SMG to star in Buffy sequel series from Chloé Zhao

[Phily B]

I would hope they write the show for fans and the audience it appeals to, not to show that SMG is a Shakespearean actor with pointless, needless drama that doesn't fit the tone of the show to appeal to an audience that doesn't care.

However, considering the choices so far I doubt it. Giles will probably be dead.

 

[The Realist]

At first I thought it was an odd leap to compare a Buffy revival to Picard, but I guess there aren't that many examples of a decades-later revival series bringing back the original star. Gene Barry's Burke's Law comes to mind, but even the revival of that was decades ago now, as were the Perry Mason revival movies in the '90s. Doctor Who doesn't quite count, since it was the same character but not the same actor. So what else is there? I guess the Frasier revival would be one.

Twin Peaks.

 

[Christopher]

not to show that SMG is a Shakespearean actor

Uhh, she isn't. She started as a child actress in TV, movies, and commercials, and her only stage roles of note were a Horton Foote play and a Neil Simon play. (Or is this some strange attempt to continue the Picard analogy, albeit apparently missing that it was a joke?)

that doesn't fit the tone of the show

Since we don't know what the show will be about, we don't know what its tone would be. And "writing for fans" is never enough. The surviving fanbase from a decades-old show is not big enough to make a show successful. The goal of any sequel, remake, or reboot is to introduce the concept to a new audience. It's good if it works for the established fanbase as well, but no show can succeed by being narrowly aimed at just a single audience instead of a range of different tastes and interests.

 

[JD]

I would hope they write the show for fans and the audience it appeals to, not to show that SMG is a Shakespearean actor with pointless, needless drama that doesn't fit the tone of the show to appeal to an audience that doesn't care.

However, considering the choices so far I doubt it. Giles will probably be dead.

Of course you want to appeal to the fans of the original, but at the same time you don't want to dive so deep into all of the minutia of the original series that it alienates potential new fans.

 

[Tuskin38]

hose who expect a series like the original TV series will be hugely disappointed.

Good.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer the famed science fiction tv show.

Hell, even the fantasy part was never really the point of BtVS.

And do you have any idea how many directors have been hugely successful after being given a job to do something they were 'the wrong person' for on paper? Should Christopher Nolan not have been allowed to make Batman Begins because he'd never done anything like it before? What about the Russo Brothers making Avengers movies after coming up through tv sitcoms?

Don’t confuse him with facts. He has that one card and gosh darn it he gonna play it!

 

[Turtletrekker]

Don’t confuse him with facts. He has that one card and gosh darn it he gonna play it!

Over and over and over and over again

 

[Phily B]

Uhh, she isn't. She started as a child actress in TV, movies, and commercials, and her only stage roles of note were a Horton Foote play and a Neil Simon play. (Or is this some strange attempt to continue the Picard analogy, albeit apparently missing that it was a joke?)




Since we don't know what the show will be about, we don't know what its tone would be. And "writing for fans" is never enough. The surviving fanbase from a decades-old show is not big enough to make a show successful. The goal of any sequel, remake, or reboot is to introduce the concept to a new audience. It's good if it works for the established fanbase as well, but no show can succeed by being narrowly aimed at just a single audience instead of a range of different tastes and interests.

"We don't know what the show will be about"

That's the problem isn't it?

 

[Nerys Myk]

"We don't know what the show will be about"

That's the problem isn't it?

A problem for who? Yeah the fans at this point don't know anything. Which I guess is a "problem" for those that get their panties in a bunch over not knowing.

 

[Phily B]

A problem for who? Yeah the fans at this point don't know anything. Which I guess is a "problem" for those that get their panties in a bunch over not knowing.

I got bad news for you if you don't know what a Buffy the Vampire Slayer show would be about after 10-12 seasons of the two shows. The reason we have doubts is because they've got an indie darling director who made the Eternals.

 

[JD]

No, we don't know what it will be about. Just because it's set in the same world as the original show and has Buffy in it doesn't mean it's going to be the same kind of show. Picard has Jean-Luc Picard in it, and is set in the Star Trek universe, but is still a very, very different type of show from TNG.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I got bad news for you if you don't know what a Buffy the Vampire Slayer show would be about after 10-12 seasons of the two shows. The reason we have doubts is because they've got an indie darling director who made the Eternals.

Well, there's no indication that Buffy will suddenly be a consulting detective for the Sunnydale PD or getting into wacky hijinks with a nutty side kick. I am gonna go out on a limb and say vampires and slaying will be involved. Possibly done by someone named "Buffy."

We ( the fans) don't know doesn't mean they ( the producers) don't know.

 

[Christopher]

"We don't know what the show will be about"

That's the problem isn't it?

No, it's not a problem, because we don't need to know what it's about yet. We'll find out when the time comes. At this point, it could be anything, and I see that as a reason to be intrigued, not worried.

I got bad news for you if you don't know what a Buffy the Vampire Slayer show would be about after 10-12 seasons of the two shows.

Except Buffy and Angel were quite different shows from one another, due to having different writing staffs and different characters and situations. Naturally the same will go for this show. The creators will be different, the characters will be different, the world they occupy will be different, and the very nature of the Slayers has been transformed. There's no telling how that will play out.

The reason we have doubts is because they've got an indie darling director who made the Eternals.

I don't see how that's a negative. Eternals was a good movie, and Zhao is an award-winning filmmaker, significantly more so than Joss Whedon. Also, just having a woman in charge of such a feminist franchise seems like a step forward.

 

[JD]

And even if you don't like The Eternals, it's worth keeping in mind that there are a lot of great directors who have had one or two fluke bad movies. And a lot of directors who've had questionable movie careers who have gone on to on to a lot more acclaim as TV directors, so it's possible that even if you didn't like The Eternals, you could still like this.

Well, there's no indication that Buffy will suddenly be a consulting detective for the Sunnydale PD or getting into wacky hijinks with a nutty side kick. I am gonna go out on a limb and say vampires and slaying will be involved. Possibly done by someone named "Buffy."

We ( the fans) don't know doesn't mean they ( the producers) don't know.

We don't even know if Buffy will even be the one doing the slaying, she could just be a mentor figure who takes a back seat to the new hero who actually does the slaying.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Also, just having a woman in charge...

Given Philly's posting history, I imagine that you have hit upon his problem right on the head right here.

 

[The Wormhole]

The reason we have doubts is because they've got an indie darling director who made the Eternals.

Wait, wait, I'm confused. You've been claiming that Terry Matalas is clearly a Somebody in Hollywood because Kevin Feige has knighted him into the august Order of the MCU, so shouldn't Chloe Zhao also be Somebody since Feige has also knighted her into this illustrious club that doesn't admit anyone but The Very Best like Terry Matalas?

 

[Turtletrekker]

I wonder what it is that Kevin Feige and Terry Matalas possess that Chloe Zhao doesn't that has Philly so upset?

 

[FPAlpha]

I just hope the iterate from the original premise and do their own thing rather than doing a remake of the old formula of the Scooby Gang fighting the villain of the season.

The show has ended with so much promise - Slayers activated all over the world, a new Hellmouth in Cleveland and the possible professional organization of Slayers doing covert ops if you go by the comics that came after.

My bet is they will go the remake route with a modernized, diverse roster to maximize appeal to all possible fan groups - could be interesting if written well but harder to do groundbreaking storytelling if you don't risk something and break out of the mold.

 

[Nerys Myk]

a new Hellmouth in Cleveland

New?

I kid..I kid.

 

[Mudd]

I got bad news for you if you don't know what a Buffy the Vampire Slayer show would be about after 10-12 seasons of the two shows. The reason we have doubts is because they've got an indie darling director who made the Eternals.

Okay, that's two points in her favor.