"Angel" has witnessed a surge in the ratings this year, which could be attributed to many things. However, co-executive producer Jeffrey Bell thinks he knows pretty much why it might be doing better.

"Oh, I would say it's several degrees lighter, but then again, we're not hosting an apocalypse this year," Bell recently told Sci-Fi Wire. "When you host an apocalypse, people are not real happy. It's very hard to go do some funny story when the sun has been blotted out and a beast has ripped out your innards and killed 5,000 people and there have been earthquakes and whatnot."

However, with many of the dark elements gone from "Angel" now, The WB series has a chance to be much lighter than it was before.

"Last year, we realized Angel (David Boreanaz) and the guys didn't win many episodes," Bell said. "At the end of every episode, it was like, 'Oh, and they go get their ass kicked.' This year, we're able to mix it up much more. There are victories. People are saved. There are also losses and people not being saved, but it's not all losses and people not being saved. We're trying to look at the gray area of the situation, which is, 'OK, we're trying to do good for an evil corporation, and we're trying to do it from within. That means we're going to turn our heads about the minor things so that we can do the larger good.'"

"Angel" airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on The WB.

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