Why The WB Cancelled David Boreanaz's Angel While Ratings Were Still High

The ending of Joss Wheldon's "Angel" gave fans a cliffhanger that also worked as a fitting conclusion to the series, albeit one that left the door open for the show to continue. In the finale's closing moments, Angel (David Boreanez) and the gang take their final stand against the evil Senior Partners and Circle of the Black Thorn, but the war doesn't end there. After the battle, an army of demons appear and Angel draws a sword in preparation for the dust-up, but the end credits roll before we learn the outcome of the fight. The rest is history.

Of course, the reason for the ambiguous conclusion is due to the fact that the season 5 finale, "Not Fade Away," wasn't supposed to be the show's ultimate farewell episode. While "Angel" arguably suffered from Whedon focusing on "Firefly" during its fourth installment, the final season marked a return to form, and the ratings were strong enough to indicate that there was an audience who wanted to see the good-natured vampire embark on more adventures. That might be true, but The WB cancelled it anyway.

Following its cancellation, Whedon claimed he was heartbroken and caught off-guard by the news, comparing the situation to that of a healthy person suffering an unexpected heart attack. However, other stories indicate that Whedon's demanding behavior was the main reason The WB axed the show, as he was too insistent on having a sixth installment greenlit. With that in mind, let's find out what one of the show's producers said about it.

"Angel" might have lived beyond season 5 if Joss Whedon didn't cause drama with a former WB executive named Jordan Levin. In an interview with Meanwhile... Interviews, series writer and producer David Fury revealed that the showrunner was tired of waiting around for the show to be renewed, so he told Levin to pick it up immediately. However, it seems that the executive didn't want to accept Whedon's demands, with Fury recalling that the series was cancelled shortly after the meeting went down. As he explained:

"There was a power play that happened that just didn't fall out the way they wanted it to. We wanted to get an early pick-up, we didn't. In fact we forced them [The WB] to make a decision, and with his hand forced he [Levin] made the decision to cancel us."

Fury added that he believes the show would have been picked up again if Whedon had waited for The WB to decide at its regular pace. The good news, though, is that David Boreanez's hunky creature of the night might return to screens in the near future, as a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" sequel series is currently in the works with Sarah Michelle Gellar set to reprise her role as the titular character. Surely, Angel will want to visit his old love interest and see how she's doing? If not, at least IDW Publishing put out a comic book series that details what happened to the vamp and his gang following the events of the TV series.