Editing Angel (1999 TV series) (section)

===Origins===
Co-producer Greenwalt points out, "There's no denying that ''Angel'' grew out of ''Buffy''." Several years before ''Angel'' debuted, Joss Whedon developed the concept behind ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' to invert the Hollywood formula of "the little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed in every horror movie."<ref name=blondegirl>Billson, Anne, ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BFI TV Classics S.)''. British Film Institute (December 5, 2005), pp24–25.</ref> The character Angel was first seen in the [[Welcome to the Hellmouth|first episode]] and became a regular, appearing in the opening credits during seasons 2 and 3. According to the fictional universe first established by ''Buffy'', the '[[Buffyverse]]',<ref>The term 'Buffyverse' is used amongst fans of ''Buffy/Angel'' online to describe the fictional universe established by ''Buffy/Angel''. It is also used in published materials such: Walton, Andy, "[http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/19/buffy.sidebar/ Slang-age in the Buffyverse]", ''CNN'' (February 18, 2004 ), and the book, Ouellette, Jennifer, [http://physics.about.com/od/physicsbooks/gr/buffyverse.htm ''Physics of the Buffyverse''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129150018/http://physics.about.com/od/physicsbooks/gr/buffyverse.htm |date=November 29, 2010 }}, ''Penguin Books'' (January 2007).</ref> Angel was born in 18th-century Ireland; after being turned into a soulless, immortal vampire, he became legendary for his evil acts, until a band of wronged Gypsies punished him by restoring his soul, overwhelming him with guilt. Angel eventually set out on a path of redemption, hoping that he could make up for his past through good deeds. In ''Buffy''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Graduation Day, Part Two|Season Three finale]], he leaves [[Sunnydale]] for L.A. to continue his atonement without Buffy. Whedon believed that "Angel was the one character who was bigger than life in the same way that Buffy was, a kind of superhero."<ref>Havens, Candace, ''Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy'' Benbella Books (May 1, 2003), p103.</ref> Whedon has compared the series to its parent: "It's a little bit more straightforward action show and a little bit more of a guys' show."<ref>Bassom, David, "Buffy, Angel and Me", from ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer magazine'' #12 (UK, September 2000), page 6.</ref>

While the central concept behind ''Buffy'' was "high school as a horror movie" in small-town America,<ref>'Said, SF', "[http://www.shebytches.com/SFSaidgb.html Interview with Joss Whedon by SF Said] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430050551/http://www.shebytches.com/SFSaidgb.html |date=April 30, 2009 }}", ''Shebytches.com'' (2005).</ref> co-creators David Greenwalt and Whedon were looking to make ''Angel'' into a different "gritty, urban show."<ref>Havens, Candace, ''Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy'' Benbella Books (May 1, 2003), p102 (quote from Greenwalt)</ref> Whedon explained, "We wanted a much darker show, darker in tone. It's set in Los Angeles because there are a lot of demons in L.A. and a wealth of stories to be told. We also wanted to take the show a little older and have the characters deal with demons in a much different way. Buffy is always the underdog trying to save the world, but Angel is looking for redemption. It's those two things that creatively make the shows different."<ref name="autogenerated2">Havens, Candace, ''Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy'' Benbella Books (May 1, 2003), p101-102.</ref>

Whedon and Greenwalt prepared a six-minute promotional video pitch, often called the "Unaired ''Angel'' pilot" for [[The WB]].<ref name="topping">Topping, Keith, ''Hollywood Vampire'', (3rd edition, includes Season 4) ''Virgin Books'' (2004).</ref> Some shots from this short were later used in the opening credits.<ref name="topping"/>

Early during the life of the series, some effort was made to slightly soften the original concept. For example, scenes were cut from the pilot episode, "City of", in which Angel tasted the blood of a murder victim;<ref>Hart, Maryelizabeth & Holder, Nancy & Mariotte, Jeff, ''[[List of Buffyverse guidebooks#"Casefiles"|Casefiles]]'', ''Pocket Books'' (May 2002), page 34.</ref> the episode that was originally written to be the second episode, "Corrupt", was abandoned altogether. Writer [[David Fury]] explained, "The network was shocked. They said 'We can't shoot this. This is way too dark.' We were able to break a new idea, we had to turn it over in three days."<ref>Hart, Maryelizabeth & Holder, Nancy & Mariotte, Jeff, ''Casefiles'', ''Pocket Books'' (May 2002), page 43-44.</ref> Instead, the tone was lightened and the opening episodes established Angel Investigations as an idealistic, shoestring operation.

A first draft script reveals that ''Angel'' was originally intended to include the character [[Whistler (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Whistler]], played by [[Max Perlich]], who had already been featured in two ''Buffy'' episodes, "[[Becoming, Part One]]" and "[[Becoming, Part Two|Part Two]]".<ref>Topping, Keith, ''Hollywood Vampire'', (3rd edition, includes Season 4) ''Virgin Books'' (2004), pages 18–19. Also see: Greenwalt, David & Whedon, Joss, [http://www.twiztv.com/scripts/angel/season1/angel-earlydraft.htm Angel pilot, early draft] ''20th Century Fox'' (1999).</ref> In an interview, Perlich said, "I never got called again. If they had called, I would have probably accepted because it was a great experience and I think Joss is very original and talented."<ref>Dilullo, Tara, "Where are they now? Max Perlich" in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Magazine" #62, ''Titan Magazines'' (July 2004 issue), pages 30–31.</ref> Instead, the producers created a Whistler-like character, [[Allen Francis Doyle|Doyle]]. [[Cordelia Chase]], also from the original Sunnydale crew, joined Angel and Doyle.