth Century Fox)
District 9 Screenplay by Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell; Directed by Neill Blomkamp (TriStar Pictures)
Moon Screenplay by Nathan Parker; Story by Duncan Jones; Directed by Duncan Jones (Liberty Films)
Star Trek Screenplay by Robert Orci & Alex Kurtzman; Directed by J.J. Abrams (Paramount)
Up Screenplay by Bob Peterson & Pete Docter; Story by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, & Thomas McCarthy; Directed by Bob Peterson & Pete Docter (Disney/Pixar)


Winner:
Moon Screenplay by Nathan Parker; Story by Duncan Jones; Directed by Duncan Jones (Liberty Films)

So looking at the list this was a very strong group, and it would have been hard to pick a winner lets look a how it might have gone in regards to a 100 meter dash between the nominees.

Next category:





BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION - SHORT FORM
Nominees:
Doctor Who: "The Next Doctor" Written by Russell T Davies; Directed by Andy Goddard (BBC Wales)
Doctor Who: "Planet of the Dead" Written by Russell T Davies & Gareth Roberts; Directed by James Strong (BBC Wales)
Doctor Who: "The Waters of Mars" Written by Russell T Davies & Phil Ford; Directed by Graeme Harper (BBC Wales)
Dollhouse: "Epitaph 1" Story by Joss Whedon; Written by Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon; Directed by David Solomon (Mutant Enemy)
FlashForward: "No More Good Days" Written by Brannon Braga & David S. Goyer; Directed by David S. Goyer; based on the novel by Robert J. Sawyer (ABC)

Winner:
Doctor Who: "The Waters of Mars" Written by Russell T Davies & Phil Ford; Directed by Graeme Harper (BBC Wales)

Ahh.. Russell we meet again, Now for the past 4 years Doctor Who has won 3 of these awards, with it's run only being stopped by Dr Horrible's sing-along blog (coincidentally my dictionary tells me at Horrible's isn't a word and that I should replace it with Horribleness, which I didn't think was a word... fun fact!) and while this may make you think I am unfair on Russell T and that he must be good if he won all those awards? I would like to point out to you that all the episodes that won, The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace and Blink were all written by my geek love overlord Steven Moffat and that this is in fact the first Russell T episode to win one. And considering it was up against those other 2 DW episodes there must have been a real lack of competition, while Mars was generally good as it gave us an unhinged and bordering on megalomaniac Doctor, the other 2 were poor attempts at cashing in on people mood at a particular time of year.

So there you have it, my take on the two entries I actually know something about, If you want to know the other categories and nominees follow this link.