Would UPN Take Buffy Today? by Radegund

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Would UPN Take Buffy Today?

POSTED BY: RADEGUND
UPDATED: Saturday, February 1, 2003 02:06
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 3082
PAGE 1 of 1

Thursday, January 30, 2003 6:50 AM

There's an article posted over at the SciFi Channel's news wire speculating on whether Buffy will be back for another season or not. I found this part very interesting:

Quote:

Les Moonves, president of UPN parent CBS, reportedly wants ratings winners and nothing else, the source added. "It is believed around here that if Moonves had been running UPN two years ago, Buffy never would've been there in the first place," the source said.

It sure makes me think less of UPN as a potential home for any SF or genre series at all.

See the original article:
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-main.html?2003-01/30/09.30.rumors

Radegund

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, January 30, 2003 8:19 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

For those that can't see the article:

Posted from Scifi Wire:

A source close to Fox Television, which produces Buffy the Vampire Slayer for UPN, has told SyFy Portal a rumor that the network won't bring the show back for an eighth season. "There is a whole different attitude at UPN right now, and it's not the same attitude that first brought Buffy to the network in the first place," the anonymous source said. Les Moonves, president of UPN parent CBS, reportedly wants ratings winners and nothing else, the source added.

"It is believed around here that if Moonves had been running UPN two years ago, Buffy never would've been there in the first place," the source said.

No official word has been given on the fate of Buffy or whether its star, Sarah Michelle Gellar, has made a decision on whether to renew her contract for the show, which runs out at the end of the current seventh season.

Quote:
"There is a whole different attitude at UPN right now, and it's not the same attitude that first brought Buffy to the network in the first place," the anonymous source said.

Yeah, the attitude is they wouldn't know good shows if they bit them on the butt. Buffy has been one of their biggest draws and they are saying they wouldn't have brought it to the network w/ their new attitude? Do they want to fail?

Rumor has flown around for awhile that they will not bring the show back for an eighth season, and the storyline does appear to be coming to a point where they could end the storyline if they had to or leave it open for a spin off or another season.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, January 30, 2003 8:54 AM

BOBKNAPTOR

This is just depressing, first Firefly, now it is looking more and more like Buffy will end without another spin-off, and there are even rumors floating around about it being Angel's last season as well. If there are no Joss Whedon shows on next year, I will stop watching TV all together. It seems like every network is going for shows that will be loved by everyone. But the fact is that it is statistically impossible to create ANYTHING that EVERYONE loves. Yes, Reality shows seem to be placating the mindless masses lately. But there are millions of people who want nothing at all to do with this rubbish. And those are the people who are far more likely to be interested in smaller audience, genre pieces, like Firefly, Buffy, Angel... maybe even stuff like the Dead Zone or Monk or Law & Order or Whose Line is it Anyway or..... whatever... something non-reality showy.

It amazes me that because the majority of TV watchers like watching mindless crap that they wouldn't even TRY to attract the rest of the thinking world to their stations.

Stuff like Joe Millionaire, High School Reunion, Survivor, The Surreal Life, even American Idol just make me sad for the world, as it all seems to prove to me that most people are idiots, and don't wish to be anything but idiots. (in fairness to these shows, I've never seen a single episode of any of them. However, I've never seen a faces of death video either, but I know enough about them to be pretty sure I'd hate it.)

Oh well.... back to my books. Good news: Excellent books get published all the time and ratings don't seem to impact the subject matter. Color me happy, new Laurell K. Hamilton book coming out in April. (For Buffy fans... if you haven't checked out the Anita Blake series by Hamilton, you should. It's not as funny as Whedon's stuff is. And it's pure fluff. But they are fun stories about vampires, lycanthropes, zombies, faeries, magic... all kinds of good stuff. It's great to see the main character progress from someone who, in the beginning, thinks monsters are monsters and humans are above reproach.. to someone who identifies more and more with the beasts.)

______________
Please, how many times have I heard that line in my demon days? "I'm so rotten, they don't even have a word for it. I'm bad. Baddy bad bad bad. Does it make you horny?" Or terrified. Whatever.

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, January 30, 2003 10:33 AM

MILLERNATE

Quote:

There's an article posted over at the SciFi Channel's news wire speculating on whether Buffy will be back for another season or not. I found this part very interesting:

Quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Les Moonves, president of UPN parent CBS, reportedly wants ratings winners and nothing else, the source added. "It is believed around here that if Moonves had been running UPN two years ago, Buffy never would've been there in the first place," the source said.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

See this isn't entirely accurate. UPN picked up Buffy because Fox (which owns the 8 major-market affliates that keep UPN in business, if they went UPN would be dead) threatened to yank their affliates if they didn't pay what they did for Buffy. Unless Moonves wants UPN's failure on his resume he has to realize that. Buffy is more likely to end because of Sarah Michelle Gellar's contract situation and the fact that I think the creators are getting tired of it. The lack of a spin-off is more a result of none of the surviving characters being strong enough to carry a series except Faith, and Eliza Dushku is too busy with her movie career to do TV full time.

Quote:

It sure makes me think less of UPN as a potential home for any SF or genre series at all.

Well UPN has now commission 4 science fiction/genre series pilots for next season (meaning that at least one stands a very good chance at getting on the air) from such varied creators as Craig Silverstein, Silvio Horta, Wes Craven, and Robert Halmi senior so they aren't totally abandoning the genre.

Nathan
"It looks like a great adventure...That's what it is; that's what it feels like. When I saw the pilot, it was really engaging. It was exciting. It was unusual. It threw me off every now and then. I think people will be grabbed by it." - Ron Glass, on the pilot, during an interview with the Indianapolis Star

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, January 30, 2003 11:52 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

bobknaptor wrote:

Quote:
It seems like every network is going for shows that will be loved by everyone. But the fact is that it is statistically impossible to create ANYTHING that EVERYONE loves. Yes, Reality shows seem to be placating the mindless masses lately.

A network will always go w/ the majority unfortunately, as that is where the ratings are. If the masses love garbage, that is what they will feed us. The people that would like a series that inspires us to think and use our minds for something other than visual stimulation are out of luck.

Quote:
It amazes me that because the majority of TV watchers like watching mindless crap that they wouldn't even TRY to attract the rest of the thinking world to their stations.

Not sure why you are surprised, networks only care about two things: ratings and money. It is a business of course, but I guess integrity and quality programming are things of the past.

Quote:
Stuff like Joe Millionaire, High School Reunion, Survivor, The Surreal Life, even American Idol just make me sad for the world, as it all seems to prove to me that most people are idiots, and don't wish to be anything but idiots.

I agree that people seem to be content to watch these mind numbing shows. I doubt that more than half of any of it is actually "reality" as they seem too scripted to be real. I have watched an episode of Joe Millionaire just to see what the hype was about & after 30 minutes I was so disgusted I had to turn off the TV.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, January 31, 2003 6:56 AM

LIVINGIMPAIRED

Quote:
Originally posted by bobknaptor:
Oh well.... back to my books. Good news: Excellent books get published all the time and ratings don't seem to impact the subject matter. Color me happy, new Laurell K. Hamilton book coming out in April. (For Buffy fans... if you haven't checked out the Anita Blake series by Hamilton, you should. It's not as funny as Whedon's stuff is. And it's pure fluff. But they are fun stories about vampires, lycanthropes, zombies, faeries, magic... all kinds of good stuff. It's great to see the main character progress from someone who, in the beginning, thinks monsters are monsters and humans are above reproach.. to someone who identifies more and more with the beasts.)

I was just looking at my Laurell K. Hamiliton collection and wondering when her next book was comming out. I disagree with you that the Anita Blake is nothing about fluff. The series first appealed to me because it portrayed feminism the way it should be: woman and men are equals. Anita doesn't look down on men, and when a man doesn't show the same courtesy, she kicks his @$$ up around his ears. As the series wears on, an interesting new theme has developed. Anita has changed so much over the years. She's really mellowed out alot. Many of the things she once considered hard and fast turths about herself have become grey. It's like Laurell K. Hamilton once said in an interview (paraphrasing here): "Once you hit thirty, you either have to mellow out our you'll explode. Anita will mellow out. Or she will explode."

The books still remain facinating reads, although I wish they would have more of the murder-mystery aspect they had in the earlier books.

The Merry Genry series, now that's fluff.

And by the way, I personally think that rumors of Angel's impenedent cancellation are greatly exaggerated.

________________

Go to sleep/ lullaby/ you've been fed and you're sleepy/ you'll be with/ Uncle Lorne/ who in no way resents not being asked to go to the ballet/ and is certainly/ not thinking/ of selling you to the first vampire cult that makes him a decent offer...

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Saturday, February 1, 2003 2:06 AM

RAVENB

Quote:
Originally posted by bobknaptor:
(For Buffy fans... if you haven't checked out the Anita Blake series by Hamilton, you should. It's not as funny as Whedon's stuff is. And it's pure fluff. But they are fun stories about vampires, lycanthropes, zombies, faeries, magic... all kinds of good stuff. It's great to see the main character progress from someone who, in the beginning, thinks monsters are monsters and humans are above reproach.. to someone who identifies more and more with the beasts.)

I tried the first book in the Anita Blake series, and I found it to be too loaded with disturbing sexual stuff for my tastes. I much prefer the "Dresden Files" series of novels by Jim Butcher: the hero, Harry Dresden, is the only practicing wizard in the Chicago area phone book, and he works to help people (including the police) with problems of a magical or supernatural bent. The books are very well-written, loaded with the dry humor that typifies a good noir detective novel, and have well-constructed plots full of lots of juicy twists and turns. I highly recommend that you Buffy fans check 'em out if you haven't yet.

--RavenB

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes
are closed." - Albert Einstein

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

YOUR OPTIONS

SHARE THREAD

NEW POSTS TODAY

USER	POST DATE

USER

POST DATE