Angel | |
---|---|
Genre |
Supernatural drama Action Horror Fantasy |
Created by |
Joss Whedon David Greenwalt |
Starring |
David Boreanaz Charisma Carpenter Glenn Quinn Alexis Denisof J. August Richards Amy Acker Vincent Kartheiser Andy Hallett James Marsters Mercedes McNab |
Theme music composer | Darling Violetta |
Composer(s) |
Christophe Beck Robert J. Kral |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 5 |
No. of episodes | 110 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
Joss Whedon David Greenwalt Tim Minear Jeffrey Bell David Fury Fran Rubel Kuzui Kaz Kuzui |
Running time | 41–45 minutes |
Production company(s) |
Mutant Enemy Productions Greenwolf Corp (season 1) David Greenwalt Productions (seasons 2-3) Kuzui Enterprises Sandollar Television 20th Century Fox Television |
Distributor | 20th Television |
Release | |
Original network | The WB |
Picture format |
480i (SDTV) 4:3 (Seasons 1–2, Season 2 is 16:9 on DVD release) 480i (SDTV) Letterboxed 16:9 (Seasons 3–4) 1080i (HDTV) 16:9 (Season 5) |
Original release | October 5, 1999 | – May 19, 2004
Chronology | |
Followed by | Angel: After the Fall (comic book) (2007–11) |
Related shows | Buffy the Vampire Slayer |
Angel is an American television series, a spin-off from the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffy's creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt. It aired on The WB from October 5, 1999, to May 19, 2004, consisting of five seasons and 110 episodes. Like Buffy, it was produced by Whedon's production company, Mutant Enemy.
The show details the ongoing trials of Angel, a vampire whose human soul was restored to him by gypsies as a punishment for the murder of one of their own. After more than a century of murder and the torture of innocents, Angel's restored soul torments him with guilt and remorse. During the first four seasons of the show, he works as a private detective in Los Angeles, California, where he and a variety of associates work to "help the helpless", restoring the faith and saving the souls of those who have lost their way. Typically, this involves doing battle with evil demons or humans allied to them, primarily related to Wolfram & Hart, a law firm supported by occult practices which is an extension of otherworldly demonic forces. He must also battle his own demonic nature.
The series focuses around Angel (David Boreanaz), an Irish vampire who is over 200 years old. Angel was known as Angelus during his rampages across Europe, but was cursed with a soul, which gave him a conscience and guilt for centuries of murder and torture. He left Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the end of Season 3 to move to Los Angeles in search of redemption.
He soon finds himself assisted by Allen Francis Doyle (Glenn Quinn), another Irish character who is a half-human, half-demon who, although he comes across as a ne'er-do-well hustler, has a heroic side. Doyle serves to pass along the cryptic visions from The Powers That Be to Angel. They're soon joined by Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), also a previous cast member of Buffy. Formerly a popular high school cheerleader, Cordelia starts her tenure on the show as a vapid and shallow personality, but grows over the course of the series into a hero. Cordelia acquires Doyle's visions via a shared kiss prior to Doyle's death. With the death of Doyle in the early episodes of the show's first season, another character from the Buffy series makes the jump to its spin-off: Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (Alexis Denisof) joins the team under the brave guise of "rogue demon hunter", acting as comic relief and initially not well-accepted. Over time, Wesley shows bravery and strength, as well as some cold blooded killing cruelty, like his colleague Rupert Giles, and grows into a leader.