Buffy: "Look It Up: Slayer Comma The"
Tonight, we laughed at God (that's Joss Whedon to you newbies); we cried—all over again—at Amber Benson's exquisite "Under Your Spell"; we came together to celebrate a show that many in the crowd testified "saved my life," "changed my life," "made me the person I am today…"
From 10 years on, Buffy the Vampire Slayer appears to be not so much a TV show as a masterpiece of human empathy. To celebrate Buffy's decade anniversary, the Scooby Gang reunited Thursday night at the ArcLight Theater in Hollywood for the Paley Center for Media's 25th Annual Television Festival. The evening celebrated a show that is not just a landmark of television, but almost certainly a landmark in the souls of its millions of fans.
Click in for scoop, quips, stars, fandom and, above all, the love, from what was truly Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More, with Feeling (and check back later for exclusive video of the cast!)…
The Writers
- Joss Whedon: "With all respect to the actors sitting next to me, what I miss most is the writers room."
- David Greenwalt: "There's nothing like taking all your pain and misery and shoving it into a bunch of really good-looking people."
- Marti Noxon: "I'd like to thank Joss Whedon for this show, because if my writing career ever stalls, I can always just go from WizardCon to WizardCon…"
News and Nonsense
- Joss' and Sarah Michelle Gellar's chemistry was on full display tonight. They both seem to dearly love Buffy Summers. I tell you, fannish hearts were warmed by the mutual admiration society.
- Joss on the age difference between sophomore-in-high-school Buffy and centuries-old Angel: "It was love…even if it wasn't legal."
- Joss said that shooting "Hush" without a dialogue framework for each scene was difficult because, "Everybody just did everything at once, and it was all over in 10 seconds."
- The network was underwhelmed by the idea of the Willow-Tara kiss ("We're gayed out," said the network. "We've had a lot of gay this year."), so Joss threatened to quit if they refused to allow it. "That was the only time I ever did that."
- Emma Caulfield's memory of Anya's devastating "I don't understand" monologue at the end of "The Body"? "I really had to pee."
- Michelle Trachtenberg: "Nick's just jealous because I'm taller than him now." Nicholas Brendon: "Yeah, well…I have bigger boobs. So there!"
Season Eight and Beyond
- Sarah didn't know until someone told her tonight that Buffy's hooking up with a girl in the comic. Joss, on Buffy's temporary change of team: "They have a lot of time on their hands…What? None of you went to college?"
- Oz will almost certainly appear in the Buffy season eight comic. (Speaking of Oz, Willow's two major significant others—Seth Green and Amber Benson—cracked each other up all night, but sadly Alyson Hannigan was not present to participate in a threesome of awesomeness.)
- Will there be any filmed continuations of the franchise? Says Joss, the "stars would have to align." Just tell us where the stars need to be to get a Buffy movie, and we'll rearrange them!
Honestly, it was a signal night and a joy to experience, and I wish you all could have been there live.
Check back later today for exclusive video and a photo gallery, but in the meantime, if you have questions about exactly what went down, post 'em below, and I'll post answers as soon as I can.
Finally, before we wrap this, I have a personal favor to ask.
Post your favorite Buffy quote in the comments. I wanted to sprinkle BtVS quotes through this item, because while they say almost everything that needs to be said about life in bite-size format, but there were too many to choose from, so I'm throwing the selections to you…Go!
Buffy Reunion: "This Is the Crack Team That Foils My Every Plan?"
Collect all eight! Buffy the Vampire Slayer castmembers—including James Marsters, Nicholas Brendon, Michelle Trachtenberg, Emma Caulfield, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seth Green, Amber Benson and Charisma Carpenter—reunited last night at the Paley Fest to celebrate the show's 10th anniversary.
Click in for more family photos…
Awww…Sarah Michelle Gellar and Michelle Trachtenberg still have a pretty good sister act.
There is no love like the love between executive producers of Buffy and Angel. (For the uninitiated, that's David Greenwalt on the left and Joss Whedon on the right.)
Emma Caulfield (who likes hats?!), Gossip Girl-to-be Michelle Trachtenberg and Buffy/Private Practice boss Marti Noxon crack each other up.
Seth Green was SMG's official date for the evening. (They've been friends since they were wee child actors. Pretty cute.)
Amber and Charisma never shared screentime on Buffy, but they're not opposed to sharing a little cast cuddle…
"I'm a bloody rock god!" Yes, you are, Spike. Yes, you are.
Amber Benson Biography
Pretty blonde performer Amber Benson racked up numerous film and television credits before rising to fame on the popular supernatural series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Benson moved with her family to Los Angeles at age fourteen in 1991. By 1993 she had made the first of three “Jack Reed” TV-movies, “Jack Reed: Badge of Honor”, appearing as the daughter of the titular Chicago cop in this NBC entry as well as its 1994 and 1996 follow-ups. 1993 also saw the actress make her big-screen debut with featured roles in the teen thriller “The Crush” and Steven Soderbergh’s coming-of-age drama “King of the Hill”. Her relatively small but memorable parts in these very different features helped to launch the young performer’s career.
The following year she was featured in Anthony Drazan’s period drama “Imaginary Crimes” and had a pivotal supporting role in the social satire “S.F.W.”. Playing determined, pure-hearted and somewhat wise characters seemed to come easy to Benson, who brought a palpable intelligence to her powerful performances. She essayed the charmingly innocent daughter of divorced dad Randy Quaid in “Bye Bye, Love” (1995) and guest starred on an episode of the Fox series “Partners” the following year. Though her role as ‘Stoned Girl’ in the teen comedy “Can’t Hardly Wait” was drastically cut to earn a PG-13 rating, Benson soon became a familiar presence to the film’s target audience when she began appearing on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (The WB) the following year. Her 1999-2001 recurring role as the good witch who becomes more than just a friend to fellow enchantress Willow (Alyson Hannigan) saw the actress taking on controversial topics and earning the esteem of the notoriously hard-to-please “Buffy” fan base. When the series moved to UPN in 2001, Benson’s role was upgraded to that of a regular.
In connection with “Buffy”, the actress sought to broaden the scope of her talents, co-writing with novelist Christopher Golden the comic book WannaBlessedBe, based on her character on the supernatural series. Back on the big screen, Benson was featured in the festival-screened, controversy-plagued “Don’s Plum” (2001; filmed 1995-96) which was barred from domestic release as per a legal agreement mandated by the film’s stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, who allege the project was misrepresented. Taking over her own project, Benson proved a multitalented filmmaker and avid do-it-yourselfer as writer, producer, director and prime financer of “Chance” (lensed 2001), a dark comedy in which she also starred.