Top TV people's response to show's demise.

Whilst we were in Los Angeles, we took the opportunity to gauge top TV people's reaction to the cancellation of Angel.

Former Angel Executive Producer Tim Minear - now in charge of Wonderfalls - heard the news the night before The WB issued their cancellation announcement.

"I got a call from Joss the day before the news broke. He told me that he'd had dinner with (WB President) Jordan Levin, where he said, 'I need to know whether the show is coming back so I can tell my crew and my actors what to plan for.' He was told right then and there that it wasn't going to be coming back. Joss was a little taken aback - I don't think he was expecting that.

"My reaction was, 'What do you expect, you didn't have me [working on it]'" Tim joked. "We couldn't really expect it to go on much longer, because the big brain was over here doing Wonderfalls."

Jeph Loeb, who co-developed the aborted Buffy: Animated series with Joss, was sad to see Angel go. "I don't like it when any show that I'm friends with all the people on goes away.

"All the people who were involved in the show from the very beginning really gave it their all. I don't think there are any lazy episodes. They put a lot of heart and effort into a very difficult premise and came up with a show that I'm a very big fan of. I'll miss the characters and I'll miss the writing, because I think it was very smart."

Former Buffy writer Drew Greenberg was baffled by the decision. "I wish I could understand it. I feel for my friends over there - it's never an easy call to get. Why was that decision made? The show is doing so well, and they were having such a good year. It's a decision I don't understand."

Over at Smallville, Angel's Wednesday night scheduling partner, series creator Al Gough was equally baffled. "I don't know why they cancelled Angel. With Smallville on at 8pm and Angel at 9pm, we had a really good block of programming and a lot of fan crossover between the two shows. Considering the ratings and the quality of the show this year, we were shocked that they cancelled it."

The last word goes to Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane. "I didn't realise that Angel was still on the air... I guess I'll never get to work on a Joss Whedon show now." Ouch.