Joss: Comics were a lark that became an albatross

[AndrewCrossett]

In his Feb. 6 interview for TV Week, Joss is asked about the possibility of new Buffy movies or TV shows, and says:

"It’s certainly possible, but it isn’t something I’m pursuing. I feel like we did our thing. The comics were kind of a lark, which then it became the (speaks slowly) heaviest lark I’ve ever had to carry. It was a mariner’s albatross."

Gee, Joss, your enthusiasm is infectious.

I really need to stop reading his interviews...

So, at the end of the day... does he really care about Season 8 or not?

[Emmie]

I think there's more playing behind the surface of this question.

Joss has written dialogue for Firefly/Serenity for Mal where he says that the way he recalls, an albatross was good luck to a ship before some idiot decided to kill it. So an albatross is something that starts out incredibly good and lucky, but can become a very heavy burden over time due to unfortunate circumstances.

I think what Joss is getting at is that he wrote Season 8 initially for just the pleasure of writing the story and bringing the characters back to life, so that's definitely of the good. But it's slowly becoming a lot to handle with the incredibly time-consuming production of Dollhouse. So it's gotten heavier than the carefree lark it started out as.

I think this quote just shows how hard the creative pressure has been on Joss right now too. He hasn't been incredibly effusive about Dollhouse either recently. The pressure of the media and the rumors of imminent and premature failure have been wearing on him clearly.

I think he really does care about Season 8, an initial escape from the studio business and telling a story completely within his control (similar to Dr. Horrible), but that the weight of responsibility and the pressure he puts on himself to go over every script means he's being overwhelmed in order to keep the quality up to his standards.

He's very, very busy right now. Poor guy.

[AndrewCrossett]

Whose idea was season 8 in the first place? Was it his, or was it a case like After the Fall where Fox said, "we're doing a comic. It'll sell a lot better if you executive produce it and call it canon. Are you in?"

[Emmie]

Feb 9, 2009 23:25:01 GMT -5 AndrewCrossett said:

Whose idea was season 8 in the first place? Was it his, or was it a case like After the Fall where Fox said, "we're doing a comic. It'll sell a lot better if you executive produce it and call it canon. Are you in?"

It was definitely Joss who came to Allie saying he wanted to do a canon continuation. No way that Fox would have the power to rope him in to this. It was something he wanted to do because the differences between the end of Chosen and Fray were making his mind play out 'what happens next' and how to bridge the two stories.

It's not that Joss is doing Season 8 under duress. I think he's just going through a really tough time right now because Dollhouse is weighing on him really, really heavily. All of Hollywood is waiting to see if Joss can still cut it. It's a really crappy position for him to be in right now. He's been quoted recently on videos from the Dollhouse FOX website saying how everyone working there was depending on him.

Actually, think of his situation as very similar to Buffy in Season 8. Everyone is counting on him and he's feeling the pressure and maybe even cracking a bit. Imagine Joss as Buffy in the cover for the Predators and Prey TPB by Chen. He's looking at all the media fallout and world pressure and feeling intimidated and overwhelmed.

[AndrewCrossett]

Feb 9, 2009 23:27:31 GMT -5 Emmie said:

It was definitely Joss who came to Allie saying he wanted to do a canon continuation. No way that Fox would have the power to rope him in to this. It was something he wanted to do because the differences between the end of Chosen and Fray were making his mind play out 'what happens next' and how to bridge the two stories.

Yeah, I remember that interview (it's why I think the Big "Fray" Apocalypse comes at the end of this season and Season 9 will be something else again). But it is Fox that owns Buffy, after all, and I was just wondering if they were the ones who initiated it, and he voluntarily took control of it.

I wonder if by "the heaviest lark he ever had to carry" he might be referring in part to the tone of the season... how it may have gotten a lot darker and heavier than he originally planned.

Feb 9, 2009 23:27:31 GMT -5 Emmie said:

Actually, think of his situation as very similar to Buffy in Season 8. Everyone is counting on him and he's feeling the pressure and maybe even cracking a bit. Imagine Joss as Buffy in the cover for the Predators and Prey TPB by Chen. He's looking at all the media fallout and world pressure and feeling intimidated and overwhelmed.

Hopefully he'll get through it less painfully than Buffy will. (I can imagine Buffy in that picture saying "I'm taking you down with me, Whedon.")

[Emmie]

I'm just going to be positive and support Joss. He's under a lot of pressure and I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. He'll pull through it.

I think the problem isn't that he doesn't care about Season 8, but that he cares too much and is adding even more pressure to his already overly full plate with Dollhouse by worrying about Season 8. Both are projects he's completely in control of creatively.

[patxshand]

Feb 9, 2009 23:47:00 GMT -5 Emmie said:

I think the problem isn't that he doesn't care about Season 8, but that he cares too much and is adding even more pressure to his already overly full plate with Dollhouse by worrying about Season 8. Both are projects he's completely in control of creatively.

Agreed.

Joss does great interviews, and this is no exception. The albatross quote just means that it's harder and more time consuming than he expected to be, nothing else. Joss is great because Joss admits when he is struggling, but he never dwells on it or moans about it like authors such as Laurell K. Hamilton. Joss is very much the man.