Angular with granular Backbone style events.

$event-scope.js

ngModule.provider('$eventScope', function ($rootScopeProvider) {
    var $get = $rootScopeProvider.$get.slice(-1)[0];
    var $eventScope, proto, $cast, $emit;
    this.$get = ['$injector', '$exceptionHandler', '$parse', '$browser',
        function ($injector, $exceptionHandler, $parse, $browser) {
        $eventScope = $eventScope || $get.apply($rootScopeProvider, arguments);
        proto = proto || $eventScope.constructor.prototype;
        $cast = $cast || proto.$broadcast;
        $emit = $emit || proto.$emit;

        proto.$emit = function(name, args) {
            //(a:b:c)-> [] (a) => [a] (b) => [a, a:b] (c) => [a, a:b, a:b:c]
            var event = $emit.call(this, name, args);
            var cascade = name.split(':').slice(0,-1).join(':');
            event.cascade = cascade && !event.stopCascade ?
                    this.$emit(cascade+'*', args) : false;
            return event;
        }

        proto.$broadcast = function(name, args) {
            //(a:b:c)-> [] (a) => [a] (b) => [a, a:b] (c) => [a, a:b, a:b:c]
            var event = $cast.call(this, name, args);
            var cascade = name.split(':').slice(0,-1).join(':');
            event.cascade = cascade && !event.stopCascade ?
                    this.$broadcast(cascade+'*', args) : false;
            return event;
        }

        return $eventScope;
    }];
});

README.md

I've created a ng-event-scope respository and published it as a package on npm.

angular-backbone-events-without-lodash.js

ngModule.run(function($rootScope) {
    var proto = $rootScope.constructor.prototype;
    var $emit = proto.$emit;
    var $broadcast = proto.$broadcast;

    proto.$emit = function(name, args) {
        //(a:b:c)-> [] (a) => [a] (b) => [a, a:b] (c) => [a, a:b, a:b:c]
        var event = $emit.call(this, name, args);
        var cascade = name.split(':').slice(0,-1).join(':');
        event.cascade = cascade && !event.stopCascade ?
                this.$emit(cascade+'*', args) : false;
        return event;
    }

    proto.$broadcast = function(name, args) {
        //(a:b:c)-> [] (a) => [a] (b) => [a, a:b] (c) => [a, a:b, a:b:c]
        var event = $broadcast.call(this, name, args);
        var cascade = name.split(':').slice(0,-1).join(':');
        event.cascade = cascade && !event.stopCascade ?
                this.$broadcast(cascade+'*', args) : false;
        return event;
    }
});

angular-backbone-events.js

ngModule.run(function($rootScope) {
    var proto = $rootScope.constructor.prototype;
    _.assign(proto, _.mapValues(_.pick(proto,'$emit', '$broadcast'),
        function($fn, $fnKey) {
            return function(name, args) {
                //(a:b:c)-> [] (a) => [a] (b) => [a, a:b] (c) => [a, a:b, a:b:c]
                var event = $fn.call(this, name, args)
                var cascade = name.split(':').slice(0,-1).join(':');
                event.cascade = cascade && !event.stopCascade ?
                        this[$fnKey](cascade+'*', args) : false;
                return event;
            }
    }));
});

runtime-sample.js

ngModule.run(function($rootScope) {
    var $scope = $rootScope.$new();

    $scope.$on("a:b:c", function(){
        console.log(arguments[1], "\t==\t", "$scope.$on(a:b:c)");
    });

    $scope.$on("a:b*", function(){
        console.log(arguments[1], "\t==\t", "$scope.$on(a:b*)");
    });

    $scope.$on("a*", function(){
        console.log(arguments[1], "\t==\t", "$scope.$on(a*)");
    });

    $rootScope.$on("a:b:c", function() {
        console.log(arguments[1], "\t==\t", "$rootScope.$on(a:b:c)");
    });

    $rootScope.$on("a:b*", function() {
        console.log(arguments[1], "\t==\t", "$rootScope.$on(a:b*)");
    });

    $rootScope.$on("a*", function() {
        console.log(arguments[1], "\t==\t", "$rootScope.$on(a*)");
    });

    $scope.$emit("a:b:c", "$scope.$emit(a:b:c)");
    $scope.$broadcast("a:b:c", "$scope.$broadcast(a:b:c)");

    $rootScope.$emit("a:b:c", "$rootScope.$emit(a:b:c)");
    $rootScope.$broadcast("a:b:c", "$rootScope.$broadcast(a:b:c)");
});