By Mike Thompson

Ah, spinoffs. For those of you who don't know, a spinoff is a way to cash in on the success of a current hit show without having to go to the trouble of (gasp!) creating a whole new show. Simply take a character or two from the established hit, and then "spin off" the character(s) into a new setting, with new characters. Some spinoffs are successes (The Jeffersons; Laverne and Shirley) and some are duds (Joanie Loves Chachi; Flo). Over at the WB, you'll find a spinoff that is a modest success: Angel. As is the case with most spinoffs, Angel directly follows the show it was spun off from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, on Tuesday nights. The result is two hours of quality entertainment.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (commonly called Buffy) debuted in 1997. It was derived from the 1992 movie of the same name, and it picked up where the movie left off. Sixteen year-old Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her mother moved to Sunnydale, California, from Los Angeles, where Buffy discovered she was a vampire slayer and encountered some horrible vampires. In Sunnydale, Buffy hoped to start a new slayer-free life, and quickly made some friends at her new high school, including Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) and Alexander "Xander" Harris (Nicholas Brendon).

At her new school, Buffy also met Rupert Giles (Anthony Head), the school librarian, who knew she was a slayer and convinced her to pick up the stake again. Buffy began fighting vampires and demons again, and continued doing that for the rest of her high school career. Along the way, she met a vampire named Angel (David Boreanaz), and he quickly became a love interest. It was a classic love-hate relationship (as most relationships with vampires are), but it was a very intense one. By the time Buffy graduated high school in 1999, Angel had become good. He and Buffy said goodbye and he moved away, while Buffy, accompanied by Willow and Xander, moved off to college.

I'm pleased to report that this season has found Buffy in as good a shape as its ever been in. The series is still full of action (Gellar is very athletic, and the producers of Buffy take advantage of this), and there is still a good balance between comedy and drama. In fact, some of the lines of Buffy are very funny indeed, such as this one from Willow: "It's like this dream I had about Xander, except that it wasn't about Xander, it was about someone else; and it wasn't even me, it was a friend of mine and she doesn't remember it." Also, the character of Willow is quickly becoming a very interesting one, and a recurring character from the past, the vampire Spike (James Marsters), has become a regular character this season, and that has met with some wonderful and hilarious scenes. The show is moving along fine, and the Angel character isn't missed at all.

This is good because Angel has his own show now. Called Angel (well, duh), it debuted in 1999. In the show, Angel has moved to Los Angeles, where sets up shop as a private detective. Accompanying Angel from Sunnydale (and Buffy) is Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), who becomes Angel's secretary. Police detective Kate Lockley (Elizabeth Rohm) also assists Angel at the detective agency. Alexis Denisof joined the cast in early 2000 as Wesley Wyndham-Price, Angel's sidekick. Together, Angel and his motley crew fight evil demons.

While not as good as Buffy, Angel is by no means a bad show. There are many good moments in the show and the writing can be pretty clever (sample quote, from Cordelia: "See? You can save the damsel and make great money. Is this a great country or what?"). The acting has also been pretty good. Still, the balance between comedy and drama isn't as good as it is on Buffy. As a result, there have been some awkward moments here and there on Angel. Also, the show is rather dark. The producers of Angel intended on making the show more "adult" than Buffy, but the mood is too often too dark for its own good. It's not nearly as dark as, say, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but the tone of the show could definitely be lightened a little, while still maintaining its "adult" appeal.

These rather small quibbles aside, Angel is still an enjoyable show. It's not yet as good as Buffy, but it's better than most spinoffs, and it's got the potential to be even better. If you haven't seen it already, give it a try; you might like it. And, as always, keep watching Buffy. It's a very well made show, and a lot of fun to watch. All in all, Buffy and Angel make for a nice Tuesday night doubleheader. And you don't even have to bother changing channels. Both shows air on WPIX, Ch. 11, which is conveniently located at Channel 11 here on the Marist College television dial. Tell your friends; let there be campus-wide Buffy and Angel nights!