Episode Trivia
Abigail Mavity
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Abigail Mavity, who played Xander’s daughter Sara (aged 8) in 6.16 Hell’s Bells also played Hannah in Angel’s 5.14 Smile Time. She has also been in America’s Most Terrible Things, 100 Mile Rule, Malcolm in the Middle, Haunted, Becker, Strong Medicine, Gideon’s Crossing, Family Law, Touched by an Angel and Judging Amy.
Alice Dinnean Vernon
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Alice Dinnean Vernon worked the demon puppet in 6.15 As You Were, and was the hand behind the mummy hand in 6.05 Life Serial. She’s also worked on Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Men in Black II and Bear in the Big Blue House. Alice was one of the puppeteers in the Angel episode 5.14 Smile Time.
Angel the puppet
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In 5.07 Lineage, Wesley’s father says of Angel,
“He’s a puppet. He always has been. To the Powers That Be, to Wolfram & Hart. Now he’s ours.”
In 5.14 Smile Time, Angel literally becomes a puppet.
Ben Edlund
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Ben Edlund was a supervising producer on Angel, and a producer and writer on Firefly. He wrote the Angel episodes 5.19 Time Bomb, 5.14 Smile Time, 5.05 Life Of The Party, 5.02 Just Rewards and 4.20 Sacrifice, and directed the episode 5.14 Smile Time. Ben has also written episodes of Supernatural, The Venture Bros., Point Pleasant, The Inside, The Tick (which he also created), Titan A.E., and Crawley.
David Fury
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David Fury started out as an actor on stage and film, and then became a stand up comedian. He started writing for television with his then girlfriend Elin Hampton. The two wrote a couple of specs (sample scripts for TV shows which are then sent to executives as proof of writing skill) and from they got jobs on The Jackie Thomas Show and Pinky and the Brain. David and Elin were then offered work on two shows: Buffy and Life’s Work. David actually turned down Buffy, even though he thought it was a better show, as Life’s Work had the potential to be bigger. It was cancelled and he ended up meeting Joss again and writing the episode 2.20 Go Fish. His partner Elin took a job at Mad About You, and David got the job at Buffy. David rose from Producer to Co-Executive Producer in just three years, and was a Consulting Producer of Angel. Fury wrote a story called ‘Glittering World’ (a OMWF reference?) in the graphic novel, Tales of the Slayers. He was also the voice of Jock, in Raider’s of the Lost Ark. The clearest example of his work are the prop plane pilot’s words to Indiana Jones:
“That’s just my pet snake, Reggie! Show a little backbone, will ya?”
David played Gregor Framkin in the Angel episode 5.14 Smile Time, and appeared in the Angel season two episode 2.15 Reprise as one of the people sacrificing the goat.
Jenny Mollen
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Jenny Mollen played Nina in season five of Angel. Born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1979, Jenny attended UCLA’s school of theatre, film, and television. While at UCLA, she wrote and produced a one woman show called Not A Pretty Girl. She has also studied and lived in Paris, France and Heidelberg, Germany and is fluent in both German and French.
She has appeared in Ring Around the Rosie, Return of the Living Dead 5: Rave to the Grave, Cattle Call, The Raven, D.E.B.S. and Strong Medicine. Jenny dated Buffy writer Drew Goddard for 4 years, and is now engaged to American Pie actor Jason Biggs.
Lorne’s foody nicknames
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Lorne is fond of giving people nicknames. Many of these nicknames have been of the edible variety. He has called Angel:
- “A big hunk of hero sandwich” to Angel in 2.09 The Trial
- “Angelcakes” to Angel in 2.15 Reprise, 5.03 Unleashed and 5.14 Smile Time
- “Crumb cake”, “big corn muffin”, “strudel” and “cinnamon buns” to Angel in 3.13 Waiting In The Wings
- “Sugar pie” to Angel in 4.05 Supersymmetry
- “Angel food” to Angel in 4.09 Long Day’s Journey
- “Milk Dud” and “Sweet tart” to Angel in 5.05 Life Of The Party
- “Pumpkin” to Angel in 5.14 Smile Time and 5.03 Unleashed
- “Cupcake” to Cordelia in 3.19 The Price
- “Perky love muffin” to Cordelia in 4.07 Apocalypse, Nowish
- “Sweet potato” and “Honey buns” to Cordelia in 4.11 Soulless
- “Honey” to Cordelia in 4.12 Calvary
- “Sugar” to Fred in 3.18 Double Or Nothing
- “Peach pie” and “Crumb cake” to Fred in 4.03 The House Always Wins
- “Peanut” to Fred in 4.08 Habeas Corpses
- “Sugarplum” to Fred in 4.11 Soulless and 4.20 Sacrifice
- “Peaches” and “Honey” to Fred in 4.14 Release
- “Kiwi” and “Moon pie” to Gunn in 4.11 Soulless
- “Cupcake and her icing” to Fred and Gunn in 4.07 Apocalypse, Nowish
- “Peach pie” to Vivian in 4.03 The House Always Wins
- “The little peanut” to Connor in 3.11 Birthday
- “Chicken Little” to Eve in 5.17 Underneath
- “Cheap fortune cookie” about himself in 4.16 Players
Marc Vann
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Marc Vann played Doctor Sparrow during Angel’s fifth season. He had a small role on the FX show Dirt. He played a plastic surgeon who was being interview by tabloid reporter, Willa (Alex Breckenridge). Alex was Kit Holburn in the Buffy episode, 7.01 Lessons.
Marc has also appeared in Grey’s Anatomy, Spider-Man 3, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The O.C., NYPD Blue, Frasier, Ghost World, Malcolm in the Middle, Payback and Early Edition.
Pinocchio
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In 6.07 Once More, With Feeling, when he notices the strength of one of Sweet’s henchmen, Spike says:
“Strong. Someday, he’ll be a real boy.”
This is a reference to Italian author Carlo Collodi’s children’s novel The Adventures of Pinocchio which features an animated marionette whose dream is to become human. The story was made famous by Walt Disney’s film Pinocchio.
In 1.22 To Shanshu In L.A., Wesley realises that the Shanshu prophecy means that Angel will become human after fulfilling his destiny. The gang have the following conversation:
Wesley: “Well, it’s saying that it won’t happen tomorrow or the next day. He has to survive the coming darkness, the apocalyptic battles, a few plagues, and some - uh, several, - not that many - fiends that will be unleashed.”
Angel: “So don’t break out the champagne just yet.”
Cordy: “Yeah, break out the champagne, Pinocchio. This is a big deal!”
In 5.04 Hell Bound, Spike says, “To making me a real boy again?” - an echo of the comment he made in the Buffy musical. It’s also a Pinocchio reference.
In 5.10 Soul Purpose, Freds says that Spike, “Deserves to become a real boy.”
In 5.14 Smile Time, Lorne says of the injured puppet-Angel:
“Medic! Doctor! Is there a Gepetto in the house?”
Gepetto was Pinocchio’s wood-carver father.
The Smurfs
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The Judge was nicknamed “The Smurf” on set because of his blue colour, a reference to the cartoon characters in the 80s TV cartoon The Smurfs. In 2.14 Innocence, Buffy calls the Judge a Smurf.
In 5.14 Smile Time, Lorne says to Framkin:
“Yeah? Well, a fight suits us just fine, Papa Smurf. We’re gonna let the entire world know what you’re up to.”
Papa Smurf was the leader of the Smurfs.
[Goof] Reading the song
details | 4 comments | suggested by Mel
In 5.14 Smile Time, why didn’t Lorne realise that it was not Framkin they were talking to? The demon made Framkin sing “Courage and Pluck” so Lorne should have realised that it was not him singing.