Also now on Facebook Watch? Fellow Joss Whedon series “Angel” and “Firefly.” Very shiny. All three shows are also on Hulu, but you need a subscription for that.
Facebook is hoping you’ll set up a “Watch Party” with your friends. (Because studies show that most Facebook users have never even heard of Facebook Watch. Oops.) So, as Gellar says, “Grab Mr. Pointy and your Scooby gang” and start watching.
As an added bonus, talent from the three shows are expected to participate in live conversations via Watch Party. The “Buffy” co-viewing event happened today. “Angel” will start on Dec. 1 at 12 p.m. PT; and “Firefly” will launch Dec. 2 at 12 p.m. PT.
Put down those stakes, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” fans. The planned reboot of the beloved vampire drama is less like a remake and more like a reimagining.
Last weekend brought the news that creator Joss Whedon would be working with writer Monica Owusu-Breen (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”) on a “Buffy” reboot, this time featuring a black lead. Fans were happy to get more “Buffy,” but the idea that it might be a “do-over” that would simply plug in a black actress in Sarah Michelle Gellar’s shoes incited backlash on social media.
Today, Owusu-Breen stepped forward on Twitter to provide a bit more insight — which left many fans sighing in relief.
She wrote, “There is only one Buffy. One Xander, one Willow, Giles, Cordelia, Oz, Tara, Kendra, Faith, Spike, Angel … They can’t be replaced. Joss Whedon’s brilliant and beautiful series can’t be replicated. I wouldn’t try to.”
She added, “So maybe, it could be time to meet a new Slayer ….”
Following a new Slayer would be very much in line with the series finale of “Buffy,” which left room for an expansive Buffyverse. Owusu-Breen’s statement makes it seem like the reboot/reimagining/sequel/whatever will focus on a new black Slayer and her circle of friends and enemies. And who knows, perhaps some familiar faces could pop up in this iteration, since the Slayer community isn’t super large.
A reboot of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is finally happening and, this time, The Slayer will be black.
Monica Breen, who worked with “Buffy” creator Joss Whedon on ABC’s “Agents of SHIELD,” has been hired to write the new reboot and act as showrunner, according to THR.
The new version, reports Deadline, will be pitched to both streaming and cable networks this summer. It will also have a contemporary setting, building on the mythology established by the original series, which aired on both The WB and UPN. According to Deadline, per the reboot’s producers: “Like our world, it will be richly diverse, and like the original, some aspects of the series could be seen as metaphors for issues facing us all today.”
“The diversity in the show’s description reflects the producers’ intention for the new slayer to be African American,” according to Deadline’s sources. The series is still in its early days, the trade reports — no script yet, with many details still being ironed out on the story level.
The Buffyverse has had several black slayers, including Jamaican Kendra (Bianca Lawson), who was summoned after Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar)’s first untimely death. Not to mention The First Slayer and a ’70s vamp-killer whom Spike (James Marsters) memorably battled on the NYC subway. But Buffy herself (and her friends, love interests, and most of the villains) were all white.
It’s not clear how involved Whedon will be with the reboot, which doesn’t yet have a network attached. Whedon is currently working on “The Nevers” for HBO.
As recently as March of 2017, Whedon said he was concerned about a reboot of the cult favorite, telling THR: “I see a little bit of what I call monkey’s paw in these reboots. You bring something back, and even if it’s exactly as good as it was, the experience can’t be. You’ve already experienced it, and part of what was great was going through it for the first time. You have to meet expectations and adjust it for the climate, which is not easy.”
We’re intrigued. As long The Slayer doesn’t have an annoying little sister this time around.
Selma Blair‘s career could have looked very different in the ’90s, with the actress recently revealing that she auditioned for two of the biggest shows of the decade — and nearly landed one of them.
In a post on Instagram, Blair shared a throwback snap featuring herself alongside Katie Holmes and Sarah Michelle Gellar, from when the trio attended the MTV Movie Awards back in 2000 (you know, the one where Blair and Gellar won a golden popcorn statuette for their famous “Cruel Intentions” kiss). In addition to being an awesome photo thanks to its time capsule fashions (those halter tops!), the snap also served as a vehicle for Blair to spill some juicy details about the two life-changing roles she lost out on to the women standing next to her.
As first revealed in Entertainment Weekly’s Dawson’s Creek” to Holmes. According to creator Kevin Williamson, Blair was a top contender for the part — but she just couldn’t compete with the pitch-perfect Holmes.
“I really loved Selma until, of course, I got the infamous videotape from the basement of the Holmes family in Toledo, Ohio,” Williamson told EW of Holmes’s audition tape. “And when that video showed up, it changed my whole life.”
Despite that disappointment, Blair has nothing but love for Holmes, writing on Instagram, “I have always admired these ladies. Even if I didn’t get the part of #joeypotter . That role was all @katieholmes212 and I loved watching her from the start.”
And here’s another fun fact: Blair also auditioned for the titular role on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” but admitted she “didn’t even come close” to nabbing the part, which went to SMG.
“But I have a friend for life,” Blair said of Gellar.
It’s fun to imagine how different both “Dawson’s” and “Buffy” would have been had Blair wound up in the leading roles. But it sounds like everything worked out just fine for the actress.
Will “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” rise up and become undead in this era of endless reboots and revivals?
Producer Fox Television would like for that to happen, but only if creator Joss Whedon is on board.
Gary Newman, head of the Fox Television Group, said that a revival of “Buffy” is a popular discussion topic at the company. He called it “the most ripe show we have for bringing back.” Fox produced the show for seven seasons, which ran on the WB and UPN networks between 1997 and 2003.
“It’s something we talk about frequently, and Joss Whedon is really one of the greatest creators we ever worked with,” Newman said at the INTV Conference in Israel (h/t Variety).
“When Joss decides it’s time, we’ll do it. And until Joss decides it’s time, it won’t happen.”
But does Whedon feel like it’s time? Last year, he told Entertainment Weekly a revival could work.
“Everything sort of finds its way back somewhere,” he said. “I’ve been trying deliberately to move forward and do something a little bit different. But yeah, the great thing is everybody looks great, and the other great thing is the show is about growing up. If we did it with these guys, they’d be the age they basically are. They’d probably play a little younger because they can do that.”
“But yeah, you’d see somebody going through their life at a different stage. It wouldn’t be like, ‘I can’t believe we’re still in high school! I wear Depends!’”
Will “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” rise up and become undead in this era of endless reboots and revivals?