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Post by PokerKitten on Apr 4, 2003 14:27:24 GMT
My love for the delightful Daniel at slayage.com grows apace! He has written yet another nice piece about Buffydom, this time focussing on what it is like to be a Buffy believer in a sceptical world. [glow=red,2,300]I love you Daniel![/glow] Oops, did I just shout that out loud?!?! ;D www.slayage.com/articles/000052.html
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Post by NLSpikette on Apr 4, 2003 16:17:32 GMT
LOL yeah Daniel sounds like a real sweetie! and spot on in that article, the amount of peeps who've actually laughed in my face (didn't even have the decency to do it behind my back ;D) when I've raved about Buffy! but then I've always known that most humans are pretty dim creatures!
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Post by PokerKitten on Apr 6, 2003 13:05:09 GMT
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Post by PokerKitten on Apr 8, 2003 10:07:00 GMT
I don't really deem this worthy of the spoilers section, and the comments about Tony Head and work in the UK are way off mark! Tony has had more work in the last coupla years than you can shake a stick at! (or a gourd..) BUFFY CHARACTERS TO LIVE ON 4.5.03 By Devin Faraci Contributing sources: Cinescape This article will contain information that might be considered spoilers for the series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, specifically as it contains info on who does not die (not saying that anyone does die, but I am saying there are people who without a doubt live on). OK, with that out of the way, let's talk about what happens to the actors from Buffy the Vampire Slayer once the show has a final stake through its heart this May 20th. As we all know, Sarah Michelle Gellar is leaving Slayage behind to pursue a big screen career. So are Alyson Hannigan (Willow) and Michelle Trachtenburg (Dawn), so don't look for those two in any future Buffyverse programs. That leaves the boys. James Marsters, who plays Spike, the newly ensouled vampire, has revealed that the Powers That Be at Mutant Enemy have told him that they want his character to become a regular over at Angel - provided that the series is renewed for a fifth season on the WB (and word is that this is looking fairly likely). That's not a huge surprise, as fans have long heard that Spike would be integral in a proposed new spin off, which seems at this time to not be materializing. The surprise comes here: Anthony Stewart Head, who plays the Watcher Giles, has said that he has also been approached about moving over to Angel. "I think maybe I will," Head said. "I talked to one of the writers about it and said it might be quite fun to bring me over there. It's such an open book, and that's what makes it so exciting." What's really surprising about this is that he made himself available only part time to Buffy so that he could spend more time at home in Jolly Olde England. Perhaps the roles aren't as forthcoming as hoped on that side of the pond? And the real question is: what does this mean for the proposed Ripper BBC movie? Finally, Nicholas Brendan, who plays Xander, has expressed lots of interest in being involved in a new Buffyverse project (read that as: he doesn't have a lot of career options), but his name is not being mentioned in regards to moving over to Angel. Hopefully something will happen with him, as Xander is my favorite Buffy character. Good luck, Nicky. ************************ See, nothing noteworthy there!
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Post by PokerKitten on Apr 18, 2003 11:12:37 GMT
Freddie P is a bit of a blabbermouth.. and he has been at it again, talking about Sarah and BtVS. I would love to know what he is getting at here..... although I would hope it might have something to do with the way her character was made to behave over the last coupla seasons..... certain producers and writers seem to me to have gotten too big for their boots... but who knows. End of 'Buffy' Only Makes Gellar Stronger Thu, Apr 17, 2003 03:20 PM PDT
by Kate O'Hare Zap2it, News
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Next week, Freddie Prinze Jr. and his wife, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star Sarah Michelle Gellar, are due to head to Vancouver, Canada, to start production on the "Scooby-Doo" sequel.
Work on the film immediately follows the end of production on "Buffy," which is shutting down after seven seasons -- five on The WB and the last two on UPN.
Without going into specifics, Prinze hints that the later seasons of "Buffy" may have been rough for his bride.
"A lot of people owe Sarah a lot for doing that show," Prinze says, "and she doesn't always get the credit she deserves. She's a very strong woman, because she deals with a lot of nonsense, and instead of that nonsense, she should be thanked -- and she's not. That's the reason she won't be coming back."
"Sarah's the most appreciative person in the world, and if that environment would have remained the way it would six years ago, she would go back, because she's loyal. But things change, and people's egos get in the way sometimes. They make poor decisions."
"I don't agree with it, but I understand it, and I just pray I'm never guilty of it."
Prinze asserts that, whatever happened, Gellar gave 100 percent. "And even if she's not, nobody knew, because she commits. She's badass."
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Post by PokerKitten on Apr 19, 2003 22:16:55 GMT
GETTING BUFFY’S LAST RITES RIGHT| (For release Sunday, April 20) |By JOYCE MILLMAN| |c.2003 New York Times News Service Vampires, hellgods, snake demons — I’ve watched Buffy battle them all. But they weren’t as scary as the knowledge that, very soon, I will no longer have an excuse to put life on hold every Tuesday night. I admit it: Over the last six years, I’ve devoted an almost embarrassing amount of time, energy and thought, both personal and professional, to ‘‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’’ Now, with only a few weeks left until the May 20 series finale, I’m facing my ‘‘Buffy’’-less future by burrowing into seasons past, trying to imagine a fitting end to the coolest television coming-of-age horror-fantasy-love story ever told. It’s difficult to predict what Joss Whedon, the show’s fiendishly inventive creator and executive producer, has devised for the final episode (which he wrote and directed). Whedon, after all, has already killed his heroine (twice) and jolted viewers with such unexpected twists as the death of Buffy’s mom, the surprise ensouling of the vampire Spike and the episode in which everybody sings. Frankly, as long as Whedon doesn’t try to tell us that the whole series was a figment of Buffy’s imagination, I’ll be happy. I’ll be even happier if the finale grandly articulates, one last time, the show’s main themes: woman power, friendship, growing up and sacrifice.
WOMAN POWER — On ‘‘Buffy,’’ women rule the world and men are largely watchers. Part of an ancient line of girls imbued with the power to vanquish demons, Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) has lived longer than any of her predecessors. This season, Buffy traveled through a time portal to the origins of the First Slayer and learned that she was created by shamen, who mated her with demon energy to keep evil away from the village. ‘‘You violated that girl, made her kill for you because you’re weak, you’re pathetic,’’ Buffy sneered. ‘‘You’re just — men.’’ Buffy is strong enough to save the world (which she did ‘‘a lot,’’ according to her tombstone at the end of Season 5). But, like that first slayer, she has been rendered a little less than human by her mission. She’s been emotionally frozen for the past couple of seasons, unable to drop her guard and let love (her adoring former sex partner Spike) in. Buffy is not the only one who has been blocked from tapping the positive energy of her better, female, self. Her friend Willow (Alyson Hannigan), the lovable lesbian witch and computer whiz, proved in last season’s finale that she was strong enough to (almost) destroy the world, when she went on a vengeful rampage sparked by the murder of her girlfriend. This season, Willow has been as emotionally frozen as Buffy, afraid to fully use her Wiccan powers, lest they turn destructive again. We need some healing here. Which is why I think ‘‘Buffy’’ ought to end with both a Wiccapalooza and the most gargantuan release of girl power the show’s ever attempted. I want to see Buffy beat on everyone and everything in sight, save the world again and still find the time to finally admit her feelings for poor Spike (James Marsters). I want to see Willow get her mojo back. I want to see Buffy’s rival slayer, the self-doubting bad girl Faith (Eliza Dushku), regain her self-esteem and fight at Buffy’s side. I want to see Buffy’s teenage sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg), a dormant but powerful unearthly being, come of age in a flash of glory. I want to see the dozens of young Slayers in Training, who are wandering aimlessly and namelessly through the Summerses’ house, truly become the ‘‘army’’ Buffy has been promising us for most of the season, and make a stand against the current big bad, an incorporeal entity called the First Evil. But most of all, I want to see them thrash that misogynistic preacher Caleb (Nathan Fillion), an agent of the First Evil, who believes women were ‘‘born dirty.’’ For some intriguing Christian symbolism, let Buffy’s last battle be for the collective soul of womankind, to remove the biblical taint from the gender.
FRIENDSHIP — Buffy’s ‘‘Scooby gang’’ — Willow, Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), Dawn, Spike, Xander (Nicholas Brendon) and Anya (Emma Caulfield) — has always been greater than the sum of its parts. This pseudo-family of misfits banded together at the climax of each season to save the world. And they were a formidable blend, with Buffy’s super powers, Willow’s witchy energy (and, when she was a teen, research skills), Giles’ knowledge of ancient demonology, Spike’s muscle and bravado, Dawn’s spunk and Anya’s enjoyment of a good fight. As for Xander, he’s Whedon’s stand-in, the ‘‘unremarkable’’ guy who lives in the shadow of the gifted heroine. Or does he? Have you noticed how, time and again, Xander plays a crucial 11th-hour role in enabling Buffy to prevail? I’d feel cheated if the Xan Man wasn’t the unsung hero, again, in the finale. But for all their past harmony, the Scoobys have drifted apart of late. Each member has been battling inner demons: addiction, insecurity, self-loathing, jealousy, guilt. Like its strength, the gang’s weakness is greater than the sum of its parts. Earlier this season, Buffy dreamed of her dead mother warning that ‘‘evil is always here ... evil is a part of us. All of us. It’s natural.’’ Maybe the Scoobys have brought on this latest apocalypse; maybe the First Evil feeds on each character’s psychic fragility, on negativity and unquiet minds. The Scoobys have to get over themselves. They need to learn to trust one another again in order to bring ‘‘Buffy’’ back to the point it’s been making all along — that friendship, community and love are the greatest weapons of all.
GROWING UP — The coming-of-age theme has served ‘‘Buffy’’ well ever since the show’s earliest high school-is-hell metaphor. Buffy and her pals have grappled with the usual adolescent traumas, as well as the highs and lows of life as twentysomethings. As the last hour nears, Buffy is fully entering adulthood — she has already lost her mother (her dad was always absent) and relations are strained between her and her father figure, her watcher Giles. She is growing more distant, accepting her responsibilities and preparing to fight the final battle alone. I always believed that ‘‘Buffy’’ was the story of a girl finding her place in the big bad world. But now I see that the show is not about our heroine growing up as much as it’s about the other characters’ maturing enough to let her go.
SACRIFICE — Buffy has always been a Christlike figure. She questions her destiny as the chosen one, doubts her abilities to see the mission through, yet always fulfills her role as savior. This was never more true than in the finale of Season 5, when she sacrificed herself to save Dawn from being killed in an apocalyptic ritual. As a reward, Buffy entered Paradise, but she was soon ripped back to earth — and the grind of fighting evil — by the Scoobys, who used a spell to bring her back to life. She has since grown battle-weary. She longs to lay down her arms, but the only way to do that, as her mother foretold in that dream, is to ‘‘rest.’’ The logical end to the saga is for Buffy to get back to Paradise. Speaking of sacrifice, Spike needs to make one, too. The brash but sensitive vampire has been a central figure in Buffy’s story line; they were adversaries in Season 4, wary comrades-in-arms in Season 5, punishing lovers in Season 6. Now, as ex-lovers who’ve been through hell together, they’ve approached something like real love. Spike’s devotion to Buffy and her mission has set him on a path to redemption; he endured torture to win back his soul for her, then suffered at the hands of the First Evil. But Buffy has yet to tell him she loves him. In the finale, I want to see Buffy give Spike the moment of happiness he’s earned. And then I want my heart to be broken, because one thing ‘‘Buffy’’ does better than any show on television is break your heart. I want to see Buffy and Spike both make the ultimate sacrifice, and both be rewarded for it. But they can’t be together; it’s not in their destinies. I want Buffy to die and become an immortal god(dess) who rights the balance of good and evil in the universe. I want Spike to die and be reborn as a human (and therefore available for a possible spinoff). I can see the series’ last moments now. As Buffy turns immortal, she shines beatifically, and we finally understand the foreshadowing significance in Spike’s puzzling past fondness for the words ‘‘effulgent’’ and ‘‘glowing.’’ Buffy’s ascension unleashes a surge of positive energy that empowers the forces of good. They rise up as one and drop-kick the First’s Evil army of gnarled ubervampires back to hell. Then, everybody sings.
Oh good lord! Well, I like Joyce M... but Buffy Goddess makes me... twitchy! Lol! And actually, Spike would seem to be the embodiment of effulgency.... oops, sssssh PK! This ain't the spoiler thread!
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Post by PokerKitten on Apr 21, 2003 15:24:56 GMT
Here's an intrview with Joss W, at the Wrap Party on Friday night.. with a promise of cast interviews to come: actionadventure.about.com/cs/weeklystories/a/aa041903.htmSomewtimes when I read Joss interviews I just wanna smack him because he sounds so flip... and I know if I heard him saying some of this stuff in person it would come across differently, and make me laugh instead of scream. Kinda like with his scripts... ;D
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JIG
Det Grant Mars
Posts: 944
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Post by JIG on Apr 21, 2003 20:41:32 GMT
cool article and more cast interviews to come YAY!! nice of them all 2 turn up, except sarah
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Post by Cyrus on Apr 25, 2003 21:29:04 GMT
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lozz0900
Bobby Comfort
Demon Teen, Spikette#900, criminaly insane
Posts: 753
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Post by lozz0900 on Apr 25, 2003 21:33:05 GMT
demons = evil.......DUH!!!
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Post by Cyrus on Apr 25, 2003 21:37:14 GMT
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Post by PokerKitten on Apr 25, 2003 21:37:22 GMT
It really isn't safe for me to comment on this..... me and religion in any shape or form don't get on at the best of times. However, it is horribly unimaginative and cliched of the BtVS team to take a stereotypical southern preacher and make him scary bad.... but some of us know what is gonna happen to him... and that is a damn disgrace as well Joss. For pity's sake, Whedon has lost the plot!!!
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Post by PokerKitten on Apr 26, 2003 14:30:50 GMT
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Post by PokerKitten on Apr 30, 2003 21:58:47 GMT
Our slayer won't go gently into the dark night By Robert Bianco, USA TODAY It's the end of the world. Again.
This time, though, Buffy won't be able to prevent the threatened apocalypse. On May 20 on UPN, Buffy the Vampire Slayer will end as the critically acclaimed series concludes its seven-season run.
Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, says seven years of the show is enough.
If it's any consolation, creator Joss Whedon promises that Buffy's world will end with a bang. "It's the biggest thing we've ever tried to do. It doesn't end the story, but it definitely wraps up the show."
The wrap-up, he promises, will stay true to the show's mythical universe. There will be "no autistic snowball" like the infamous St. Elsewhere finale; no Patrick Duffy dreams as in Dallas. "This happened."
As keeper of the show's secrets, Whedon won't share many details about the finale — and won't say whether the details on Internet spoiler sites are real or planted red herrings. But he will say people die, Angel returns, and the special effects make the giant snake at the end of the third season look like "a walk in the park."
"It's really bitchin' and impossible to film," he says. "And I wish, looking back, that Buffy had learned to resolve her differences with vampires through talk."
Obviously, since he won't say who dies, he can't say which actors might be available for future revivals or movies or to transfer to Buffy spinoff Angel, assuming WB renews that show. Though Whedon believes "there is definitely room for other Buffy incarnations," his sole focus this season has been on giving the show a proper send-off — one that completes the journey Buffy began at the beginning of the series. "I'm not protecting anything or anybody for the purposes of a spinoff. I'm not robbing Peter to pay Paul. What's important is that the series go off properly."
Anyway, even if someone dies, that's hardly a deal-breaker. "Buffy's died twice."
Many fans think Buffy is dying now because star Sarah Michelle Gellar opted not to return for an eighth season. Whedon insists that's unfair. He says he and Gellar, "the two halves of Buffy," decided at the beginning of the season that the series had come to "a logical conclusion."
"I knew there was no way I had more than seven years in me," Whedon says. "Seven years is a good time to tell a story. Well, technically, it's 6½ (Buffy aired only 12 episodes in its first season). But it felt like seven. Actually, it felt like 28."
Fortunately, when he looks back on Buffy, he likes what he sees, and he's proud of what he has done. "Some years are more popular than others, and the sixth year is less popular than any, but I still feel like, for seven years, we did everything in our power to make every single show count — to put something in every show that was worth coming to the series for. I've worked as hard for seven years as I physically know how."
Rest in peace. But please, not for long.
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Post by PokerKitten on Apr 30, 2003 22:14:19 GMT
The end of 'Buffy' feels like a dagger to the heart By Robert Bianco, USA TODAY Buffy has always been the least guilty of pleasures. Granted, as with all cultists, Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans were often forced to defend themselves to the uninitiated. But honestly, defending the show has never been particularly hard, or even momentarily embarrassing. Simply put, for seven seasons, Buffy has been one of the smartest, scariest, sexiest and wittiest shows on television. Too often dismissed as a teen show or a genre show, Buffy was a well-acted and often brilliantly written comedy/drama that, under its fantasy guise, treated the pains and joys of life with admirable and sometimes shocking realism.
Yes, some episodes were better than others, as were some seasons. The show worked best when the "Scooby Gang" was together in high school, and least well last season, when it was splintered by self-pity and ennui. But when you look at the seven seasons as a whole, what is most striking is the show's consistency and artistic integrity.
So perhaps it's best that the show is leaving us now. Starting tonight on UPN (8 ET/PT), Buffy kicks off a four-episode run to its May 20 series finale. It will be missed, but creator Joss Whedon — the frighteningly talented force behind the series — is probably right when he says the show has reached a logical conclusion.
You can get the basic idea of the show from that title that so many adults seemed to find off-putting: Buffy slays vampires. But if you look at the title again, you'll see the show isn't about what she does, it's about who she is. She was called to this role, which allowed Buffy to explore issues of responsibility most other series ignore.
At heart, the vampires Buffy and her friends fought were metaphors for the monsters we all face — particularly in high school, where every decision seems like life and death, and every problem seems like the end of the world. The unexpected bonus in Buffy was the kids were right. They were facing down the apocalypse. And they did so while chatting in a slangy appropriation of pop culture references that was amusing without ever becoming forced or annoying.
What was amazing, however, was not just how apt the metaphor proved to be, but how adaptable it was. Without ever straying from its basic story and characters, Buffy could swing from outright horror to comedy to heartbreaking family drama. Over the years, it touched upon many of life's toughest issues: separation, rejection, the death of a parent or a lover, the alienation of old friends, the cruelty of a partner who no longer loves you.
But the issues didn't just fly by; they had weight and repercussions. Life didn't come free on Buffy: Mistakes were paid for, and while things were forgiven, they were never forgotten. That's one reason the characters could often be difficult, particularly Buffy herself, who like most saviors, and a good many actors, was best admired from a distance.
Feel guilty for liking a show like that? Never. But I'll tell you what I do feel as it departs.
Slayed.
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Post by PokerKitten on May 5, 2003 20:42:47 GMT
Here's a nasty piece, and surprise, surprise it is from a tabloid: Good riddance Buffy. STAR MAGAZINE Carol Glines and Brenda You
Fed-up co-stars get last bite on Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is dead, and Sarah Michelle Gellar's fellow monster-mashers are just sorry they can't put a stake through the blond star's heart, too!
"They felt like Sarah had sucked the life out of them," says an insider. "So they were more then ready to say goodbye and good riddance to Buffy."
Gellar, 26, so infuriated Buffy's cast during the last week of filming, they were jubilant when she missed the UPN thriller's wrap party.
She left immediately after filming Buffy's grand finally – set to air may 20 – to shoot Scooby-Doo Too.
Her absence at the party was felt, but for the wrong reason.
"The cast was really happy Sarah wasn't there," reveals the insider. "There was such resentment toward her, they all agreed it was best that she say goodbye on the set."
But that was just the capper to six years of constant boasting from Gellar about her career, her lack of praise for fellow slayers and a diva like attitude on the set, say sources.
"Working on Buffy with Sarah was a nightmare," an insider confides.
"She plagued her co-stars for years with her bad behavior. Sarah acted like a complete witch. She was unfriendly to the cast."
She also ignored the contributions of such co-stars as Alyson Hannigan, who played Willow, and her role in the success of the show.
"Sarah never acknowledged the hard work everybody else put into Buffy," says the insider.
Gellar's superiority complex earned her the nickname "the Duchess" from the disgusted crew, says another source. She was such a diva, no one dared interrupt her when she was off-camera and on the phone with hubby Freddie Prinze Jr.
"It didn't even matter if it was time for her to be on-camera," says the source. "Everybody was constantly kept waiting because of her whims."
The last straw came during the final week of filming, when Gellar blabbed endlessly about her career prospects.
"All Sarah talked about was how busy she was going to be," reveals the source.
"She mentioned all the movie offers she had and moaned about how hard she would have to work for Scooby-Doo Too. The cast felt she was rubbing in their faces."
But with Gellar finally gone, a good time was had by all at the wrap party.
Revelers included Hannigan, Anthony Stewart Head, show creator Joss Whedon and Austin Power's Seth green, who left the show in 1999, and refused to return for the finally.
Although he's committed to work with Gellar on Scooby-Doo Too, he just couldn't bear to appear in the last episode of Buffy with her reveals the insider.
"It wouldn't have been a party with Sarah," reveals a source. "There were many happy reunions without her there, and the cast partied long into the night."
A lot of this just doesn't ring true and jars with what others have said about her on set. Unless it all went pear-shaped when she wanted out. James has always said how professional she was, always knew her lines etc. And how she looked after people if they weren't being treated the same as others (getting him a chair like the others, for instance, so he didn't have top go squat in the dirt between takes), and making sure Michelle was treated well. And Seth is actually filming with her right now, so if he had even been asked to be in the finale, why would working with her have been an obstacle? Sheesh If she DID turn into a diva towards the end I would be interested to know the trigger.... F*cough*P*cough*J*cough*
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Post by PokerKitten on May 9, 2003 20:57:17 GMT
One week, two goodbyes: Teen- titans Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson's Creek sign off in emotional finales Jeff Jensen; Lynette Rice 05/16/2003 Entertainment Weekly
It didn't hit her until the Magic Box blew apart. That's when she knew it was all coming to an end.
One week before UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer began shooting its final episode, a windstorm ripped through the show's Santa Monica studio lot and badly damaged the Magic Box, an occult convenience store that's been an unofficial HQ for the Scooby Gang. "We walked outside, and the Magic Box set was shredded," says the retiring Slayer herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar. "Right then, there was this weird epiphany, like, 'Oh. It's over.'"
On May 20, that realization will finally hit the Buffy faithful, too, when the seven-season-old cult classic airs its send-off installment. For some in the cast, "The End" has come as rudely as a stake to the heart: Alyson Hannigan (Willow) and Nicholas Brendon (Xander) didn't learn that they would be out of a job until late February--when they read about it in this magazine. "Which kind of sucked," says Brendon, sharing his interview time with Hannigan and Anthony Stewart Head (Giles). "That's not the way it should have happened.... But everything happens for a reason."
"I always thought this would be the last season," objects Head, who became a recurring player two years ago in order to spend more time with his family.
"That's great," cracks Hannigan, "but you bailed after season 5, so shut the hell up!"
They can laugh about it, but fans should gird for tears. Buffy's last adventure will send her into the Hellmouth for a throwdown with a primordial evil known as The First. Creator Joss Whedon says there will be a kiss with Buffy's first love, Angel (David Boreanaz); major drama involving Buffy's obsessive admirer, bad- boy vamp Spike (James Marsters); and oodles of blood. "Buffy's head explodes like a pumpkin," jokes Whedon, who won't disclose who survives but says the climax hinges on the original fantastic four: Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles. "You wanted to have that moment in the last episode. You needed it--the completion of the circle." - -Jeff Jensen PHOTO BLURB LAST STABS For a scene in the two-part series finale, the entire Scooby Gang--plus vampish vamp killer Faith (Eliza Dushku) and a dozen or so other "Slayerettes"--gathered in Buffy's living room for a prewar pep talk. After Gellar nailed the soliloquy on the first take, the cast applauded. "I never had so many words in my life," says the star. Among Buffy's supporting cast, feelings about "The End" ran the gamut from melancholy to acceptance. "I didn't want it to be like the last three years of X-Files," says Michelle Trachtenberg, who plays Dawn. As for working with Boreanaz again, Gellar says, "It was like your best pair of jeans: It felt great." But fans who prefer Buffy's lust-hate relationship with Spike won't be disappointed. "Boy, do we pay it off," says Whedon, adding that Marsters "owns a lot of this episode." Whedon's favorite scene in the finale finds Gellar's Buffy and the Slayerettes ritualistically shedding blood as a show of solidarity. He almost cut the brief moment but realized in the editing room that "it embodied what I was trying to say with the show." Though Whedon was forced to shutter production one night due to exhaustion, his toughest moment was directing the final scene with Hannigan. "My voice cracked," he says. "She's such a dear friend. I was like, 'Oh, God. Something really is ending.'"
GOODBYE GIRL Gellar shot her last scene in the desert of Lancaster, Calif. Afterward, she and Whedon embraced. "There was no way you were going to say anything remotely worth seven years together," says Whedon. "So we didn't even try."
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Post by HallowsEve on May 12, 2003 21:59:28 GMT
Here is just a snippet from GUIDE (5/17-5/23 issue). "Whatever incarnation 'Buffy' takes in the future, it may be a while before its actors fully accept the show's demise. 'I'm not admitting it to myself,' Marsters says. 'I actually went back the other day to look at the empty soundstages. There was a haunting kind of pride standing there, remembering how many worlds were made in those spaces. And now there's just dust'." Beautifully introspective, James....
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Post by Cyrus on May 13, 2003 1:01:43 GMT
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Post by PokerKitten on May 17, 2003 13:12:57 GMT
www.brainerddispatch.com/stories/051503/tem_0515030005.html'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' bows out as a legend By JOHN HANSEN Staff Writer "I need a hug." For all the words that will be written this month about "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which ends its seventh and final season at 7 p.m. Tuesday on UPN, those four might just sum it up. And not only because "Buffy" fans across the world have needed some cheering up ever since Sarah Michelle Gellar's March announcement that this would be her last season as the eponymous Slayer. As "Buffy" fans know, creator Joss Whedon recorded acheesy "Grrr ... arrgh" sound effect that plays over the Mutant Enemy logo in the end credits of most of the 144 episodes. But at the end of "Becoming, Part 2," the Season 2 finale where Buffy sent Angel to hell to save the world, he replaced "Grrr ... arrgh" with "I need a hug," reflecting viewer sentiment. What sets Whedon's show apart from other prime-time dramas isn't the fact that "Buffy" is good ("Law & Order" is also good), or that it's cool ("The X-Files," for a time, was also cool). It's because Whedon seems to be a fan just like the rest of us. He's done cruel things to his characters -- he killed Buffy twice and pretty much everyone has turned evil at some point -- but you always got the sense that it pained him to do it. The current season is probably the second weakest of the series (just ahead of Season 4) because the writers simply have run out of ways to top themselves. The two best arcs this season have belonged to Principal Wood ("Once and Again's" D.B. Woodside), whose Vampire Slayer mother was killed by Spike (James Marsters), and Andrew (Tom Lenk), an emotionally stunted youth who is just too nice to be a supervillain. Andrew follows Cordelia, Anya (Emma Caulfield) and Xander (Nicholas Brendan) in the proud history of "Buffy" comic relief. The underuse of Buffy's little sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) has been regrettable. While the dozen or so Potential Slayers -- who converged on Buffy's house to take refuge from the First Evil -- have taken up a lot of screen time, none of them has emerged as a breakout star. The writers also are running dangerously short on time to address the repercussions of Willow's (Alyson Hannigan) fall to the dark side at the end of last season. And it looks like my dream of seeing Willow and Xander pair up before the show ends isn't going to happen. Whedon can be forgiven for these minor failings, because he's perhaps the hardest working and most talented person in Hollywood. Last fall, he put out 12 hours of the outstanding space Western "Firefly" (plus three unaired episodes); he's also producing "Angel" and writing the comic book "Fray," about a future Slayer. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Series Finale Airtime: 7 p.m. Tuesday Network: UPN Grade (this season): B+ After "Firefly" was canceled by Fox, Whedon quickly secured the brilliant Nathan Fillion to play the ultimate "Buffy" villain Caleb ("Firefly's" Gina Torres also got a job as the big bad on "Angel"). Watching Caleb go around in preacher's garb snapping Slayer's necks and gouging out Xander's eye has given these final episodes a sense of doom reminiscent of Season 5, which ended with Buffy's (second) death. And the character has stirred up controversy among religious groups, just as the violent Buffy-Spike sex in Season 6 and the blowing up of the high school in Season 3 offended people concerned about depictions of sex and violence on . Maybe Whedon should reconsider ending the show. After all, if the Parents Television Council is still proclaiming "Buffy" to be among the most offensive shows on , you know there's still some juice in the tank. "Buffy" hasn't recaptured the sense of emotional gravity that made its third season so powerful, but it's still arguably the best show on . And if greatness has been just out of reach this season, coolness certainly hasn't been. During a casual conversation between reformed evil vampire Spike and reformed evil Slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku) in a recent episode, I thought my was going to explode from too much sexiness in one scene. "Buffy" will go down as one of the best shows in history, as well it should, but what really makes it special is that viewers felt a sense of ownership, the same way we like deeper album tracks better than the hit single (they're always better, aren't they?). Sunnydale High was our hated yet beloved school, Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) was our mentor, and Buffy, Xander and Willow were our friends. And whenever they needed some cheering up -- which was quite often, considering all the shocking deaths (R.I.P. Jenny, Joyce and Tara), break-ups (so long Angel, Cordelia and Oz) and turns to the dark side (we hardly knew ye, Angel, Faith and Willow) -- didn't you want to step through the screen and give them a hug?
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