M-N-O
M is for... Much Ado About Nothing
While he was still working on creating the highly successful film The Avengers, instead of taking a holiday Whedon decided to film an incredibly low budget, but incredibly challenging film from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing in his own house, using Whedon regulars and all in just 12 days, mostly using hand held cameras. The film has already been seen by many people, having its world premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and so far the critics mostly seem to love the movie- it holds an 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes which is very impressive, especially considering all this is really is a reading of Shakespeare's classic play using not very well known actors and not on a film set. I have yet to see this film unfortunately, but am eager too. For all those people who hate producers and directors who spend shocking amounts of movies, and who may dislike Whedon for his high budget Avengers film, this extraordinarily low budget film proves he is just as capable making blockbuster films as he is creating indie dramas. A multi-talented genius. The fact that he loves British writers is also a plus... one of his favorites shows as a kid was also Monty Python (another M). He really is influenced by great things.
N is for... Nathan Fillion and Nicholas Brend0n
Two great actors that deserve all kinds of respect. Nathan Fillion is a geek hero having appeared as the most loved anti-hero on screen since Han Solo himself, and also as a superbly villainousness role as Caleb, the super-powered priest in Season 7 of Buffy. He is also a great friend of Whedon's, appearing in Much Ado About Nothing and rumored for a role in The Avengers (though this is unlikely going to be a reality- not impossible thought). Nicholas Brendon who stared as the lovable Xander Harris on Buffy was the heart of the show (and Buffy's heart quite literally in Season 4's Primeval) and one of the most lovable characters television has even seen. He hasn't really done all that much since, unlike Fillion, but he was integral to the show and one of the best things about it.
O is for... Once More With Feeling
Considered by most people including myself as probably the greatest episode of the greatest television show of all time, Once More With Feeling was the only episode in the entire season 6 of Buffy that Joss Whedon wrote and directed, but boy was it good. This is really where Joss Whedon proved that he was a cut above other TV writers and had ridiculous talent. He wrote some incredibly catchy and beautiful songs, and the episode is seamlessly directed- it truly is a work of art. Though musical episodes had been seen previously on TV there had never been a musical episode that worked quite as well as this one, and since then many shows have tried to replicate this ones genius but likely will never be able to (the only show that has since come close is Glee... but even this shows best episodes aren't of the same level as Once More With Feeling was- the choreographer of this episode has in fact since directed a couple of episodes of Glee himself). Joss has never written a Broadway musical (one of the only things he has yet to write) but this episode, along with Dr Horrible and his episode of Glee proves that he would be a natural. Maybe a Tony award is somewhere in Joss's future... I wouldn't be at all surprised, especially considering the South Park creators have nabbed them.