The last time we visited the writers of the Whedonverse, we looked in on what Jane Espenson and Marti Noxon were up to.  This time Whedonage checks out Tim Minear and the dynamic writing duo of Sarah Fain and Elizabeth Craft.

Tim Minear has been a pivotal figure in the Whedonverse for many years, having written for Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse, and been involved as a producer for all three at various times as well.  He's also written some of my favorite Angel and Firefly episodes; "I Will remember You" (Angel), "Hero" (Angel), "Darla" (Angel), "Home" (Angel), and "Out of Gas" (Firefly).  Recently he has written for and produced some wonderful failures for Fox, among them The Inside starring the wonderful Peter Coyote, the quirky Wonderfalls, which was treated shabbily by Fox, and most recently the short lived Drive, starring Nathan Fillion.  Maybe Fox is rethinking being so shortsighted with two of Nathan's series, considering how well Castle is doing for ABC?  Ah, hindsight; it's 20/20.  

However, regardless of his turbulent career with Fox series', it seems the network and Tim Minear have not tired of one another yet.  After jamming the nail in the Dollhouse coffin, Fox signed Minear to a new 2 year contract, keeping him writing and producing for the network with whom he's worked for the last twelve years.

"Tim has been such a great partner to the studio," said 20th TV chairman Gary Newman. "He is as versatile as any writer we've ever been in business with -- he can do genre, action, relationship, drama -- and he has worked on an incredible number of series for us."

Currently Minear is working on the new detective dramedy for FX, Terriers, a concept created by Ted Griffin (writer/producer: The Shield, Matchstick Men) and Shawn Ryan (producer: The Unit, Lie To Me).  "The tone of 'Terriers' is very challenging as it mixes drama, comedy and crime, which plays into Tim's talents," said Gary Newman, 20th TV chairman.  Tim declares dipping his toe in the cable pool to be a win, win, and we agree!  Maybe Tim will reteam with Joss on something for the FX network ... we can hope, can't we?



Sarah Fain and Elizabeth Craft are somewhat of a rarity in Hollywood; a writing duo.  And they like it that way, because wherever they go, they have each other for company!  The pair also wrote my all time favorite Angel episode, S4's "Soulless" as well as "Release" and "Shiny, Happy, People."  

After their Angel days, Fain and Craft moved on to write for FX's The Shield, where they also pulled double duty as co-producer and producer.  In 2007, Fain and Craft left The Shield and created Women's Murder Club, a procedural drama based on the best-selling books by James Patterson.  Produced by 20th Century Fox Television, the show ended up on ABC and premiered on October 12, 2007 with Craft and Fain not only writing, but serving as executive producers.  The series starred Angie Harmon (Law & Order), Laura Harris (Dead Like Me), and Aubrey Dollar (Point Pleasant, created by Marti Noxon).  Though the series debuted in the Friday night tombs, it won its time slot repeatedly before being steam-rollered by the writers' strike.  When the show returned for a final three episodes, Craft and Fain were no where to be seen, having apparently been fired for unknown reasons.

What might have been a lemon period in their lives turned quickly to lemonade when Joss Whedon approached them to work on his new Fox series, Dollhouse.  According to Sarah Fain, Joss emailed as soon as the word got out that they were available. "Joss said 'I'm really sorry - and is it too soon to ask you to work on Dollhouse?" Getting an offer so quickly was a real relief to the ladies.  Said Craft, "It cushioned the blow."  Quickly the pair jumped on board as co-executive producers, and wrote both "Echoes" and "Gray Hour." 

After working on Dollhouse for one season, Craft and Fain left at the studio's request to reunited with Shawn Ryan (The Shield) on his new series, Lie to Me.   Said Fain, "We weren't looking to leave Dollhouse, but Tim Roth really liked our script last season, so the studio wanted us over here. It's a little sad, but everybody on LTM is great, and we're working with Shawn Ryan again, which is always a good thing."

Though serving as producers on the set of Lie To Me, the pair has also written some episodes, the next of which is S2:E14, "Delinquent," which should air sometime in March or April 2010.