Fans of Joss Whedon’s former TV shows are having an excellent year, with Whedon alums Alyson Hannigan (Willow), David Boreanaz (Angel), and Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia) all happily ensconced in hit shows. James Marsters (Spike) had a nice recurring role on “Smallville,” Nicholas Brendon (Xander) had a near-miss with “Kitchen Confidential,” Nathan Fillion (Malcolm) has a horror movie coming out soon, and, well, Michelle Trachtenberg did a Lifetime movie that at least helped prove that sometimes good books shouldn’t be made into Lifetime movies for any amount of money.
Next up for the Whedon army: the return of Charles Gunn (actor J. August Richards), who will put his Wolfram & Hart-gained courtroom skills back to work in NBC’s upcoming drama “Conviction” as Assistant DA Billy Desmond. But who would have thought the street-smart African-American (vampire-slaying) gang member would end up getting typecast as…a lawyer?
For those with truly Josstastic memories, “Conviction” also stars Eric Balfour (better known as Milo from the first season of “24,” or as Theresa’s ex on “The O.C.”) who was gleefully devoured by vampires in the pilot episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” It’s a Whedon two-fer!
NBC is making the “Conviction” pilot available for FREE download at iTunes, so the Whedonites won’t have to wait to get their fix of the stake-slinging, vampire-hating lawyer.
