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AICN reports that David Simkins has left the show after only having been chosen two months ago as the Greenwalt's replacement.

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FREAKYLINKS Vet Out At ANGEL!!

David Simkins, announced at the end of May as David Greenwalts replacement as Angel showrunner, has departed the show a little more than two months later.
Simkins, whose terrifying resume includes stints as a writer-producer on Charmed and as the showrunner of Freakylinks, has departed over true creative differences, according to one source close to the situation. It was a Herculean challenge to come into a well-established show with a deep mythology and prosper.
How will the show deal with the departure of Simkins, who also served as a writer on the terrible first season of Dark Angel and the shaky final season of Roswell?
Likely by promoting from within. Writer-producer-director Jeffrey Bell an X-Files vet who joined Angel last season and has already written or co-written five "Angel" teleplays, including such fan favorites as Billy and Forgiving will reportedly now play a bigger role in helping fellow writer-producer-directors Joss Whedon and Tim Minear oversee Angel.

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Dude, after watching that Angel ep marathon too...
Actually, this is probably the best thing that could've happened...Simkins past work never did put my mind at ease about what kind of tone he'd bring to the show. Bell's experience with writing and his inside knowledge of the Angel canon can only help. May be a rough start (and middle) but i think things should sort themselves. That said, Joss is due for a breakdown any minute now. Hope he yogas.


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Xita at Kitten posted this:

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Good work kitties, we got Simkins fired, our world domination plan is right on target. Whoever is in charge of keeping the buffy cartoon in limbo, good job!

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Oh...i know she's kidding...but just in case:

(Sumerian, phonetic)
Goo-roo-meh ning-in-meh,
noo-gull-gull-ah, goo-roo-
meh ning-in-meh, cheh-meh-
dull -dull -eh.

<repeat>

Shield around us, never
broken, shield surrounds
us, keep us from harm...

Zap2it

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'Angel's' Minear Discusses Producer Shake-Up
Wed, Aug 14, 2002 05:36 PM PDT

by Kate O'Hare
Zap2it, TV News

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Writer/producer Tim Minear is having a busy day.

"Just like every day," he says.

That's no surprise since, in partnership with Joss Whedon, he's holding the reins on The WB's "Angel" and FOX's "Firefly."

Whedon co-created "Angel," a spin-off of his "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," with David Greenwalt, who recently left the show (he still consults) to be executive producer on the ABC midseason drama "Miracles." As Whedon needed Greenwalt's second-in-command, Minear, to help him launch his new creation, "Firefly," outside producer David Simkins ("FreakyLinks" was brought in to run "Angel."

Just last week, Simkins departed "Angel" over reported "creative differences," leaving the tag team of Whedon and Minear to oversee both shows.

"It was an incredibly difficult situation to walk into," says Minear, speaking from the "Firefly" sets on the 20th Century Fox studio lot. "We weren't expecting to fill that position. Just a few months before that, I wasn't expecting to leave, and if David Greenwalt had left under any normal circumstances, I would have been there to shoulder it completely."

"Then the 'Firefly' thing happened, so everything changed. We didn't have a wicked lot of time to get to know new people, either before we selected David [Simkins] or after he was on board. He was thrown into the deep end of the pool without any lifeguards, and so, because we didn't have the time to really get in there and break him in, just everybody decided that it wasn't going to work."

Whedon and Minear have turned to "Angel" writer/producer Jeffrey Bell to pick up some of the slack. "Jeff Bell is there," Minear says, "admiraling the day-to-day concerns, but Joss and I are basically running it with everybody. We also have Kelly Manners, who's our on-set producer, who's there for the nuts-and-bolts stuff as well."

"It's a machine that's running and in place, but at the end of the day, the season arcs and the stories are going to have to be broken by Joss and me and the staff, just like they have been since the beginning of the year, so it's not all that different, in that sense."

"But I didn't envy David Simkins being put into the middle of that situation, because it's difficult."

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Not really spoilery

About.com has an interview with Stephanie Romanov about her character and the upcoming season:

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Angel's Evil Lawyer

Part One - Interview with Stephanie Romanov
With all the vampires, demons and monsters Angel (David Boreanaz) fights every week, no villain has been more formidable than Lilah Morgan. Played by Stephanie Romanov, Morgan is Senior VP of Special Projects at Wolfram and Hart, the law firm that has some ambiguous prophecy for Angel to fulfill. This usually leads to devious manipulation of Angel or his friends.

Being evil makes her character inherently sexy, or maybe it's all those short business skirts. Either way, being a formidable human villain on a supernatural action show is quite a task and Romanov fills those high heels well. In real life, of course, she's kind and generous, donating her time to speak with us about her work on Angel.

Why hasn't Angel killed Lilah already? I know, isn't that a good question? You'd have to ask the writers. Maybe because I need a job? I wonder that too, why he doesn't just off her, but I have no real answer for it other than he needs a good enemy.

He's even protected her sometimes. I know, it is a funny thing, the dynamic between the two of them. I think they must have, underneath, some kind of love for each other. There's a fine line between love and hate because they also seem to hate each other a lot, but then she never succeeds in killing him and he never really tries to kill her.

This might be outdated, given how things have gone at the end of last season, but do you think there's some sexual tension between Angel and Lilah? I've always felt there was a lot. I think it's an interesting aspect to play. It gives you an interesting obstacle and also something to feed your engine with.

Do you ever worry about job security on a show where people can die suddenly? I've been doing it since the first season, and people kept getting killed so every time I get a new script, my first question would be, "Am I getting killed?" So, there's a lot of fear for a while as to when they were going to off Lilah. It just seemed like it would be a natural turn of events since everyone else was getting offed, but they say they're going to keep me around.

Did you really handle a tarantula? Yes, that was me, all of it. I'd worked with tarantulas before, believe it or not, so I was okay with it this time. The first time I had to touch a tarantula on another show, I got a bit sweaty. This time, the trainer was very impressed with how well I handled the tarantula. They're really kind of furry and soft and cuddly.

What advice does a tarantula trainer give you? Be gentle. You know, Lilah with the soft touch.

What's the worst thing they've ever asked you to do on Angel? Other than really short skirts and high heels? I've had to run in them. There really hasn't been anything bad other than the hours, which are all night hours and the Friday nights that turn into the Saturday mornings.

You're not a fan of the costumes? No, actually, I do like them. I love business suits. I always have, so the show gives me a good reason to wear them. In life, if you wear them, people kind of make fun of you, but as an actress I tend to be a conservative dresser by nature so the show suits me just fine.

Do you keep your wardrobe? Nope. Sometimes they give you a piece here and there. They're sweet.

What's your favorite part about Lilah?My favorite part about Lilah is I get to say things as Lilah that I would never say as Stephanie.

Is there an evil side to you that she speaks to? [Laughs] No. I don't think there's an evil side to me, but there's certainly a more fiery side to me that isn't shown much in life because I tend to be the nice girl. So, what's fun as Lilah is I get to be the bad girl.

Is there something inherently sexy about evil? Well, yeah. Look at the girls who are drawn to the bad boys and the good boys that are drawn to the bad girls. I think that the light is always drawn to darkness and darkness is always drawn to the light.

How are you comfortable showing as much skin as you do on the show? Oh my goodness, are you talking about the one scene with Wesley?

A little bit. Whooh, I know when I saw that on the TV, I was like, "Oh my goodness, I look like I'm totally naked." I had a slip on and it was just put on the place where a hip hugger would be and then in the front I had big pasties on, so I was totally covered. But just the angle that they got, I looked really not covered.

Do you ever notice the camera lingering on your legs? Well, they have specific shots for that. It's like, "Okay, you're going to walk into frame, we're going to start on your feet and pan up your legs." The producers like my legs.

How do you respond to that? I'm glad I have good legs.

Is it fetishistic? Well, in your twisted mind I guess it is. [Laughs] I never thought of that. I've been a dancer most my life and a model for a long time before I acted, so I never thought of it in that way. I'm also a sculptor and a painter, so I'm used to painting and sculpting bodies. I look at it from a more artistic point of view, but fetish is okay if that keeps them going.

Yeah, I had feminist film theory in college, so I'm pretentious. I'm sure that's psychologically a part of it, I just hadn't thought of it that way.


What are you looking forward to next season on Angel? They're showing more sides to Lilah now, so I get to play more interesting things. In a couple of episodes, they've talked about my mother's in a home where she's taken care of and a little bit out of her mind. She doesn't always know who I am and I take care of her, so there was a threat from my boss that if something went wrong, they'd have to take my mother out of the home. Then you see these different sides to Lilah as to maybe why she's in the job she's in and you get a little bit better idea of where she's coming from. They've got some plans up their sleeve as to a story line that I find intriguing which I won't speak of now but I look forward to all of it.

How will the relationship with Wesley continue? I don't know because I haven't seen any of the scripts. They don't really show us anything beforehand. They just say, "We've got some things planned," but I have no idea what that might be. I would love to see it continue in a kind of twisted psychological profile but then ending up to maybe show Lilah in a way or make her have to cross a road so to speak in her own emotional journey as a bad guy. I think as a bad guy, if you get involved with someone and you have to open up in another way, it adds to your personality repertoire so to speak.

Any chance she might turn good? I doubt it. I don't see that happening, but you just never know. I've never thought of her as completely bad, just doing her job. The people she works for demand certain things and she just steps up to the plate.

Where would you hope the character does not go? I hope she doesn't turn nice like Lindsay.

Why? They've got enough nice people on the show, got enough good guys. You need a good bad guy and I think she's a good one because she's a mix. She's sexy and she can be compelling, but she's dangerous.

Will Lilah be involved with pulling Angel out of the ocean? That's a really good question. That would be interesting, wouldn't it? I loved the episode, the Billy episode, where in the end she kills him and she's the hero for once, so it would be cool to see her do something heroic again.

Were you a fan of Buffy and Angel before joining the cast? I'd seen Angel once and then the next day I got a call saying I had an interview for it. So, I'd only seen it once. I hadn't seen it prior to doing the show.

What does a show like this allow you to do as an actor? Work. And be bad. What's fun about it is that it walks the line of camp and reality. So, it's fun because you're playing a lawyer and you're dealing with people. However, it's in an alternate reality than what we know, so it allows you a certain freedom with a character where you can go a little over the top. In something like Law and Order, you play it real. I like having the extra challenge of camping it up a bit and making it funny, but still putting some reality in it. That's a lot of fun. The humor of it is what keeps me going.

Did you ever research lawyers? Yeah, I've dated them. Does that count?

I'd say so. What did you learn about lawyers that applied to acting? Nothing. Because you never see me in court. You never see me going over depositions or any of that stuff, so as far as practical law, you really don't see it on the show. Lilah seems to be more, from what we see, not an instigator but she's always plotting.

Are there ever lines about magic or demons that you just can't understand? Well, there's demon names that they come up with that sometimes can be a bit of a tongue twister, but magic, I've researched a lot on different occults and Wicca, those type of things prior to ever being on the show. I read a lot of books on vampires, all the Anne Rice stuff and the classical Dracula book, so I'd actually done a lot of reading on those types of things prior to ever doing the show.

It seems like it could be like Star Trek dialogue. I think Star Trek dialogue is worse. They have whole languages whereas perhaps they have some on this show, but it's never me who has to say it.

What interaction have you had with fans? The fans have been great. I've done some signings up in Santa Barbara and I did a convention in London this year. They're all great. They're really nice and dedicated to the show. Some of them are a bit nervous to meet me at first because I'm so evil on the show. But they're all very relieved once they meet me and talk to me. It's fun. It's fun knowing the people who watch the show because you work so hard on something and you're in an isolated environment. When you get to go and see the fans and hear how much time is dedicated to this show on their parts, it's exciting.

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from The WB press release

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"ANGEL" SCORES SIGNIFICANT GAINS OVER LAST YEAR'S TIME PERIOD PREMIERE & RANKS #3 IN ITS TIME PERIOD IN ADULTS 18-34, WOMEN 18-34, PERSONS 12-34 & WOMEN 12-34

BURBANK, CA (October 8, 2002) - The season premiere of The WB's ANGEL scored tremendous gains for The WB compared to the time period's premiere last season.

ANGEL, which ranked #3 in its time period in adults 18-34 (2.4/6), persons 12-34 (2.4/6), women 18-34 (2.6/6) and women 12-34 (2.5/7), scored +71% growth over last season's time period premiere in adults 18-34 (2.4/6), +50% in persons 12-34 (2.4/6), +118% in adults 18-49, +96% in total viewers (4.6 million), +73% in women 18-34 (2.6/6), +32% in women 12-34 (2.5/7), +125% in women 18-49 (2.7/6), +57% in men 18-34 (2.2/6), +69% in men 12-34 (2.2/6), +100% in men 18-49 (2.0/5), +10% in teens (2.3/7) and +57% in male teens (2.2/7).

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from SciFi Wire

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Greenwalt Eases Into Miracles

Roger Birnbaum, producer of ABC's upcoming supernatural TV series Miracles, told SCI FI Wire that writer and Angel co-creator David Greenwalt has acclimated to the new show. "We've just come up with some really terrific storylines, very exciting storylines that have showed a great depth to the combination of David Greenwalt and Richard Hatem writing together," Birnbaum said in an interview. "They just seem to really gel together. They're both very smart. They both approach stories the same way, and they have a mutual respect for each other. I don't think that's unique, but it's nice when it works."

Miracles concerns a team that investigates reports of miraculous phenomena. Greenwalt, who co-created The WB's Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff series Angel with Joss Whedon, left that show at the end of last season to run Miracles. Birnbaum said that he is so happy with Greenwalt and Hatem that he's offered them future projects. "As a matter of fact, I've made a deal with them that when we go into our first hiatus on the show, they're going to write a movie for me," he said. "[It will] not [be] based on Miracles, but definitely a genre picture that will hopefully frighten audiences." Miracles begins airing in January 2003.

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Go HERE and click on whats new for more details on how to join in tonight's chat with Vladmir Kulich (Thirteenth Warrior) who will be playing the pants-fillingly scary big bad, "The Beast", on Angel tonight and this season.

from Sci Fi Wire

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Bell Upped At Angel

Jeffrey Bell, who has been running The WB's Angel since the departure of co-creator David Greenwalt, was formally promoted to co-executive producer, Variety reported. Bell had previously been supervising producer. He replaced David Simkins, who exited Angel in August after a brief tenure as executive producer.

Bell joined the Angel writing staff last year, after a three-season run as a writer and producer on The X-Files, the trade paper reported.

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