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July 14: Whedon interview: Firefly and Buffy
There is an extensive post-Buffy interview with Joss Whedon over at the IGN website. The interview contains some new info about Firefly. When the interviewer asked Whedon about the "current future" of Firefly, Whedon replied, "The current future of Firefly is that I'm writing a movie script that I have some hope of actually getting made." He went on to say that the movie would be "a completely new story that will be completely true to the series for those people who have seen it or see it on DVD, but will completely reintroduce it to those people who never did." We were pleased to hear that Whedon is taking the possibility of a Firefly motion picture seriously enough to be working on the script. That news gives us a bit more hope that the movie might actually happen. We also suspect that if the upcoming Firefly DVD set sells well that might provide a significant push toward selling the movie to a studio. In the interview, Whedon said that the DVD set would be coming out late this fall and would contain " three unaired episodes, commentary by every cast member, big interviews with everybody, gag reel - all kinds of stuff. It's just bells and whistles, and they'll be in the right order. And widescreen. So it really couldn't be better DVD package... a wicked one, at that." Sounds wicked to us - we'll be buying it the first day :). The IGN interview covers a number of other interesting topics. Whedon talks about his background and education and how he became a writer. He also discusses the origin of the concept for Buffy and the Buffy movie. He goes on to talk about a number of topics relating to the Buffy series, including what it was like to work on Buffy in the early years, the tonal shift of the series' sixth season, and the details of the seventh season including his plans for the return of Amber Benson (Tara) which fell through. If you'd like to read the rest of the interview, click here
Here's some information about a new show slated for next season which might help to fill the tv science fiction void: FOX has picked up a supernatural series called Tru Calling which will star Eliza Dushku, who played Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Dushka will play Tru Davies, a young woman who works the graveyard shift at a morgue. Davies finds herself reliving the days in which the people brought into the morgue died. "She has to find out who that person is, and she has X amount of hours to keep them from dying," Dushka explained in an interview with Sci-Fi Wire. Dushka also said that Davies would not be a superhero like Faith. "She's just this normal girl who's trying to help, but she's only human."
The premise for this series does not sound terribly interesting to us, but sometimes good execution can make up for a lackluster premise. Also, we like Eliza Dushka and think she has the presence to carry her own series. So we'll be tuning in to give the show a try. Tru Calling will air 8 pm on Thursdays this fall on FOX.
In a recent interview with
Sci-Fi Wire, Nathan Fillion (Captain Mal Reynolds on Firefly)
said that the show might be reborn as a movie. "We're talking silver
screen, wide release, big old deal. So everything's looking very
positive, so we're going to keep our fingers crossed." He also said
that Joss Whedon would write and direct the movie. Fillion also spoke
about the upcoming DVD release of Firefly. He is currently
working on episode commentaries along with other actors and Joss Whedon.
Fillion also said that the DVD's will include on camera interviews and
possibly Fillion's own behind the scenes home videos and photos.
We are happy to hear any good news about Firefly, but we are
extremely cautious when it comes to talk of "possible" movies based
on tv series. We've heard that too many times before when it hasn't
come to pass to get too excited at this point. Still, we can hope :)
We are definately looking forward to the Firefly DVD's and are
very pleased to hear that they will include commentaries and extras.
We appreciate the respect the choice to include them shows for the
series, and we hope that they will help to increase the DVD's sales.
Additionally, we've really enjoyed the commentaries on the Buffy
DVD's, especially those by Joss Whedon, so getting more of those on
the Firefly DVD's will be a real treat for us.
Finally, we just wanted to say that we LOVED the Buffy series
finale last night. Joss Whedon did a great job making a finale that was
on par with the best of the past seven seasons of Buffy. It was
a great way to end a great series. We are glad that Buffy went
out on a high note, but now that it's over, we're feeling the inevitable
sadness that comes with the realization that we'll never tune in on
another Tuesday night anticipating whatever new surprises and wonders
Buffy will throw our way. For those of you suffering the same
pangs, we can offer little comfort, but here's a few tidbits that you
might enjoy: You can head
over to
Cinescape.com to look at exclusive photos from the Buffy
wrap party. Or check out the official buffy auctions at
ebay. Fox is auctioning
of props and costumes from the show. Although the prices make these out
of reach for most of us, it's still fun to look at all the cool items
and try to remember where and when they were used in the series.
A bit more news about next season's Angel: Variety reports
that Charisma Carpenter (Cordellia) will not be returning as a series
regular next season. They also report that Buffy cast regulars
may make guest appearances next season, and that in addition to
ordering a fifth season, WB has an option for a sixth season.
This past tv season started off with what looked like a promising
variety of new speculative fiction shows. A number of them were
killed off before they had even been given a full first season.
Haunted was the first to go (and wasn't much of a loss). Then
Birds of Prey and (to our great dismay) Firefly joined the
list of early cancellations. Now, at the end of the season, two more
shows have been added to the list of casualties. According to
Sci-Fi wire, UPN has cancelled the Twilight Zone after its
first season.
Sci-Fi wire also reports that FOX has cancelled John Doe as
well as officialy acknowledging that that Firefly and
Futurama are really cancelled and not just "on hiatus".
It saddens us that none of this season's promising new genre shows have
been given the chance to grow and develop. Firefly is still
the most painful loss to us, although we also believe that the
Twilight Zone had a few promising episodes and might have developed
into something special given a bit more time. It is a rough market out
there right now for science fiction on tv. With the end of
Buffy, there is very little to look forward to next year. It
makes us wonder, once again, if the future of science fiction in the
audio visual form lies somewhere else rather than on tv. But that's
a discussion for another day...
Variety and
TV Guide Online report that the WB has renewed Angel for
another season. They also report that James Marsters (Spike) will
become a full time cast memeber on Angel next year. According
to Variety, Joss Whedon will write several scripts for the show and
also direct some episodes.
We are
pleased that Angel will be continuing. Although the show
has traditionally been uneven, the last half of this past season was
excellent. We felt that the apocalyptic storyline was well conceived
and well executed and made even characters we had really never warmed
up to enjoyable to watch. We hope that next season will continue the
postitive trend. Hopefully, Whedon's contributions will
help to make Angel's next season the best one yet.
Joss Whedon said in an interview with Sci-Fi Wire that all potential Buffy-
related projects are currently on hold. He told them, "Apart from
Angel, no spinoff [is] in the works right now. I think it's a very
likely possibility, but there isn't anything happening right now. We
all just kind of want to bask and relax." Whedon said that although
he still likes the idea of a Buffy animated series, "I won't do
it at a price. That's a show that has to look wonderful. It has to be
as good as it can be. And a lot of animation houses just can't contain
that. So the money isn't there right now. So right now, I'm not planning
on it." There has also been much discussion about Whedon doing a Giles
based spinnoff or made for tv movie project in conjunction with the BBC
called Ripper. Although Whedon told Sci-Fi Wire that he was
"still very invested in the Ripper story", he offered no
further information on when or if that project might become a reality.
There has also recently been some uncertainty about the future of
Angel since it has not yet been renewed for its fifth season by
the WB. Regarding this, Whedon told
Sci-Fi Wire, "I'm pretty confident we will be picked up. Let me put
it this way. Angel will be around. I just don't know where." There is
speculation that UPN may pick up Angel if the WB does not.
One final quick note, UPN's The Twilight Zone series will be doing
another remake of an episode from the classic series. They will be
remaking the episode "Eye of the Beholder" which was written by
Rod Serling. The new episode will air April 30th at 9 pm. We enjoyed
the previous episodes of the new series which drew directly on old
series episodes and we felt that the new series did an admirable job
of rising to the level of the original, especially with their sequel
to "It's a Good Life" starring Bill Mummy. Thus, we look forward to
seeing what they will do when inspired by another classic episode.
The
Ain't it Cool News site reports that Fox Home Entertainment will
be releasing Firefly on DVD. The set will include all the
produced Firefly episodes including the three which were never
aired on FOX. The episodes will be in widescreen, and the set will
include "lots of goodies".
We are very happy to hear this news. Firefly was a good show
which was cancelled by FOX without being given a fair chance. We will
definately be bying these DVD's and we hope that the other
Firefly fans out there will buy them too. Perhaps if the DVD's
sell well enough, it will do what any number of letters from the fans
could not - prove to the networks that this show can make money for
them. And then, Firefly just might get another chance to fly.
In an interview with TV Guide Online,
Joss Whedon spoke about the upcoming end of Buffy and the
possibility of a future spinnoff. When asked how he felt about Sarah
Michelle Gellar's decision to leave the show at the end of this year,
Whedon said "Like it's time. It's a decision I support and respect
and, in fact, imitate." Whedon said he was ready to move on, but that
a Buffy spinnoff was still possible: "Something may come. It may
come next season, it may come later. That is, something new [may come]
that is a part of that universe the way Angel was, but it won't
be Buffy the Vampire Slayer." For now, Whedon said his
focus is on the Buffy series finale, which he will be both
writing and directing.
Buffy starts up again with new episodes next Tuesday, March 25th.
There are only six more new episodes to go. Meanwhile, tonight's
episode of Angel will feature guest appearances by both Eliza
Dushku (Faith) and Alyson Hannigan (Willow).
For those of you who are worried we'll never see any more Buffy
after May, here's something to look forward to. There has been a lot
of talk about a Giles spinoff on the BBC, but nothing concrete has
materialized. In an interview with
icLiverpool,
Anthony Stewart Head, who plays Giles on Buffy, said that he
had recently discussed the idea of doing the spinoff with Buffy
creator, Joss Whedon. Whedon told Head "that instead of getting
himself committed to another hour-long detective show like Angel,
he'd rather do a two-hour movie. It would look in depth into the
character more. He's interested in Giles' character. It could be a
one-off, and if anybody liked it, they'd go from there." Head also
said that the BBC was still interested in the project.
We would definately like to see more of Giles, so we hope that all the
details will be nailed down soon so that this project can finally
become a reality.
If you're suffering from a little bit of Buffy withdrawl during
these weeks of reruns (I don't even want to think about what the
withdrawl will be like at the end of May), go check out the
online version of Entertainment weekly's
interview with Sarah Michelle Gellar. There are a number of
interesting tidbits in the article. For example, Gellar says that
she would love to come back and do an occasional episode on the new
Buffy spinoff if it materializes. She also reveals some details
about how far in advance Joss Whedon planned major events on
Buffy and how he changed some of those plans because he loved
the Tara and Willow pairing. Hope you enjoy the article.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sarah Michelle Gellar confirmed that this will be the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She said that the series will end with a five-part story which will include appearances by the characters Faith and Angel. Gellar told Entertainment weekly,
''We're gearing up to tell a fabulous, huge, great arc. It's going to be pretty spectacular.'' As we reported in our last update, although we will miss Buffy, we do think that this is a good time for the series to end. We are encouraged by Gellar's statements in our hope that the series will go out on a truly high note.
After much speculation, there is finally some concrete news about Sarah Michelle Gellar, who portays the title character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
TV guide online reports that Gellar has decided to leave the series at the end of this season to pursue her movie career.
Although we are great fans of BtVS, we are not sad to hear this news. BtVS has been an excellent show - one of our all time favorites - but after nearly seven years we believe that this is a good time for the show to end. Although the seventh season started off strong with a burst of renewed energy, the middle of the season has lagged a bit. Don't get us wrong, the episodes are still good, but they are beginning to feel stretched just a bit thin. We believe that BtVS is still strong enough to end this season powerfully and unforgettably and we sincerely hope that now that Joss Whedon has notice that Gellar will not be returning, he will take this opportunity to end the show on a high note.
We were also pleased to read on
TV Guide online that David Boreanaz, who plays Angel, has agreed to do a crossover to Buffy this May. We would love to see Whedon do some kind of wrap up of Buffy and Angel's relationship before the series ends.
There is still speculation that the Buffy universe may continue on in a new spinoff next year. Joss Whedon told TV Guide Online in October that he was considering a number of possibilities including shows focusing on Buffy's sister, Dawn, on her friend, Willow, or on the slayer, Faith. According to TV Guide online, the option of doing a show about Faith is now off the table since the actress who portrays her has signed on for a different FOX pilot for next season. Whether or not Whedon will decide to pursue any of the other possibilities remains to be seen. We have mixed feelings about the idea of an additional spinoff, since we believe that the earlier spinoff, Angel, has largely fallen short (sometimes far short) of the level of excellence set by Buffy.
No matter what happens with any possible spinoffs, we will miss Buffy the Vampire Slayer next year. It is practically the only show worth watching this year. So, during these last few months we will turn on our TV Tuesday nights with a little extra enthusiasm and watch these final episodes of Buffy with extra focused attention. We want to enjoy these last precious moments as much as we can. Please, Joss, make 'em great!
We have to admit that we have not been watching much of the new Twilight
Zone series on UPN. (Several early episodes which ranged from
lackluster to really bad convinced us that it wasn't worth remembering
to tune in each week). But we will be tuning in this Wednesday for an
episode which draws heavily on a couple of excellent original
Twilight Zone episodes. The first segment will be a sequel to
the original episode entitled "It's A Good Life" in which Bill Mumy
(Lenier from Babylon 5) played a frightening child who could
make people disappear into "the cornfield" with the power of his mind.
Bill Mumy will reprise his role and we will see what happens now that
the little boy is all grown up. The second segment will be an updated
version of the original episode, "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street",
which was a powerful commentary on paranoia in the nuclear age. We are
hoping that having such excellent source material to work with will
result in a new Twilight Zone episode worthy of the original
episodes that inspired it. We also see the idea to build on these
excellent old episodes as a sign that the folks at the new Twilight
Zone might have some good ideas after all. So, if we enjoy this
week's episode, we just might give the series another try.
The Twilight Zone airs Wednesdays at 9 pm on UPN.
When we were kids, one of the few bright spots on Saturday morning
tv was a cartoon series about the adventures of a group of teenagers
who put on cool costumes and took off in their spaceship to
fight evil in outer space. The series was called, Battle of the
Planets, and we're happy to report that it's coming back in an all
new form. The
figures.com website reports that production has started on 52 half-hour
episodes which will air begining in the fall of 2003. Phil Oldham, head
of sales for Sandy Frank Entertainment, said that Battle of the
Planets has "proven it's staying power by the immense fan base
surrounding it nearly two decades since its debut." The new animated
series follows close on the heels of the release of new series of "Battle of
the Planets" comic books and action figures.
We are looking forward to seeing "Battle of the Planets" get an all new
treatment. The new series just might be enough to get us out of bed early
on Saturday morning.
According to Christopher Buchanan, president of Joss Whedon's
production company, Mutant Enemy, the Sci-Fi Channel, ABC, CBS, and NBC
have all now also passed on Firefly. It's hard for us to find
the words to say how disappointed we are to hear this news. In our
opinion, Firefly was one of a very few science fiction/
fantasy shows out there worth watching these days. We hate to believe
that it's really going to die.
Buchanan did say that other options were still being explored. He said,
"We've gone so far as to explore the options in terms of, ... without
going into great detail, everything from could we move the show to
Canada? ... But the reality is, it's a pretty expensive show. And the
budget would have to come down significantly. And just given [studio]
20th [Television]'s investment and all the people involved and stuff,
it's pretty unlikely that we would go on, I think, in syndication."
Tim Minear, co-exective producer of Firefly has also indicated
that options are still being explored. In a post to his
website yesterday, Minear said,
"Also wanted to let everyone here know that Firefly is not dead. Not
yet. Joss and us'ns are working on a new angle, the details of which I
cannot get into just yet."
We're trying to latch on to those bits of hope and not give up on
Firefly yet. According to the
Firefly: Immediate Assistance
website, whatever avenues are being pursued in terms of resurrecting
Firefly, there is nothing we fans can do right now to help by
writing letters and the like. They are asking fans to continue helping
with efforts to keep the Firefly fandom visible. To this end,
they are asking fans to donate coats to service organizations like the
Salvation Army in the name of Firefly on January 25th. Go to
the
Firefly S.O.S. website to find out more about the coat drive and
other Firefly awareness efforts.
There is one final effort related to Firefly which we believe is
worth supporting. A group of fans wants to suggest a direct-to-DVD
subscription model to Firefly's production companies. They
are asking that anyone who might be interested in purchasing
Firefly in this manner email them at
jeremyn@mac.com with your contact
information, demographics, and the top price you'd be willing to pay
per episode.
We think that direct-to-DVD subscription for shows such
as Firefly is an excellent idea. Science fiction shows have a
terrible time trying to survive on network and even cable tv. Programmers
there are trying to attract the largest possible audience and thus want
their shows to appeal to a wide variety of people, leading them all too
often to dumb them down and fill them with the kind of trash that
appeals to human beings' baser instincts. These folks do not understand
science fiction shows and so they try to fill them with sex,
explosions, and fistfights, just like the rest of the junk on their
schedules. What they fail to understand is that science fiction is
special. It attracts a different kind of viewer. The core science
fiction fans appreciate the shows they watch on a deeper level. The
core science fiction fans care greatly about the shows they watch -
they are loyal to those shows and (most importantly to those silly
suits) they will pay money for things related to their favorite
shows. Science fiction fans will buy DVD's, T-shirts, photos, action
figures, and so on. Science fiction fans have shown again and again
that they will support the programs they love with their hard earned
cash. So what would this tell the silly suits if they were clever
enough to notice it? Science fiction, with it's special loyal fan base,
is the perfect place for a new model of making series: Let the
science fiction fans support the series they love, not just by buying
T-shirts and trinkets, but by paying for the program itself through a
subscription scheme like the one proposed by these clever Firefly
fans. Consider a show like Firefly which costs about 2 million
dollars an episode. If 200,000 fans paid $10 each, you have the money
to produce the episode, or 400,000 fans paid $5 each, and so on.
If such schemes could be put into action, it would allow us, the
fans to tell the people producing the shows what we wanted in a very
direct way - by chosing to buy or not to buy the programs.
Great science fictions shows would not need to compromise their quality
to try to attract the numbers of viewers necessary for success on
network television. A much smaller number of loyal, paying fans, could
keep them alive for years.
We have high hopes that in the not too distant future, some brave souls
will try out a subscription plan and hopefully create a way out
of the dismal state of television today. We don't know if
Firefly might be the spark that starts this new revolution,
but we can hope. And so we ask you to take a minute and send along
your info to the fans who are going to try to make it happen.
A Source at 20th Century Fox (which produces Firefly) has told
the Firefly: Immediate
Assisstance website that UPN has decided to pass on Firefly.
We are extremely disappointed by this news. We thought that there was
a real chance that UPN would pick up Firefly and we were
strongly hoping that it would happen.
The Fox source has also told
Firefly: Immediate Assisstance that Fox will now be attempting
to sell Firefly to the Sci-Fi channel. Apparently, they will
be pitching it as a mini-series or movie project. We are skeptical
about the chances of this effort based on Sci-Fi's recent attempts to
move their network away from any actual science fiction programming,
especially space-based programs (see the January 11th
B5 News update). However,
the chances are probably better for Firefly as a short-term
project than they would be if Fox were trying to sell the whole series
to Sci-Fi. And if a Firefly mini-series or movie does very
well on Sci-Fi, you never know what could happen.
The last few episodes of Firefly showed that it was developing
into an excellent program, and so we will do what we can to support
any efforts to get it back on the air so long as their is any hope at
all. There are too few good science fiction programs around today to
give up on one of them while there is still hope. We encourage you to
support Firefly too by sending letters to
the Sci-Fi channel (including your demographic information and the
reasons you liked Firefly) at the following addresses:
MARK STERN
BONNIE HAMMER
As always, if you'd like more information on what to put in your
letters or other ideas on how you can help support Firefly,
then head over to the
Firefly: Immediate Assistance website.
As is all too often the case with science fiction, we are once again
fighting to try to keep the few good things that miraculously manage
to slip through the system and make it onto our tv screens, at least
for a little while. So get out your pens folks - it's time to fight.
TV News Archive September - December 2002
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