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NewsFlash: Buffy reboot?????

Seriously?

TV Line has just announced that a Buffy reboot has been greenlit. Joss Whedon will executive produce as he did with Agents of SHIELD, and the new Buffy will be played by a black actress. Monica Owusu-Breen will be showrunner. The reboot doesn't have a network yet, but honestly, I don't think that will be a problem.

OMG, guys. Doux is the site that Buffy built, so we have an investment in this. What do you all think?
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

21 comments:

  1. I don't know what to think. I recognize I should be excited and I'm not so that's probably bad. Ultimately I've come to the conclusion that I'd much rather have the story of another slayer (like one from a bygone era or one of the new slayers Willow created) than a new Buffy, new Xander, new WIllow, new I Robot You Jane.

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  2. Yeah, this whole thing reeks of laziness. Joss should have tried to continue the universe with the saga of a new Slayer taking place after "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away". I doubt Joss will be involved whatsoever with this show though beyond the pilot. His attention will be devoted to The Nevers on HBO. And I'm much more excited for that, a new idea, than a rehash of a story that was already perfect the first time. Pass.

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  3. I'm sort of excited and trying to stay open-minded. I agree with sunbunny that I'd rather have the story of another slayer, but I'll take a new Buffy if that's what they are offering.

    I do worry that Buffy the Vampire Slayer was too unique and trying to replicate that could lead to mixed results. However, the news are just out, they don't even have a script yet, I'm not going to hold it against a show that barely exists.

    Again, I would be more excited if this was an extension of the Buffyverse, instead of a Buffyverse 2.0. But maybe this new Buffy will be special to a whole new generation, just like our Buffy was special to us. I don't have a problem with that.

    In any case, I'll send a tweet to Joss asking this to be an extension of the existing Buffyverse. A new slayer with Buffy (or someone from the original show) as her mentor. Asking won't hurt, and if enough of us do it, he might hear us.

    On the topic of the new series having a black lead, I *love* that. Buffy NEVER had a non-white main character, so I love that the new series is already fixing that from the get-go.

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  4. This made me think of all those Slayers that where with Andrew in that Angel episode. Buffy is too iconic a character to 'reboot'..Sometimes i think these Hollywood types cause chaos on purpose. Everything is in place for a Buffy continuation with a clear path in front of them but these guys decide no no a reboot is what the people want..How has that worked out for Charmed which had a decent fanbase but nowhere near the cult status or commercial success and recognition Buffy did,
    Hopefully these early reports are wrong or the creative minds behind this change their approach..A continuation could work a reboot fails before launch. Would be cool to see a new slayer in the existing Buffy world with possible old cast cameos..Buffy and Faith still kicking ass in their slightly advanced years would be hilarious. Buffy could have a daughter called Jo for Joyce. What are the old cast members up to nowadays i would even welcome Dawn.

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  5. Do we even know that it isnt a continuation? I couldnt find the actual announcement, just a bunch of articles parroting back the basic details. I must admit, im not too enthused about this, especially if it doesnt break new ground in the universe. Wheres my Fray tv show?

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  6. I'm really into the idea of more Buffyverse but...there's only one Buffy. I really hope this is a continuation of the original series instead and that it focuses on a new slayer.

    Also, I think it's great they are declaring that the new lead will be black! Diversity/representation is much needed in media so points to the shown runner for getting in diversity from the get-go. But again, there's only one Buffy to me and that's Sarah Michelle Gellar.

    Hope if it's a continuation that the old cast can appear. It'd be great to see an older, more mature Scooby Gang :)

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  7. Okay, after reading several "Buffy can't be black" in other places of the internet, I'm fully supportive of this reboot.

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  8. I am all for diversity. I have absolutely no objection to a black slayer.

    Where I think the idea of a reboot is leaving me cold is that -- well, a reboot can be many things. If Joss Whedon was helming a reboot of any kind with the original cast, or even *members* of the original cast and new ones plus a new slayer, I'd be thrilled. If a new showrunner was bringing back the Buffyverse with a new slayer, I'd also be thrilled -- well, a bit less thrilled, but still intrigued.

    But recasting Buffy, Willow, Giles and Xander with other actors *and* bringing in another showrunner? It doesn't feel right to me.

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  9. OF COURSE BUFFY CAN BE BLACK. I just don't think anyone can replace SMG. She was iconic in that role. After talking to a lot of friends, everyone seems to want a continuation and not a reboot. The only issue I see with a continuation is the comics, but I know a lot of people would be more than happy to have those negated.

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  10. I'm pleasantly surprised that Monica is involved in this given her previous Agents of SHIELD experience.

    The timing of all this with Whedon's HBO show and stuff does seem a bit suspect given his recent controversies. Although I've heard another take that he figures that this reboot is inevitable so he might as well be involved.

    I feel like a straight up continuation of Buffy/Angel would be problematic given the state of the Slayers at the end of Buffy. You couldn't really do a Chosen One narrative in the same way. And then there's all the stuff with the comics and junk.

    As far as I'm concerned Supernatural (on good days Agents of SHIELD) is the only real Buffy reboot we need. Supernatural is just a spontaneous wacky entity in and of itself that really captures some of that humour, heart and insanity that Buffy/Angel had. SHIELD obviously has some Whedon hands with its strong characterization and Daisy Johnson I might like more as a Buffy-esque character (even if she took more time to emerge).

    So overall, I'm pretty lukewarm to this reboot but if its good I can't complain too much. Its not like Buffy/Angel is gonna disappear its too ingrained in the public consciousness for that.

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  11. I hope it's good.

    I love Buffy a lot. No doubt it's one of the top five best broadcast tv shows ever. But the language of tv has changed and evolved a lot. New generations who grew up watching the amazing tv made in the lasr decade or so probably won't get Buffy as we do. I think an update could bring a lot of good, and the new one could mean as much for our times as the original meant back then.

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  12. I'm genuinely curious to see what it would look like. I mean, 7/10 of the problems Buffy faced could've been solved with technology. Most of the time, they were looking for person x to warn them about person y, but because nobody had cellphones or was even using the internet all that much back then, they had to run around Sunnydale looking for people. But now, if she needs Giles she doesn't have to run around looking for a phone or physically go to his house, she can just shoot him a text message. And how in the world would the Sunnydale weirdness censor survive camera phones and surveillance cameras? I'm not super hopeful, but I am curious.

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  13. Even if it sucks, this will significantly increase the likelihood of a good Buffy remaster for Blu-Ray. But here's hoping it will be awesome!

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  14. Judging from this description, https://deadline.com/2018/07/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-series-reboot-in-works-black-lead-monica-owusu-breen-joss-whedon-1202430592/ , I think people are worrying unnecessarily about recasting Buffy. It says the "...producers' intention for the slayer to be African American." Also, they say "it will be contemporary, building on the mythology of the original". This suggests to me that they are reusing the Buffyverse, not planning to revisit the Buffy/Angel storyline.

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  15. I have to say "Hard no."

    This is both because I don't want to see BtVS rebooted specifically, and because I'm just sick of reboots (and sequels, prequels, remakes, etc.) in general. If the WB had decided to reboot (for example) Charlie's Angels in 1997, we would never have had BtVS in the first place. Today's viewers deserve their own original programming, not rehashes of shows from twenty years ago. Not even (or especially not) great shows like BtVS.

    Let's have some original programming, please.

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  16. I was only just getting to grips with a Charmed reboot, so this has thrown me through a loop completely!

    It feels too soon, but with the right distributor (cable or streaming) and Joss involved it has potential to be good at least.

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  17. I love Buffy, but I also discovered it when it was a bit dated. I'm excited for what they can do visually now. But it bothers me that they're using the change of ethnicity as the main selling point for the reboot - almost as if they're using it to try and prevent backlash to the idea of a reboot.

    The main reason Buffy was blonde was to subvert stereotypes. I hope that the reboot continues that aspect - giving us what we don't expect. Since so many shows have built upon the success of Buffy, it will take quite a bit to reboot the show and still have that freshness built-in.

    Please don't just give us, in the words of Cat Grant, "the attractive yet nonthreatening racially diverse cast of a CW show". Give us great casting and real characters like Marvel's Runaways. That's what I want to see - the twisty, engaging realness of teenagers caught up in more than they bargained for - set in the Buffyverse.

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  18. As a guy who grew up watching Buffy on and off as a little kid and then binge-watched the series late in high school, I'm not a fan of this idea. Not the idea of a paranormal action-dramedy starring a cute black girl, but the idea of making it Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Not because "Buffy can't be black," but because I feel like that little universe was so its own thing that a straight reboot/remake set in the modern era would just feel incredibly forced and awkward. And I doubt they'd just be remaking Buffy. It'll probably mean remaking Angel, Willow, Giles, Spike, Faith, Xander, etc. And why bother when the original worked so well and they could just make something that stands on its own without having to live up to all this baggage?

    That's what I loved about Supernatural. The show is basically Buffy meets The X-Files, but because it's not Buffy or The X-Files it could play by its own rules and succeeded as something fairly original that stood apart from either of those shows. So instead of just rehashing something that people have built up so much love and appreciation for over the years and coasting on all of that, why not make something slightly similar but different that won't be so tightly constricted by our inescapable expectations?

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  19. Are you guys ready for some good news? Apparently, the fan backlash has been heard, and Monica Owusu-Breen is assuring us that she has no intention to trying to *replace* Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

    http://ew.com/tv/2018/07/26/buffy-reboot-writer/

    Suddenly, I feel a lot better.

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  20. Actually, if they're doing a black slayer, it would be fun to do the one Spike killed (the last Sunnyvale Principal's mother). New York in the 70's, cool leather coat, and a slayer raising a small child in turbulent times. Could be lots of fun.

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