Paley Festival: 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' Reunion

March 21, 11:11 AM

Buffy the Vampire Slayer may never have been the most-watched show on The WB or UPN and it may never have won the biggest awards TV has to offer, but on Thursday (March 20) night, a William S. Paley Television Festival-generated reunion of the show's cast and producers made the Cinerama Dome at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood feel like the center of an odd sort of universe, or the Whedonverse, if you prefer.

On a purely practical level, Thursday's Paley Festival evening probably would have been more enriching without screening the full episode of "Once More With Feeling." Yes, I love the episode and I was amused by an audience split between people who wanted to break into the call-and-response they learned at sing-a-longs and the people who wanted to hang on its every literal word, but I'd have gladly traded those 44 minutes for four or five short Joss Whedon-selected clips and an extra 20 minutes of panel discussion. I also wish that the first question from the audience hadn't taken more than half of the Q&A time to ask each panelist their favorite movie (though it's good to know that Sarah Michelle Gellar likes South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut) and that the last question had actually been a question, as opposed to a statement of unquestioning adulation.

But those are quibbles. No, the Paley Festival reunion of Buffy the Vampire Slayer produced almost no new gossip and didn't yield an iota of news about upcoming Buffy-based projects (unless you were anxious to know that Oz will soon be making an appearance in the comic). But that really wasn't what it was about. The fans who began to queue outside at 3 a.m. (to say nothing of those without tickets who arrived even earlier) might have liked a kernel about a Spike movie or the Ripper project, but that wasn't why they were there. The devotees who arrived with treasured posters (featuring signatures, usually, from most, but not all, of the participants), battered t-shirts and rusty old pins didn't need scoops or even the latest variation on the same old Buffy behind-the-scenes stories. The event itself was the thing.

There was a joy in seeing Nicholas Brendon, Emma Caulfield, Charisma Carpenter, Seth Green, Amber Benson, James Marsters, Michelle Trachetenberg, Joss Whedon, David Greenwalt up on a stage together, a joy in seeing Sarah Michelle Gellar with them actually acknowledging the importance of Buffy in her life. Gellar received a partial standing ovation from the crowd, which had saved its biggest earlier applause for Marsters and Benson, but that was nothing compared to the total roar that greeted Whedon.

What did attendees actually learn from the event?

Well, Whedon and Greenwalt used to call Gellar "Jimmy Stewart," because of their feeling that more than any actor, Stewart was able to convey both Everyman charm and pain, a gift they felt Gellar shared. Gellar seemed genuinely touched by that revelation.

As Greenwalt put it, "There's nothing like taking all of your pain and misery and shoving it into very good-looking people's mouths."

Few shows in TV history have successfully showcased and highlighted the work of so many individual writers, scribes who might otherwise be anonymous, but are instead known and beloved by name within the fandom. So it was no surprise that not only was the audience full of former Buffy writers, but that Whedon and the actors frequently saluted them.

Asked about what experienced on Buffy most terrified him, for example, Marsters was quick to interject, "The people that terrified themselves the most were the writers. We just had to stand on tape and wear the hair."

When the question of what they missed most from Buffy came up, several panelists saluted the writers, including Trachtenberg, who said that in her down-time, "I would either sneak into Sarah's trailer and pet her shoes or sneak up to the writer's room."

Gellar said, "I miss the family. We all can see each other from time to time, but it was also the crew."

There were jokes, of course, when it came to what they would miss.

"I miss arriving in my trailer every morning and finding David Boreanaz had already pooped in it," Gree said.

And Benson noted (mostly in jest), "I miss making out with hot chicks."

With Brendon and Green peppering the events with successful (Green) and not-so-successful (Brendon) one-liners, Benson, who admits she isn't known for being especially funny, got into the spirit.

When the events that led to Tara's abrupt and tragic departure from the show were raised, she replied, "I was having sex with Marlo Brando and he was about to pass away and I wanted to be by his bedside."

Ummm... OK. The actual answer? Something much more conventional about availability.

Nobody on the panel would express even slight disappointment about the show's notorious lack of Emmy love.

"You don't put Buffy the Vampire Slayer on The WB thinking 'I'm getting an Emmy!'" Whedon said.

Gellar added "We had the fans and that's better than any awards."

Awwww...

For Gellar, that's a long way from the way people reacted when she initially told them she'd landed the role.

"All of my friends felt sorry for me because I was on a midseason replacement on a network nobody had heard of based on a movie that was not-so-great," she recalled.

If Whedon -- arriving fresh off the set of his star-studded short film Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog -- wouldn't commit to any future Buffy-verse projects, it wasn't for lack of effort on the moderator's fault. The long-rumored Spike and Ripper offerings were brought up and Brendon even suggested "Maybe a Xander the One-Eyed Monster?" but all Whedon would say was "There are so many stars that would have to align."

Whedon did agree that a Buffy Broadway musical would be a great idea, but it made it clear that it wouldn't just be a stage version of "Once More With Feeling," it would be its own thing. Several of the stars on the panel -- but conspicuously not Gellar -- raised their hands to say that they'd be glad to accompany the property to the Great White Way.

While the panel rarely got mushy, Whedon was repeatedly celebrated, with Noxon's comment "If Joss came to me tomorrow and said, 'I'm going to build a rocketship and we're all going to Mars,' I'd say 'OK'" being typical.

And, as the panel ended at 9:15, the fans swarmed the stage like so many locusts in a story of Biblical plague, their enthusiasm so great that even if their were another reunion next week -- perhaps with Alyson Hannigan and David Boreanaz in attendance? -- they'd be just as excited.

Be sure to check out all of our Paley Festival coverage, including recaps and photos.

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Comments (10)

Comments

This is my all time favorite thing to watch my sister and i always watch this back to watch and we want to see another seqason of Buffy even though they are older

Missy | Mar 28, 2008 2:23:02 PM | #

This is my all time favorite thing to watch my sister and i always watch this back to watch and we want to see another seqason of Buffy even though they are older

Missy | Mar 28, 2008 2:23:04 PM | #

Buffy and Angel Forever.

sandy | Mar 30, 2008 2:56:58 PM | #

i love buffy. she is the best i want all the buffy stuff. i am 9 years old. ilove you xxx ooo. p.s.my phone is 0408501190.

amelia | Apr 20, 2008 3:16:57 AM | #

i love buffy. she is the best i want all the buffy stuff. i am 9 years old. ilove you xxx ooo. p.s.my phone is 0408501190.

amelia | Apr 20, 2008 3:18:01 AM | #

i love buffy. she is the best i want all the buffy stuff. i am 9 years old. ilove you xxx ooo. p.s.my phone is 0408501190.

amelia | Apr 20, 2008 3:18:07 AM | #

call me on 0408501163 at 4 o'clock pm or call my mum on 0408501190. from avirl

avirl | Apr 20, 2008 4:03:35 PM | #

call me on 0408501163 at 4 o'clock pm or call my mum on 0408501190. from avirl

avirl | Apr 20, 2008 4:03:40 PM | #

BUFFY RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XXXOOO AVRIL

avril | Apr 20, 2008 4:06:46 PM | #

avril | Apr 20, 2008 4:06:48 PM | #