LOL! Sarcasm can really go over people's heads, unless you point it out to them. Fury got into trouble for it constantly. He'd go on the boards and snark, and people would take him seriously. It was hilarious.

The writers really weren't B/A fans. Most of them, oddly enough, liked writing B/S the most - possibly because banter is a lot more fun to write than lovey dovey angst. Fury and Espenson, remember, were both comedy writers first, dramatic writers second - I bet they hated writing B/A unless they could make fun of it.