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FOX/WB
DISCUSSIONS
15.03.2001 - A brief
snippet from this week's Wanda chat on Eonline, but nothing that we
haven't heard before:
Have you heard
anything on the Buffy battle going on between Fox and the WB?
It's still raging.
The deadline for the WB to cinch a deal with Buffy has long passed
now. It was last week - so now, the WB no longer has exclusive
bargaining right, and it's looking more likely that the Buffster could end
up on another net. Still, insiders tell me the Frog is fighting
tooth and nail to keep her. Back to the
top
FANS
LOBBY FOR EMMY
11.03.2001 - Buffy
fans are taking up a collection to lobby for an Emmy nomination for season
5 episode 16, The Body. Fans at the ScoopMe!
website are asking for donations to purchase a full-page ad in Variety
urging Emmy consideration for the episode, which was written and directed
by Joss Whedon. So far, the site has raised about $1,775 for the ad.
Fans also plan to write
letters to executive at The WB and Fox, which produces the show, as well
as to TV Guide and other entertainment publications. Whedon
was nominated for an Emmy last year for the Buffy episode Hush.
Back to the top
BUFFY
NOW OFFICIALLY HOMELESS
02.03.2001 - Buffy
is now officially homeless as by yesterday's midnight deadline, the WB
failed to successfully renegotiate its contract with 20th Century
Fox. As a result, Fox as now free to shop the series elsewhere -
although the WB retain the right to match the first offer made.
According to Variety,
Fox wants the WB to pay somewhere between $2.3-$2.5 million an episode for
the hit drama, up from its current $1 million asking price. However,
the most the network seems willing to cough up is $1.6 million.
"I think it's 50/50, but I'm optimistic that it will fall our
way," a WB rep says. "We love the show, we want the show
back, and we think we made a very fair offer."
Should Buffy move
to another network (insiders predict 20th Century would likely keep the
show in the family and sell it to Fox, although ABC and UPN also have
expressed interest), the WB would lose not only its Tuesday night anchor,
but its signature series.
Whatever the outcome, Buffy
creator Joss Whedon doesn't expect a Hollywood ending to the drama.
"I'm not optimistic that anybody in any suit will be happy with
anything," he sighs. "I think the WB will not reach an
amicable arrangement, but I believe they will reach an
agreement...and I believe whatever happens, I will make the show."
Is Whedon concerned how
his Buffy spin-off Angel would fare were it to be stranded
alone on the WB? "I don't think it would help Angel, but
I believe Angel can stand on its own," he says.
"I'm not particularly worried - I'm never particularly worried.
I'm either going to make the show or they're going to tell me to
stop. As long as I'm trying hard to make it good, I don't notice
anything else." Back to the top
BUFFY
RENEWAL TALKS REACH DEADLINE
28.02.2001 - Things are
getting pretty scary in the TV battle over Buffy reports Variety.
The WB's exclusive
renegotiation period for the series expires Thursday, and insiders are not
optimistic about a deal getting done this week.
The network is offering
to pay producer 20th Century Fox Television $1.6 million per episode to
keep Buffy. That's a big increase over the roughly $1 million
per episode the WB now shells out, but nowhere close to what the studio is
seeking.
Fox wants the WB to pay
the full per-episode cost of production for Buffy, plus a premium -
a sum insiders peg at somewhere between $2.3 million and $2.5
million. Insiders at the studio believe the WB has a similar
cost-plus-premium deal in place for Spelling Television's 7th Heaven.
WB insiders dismiss
comparisons between Buffy and 7th Heaven, noting the latter
series generates far higher Nielsen numbers than Buffy.
If no deal is reached by
Thursday, 20th Century Fox will be able to shop Buffy to the
highest bidder; the WB has a right to match the first offer Fox comes back
with.
Most insiders expect Fox
would simply sell Buffy to sister network Fox Broadcasting, keeping
a valuable asset in the family. However, there are indications both
ABC and UPN would be interested in doing a deal for Buffy - though
a deal in the mid-$2 million range would be rich for the latter network.
Back to the top
ANGEL
AND BUFFY SCORE HAIR AND MAKEUP
NOMINATIONS
06.02.2001 - Both Angel
and Buffy have scored nominations in the Hollywood Makeup Artist
and Hair Stylist Guide Awards.
The second annual
ceremony will take place March 17 at LA's Century Plaza. Sarah
Michelle Gellar, Angelina Jolie and Ashley Judd are among the celebs
showing up to support the women and men who make them ready for their
close-ups (presumably SMG will be under instructions not to make any rash
comments this time).
The relevant nominations
are:
Best
Contemporary Makeup, Series
Buffy the Vampire
Slayer: Restless - Todd A. McIntosh, Brigette Myre-Ellis, Robin
Beauchesne, David DeLeon, Kate Biscoe.
Also nominated: Friends:
The One That Could Have Been, Sex and the City: Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Best
Period Makeup, Series
Angel: Darla -
Dayne Johnson, David DeLeon, Dalia Dokter
Also nominated: Star
Trek Voyager: Fair Haven, Will & Grace: Lows in the
Mid-Eighties
Best
Special Makeup Effects, Series
Angel: Shroud of
Rahmon - Dayne Johnson, David DeLeon, Steve Prouty
Buffy the Vampire
Slayer: New Moon Rising - Todd McIntosh, Robin Beauchesne, Douglas Noe,
Brigitte Myre-Ellis, Jay Wejebe
Also nominated: MADtv:
MADtv Goes to the Movies.
Best
Contemporary Hair Styling, Series
Buffy the Vampire
Slayer: Restless - Michael Moore, Lisa Marie Rosenberg, Gloria Pasqua
Casny.
Also nominated: Sex
and the City: Don't Ask, Don't Tell and The West Wing: Noel.
Best
Period Hair Styling, Series
Angel: Darla -
Diana Acray, Anthony Miner, Patricia Gundlach
Buffy the Vampire
Slayer: Fool For Love - Michael Moore, Lisa Maire Rosenberg, Gloria
Pasqua Casny
Also nominated: That
70s Show: Roller Disco. Back to the
top
FANS
PLEA TO THE WB
Buffy slaying feared
29.01.2001 - The new TV
season is at least seven months away, but veterans of past campaigns are
already starting petition drives to keep their favourite WB series on the
air, according to the New York Daily News.
Fans say they fear that Gilmore
Girls, for example, could be sacrificed to make room for new shows.
Even fans of Buffy the
Vampire Slayer - so popular that other networks want it if the WB
can't sign a new deal with the producers - are nervous.
Earlier this week, Buffy
star Sarah Michelle Gellar told E! Online: "I will stay on Buffy
if, and only if, Buffy stay on the WB" - although she later
backed down on such a stance.
According to the Daily
News, fans say they won't rest until everything's signed. The WB
draws speculation about cancellations like no other television
network. Probably the most important reason is its teen-centered
audience. While not large enough to win Nielsen victories, it does
have heavy clout with advertisers.
"I'm a huge fan of
our fans," says Jason Katims, creator of Roswell. Not
only because they watch the show closely, he says, but because they also
have helped keep it alive.
"The network is very
sensitive and aware and sort of honours and listens to those kinds of
writing campaigns and Internet campaigns," says Katims.
"There's something very specific and particular about the WB, and
that's why it's attracted the dedicated fan base.
A petition addressed to
the WB reads: "The WB: Quality TV. Help Keep Our Fave Shows on
the Air!" The petition is written by "The WB Fan For
Life," and hundreds of fans have signed.
"It's the only
network that seems really plugged into teens," says Michele Shapiro,
entertainment director of Seventeen Magazine. "We do a
lot of WB stars on our covers and a lot of stories inside," she says.
However, Shapiro says,
it's not just teens who are somewhat obsessive. "A couple of
people on our staff will not miss an episode of Roswell," she
says. Back to the top
GAY
AND LESBIAN VIEWERS GLAAD ABOUT BUFFY
18.01.2001 - CBS' Survivor
and NBC's The West Wing will receive special honours from the Gay
and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which has announced the nominees
for its 12th annual GLAAD Media Awards.
Survivor will be
feted for featuring the openly gay corporate trainer Richard Hatch and The
West Wing for regularly addressing issues of gay and lesbian
discrimination.
The awards will be given
during four ceremonies: in New York City on April 16, Los Angeles on April
28, Washington, DC on May 12 and San Francisco on June 9.
Buffy was
nominated for outstanding drama series, along with Showtime's Queer as
Folk, MTV's Undressed and fellow WB series Dawson's Creek
and Felicity.
The GLAAD Media Awards
honour individuals and projects for their fair, accurate and inclusive
representations of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender
community. Nearly 1,000 projects were considered in 23 categories.
Back to the top
CRITICS
PUT ON HOTSPOT
18.01.2001 - If I'm going
to be used this way, shouldn't I hold out for 10 percent? asks Denver
Post TV/radio critic Joanne Ostrow:
The TV networks are
putting TV critics to work as intermediaries to deliver threats and
demands to competing networks.
Specifically, they're
using the critics' meetings here [in Pasadena] as a forum to trade shots
over the license fees for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
"If the WB is
prepared to make a 'fair' proposal to 20th Century Fox Television, then
there is no reason to believe that this show isn't going to continue on
the WB's air for many years to come," according to Sandy Grushow,
chairman of Fox Television Entertainment Group.
"I can tell you that
up until this point, that has not remotely been the case," he added.
The studio is, pardon the
expression, raising the stakes on our favourite blonde slayer.
For five seasons, Buffy
has been a fixture on The WB - not a huge hit overall, but an important
success on the fledgling WB. The sixth season could find Buffy
at a different network if The WB doesn't come up with the bucks to renew
the license fees with the show's producer, 20th Century Fox Television.
"When you help build
a programme, a franchise, you create a partnership with somebody," WB
CEO Jamie Kellner said, "and we believe there should be some kind of
equity in the relationship. ... Our position with Buffy is we would
like to renew Buffy and that we'll make a proposal which we think
will be fair to them and to us."
Kellner added:
"There should be some element of fairness, even though you're dealing
in Hollywood and people wear two hats and three hats sometimes, and their
interests on one hand are not served on the other hand. It's a small
community, and there's a certain point where a bit of honour has to step
in and (recognise) fair play."
Grushow, a man of several
hats, oversees the programming that appears on the Fox network as well as
the production that takes place at 20th Century Fox Television.
The studio provides
programming to all the networks, including The Practice for ABC, Judging
Amy for CBS, The X Files for Fox and Buffy for The
WB. But Hollywood for years has worried that studios will begin to
sell their shows only to their corporate-cousin networks. That is,
Fox would supply shows to Fox, Disney only to ABC, Warner Bros. only to
The WB, etc.
That scenario wouldn't be
illegal. But, Kellner said, it would be "the end of us all
being able to do business the way we're doing business today."
Grushow told critics he'd
rather not negotiate in the press. Then he proceeded to do so.
Kellner said The WB is
prepared to send a "wheelbarrow" full of money over to 20th
Century Fox. "We will take all the revenue we can generate with
Buffy and we'll give it to you in a giant wheelbarrow. ... And if
that's not enough, then take it to somebody else; you've demonstrated
you're not the kind of partner we should be doing business with."
He said The WB won't get
into deficit financing for Buffy.
Nobody's talking firm
numbers on the record, but sources say The WB is paying about $1 million
per episode for Buffy and 20th Century Fox TV wants to nearly
double that.
The irony, meanwhile, is
that Warner Bros. is holding up NBC for $13 million per episode for ER,
causing NBC to deficit finance that series.
Ostrow's prediction: Buffy
will stay at The WB. The show is fun, but it isn't fresh enough or
powerful enough to cause Fox to invest all that money and alienate
everyone in Hollywood. Back to the top
DEPARTURE
OF BUFFY WON'T AFFECT THE WB'S RATINGS
18.01.2001 - Even with
the ad market softening, the WB network will be able to become profitable
in 2002 as planned, CEO Jamie Kellner said Wednesday during a
teleconference with the network's affiliate stations.
"What we have is
unique demos, so we're not competing with the other networks for the same
demographics," he said, and used the multimedia promo campaign for Popstars
as an example of the great benefits the stations can reap from the AOL
Time Warner merger.
Answering a question
regarding renewal talks on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Kellner
repeated the strong position he expressed at the Television Critics Assn.
press tour in Pasadena this month. "We developed the show at
the network and delivered it to (20th Century) Fox, in what we thought was
a friendly gesture," he said. "Now the people at Fox are
not friendly anymore." Kellner said that the network will stay
fiscally responsible in its offer to Fox and assured the affiliates that
even though he would like to see Buffy on the WB schedule next
season, a possible departure of the show won't affect the WB's ratings.
Source: The Hollywood
Reporter. Back to the top
TV
GUIDE AWARDS NOMINATIONS
11.01.2001 - Angel
and Buffy picked up nominations in five of the 21 categories in the
3rd Annual TV
Guide Awards, which will be shown on Fox on 7 March.
In the Drama Series of
the Year category, Buffy was nominated alongside Any Day
Now, ER, Judging Amy, Law & Order, NYPD Blue, Once and Again, The
Practice, The Sopranos, The West Wing, The X Files and 7th Heaven.
David Boreanaz was
nominated in the Actor of the Year in a Drama Series
category. Also nominated were Andre Braugher (Gideon's Crossing),
Billy Campbell (Once and Again), Anthony Edwards (ER), David
James Elliott (JAG), Dennis Franz (NYPD Blue), James
Gandolfini (The Sopranos), Joshua Jackson (Dawson's Creek),
Eriq La Salle (ER), Dylan McDermott (The Practice), Martin
Sheen (The West Wing) and Sam Waterston (Law & Order).
Sarah Michelle Gellar was
nominated in the Actress of the Year in a Drama Series category,
along with Gillian Anderson (The X Files), Amy Brenneman (Judging
Amy), Edie Falco (The Sopranos), Mariska Hargitay (Law &
Order: SVU), Katie Holmes (Dawson's Creek), Laura Innes (ER),
Allison Janney (The West Wing), Melina Kanakaredes (Providence),
Keri Russell (Felicity), Lorraine Toussaint (Any Day Now)
and Sela Ward (Once & Again).
Two other Buffy
stars were also nominated. In the Supporting Actor of the Year in
a Drama Series category, James Marsters was nominated along with
Michael Badalucco (The Practice), Dan Futterman (Judging Amy),
Steve Harris (The Practice), Rob Lowe (The West Wing), Rick
Schroder (NYPD Blue), Henry Simmons (NYPD Blue), John
Spencer (The West Wing), Goran Visnjic (ER), Bradley
Whitford (The West Wing) and Noah Wyle (ER).
In the Supporting
Actress of the Year in a Drama Series category, Alyson Hannigan is up
against Lara Flynn Boyle (The Practice), Lorraine Bracco (The
Sopranos), Stockard Channing (The West Wing), Tyne Daly (Judging
Amy), Kim Delaney (NYPD Blue), Angie Harmon (Law & Order),
Camryn Manheim (The Practice), Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Voyager),
Susanna Thompson (Once and Again), Maura Tierney (ER) and
Kelli Williams (The Practice).
Dark Angel picked
up four nominations - for New Series of the Year, Michael Weatherly for
Actor of the Year in a New Series and Jessica Alba for Actress of the Year
in a New Series and Breakout Star of the Year. Back
to the top
WB
AND FOX LOCKED IN TUG OF WAR OVER BUFFY FUTURE
09.01.2001 - Buffy the
Vampire Slayer has battled her share of demons, devils and deadly foes,
but she's about to get caught between two big bullies, and the outcome
might drive a stake through the heart of the series. Buffy is
up for renewal by The WB network, and there's no question WB programmers
want to keep the show. But Fox, the studio that produces Buffy,
is likely to ask for significantly more compensation than The WB currently
pays. If The WB balks, Fox could simply shift the series to the Fox
network.
This is a bad idea on so
many counts. With few exceptions - JAG being the most obvious
- when a show moves from one network to another, the ratings usually
drop. And if Buffy were to move off The WB to Fox - or any
larger network that expects higher ratings - the show might not be able to
deliver. There would also be the issue of lost synergy between Buffy
and its spinoff, Angel, which remains under contract at The WB.
It's in all the best
interest of all concerned that Buffy stays where it is, but already
the primary players in the show's fate are posturing. Over the
weekend, both sides began by saying they want to keep the show on The WB -
and then they began to dig in their heels.
On Saturday, WB CEO Jamie
Kellner said his network will make a proposal to "take all the
revenue we can generate with Buffy, and we'll give it to you in a
giant wheelbarrow. And if that's not enough, then take it to
somebody else and you've demonstrated you're not the kind of partner we
should be doing business with."
Kellner then quoted a Fox
executive who believes once a studio takes a show off a network and
doesn't sell it to another network but puts it on its own network, that
will irreparably change the dynamics of doing business in the TV industry.
Sandy Grushow, president
of Fox Television Entertainment Group, has responsibility for both the Fox
network and its sister studio. He balked at Kellner's statements.
"I was disappointed
Jamie decided to start negotiating in the press," Grushow said.
"If, in fact, The WB is prepared to make a fair proposal [to Fox],
there's no reason to believe [Buffy] won't continue to air on The
WB for many years to come. Up to this point that has not remotely
been the case."
Grushow then used the
past practices of Kellner's company against him.
"Jamie Kellner works
for a company called AOL-Time Warner," Grushow said, "and Time
Warner put a gun to the head of [NBC] and extracted a $13 million [per
episode] license fee for ER and changed the business in so
doing."
And they'll continue
sparring until a deal is or isn't made. Whichever way it goes, this
much I know: the bluster of Hollywood executives is one evil force evil
Buffy can't surmount.
Source: Rob Owen, Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, 8 January 2001. Back to
the top
NEGOTIATIONS
BETWEEN THE FROG AND FOX CHILLY
08.01.2001 - The battle
over Buffy escalated this weekend, with top WB and 20th Century Fox
TV execs trading barbs over negotiations to renew the cult hit
vampire-slayer drama.
WB CEO Jamie Kellner
kicked off the latest round of sniping Saturday during the Frog net's
portion of the Television Critics Assn. winter press tour, arguing that
20th shouldn't expect the netlet to lose money on any potential renewal
deal on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
"In all likelihood,
where we will come out is that we will say, 'We will take all the revenue
we can generate with Buffy and we'll give it to you in a giant
wheelbarrow,'" Kellner said.
"'And if that's not
enough, then take it to somebody else, and you've demonstrated that you're
not the kind of partner we should be doing business with...' We
would not go to a place where we would deficit finance negatives for
somebody else."
Wheelbarrow
or Mercedes?
One day later, Fox
Television Entertainment Group chairman Sandy Grushow - while insisting
that he didn't want to negotiate in the press - nonetheless stepped into
the rhetorical ring.
"They don't have
wheelbarrows at the WB, they have Mercedes," he said. "Was
(WB publicity exec VP) Brad Turell whistling God Bless America
behind Jamie when he gave that speech?"
The WB pays just below $1
million per episode for Buffy, now in its fifth season.
Estimates vary on exactly how much the WB is pulling down in ad revenue on
the series, though some sources indicate that with coin from repeats
figured into the mix, the netlet generates about $1.5 million-$1.6 million
an episode.
If the WB indeed doesn't
plan on turning Buffy into a loss leader for the net, then initial
negotiations will centre around those figures.
While $1.5 million-$1.6
million per episode would not be particularly high for a drama on a major
network, Frog execs point out that the show's single-digit ratings
wouldn't pass muster on one of the Big 4 webs, and that $1.5 million-plus
would be the most the WB has ever paid for a series by far.
Solid
hit, but not tops
While Buffy is a
solid hit for the WB, it's not the network's highest-rating show, and by
Big 4 standards, its average audience is relatively tiny. Frog net
sources also note that Buffy was first brought to the WB by exec
producers Gail Berman and Joss Whedon before 20th was attached.
From Fox's standpoint,
however, Buffy has helped build the WB into a force among young
viewers and has brought a slew of recognition and attention to the net by
way of critical notice and award nominations.
For his part, Grushow
believes it's now time for the show's participants, such as creator Joss
Whedon, to be rewarded - but the Frog has yet to step up.
"If, in fact, the WB
is prepared to make a, quote-unquote, 'fair' proposal to 20th Century Fox
Television, then there is no reason to believe that this show isn't going
to continue on the WB's air for many years to come," Grushow said
Sunday at Fox's stop on the press tour. "I can tell you that up
until this point, that that has not remotely been the case."
Kellner cited historical
precedent to back up his argument, using the words of Grushow's boss to
contend that 20th should not be threatening to move Buffy to the
Fox network - a precedent, he said, that would shake the business.
"I've quoted (News
Corp. topper) Peter Chernin once or twice on this because he once said to
me, 'The day a studio takes a show off a network and ... puts it on
another network, that is the end of all of us being able to do business
the way we're doing business today,'" Kellner said. "Those
are his words, not mine, but I think he's right."
Chill
felt
Grushow, meanwhile,
argued that a synergy-fuelled "chilling effect" has already
affected the industry - and that WB parent Time Warner is to blame.
"Jamie Kellner works
for a company called AOL Time Warner. Time Warner put a gun to the
head of a little company called (NBC owner) General Electric and extracted
a $13 million per episode licence fee for (the Warner Bros.
Television-produced drama) ER, and changed the business in so
doing," Grushow said. "Ever since that deal went down,
relationships have changed."
Kellner said he still
believes a deal will be made with 20th based on what the WB is now
offering. "I think it would be hard to not agree to a deal like
that," he said. "There should be some kind of element of
fairness. ... It's a small community, and there's a certain point where a
bit of honour has to step in."
Grushow, meanwhile, said
he "values" the studio's relationship with the WB, which also
airs the 20th drama Angel and Roswell, both of which could
be affected should Buffy swap networks.
Grushow said he "had
no intention of discussing the issue today, but I was responding to Jamie,
who decided to make it a public debate."
Kellner, however, noted
that in fact Grushow had spoken up on Buffy at a press tour panel
two years ago (Daily Variety, Jan. 14, 1999).
"It's a little late
for Sandy to try to push the genie back in the bottle," Kellner
said. "He should have declined comment two years ago when he
started the public debate on Buffy's future. That comment has
pressurized the situation for everyone."
Ratings
bounce
On other matters, Kellner
and WB Entertainment prexy Susanne Daniels touted the Frog's 2000-01
ratings comeback. Daniels said she felt the netlet was "on the
right track to build off of existing hits even as we continue to target
the 24- to 30-year-old audience."
Source: Variety.
Back to the top
EONLINE
POLL
04.01.2001 - Buffy
and Angel got a couple of mentions in Eonline's end of year
poll.
In the Most Addictive
Prime-Time TV Series category, Buffy finished third (or possibly
fourth as the % listed for The West Wing was higher than Buffy's
despite it being shown as coming fifth). Ahead of Buffy were Sex
and the City and The Simpsons.
And David Boreanaz
finished a distant fifth in the Favourite Angel category behind all three
stars of the Charlie's Angels movie and Dark Angel's Jessica
Alba. Back to the top
CREATOR
OF BUFFY ISN'T WORRIED
But Whedon says
it's possible show may move to Fox [contains spoilers for Restless
at the end of the article]
23.12.2000 - All the
talk about how Buffy the Vampire Slayer might be switching networks
next season hasn't rattled the show's creator and executive producer one
bit. It hasn't even affected how Joss Whedon and his team do their
jobs.
"Not so
far," he said. "Sometimes we can't get any money, but we
never really had very much money, so we're used to that."
Whedon sees the
posturing between Fox (which produces the show and wants a big increase in
its license fee) and the WB (which doesn't want to pay too much for it) as
"a lot of saber-rattling and stuff."
"But my
experience is limited to the fact that Fox cares about producing a good
show and the WB wants to put on a good show. So they treat me
great," he said. "It's like my parents are fighting but
they take me in a room and say, 'We still love you, honey. We just
can't live together.'"
But, while he expects
the show to stay on the WB, he doesn't discount reports that it might end
up on Fox - reports lent some great credence when Gail Berman, one of the
executive producers of Buffy, was named president of Fox
Entertainment earlier this year.
"It is within the
realm of possibilty," Whedon said. "It's where we thought
it would originally. Fox turned it down.
"It doesn't
really make a difference to me, especially with Gail at Fox. I don't
think it will, but if it were to happen, Gail has no interest in changing
the show. I really don't worry. To me, it's just one big
family even if they aren't getting along."
The Cheese Man:
Sometimes Whedon creates his own problems - like the widespread
speculation among fans about what the guy with the cheese who appeared in
the dream sequences of last spring's Buffy season finale was all
about.
"He will never
convince anyone it was just something funny," said supervising
producer David Fury. "People have found so many meanings in
it. He's tried to discourage them."
And Whedon himself
sound sort of sick of the whole thing.
"The cheese man
means nothing," he insisted. "Nobody will believe
me. But I put him in very specifically because I believe there
should be something in the dream that means nothing. But only one
thing. It's the only thing in the dream that doesn't have a
meaning."
Source - The Deseret
News. Back to the top
IS
BATTLE WITH NBC FRASIER'S REVENGE?
13.12.2000 Maybe the
folks at NBC are wishing they'd treated Frasier just a little bit
better this year, writs Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret News.
As you may recall, the
stars and producers of Frasier were furious when NBC programmers
moved their show from a choice Thursday timeslot to Tuesdays and
surrounded it with weak or unproven shows. And, as yours truly noted
at the time, it looked just a little bit suspicious that the network put Will
& Grace - a show in which it has an ownership interest - on
Thursdays and, basically, shafted Frasier, which is owned entirely
by Paramount.
Well, to everyone's
surprise, Frasier has not only survived but it has thrived on
Tuesdays. And now Paramount is demanding big bucks from NBC if the
show is to remain on the network after this season.
Reportedly, NBC is
currently paying $5 million per episode and wants to pay less next
season. Paramount, on the other hands, is demanding $8
million. If they can't reach an agreement, Paramount could sell Frasier
to another network.
The most likely
candidate, of course, is CBS - which, like Paramount, is owned by
Viacom. And there are also reports that ABC is interested.
Back when NBC went
through a similar situation with Warner Bros. over ER, you could
make an argument that the studio was holding the network hostage - that
the network played no small part in making that show a huge hit. (Of
course, NBC also agreed to pay $13 million per episode for the medical
drama.)
But NBC, which has
until the end of March to strike a Frasier deal without other
networks getting involved, would have a harder time portraying itself as a
victim here. It's hard to cry foul when you committed the first foul
yourself.
Still, deals like this
and an impending struggle over the fate of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
could, potentially, change the way business is done in Hollywood.
Fox-owned Twentieth Television produces Buffy, which airs on the WB
network - and the contract between the two expires at the end of the
current television season.
Fox has made it clear
that it believes the WB has to step up and pay the price to keep Buffy
- and it holds out the threat that, if the WB doesn't step up, the show
could move to the Fox network.
"We expect them
to give us the fair market value for a show that has been one of the keys
to their success," said Sandy Grushow, the man in charge of both
Fox's television production and its network.
Reportedly, the WB
pays somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million per episode for Buffy.
Grushow wouldn't specify how big an increase he was expecting, but
indicated that doubling that fee would not be out of the question.
Meanwhile, WB CEO
Jamie Kellner is having none of that.
"I love the
show," Kellner said. "But from an economic standpoint, it
doesn't have the same kind of place in our business that ER had for
NBC."
There's one big
difference between what happened with ER and what's going on with Frasier
and Buffy. Warner Bros. never threatened to move ER to
the WB network.
And the possibility of
Fox or Paramount pulling a show off another network and putting it on its
own could do major damage to the relationship of the various networks and
the studios they share ownership with.
Disney owns ABC;
Viacom (which owns Paramount) owns CBS and UPN; Warner Bros. is a
part-owner of the WB; and Fox's production studios and its network are
working more closely than ever. Even NBC, the only network not owned
by a major studio, has its own in-house production units.
And all of the
studios/networks sell shows to the other networks. It's obviously
advantageous for a network to own the shows it airs, but studios make
money from shows no matter where they air.
"Peter Chernin
(the CEO of News Corp., Fox's parent company) once said... 'All of this
vertical stuff is going to work great and we're all going to be able to
produce for each others networks and things like that - until a studio
takes a programme off another network and puts it on its own
network.' And I think he was right," Kellner said.
And Fox, Paramount and
other studios run a considerable risk if they do so. Back
to the top
BUFFY
THE CARTOON SLAYER?
Shades of the Star
Trek animated series from scifi.ign.com:
The
Scooby Gang gears up for possible animated adventures
Let's hear it for our
favourite animated superheroes! Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup and...
Buffy?
Ok, so she may not be
joining those crime-fighting kindergartners of Townsville, but the WB's
quippy Vampire Slayer is gearing up to take on 'toon form.
"We're in the early stages of a Buffy animated series,"
Slayer scribe David Fury tells us. "We're just trying to get
all the people lined up and get the studio behind it. It's coming
together, but it's a hard process to get any project together. We're
just waiting for people to say, 'OK, go.'"
The inimitable Fury,
supervising producer on the live action show (he penned such stellar
episodes as Helpless, Fear, Itself and this season's Real
Me), briefly mentioned the possibility of an animated series in a Fandom
online chat a few months ago.
While chattin' it
up... via phone today, he elaborated on the actual concept for the
show. "The animated series would take place in the early years
of Buffy - back to high school," he says. "The
premise is, it's all the episodes you didn't see that took place back when
Oz was around, and Angel and Cordelia [were] there. So it could
easily co-exist with the [live action] show, where the show [has evolved
to] now. It would just be those episodes you never saw. We get
to revisit that whole world."
And rest assured, Buffy
buffs, that should the show become a reality, the 'toon Scoobies will be
as quick with the one-liners as their live action counterparts.
"The writers of Buffy hope to be writing many of the animated
scripts," Fury says. "And we will be available to do so,
should the [Hollywood writers] strike happen in May." He adds
that it's a "very likely thing" that the show's actors will lend
their voices to the 'toon version.
The animated Buffy
would have at least one advantage over the real deal: no pesky budgetary
restrictions. "The sky's the limit for effects or creatures or
anything else we want to do, because it's animation!" says Fury,
gleefully. In other words: monsters everywhere!
And, because he just
can't resist throwing in a little suspicious-sounding Fury-centric tidbit
(after all, this is the man who's known for stopping by the Buffy
posting board bearing shady spoilers), Mr. Fury adds one last thing.
"By the way, I'll be doing some of the voices on [the cartoon]... or
all the voices! I'll be doing the voice of Buffy."
Uh, yes... that's
exactly what the fans are crying out for. "Well, I certainly
hope so," he laughs. "Or just crying."
Thanks to Aaron Pawson
for posting this to the AngelBuffyUK
mailing list. Back to the top
SLAY
RIDE
13.11.2000 - From Entertainment
Weekly [contains a spoiler about Dawn]:
Why Buffy could flee the WB for ABC - The latest on the battle brewing
behind the scenes for the vampire slayer by Liane Bonin.
Buffy the Vampire
Slayer (Tuesday, 8pm) could take a big bite out of the WB this
winter. Though the $1 million per episode action drama series has
been a top performer on the WB since 1996, the show is produced by
Twentieth Century Fox, owner of a rival network. This January, when
the two companies sit down to hammer out a new Buffy contract,
Fox's producers are expected to ask the WB for a hefty raise, to $2
million per episode. If the WB balks over the price hike, Buffy
could drive a stake through the netlet's Tuesday night lineup by moving to
a new home. ABC is rumoured to be interested in the show.
"To be honest, there has always been a suspicion that the WB didn't
quite get it," Buffy star Anthony Stewart Head (Giles) tells
EW.com. "I don't know what the hell will happen."
If penny pinching
causes Buffy to dump the WB like day old vampire ashes, both the
network and the show could suffer. Though Buffy would
probably score higher ratings overall on ABC (the WB has 111 affiliates,
while ABC has 225), it may not bring in the youth market that many
advertisers hope to reach. "The nice thing about the WB is that
they deliver young audiences pretty well," says Chris Geraci,
director of national broadcast advertising at OMD/BBDO. "The
show may not trend as well if it goes elsewhere." Furthermore,
what counts as a hit for the WB (Buffy frequently ranks 65th in the
ratings) could be a miss on ABC, where advertisers pay more for commercial
space and expect higher numbers.
Though some of the
WB's former red hot hits are stumbling badly this season (close to
cancellation Felicity, Dawson's Creek), Buffy is
kicking impressive ratings butt in its fifth season, when most series
start to sag. Usually ranking just below 7th Heaven on the
network's roster, the show is drawing in a broader audience than just
teenage girls. The season premiere scored record high ratings with
men 18 to 34. Buffy executive producer Marti Noxon says the
series is drawing fresh blood with the arrival of the heroine's
"sister" Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) and by Buffy's quest to
understand her inner slayer. "This is a while world, and you
can explore a lot of different corners of it," she tells EW.com.
"Now we're covering the experience of being a young adult, which
dictates you go deeper."
If Buffy does
hop to ABC, the move could come at the expense of its spinoff, Angel.
Without a complementary lead in show, the angst filled vampire - already
suffering in the ratings because of competition from Fox's Dark Angel
- might be lost amid the network's more conventional teen fare.
Initially at least, Buffy isn't likely to find such compatible
companion shows on ABC, which broadcasts The Wonderful World of Disney
and sitcoms like The Drew Carey Show. But that could
change. ABC has reportedly been trying to woo Buffy creator
Joss Whedon into creating a new show. "Buffy has a big
enough name that whoever picked it up might want to try to program
something else along those lines and build an evening around the
show," says Geraci.
Even if ABC doesn't
bite, the WB shouldn't dally at the negotiating table, or Buffy
might find another home. "[Fox] would be the logical
choice," says Mediaweek analyst Marc Berman, noting that only
a few of the network's hits (Malcolm in the Middle, Dark Angel)
are recent shows, which is causing some programming gaps. Though $2
million per episode may sounds like a lot, it pales in comparison to what
other networks shell out for their top shows. (NBC pays Kelsey
Grammer alone $1 million per episode of Frasier). "We're
extremely fortunate, but on the scale of things our cast doesn't get
much," admits Head. "And there have been times when I've
felt a little more money in the kitty would help the show, such as when we
had the mayor turn into a serpent. You look at those special effects
and go, eh."
At least one insider
suspects that talk about Buffy's future home is much ado about
nothing. "There's a lot of blustering going on," says
Noxon. "What gets said in the press is not a reflection of the
way the WB has treated us at all. I believe all of this is posturing
because of the negotiations." But what if the WB really doesn't
want to pay twice the price? In that case, Noxon seems ready to pack
her bags. "If they really do feel that way, there are other
people who want us," she says. Fangs for the memories.
Thanks to Andy for
posting this to Buffy_UK. Back to the top
IS BUFFY
MOVING?
05.11.2000 - From the
New York Post, 26 October 2000:
The vulture are
circling around Buffy the Vampire Slayer, writes the NY Post's
Don Kaplan.
The five-year deal for
Buffy - The WB's red-hot series about a teenage girl who slays
ghouls in her space time - expires at the end of this season and the buzz
is that more than one network, including ABC, is interested in stealing
the show.
Negotiations between
WB officials and the show's producers at 20th Century Fox Television - a
division of News Corp. which also owns The Post - begin this
January.
The network is
reportedly paying nearly $1 million for each episode of Buffy - $22
million per season.
But Fox will
reportedly double the price of the show to about $2 million an episode.
If The WB can't - or
won't - pay that much, the studio is talking to other networks about
taking Buffy next year, according to the published reports.
The $2-million asking
price is by no means a record.
NBC is reportedly
paying up to $13 million an episode for the top-rated drama ER and
between $3-4 million an episode for the comedy Friends.
While the hipness
factor for Buffy is high, it is not a great ratings-getter.
Despite all the
largely positive publicity Buffy has gotten over the past few
years, it is not even the top-rated show on The WB (that would be the
family-friendly 7th Heaven).
Its average weekly
audience is a modest 3.7 million TV homes.
But Buffy gets
the kind of positive publicity - everything from national magazine covers
to reports that pop-star Britney Spears is
angling for a walk-on role - that shows with three times its audiences do
not.
Some in the industry
believe ABC's reported interest is merely part of the bargaining between
the show's producers and The WB.
"It doesn't make
sense that ABC would try to take Buffy," a studio source
said. "They're not interested. It's just posturing on the
part of the sellers."
But the rumours that
ABC wants to buy the show gained speed recently when Entertainment
Weekly reported an unidentified source as saying: "Since day one
[ABC Entertainment co-chairman] Stu Bloomberg has been a fan of the
show. He's been trying to get [Buffy creator] Joss Whedon to
create a show for them."
ABC officials declined
to comment yesterday and a Fox studio spokesman declined to comment
pending the upcoming negotiations.
The Fox spokesman did
however reiterate the studio's previously reported desire to keep the show
on The WB.
Sources said Fox tried
to renegotiate the Buffy deal with The WB two years ago, but was
rebuffed when the studio opened the talks asking for as much as $5 million
an episode.
"They told [WB
officials] that 'this is the ER of your network," a source
close to the talks said.
The WB says it is
convinced Buffy isn't going anywhere.
"We are committed
to making a very fair offer for the series to continue on The WB," a
network spokesman said. "We're optimistic that in the end, when
all the dust has settled, that Buffy will remain on The WB for many
years." Back to the top
IS BUFFY
KISSING OFF THE FROG FOR ABC?
15.10.2000 - Probably not, but this
is what E! Online has to say:
ABC denies that,
having lost the Teenage Witch, the network is now out to snare the Vampire
Slayer.
But are Sarah Michelle
Gellar and the denizens of Hellmouth worth $2 million an episode?
Rumours are
circulating that the Alphabet Network might be willing to spend big bucks
to snatch Buffy the Vampire Slayer away from the WB, where Sabrina,
the Teenage Witch, once a staple of their TGIF line-up, now practices
her magic.
A spokesman for ABC
says the rumours, reported by Entertainment Weekly, are absolutely
not true. The WB and the series' production company, Twentieth
Century Fox, had no official comment. All parties involved noted
that these sort of speculations always surround re-negotiation deals and
should not be given credence.
Entertainment
Weekly is quoting an unnamed "source close to the drama"
saying, "Since day one Stu Bloomberg has been a fan of the
show." ABC's co-chair reportedly has been trying for some time
to get Buffy creator, Joss Whedon, to devise a new show for his
network, but with contract negotiations due in January, he might now get
the chance to capture the series, which is already alive and kicking.
Buffy, now in
its fifth season, is produced by Mutant Enemy, Inc. and Kuzui/Sandollar in
association with Twentieth Century Fox. Entertainment Weekly
writes that industry insiders are predicting that Fox may try to
re-negotiate with the WB for close to double the $1 million price per
episode now in effect. If the Frong won't bite, then ABC might be
waiting in the wings.
At the moment, this
appears to be just the usual name-dropping that surrounds the bargaining
process. Back when Fox's Party of Five was in renewal talks,
the WB consistently denied any interest, but rumours persisted. Such
gossip may or may not have helped raise the sellers' price.
Eventually, Fox did pay the production company, Columbia Tri Star TV,
around $2 million per episode for that teen appeal show, which then was
cancelled after just one more season.
It can be noted,
however, that Buffy's negotiating power may well have been
strengthened by recent magic ratings, which suggests that the show has
more than just gothic teen appeal. It's hotter than ever with young
women, the WB's prime audience, but it's also improved in the more widely
coveted 18-34 demographic.
Previously... WB
hopes to renew at a "fair price". Back
to the top
NO
CREATIVE ART EMMYS FOR ANGEL AND BUFFY
28.08.2000 - Neither Angel nor
Buffy picked up an Emmy in the
Creative Arts categories.
The Outstanding
Cinematography category in which Hush was nominated was won by The
West Wing, Saturday Night Live won the hairdressing category (Buffy's
nomination was Beer Bad) and the Angel episode The Ring lost
out to The X Files in the make-up category. Back
to the top
WB
NAMES NEW SEASON START DATES
23.08.2000 - The WB
network has decided to take on NBC's Olympic juggernaut. As part of
a 17-day fall rollout plan, the WB plans to launch two nights of
programming, Tuesday and Friday, opposite NBC's broadcast of the Olympics,
and before the season officially starts 2 October.
The WB will leap into the
fray on 22 September with the premiere of its new Friday lineup of Sabrina,
the Teenage Witch (8pm), Gross Pointe (8.30pm) and Popular
(9pm).
In another Olympics
counter-programming move, the WB's not-so 'New Tuesday' will return on 26
September with original episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
The WB will roll out the
rest of its lineup during the official premiere week (2-8 October), with Roswell
on Monday 2nd and Charmed on Thursday 5th (opposite a likely
presidential debate). Back to the top
AWARDS
FOR BUFFY/GELLAR
10.08.2000 - In addition to its Emmy
nominations, Buffy has won the Viewers for Quality Television's
Founder's award in the VQT's 16th annual annual awards. Everybody
Loves Raymond and The West Wing won seven of the ten
categories.
Sarah Michelle Gellar's work on Buffy
won her the 'Choice Actress in a TV Show' award for the second year
running in the Teen Choice Awards. Back
to the top
JOSS
ON EMMY NOMINATIONS
Joss comments to
Variety:
21.07.2000
- Buffy The Vampire
Slayer earned three nominations, including one for executive producer
Joss Whedon for writing the episode 'Hush', which featured villains that
stole people's voices, so there was dialogue in just 30% of the show.
"It doesn't
suck," Whedon said. "I was expecting nothing. I've
had a steady diet of nothing. So I didn't expect a change."
The lack of dialogue in
the episode made it one of the hardest to do, Whedon said.
"Part of it was I
wanted everybody desperately to shut up. Really, I wanted to make
things harder on myself. It's easy to fall back on funny jokes and
witty lines. And it would be more of a challenge as a director.
"It definitely felt like a high water mark.
I was terrified when I wrote it that I couldn't pull it off. You
don't get that many opportunities to be terrified making TV."
Thanks to Rebecca Kidman for
sending this into the BuffyUK list. Back
to the top
BUFFY
SCORES EMMY NOMINATIONS
20.07.2000 - For the first time ever, Buffy
has picked up nominations for the actual award night. In fact, two
awards, plus another for hairstyling. Angel also managed to
pick up a nomination for the make-up for The Ring, but sadly there's
nothing for Charmed and Roswell.
Buffy's biggest
nominations come in the cinematography and writing categories, where the
likes of The Sopranos and The West Wing are likely to
triumph.
Those nominations in
full:
Outstanding
cinematography for a single-camera series
Buffy The Vampire
Slayer: Hush [WB] - Mutant Enemy, Inc. in association with 20th
Century Fox. Michael Gershman, Director of Photography.
Other nominees: JAG:
Boomerang (Part 2) [CBS], Law & Order: Entitled (Part
2)
[NBC], The Sopranos: D-Girl [HBO], The West Wing: Pilot
[NBC].
Outstanding
writing for a drama series
Buffy The Vampire
Slayer: Hush [WB] - Mutant Enemy, Inc. in association with 20th
Century Fox. Joss Whedon, writer.
Other nominees: The
Sopranos: Funhouse [HBO], The Sopranos: The Knight in White
Satin Armor [HBO], The West Wing: In Excelsis Deo [NBC], The
West Wing: Pilot [NBC].
Outstanding
hairstyling for a series
Buffy The Vampire
Slayer: Beer Bad [WB]. Mutant Enemy, Inc. in association with
20th Century Fox. Michael Moore, Key Hairstylist; Lisa Marie
Rosenberg, Gloria Pasqua Casny, Loretta Jody Miller, Hairstylists.
Other nominees: MADtv:
Movie Show [Fox], Saturday Night Live: host - Alan Cumming [NBC],
The Sopranos: Full Leather Jacket [HBO], Star Trek: Voyager:
Dragon's Teeth [UPN], That 70s Show: Vanstock [Fox].
Outstanding
make-up for a series
Angel: The Ring
[WB], a Mutant Enemy Production in association with 20th Century
Fox. Dayne Johnson, Makeup Department Head; David DeLeon, Louis
Lazzara, Steve LaPorte, Rick Stratton, Jill Rockow, Toby Lamm, Jeremy
Swan, Stephen Prouty, Earl Ellis, Dalia Dokter, Robert Maverick, Makeup
Artists.
Other nominees: MADtv:
Movie Show [Fox], Star Trek: Voyager: Ashes To Ashes
[UPN], That
70s Show: Vanstock [Fox], The X Files: Thief [Fox].
Thanks to
Richard Morgan. Back
to the top
BUFFY
NOMINATED FOR CRITICS' AWARD
19.06.2000
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer was nominated for both the Program of
the Year and Best Drama awards in the 16th annual Television Critics'
Association Awards.
The
awards will be announced on July 15 at an awards ceremony in Pasadena,
California.
Presumably
they watched a different season to the one I did then...
Thanks to
Jess for posting this to the BuffyUK list. Back
to the top
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