No recent television creator has generated more critical, scholarly, and popular discussion or acquired as devoted a cult following as Joss Whedon (b. 1964). No fewer than thirty books concerned with his work have now been published (a forthcoming volume even offers a book-length bibliography), and ten international conferences on his work have convened in the U.K., the United States, Australia, and Turkey. Fitting then that this first volume in the University Press of Mississippi's Television Conversations Series is devoted to the writer, director, and showrunner who has delivered Buffy the Vampire Slayer (WB, 1997-2001; UPN, 2001-3); Angel (WB, 1999-2004); Firefly (FOX, 2002); Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (webcast, 2008); and Dollhouse (FOX, 2009-10).

Whedon has shown himself to be a virtuoso screenwriter/script doctor, director, comic book author, and librettist. He is as well a masterful conversationalist. Whether answering a hundred rapid-fire, playful questions from fans on the Internet, fielding serious inquiries about his craft and career from television colleagues, or assessing his disappointments, Whedon seldom fails to provoke laughter and reflection.

David Lavery is a professor of English at Middle Tennessee State University. Among his numerous publications are Finding "Battlestar Galactica": An Unauthorized Guide; Unlocking the Meaning of "Lost": An Unauthorized Guide; and Saving the World: A Guide to "Heroes."

Cynthia Burkhead is an English instructor at the University of North Alabama. She is the author of Student Companion to John Steinbeck and the coeditor of Grace Under Pressure: "Grey's Anatomy" Uncovered.