Angel
Created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt

His name is ANGEL. He is tall, dark and handsome with a dry sense of humour and a tendency to brood. He is the owner and operator of the Los Angeles-based "Angel Investigations." Of course, we all know that LA is also known as the city of Angels.

Angel's got this guilt thing going, you see. He's dedicated his existence to protecting the poor lost souls that dwell here from its many predators. He does this in order to find redemption from his own past crimes, and to try to forget his one true love that he can never be with and to control his addiction to a certain beverage: in his case, human blood. Ya see, Angel's a vampire.

For a few centuries, life as a vampire was a constant thrill. Power, danger, cool clothes (never getting old, also a plus). But in the end, it was all about the kill -- until he killed the wrong girl.

"Gypsies, in my experience, are heavily into vengeance. They cursed me. Gave me back my soul. I had to live with everything I'd done and I had to live forever. It took another woman to show me that my endless life was worth living."

So now Angel actually has a soul, and he only wants forgiveness. Each week, Angel strives to help his "clients," generally ordinary people, face off against menaces both human and inhuman. His primary "opponent" is a powerful law firm called Wolfram & Hart, who apparently represent the more powerful creepy crawlies in the city.

The show is actually a spin-off of the wildly-popular WB series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and it maintains the action and humour found in that series while adding a slightly more adult, noir-ish tone.

The series stars David Boreanaz as Angel. Other characters include Cordelia Chase- a would-be actress and old acquaintance (also transported from Buffy), who now helps him out; and Doyle, a half-demon with a taste for gambling, drinking and women, who happens to have "visions" that help Angel target potential clients.

Alas, Doyle died halfway through the first season (evidently he didn't see ttht one coming!). A new regular, Wesley (played by Alexis Denisof), was subsequently added to the cast.

And, like Buffy, the show became wildly-successful, spawning a small industry of tie-ins, including novels, action figures, lunch boxes, T-shirts and Lord knows what else. And it certainly didn't take long for Dark Horse to launch an Angel comic. In fact, there's an Angel relaunch in the works right now, being co-written by series creator Joss Whedon.

In it's third year, its regular cast of characters continued to grow and change. Before he died....Doyle transferred his "visions" gift to Cordelia...making her even more invaluable to Angel. And ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS (paranormal investigators whose motto is "We Help The Helpless") has grown considerably. It now has five employees: Angel, Cordelia, Wesley (a British expert on the occult), Gunn (a streetwise vampire hunter) and Fred (a slightly mixed-up young lady who's brilliant in math and has knack for building boobytraps).

Unfortunately the show's third and fourth seasons saw it becoming increasingly irrelevant to this site, as the original P.I. concept, diluted in the second season, was completely abandoned. Subsequent "Angel" episodes were much closer to its parent Buffy, concentrating on dark fantasy ultraviolence and the increasingly tangled family and romantic relationships of the regular and recurring characters.

Still, while not denying that the show has moved away from it's original concept, the 4th season did end with Angel and his group getting control of the demonic Wolfram & Hart lawfirm and it's resources and it would appear that it's going in a new direction and may, in fact be getting back to it's roots after all.

TELEVISION

• ANGEL
  (1999-2002, WB)
  Tuesday, 9:00 pm eastern time
  60 minute episodes
  Writers: Joss Whedon, David Greenwalt, David Fury, Doug Petrie, Jane Espenson, Tim Minear, Tracey Stern, Jeannine Renshaw, Howard Gordon, Marti Noxon, Jim Kouf, Gerry Campbell, Shawn Ryan, Mere Smith, Douglas Petrie, Jeffrey Bell, David H. Goodman, Scott Murphy, David Fury
  Executive producers: Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt
  Starring David Boreanaz as ANGEL
  with Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
  Glenn Quinn as Doyle
  Alexis Denis as Wesley
  J. August Richards as Gunn
  and Amy Ackerman as Fred
  .

• Season one (1999-2000)
• "City Of..."
• "Lonely Hearts"
• "In The Dark"
• "I Fall To Pieces"
• "Room With A View"
• "Sense And Sensitivity"
• "The Bachelor Party"
• "I Will Remember You"
• "Hero"
• "Parting Gifts"
• "Somnambulist"
• "Expectant"
• "She"
• "I've Got You Under My Skin"
• "Prodigal"
• "The Ring"
• "Eternity"
• "Five By Five"
• "Sanctuary"
• "The War Zone"
• "Blind Date"
• "To Shonshu In L.A."
  .
• Season two (2000-2001)
• "Judgement"
• "Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been"
• "First Impressions"
• "Untouched"
• "Dear Boy"
• "Guise Will Be Guise"
• "Darla"
• "Shroud Of Rahmon"
• "The Trial"
• "Reunion"
• "Redefinition"
• "Blood Money"
• "Happy Anniversary"
• "The Thin Dead Line"
• "Reprise"
• "Epiphany"
• "Disharmony"
• "Dead End"
• "Belonging"
• "Through The Looking Glass"
• "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb"
  .
• Season three (2001-2002)
• "Heartthrob"
• "That Vision Thing"
• "That Old Gang Of Mine"
• "Carpe Noctem"
• "Fredless"
• "Billy"
• "Offspring"
• "Quickening"
• "Lullaby"
• "Dad"
• "Birthday"
• "Provider"
• "Waiting In The Wings"
• "Couplet"
• "Loyalty"
• "Sleep Tight"
• "Forgiveness"
• "Double Or Nothing"
• "The Price"
• "The New World"
• "Benediction"
• "Tomorrow"
  .
• Season four (2002-2003)
• "Deep Down"
• "Ground State"
• "The House Always Wins"
• "Slouching Towards Bethlehem"
• "Supersymetry/Spin The Bottle"
• "Apocalypse, Nowish"
• "Habeas Corpses"
• "Long Day's Journey"
• "Awakenings"
• "Souless"
• "Cavalry"
• "Salvage"
• "Release"
• "Orpheus"
• "Players"
• "Inside Out"
• "Shiny Happy People"
• "The Magic Bullet"
• "Sacrifice"
• "Peace Out"
• "Home"

NOVELIZATIONS

• Angel: City of (1999, by Nancy Holder; novelization of pilot). Buy this book

ORIGINAL NOVELS

• Not Forgotten (2000; by Nancy Holder). Buy this book
• Redemption (2000; by Mel Odom). Buy this book
• Shakedown (2000; by Don DeBrandt). Buy this book

COMIC BOOKS

• ANGEL
  (1999-current, Dark Horse Comics)
  Based on the television show created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt
  Written by Christopher Golden
  Art: Christian Zanier, Andy Owens
  .

• "Surrogate, Chapter 1" (November 1999, #1)
• "Surrogate, Chapter 2" (December 1999, #2)
• "Surrogate, Chapter 3" (January 2000, #3)...

DVDS & VIDEOS

• Angel:Season 4.. Buy on DVD
  All the episodes that made this the darkest season of the series' run. Personally, I'm most depressed that the whole P.I. angle was sort of shuffled off to the side.

Thanks to Mark Geldmeyer for giving us this entry, and regular updates, to sink our teeth into. And to Phil Eagle for the coup de grace.

Drop a dime. Your comments, suggestions, corrections and contributions are always welcome.
"...and I'll tell you right out that I'm a man who likes talking to a man that likes to talk."