Jane Espenson visits the set of an unknown daytime drama!

[Cat]

Oh, snap! The WB was probably the only network I watched between 1997 and 2000, lol. Although I drew the line at 7th Heaven and the "comedies."

Buffy Seasons 1-3 = awesome.

Season 4 = transitional but still good.

Season 5 = Over-rated.

Season 6 = good but depressing.

Season 7 = hot mess.

Angel Season 1 = really enjoyable.

Season 2 = A-MA-ZING. Loved Darla's return.

Season 3 = equally great.

Season 4 = Holy [!@#$%^&*]! Awesome couple of episodes. Then there was the Connor-Cordy sex. Then Cordy turned evil. Yay! Uh, then she got A. pregnant and B. fired. Boo! The show seriously lost its way. Until the promising last episode.

Season 5 = totally squandered a great set-up by not bringing back Lilah or any of the other familiar Wolfram & Hart characters. Don't even get me started on the disappointing series finale.

[Sylph]

So Buffy died in season 3?

[Cat]

She came back. Actually, she technically died at the end of season 1, the repercussions of which echoed throughout S2 and S3. She died again at the end of S5 and was roused back to life in S6.

[Sylph]

I think in season 6 and 7 Marti Noxon was de facto the showrunner. For the season 6 I'm almost 100% sure.

And Marti is now the showrunner of Private Practice. She had loads of flops after Buffy.

[BadZoe]

I agree with everything except that I loved the finale. What was best about it was that it left before the big fight. It would have been too much like the Buffy ending if everything was wrapped up in a neat little package. They really should make a big screen movie! The worst part for me though was Wesley dying, it makes me weep, lol. Wesley is my all time favorite character because of his growth and evolution from his first appearance on Buffy to the bad ass Demon fighter at the end of Angel.

[boldfan01]

And that's another hint that would indicate B&B isn't the show she visited, since she mentions no hiatus. Although it's not the traditional hiatus that prime time shows would have of several months off, B&B does regularly shut down in August and December, plus the extra week off you mention for most of the year. Also, she mentions that the soap she visited has four directors each handling one day of the week. B&B's directors work in 3 episode cycles, with Michael Stich, Deveney Kelly and Cynthia Popp having the lion's share with others like David Shaughnessy coming into the rotation as needed. Since B&B tapes 2 episodes a day, each director would have to work more than a single day to do his/her three episodes, and that doesn't match with what she described.

[Sylph]

General Hospital might be considered to have 4 directors, if Phideaux Xavier is still "freelancing":

William Ludel

Scott McKinsey

Craig McManus

Owen Renfroe

Phideaux Xavier

[boldfan01]

I don't watch GH, so do they ever have episodes where more than one director is credited? She mentioned doing 5 episodes in 4 days, with one director working each day. So wouldn't that mean some episodes overlap taping days and directors?

[Sylph]

On the other hand... Taylor Townsend played by Autumn Reeser... Now we're talking!

[JackPeyton]

Taylor Townsend

Autumn Reeser

The refocus of the show to Seth & Summer as the rooting couple and the addition of Taylor is why i love the fourth season.

However, going back to Jane Espenson, i just watched her commentary on Angel season 1 for rm w/ a vu. amazing.

[Sylph]

That character was exquisite and Autumn played it superbly.

I hated what they did to Seth.

Jane is amazing, shame she's writing for Battlestar. There are better shows for her.

[JackPeyton]

So true. And her & Ryan were SOOO unexpected but amazing.

There was this one scene where Taylor was trying to get Ryan to open up to her, and it was heartbreaking.

[Sylph]

After the whiny, obnoxious Marissa, those two were really amazing.

The episode with Henri-Michele and the poem?

[JackPeyton]

yes!

[Cat]

Awww, Taylor Townsend! You know what I liked? TT was a stuck-up bitch, and they transitioned her into a self-consciously nerdy, Type-A but warm-hearted heroine. And they did it seemlessly. AR never made it seem like a ret-con.