Mister Furious
Writer David Fury on Angel, Buffy, and brains.
      by Lisa Kincaid

After graduating from high school, Fury moved to Manhattan. He began with penning plays and sketches for the New York stage, but he didn't really consider it a career.

"To tell you the truth," he says, "I've never considered myself a writer. I was an actor and director for a number of years, then a stand-up comic, [which was a] perfect opportunity to keep performing between jobs. Eventually I formed the Brain Trust" -- again with the brains! -- "at the Manhattan Punch Line Theatre."

Brain Trust, as Fury explains, is a comedy theatre troupe which has received quite a bit of critical acclaim, appearing on The Tonight Show and Entertainment Tonight.

"When I came to LA to open the first west coast Brain Trust show," Fury continues, "I was hoping it would catapult my acting career. The show was an enormous hit, but all interest shown in me was for my writing, not my acting. People wanted to know what others scripts I had -- screenplays, sitcom specs. I had none. I hadn't thought about writing professionally.

"Once I got used to the idea, I partnered with my girlfriend, Elin Hampton, to write a couple of specs [for Seinfeld and Get A Life]. With the few contacts I'd made from the Brain Trust shows, I managed to get them read at several agencies. Within a week we had offers of representation. And after a few months, we had an offer for our first network job: The Jackie Thomas Show, Roseanne and Tom Arnold's show."

Fury and Hampton continued to work together on a variety of projects, including HBO's Dream On, where they were story editors; House of Buggin', where they were head writers and supervising producers; and Steven Spielberg Presents Pinky and the Brain. It was only after this assortment of comedy that Buffy the Vampire Slayer came along.

Fury liked the idea of Buffy, but the original film didn't live up to his expectations.

Fury had already been a fan of the idea of Buffy... if not so much the execution.

"The day the movie opened, I cut out of work to catch an early matinee," he admits. "I should mention that I never do that. But I loved the premise so much. Imagine my disappointment later... it was a terrible film. A waste of a really good idea. When I met Joss [Whedon, the creator of both the series and the film], I gambled on telling him what I thought. My respect for him grew tenfold when he admitted he shared my judgment. The series, he said, was going to get it right. By the time I saw 'The Harvest', I knew he was right. And I was an avid watcher from that point on."

Actually getting the gig to work on the show, however, was a bit more complex than that.

"Elin and I met with Joss very early in the show's development," Fury recalls, "before the presentation had been shot. At that point, the WB had only ordered six episodes for mid-season. The meeting was a blast and we were excited about doing the show."

But the path to international stardom never did run smooth, and Fury and Hampton hit a major career roadblock.

"At the same time, we were offered a job on another show: Life's Work, a twelve-episode ordered sitcom from Disney for ABC, sandwiched between the then-popular Roseanne and Home Improvement. Our agents at the time couldn't fathom why we'd want to take Buffy over a surefire hit like that, and, frankly, made us feel stupid for considering it. Weak-willed as we were, we took the Life's Work job -- a show that lasted eighteen episodes, whereas Buffy... well, you know."

The Buffy series easily slays the competition.

Indeed we do. Buffy has not only lasted through four seasons -- and already been signed with the WB for a fifth -- but it's also become a merchandising juggernaut and spawned a successful spin-off.

"Needless to say, we promptly fired our agents" -- and probably ate their brains, too -- "and signed with another literary agency -- coincidentally, the one that represents Joss. Our new agents were aware of our desire to write a freelance for Buffy and soon thereafter got us a pitch meeting with Joss and David Greenwalt. The first idea we pitched was 'Go Fish'. After two or three months, we were finally given nine days to write a script. Their happiness with 'Go Fish' led to a job offer for season three.

"However, Elin and I were deciding at this point to separate as writing partners, something we'd hoped to do eventually. And Elin had just been hired as Producer for Mad About You. Joss graciously offered me a solo freelance assignment. In this next pitch meeting, the idea that became 'Helpless' was the last one I'd pitched. Again, much liking from the powers. They quickly offered me another freelance, 'Choices', a story broken by Joss and the staff without me; and episode two of Angel -- a pretty great honor, I thought."

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