Caught in the orbit of 'Mars' [Veronica Mars, that is...]

calendarlive.com: Caught in the orbit of 'Mars':

"It started innocently enough: Joss Whedon had just watched what he calls 'a Veronica Marsathon' and he couldn't help himself as he sent his love for UPN's 'Veronica Mars' out in cyberspace via his website, www.whedonesque.com.

'I can no longer restrain myself. Best. Show. Ever,' posted Whedon, known in the TV universe as the king of cult for creating one-of-a-kind shows — 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' 'Angel' and even the canceled 'Firefly,' which led to the feature film 'Serenity.' 'Seriously, I've never gotten more wrapped up in a show I wasn't making, and maybe even more than those,' he wrote. 'Crazy crisp dialogue. Incredibly tight plotting. Big emotion, I mean BIG, and charismatic actors and I was just DYING from the mystery and the relationships and PAIN, this show knows from pain and no, I don't care, laugh all you want, I had to share this. These guys know what they're doing on a level that intimidates me. It's the Harry Potter of shows. There. I said it.'

...The mystery-drama about a teen sleuth who was dealt a series of tough blows (her alcoholic mother abandoned her, she was date-raped, her best friend was killed) and overcomes them, in part, by helping her private investigator father, was doing better this season, but could clearly use a ratings stunt. So, this being Hollywood, it wasn't long before Whedon got an offer from creator Rob Thomas and executive producer Joel Silver to make his TV debut in an episode of the show.

..."We're both sort of writing in the 'Heathers' school of stylized teen dialogue, pretty quippy and bantery," Thomas said. "We both imposed metaphors on a high school setting. He did high school as a horror show, and we're doing high school as a noir piece. In our own ways, we re-imagined high school to fit a distinct style of storytelling.""