I grew up with sort of a snobbish disdain for television, which didn’t quite stop me from watching it, but perhaps made me less obsessive than I might have become. It also enabled me to stock up on my book-readin’, which is a good thing because I hardly read anything that’s not linked from a Facebook update these days, and it’s good to have more than a couple words at your disposal when writing a blog.
Since investing in a high definition 16×9 television a couple years ago, I got over my holier-than-thou ways and logged some serious hours in front of the boob tube. My justification was that there was a lot of intelligent programming on TV now (sort of true) and I could watch it commercial free thanks to DVDs and digital downloads (true).
One of the results of this new found attraction to television was that I discovered the oeuvre of Joss Whedon, the guy who created Buffy and Angel. His work has its supporters and its detractors; personally I can take or leave Buffy, I absolutely loved Firefly, and I enjoyed about 80% of Angel. Without a doubt, the three best characters on Angel were Doyle (who only lasted one season before actor Glenn Quinn met with a tragic death), Lorne (played by Andy Hallett), and Charisma Carpenter‘s ass (as Cordelia).
So I was deeply saddened to learn (yes, via Facebook update) that Andy Hallett passed away on Sunday after battling heart disease for the past few years. His character gave the show much of its heart, sophistication, and humor, and I always got the impression that Whedon had based the character on Andy himself. So, if I may nerd out for a moment here: Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, you will be missed.
