Captain Harlock

From EOnline.com

EOnline.com

by Lia Haberman
February 26, 2003, 10:15 AM PT

CHOSEN ONE: Sarah Michelle Gellar confirming to creator Joss Whedon she won't be returning to Buffy the Vampire Slayer next year. Instead, the actress will star in Romantic Comedy. No word on which substitute slayer could pick up her stake, yet.


Okay, this network has had one failed series after another and now they are allowing the star of the only decent thing on the network walk away?

Everyone sell your stock in UPN right now before they drop off the board like Enron!

das Monkey

You'd prefer they keep her against her will as the show wears out its welcome and descends into disresepcted trash like The X-Files? Kudos to SMG for knowing when to walk away. I hope the rest of the cast and creators do the same thing and the show ends with a bang. I'll miss it, but seven seasons is enough.

das

das Monkey

Oh, but UPN does suck.

das

El-Kabong

I remember somewhere that if SMG left, that was it for the show. Joss said in an interview (on IGN, I think) that they'd pull the plug and let it die a natural death, instead of beating the horse when she moved on.

Captain Harlock

No, it's probably the right time for her to walk away. My comments were more sacrasitic. My bad

Morf

Well, it was bound to happen sometime. Let's just hope that some characters find their way to Angel, at least as recurring characters.

Of course, that's assuming that Angel will be back next season...

das Monkey

• Quoth Captain Harlock •<HR SIZE=1>No, it's probably the right time for her to walk away. My comments were more sacrasitic. My bad <HR SIZE=1>

das

Morf

More news from TVGuide.com:

The Chosen One has finally made her decision: Sarah Michelle Gellar will exit Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the end of the season, TV Guide Online has learned. Although UPN and 20th Century Fox declined to comment, sources confirm that the 25-year-old actress — whose Buffy contract expires in May — is leaving the cult-classic series to pursue her film career full time.

Talk of Gellar's probable Buffy departure has been gathering steam for months. Adding fuel to the fire: the recent announcement that the Scooby-Doo star will begin shooting the feature Romantic Comedy in August, around the time she would have been returning to work on a new season of Buffy. As one Gellar confidante puts it, "You do the math."

And if Buffy fans think that bites, there's more bad news. That rumored spinoff starring Eliza Dushku, who plays Buffy's rival slayer Faith, is now occupying a plot at the Sunnydale Cemetery. Dushku, who had apparently been knee-deep in discussions to succeed Gellar in a Buffy offshoot, has instead signed on to headline the Fox pilot Heroine.

Still, not all hope is lost. As Buffy creator Joss Whedon told TV Guide Online in October, a Dushku-led series is "one of many" possibilities he's considering. Among the others: a show revolving around Buffy's kid sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) or sidekick Willow (Alyson Hannigan).

Incidentally, during an interview with TV Guide Online last year, Gellar said she believes Buffy could — and should — forge ahead, even if that means anointing a new Slayer. "Absolutely," she offered. "I don't know if it would be Buffy the Vampire Slayer per se, because you kind of need Buffy for that. But it doesn't mean that there's not Dawn and [reformed vengeance demon] Anya. There are a lot of characters that could easily go on, and I'd hope that they would."

The silver lining in the clouds for Buffy fans? Gellar's swan song will reunite her with TV soulmate David Boreanaz. As TV Guide Online reported earlier this month, the Angel leading man has agreed to cross over to his old haunt in May, so that the do-gooder vamp can bid farewell to his Chosen One at the same time as we do ours. — Michael Ausiello

adamblast

Well, AP has announced it officially, too -- of course we pretty much knew it anyway. Buffy the series ends with this season. There are "talks" ongoing about a possible spinoff with "some" of the original characters.

http://apnews.myway.com//article/200...D7PEGPGO0.html

wendersfan

The only thing worse for a TV show than ending before its time is dragging on too long. I'll miss Buffy, but I'd rather remember it fondly than rue the fact it's still on. The last three seasons of The X-Files were so bad I can't even watch the episodes from back when the show was good anymore. I'd hate for that to happen to another show I love.

shaggybrown

Everything depends on the writing. I like the Universe that Joss has created, and I think there are still a lot of good stories left in it. I'd like to see it continue in some form.

When Frasier was spun-off I didn't expect it to be good at all, but it surprised me. Maybe a Buffy spin-off, with the right characters and good writing would do as well.

Jeraden

The funny part is, Dushka is going with a pilot for Fox over a buffy spinoff. Chances of a new Fox series lasting a whole season = very little. Chances of a buffy spinoff last a whole season = pretty good.

dolphinboy

Yes, kudos to SMG Prinze Jr. for knowing when to leave the show and making much more money doing "respected" trash like Scooby-Doo sequals and voice-overs in animated films.

jkingfish

I think the reality of the situation is that there won't be a spin-off, Willow will join rank on Angel [logical considering her vested interest in the project and her hubby co-star], the occassional cross-over cameo and more involvement from the best of the Buffyverse once the hammer drops at the end this year. Joss shows continued dis-interest in the original franchise and it seems he is craving a new pot to stir or at least a new stick with which to stir the old one.

Thus speculatith the Kingfish...

MrX

I don't see her having anything but a mediocre film career. She's a great actress but with her current resume and the fact that she doesn't come off well in interviews I don't see her having the huge fan base that alot of the top actresses have. Not to mention the fact that she has the whole married to Freddie Prinze Jr. thing hanging over her also

Dr. DVD

I hope nobody returns. Let them move on. Alysson can actually act, and SMG will most likely have a few flops before some big dollars entice to do a big screen Buffy flick. As for Nicholas Brendan and James Marsters, I fear they will wonder the convention circuit for their lives. Emma will appear in a few stupid horror movies (Darkness Falls anyone?), but never get anything spectacular.

cooper2000

I am with das. End the show before it becomes X-files or a franchise sucked dry like Trek.

Sure I can understand not wanting the show to end but all this stuff about spinoff theories is getting old.
They would be mere shadows of the original show carried on just to make money.

Let it end while its still entertaining instead of leaving a bad taste in our mouths.

Anyone remember Aftermash?

Bad idea.

MrX

I think James is someone who can have a nice future acting. He's very talented.

Nicholas on the other hand ,...

adamblast

Sad but true... Those of us who know Xander from the beginning still love him, but Nicholas hasn't aged very well... Sadly, I'd be awfully surprised to see him successful again...

That's why I think he's a likely candidate for crossovers and spinoffs--what else is he gonna do?

Patman

Hey, James Marsters is coming to Dragon Con this year!

MrX

He needs to find a role that is similar to Chandler on Friends. I think a comedy is where he has the most chance of success, I don't see him as a drama actor.

dolphinboy

I agree. I actually think a lot of this cast will do well after the show concludes.

James can act and he can lose the white hair and accent and not be typecast as Spike forever. As mentioned in an earlier post, Alyson can act and she has the "regular" person look that, once established in Hollywood, usually secures you work on tv or in the movies for life. Nicholas, probably has nothing much left in the tank, but living off of his Buffy earnings which ain't too bad.

I think Emma is going to do well. The fact that, as bad as I heard it was, Darkness Falls did well at the Box Office was a good break. She can probably do a few low budget films now and a Darkness Falls sequal and see where she stands after that.

And while Dawn seems the most disliked Buffy character, I think Michelle has a very good chance at being a star. She's got looks and the chops to be a terrific actress. She's gonna get a bunch of great opportunities because of being on Buffy and, hopefully, she'll make good choices.

SMGPJ is gonna make even more riches than she currently has, but I don't see her as a top actress. Especially, if she follows Freddie from project to project. Even then, she's a longshot. I think she's getting too much credit for walking away from Buffy. She's long maintained that she's been way underpaid for doing the show (and she's probably right), she's been pretty angered by the lack of Emmy attention (rightfully so), she's not all that happy to be known forever as Buffy now (can't blame her), and rumors have flown for years that she's not well liked by most of the other castmates and crew. If she was being offered HUGE money, say $250,000-$500,000 per episode to come back and Joss wanted to do another season, I think she'd be doing it. She'd make around 10 million and still have room for a big paycheck, summer released, Scooby sequal. I see her having a mostly mediocre movie career and then returning to TV in her late 30's or early 40's like Susan Dey and maybe winning some Emmys playing a judge or lawyer or ER doctor or Crime Scene Investigator.

BoatDrinks

The thing about ending shows before they suck is that in 99.5% of the cases, the network/studios own the rights to the "production" of the show and THEY say when it's done.

So, yes, SMG and the entire cast can leave and the execs would force the producers to continue doing the show. Even when the creator's deal is up the execs could throw gazillions of dollars at Joss and he could still say "I'm not doing it anymore" and the execs could say, "Okay, we'll get Drew to run it" or bring in someone else and the show would continue on.

See, most TV execs know very little about why or what makes a show good or bad. They simply look at the balance sheet.

Brian_92gsr

I belive SMG is already making $300,000 per episode for this last season, compared to $60,000 per episode David is making staring on Angel.

DVDGUY1116

It is definitely time for Buffy to go...I will miss it though. Angel on the otherhand I need a lot more of. I saw some news on tvtome.com, which also posts actual news on the shows as well as spoilers, which stated that Joss Whedon confirmed that Angel will be back for a 5th season. I didn't believe it so I clicked on the link and sure enough it was right there in black and white. Now I know the WB said they would make a decision on the show in May but if the creator says it than that is good enough for me. In the same article he also stated that he hopes this is the last season of Buffy, hopes that Firefly will return somewhere, that there is still the possibility of a "Faith" show and that it is a real possibility that some Buffy characters will make their way to Angel. Take this news as you will.

Now that Buffy is all but done I really hope I get to see more of the acting skills of Emma Caufield, James Marsters, and Alyson Hannigan who I think can all be really successful outside of Buffy. Although, I would love to see Spike become a regular on Angel. As for SMGPJ...I think she is a fine actress, especially within her gerenation, but she has got to be kidding herself if she thinks that she will get the respect she deserves as an actress by following around the Mister from movie to movie and doing dreck like Scooby-Doo.