shipperx | Buffy Reunion

Strike, schmike. I'm gonna post this (with commentary!)

From TVGuide.com:

Laughter, Tears and (Yikes!) Tension at Buffy Reunion

[Me: What? Tension? Who would'a thunk it? Should I fake surprise or simply rub my hands together with glee? ]

If there was any doubt that the panel for Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the most eagerly-anticipated event at Paley Fest '08, it was erased by the mile-long line of fans that snaked around Hollywood's Cinerama Dome last night. Luckily, the event — which reunited the cast for the first time since the show ended in 2004 — more than lived up to the hype. Of course, that's not to say there weren't a few hiccups....

Participants: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, Charisma Carpenter, Emma Caulfield, Seth Green, Amber Benson, James Marsters, Michelle Trachtenberg, David Greenwalt, Marti Noxon, Joss Whedon and TV Guide's own Matt Roush.

MIA: Alyson Hannigan [Mw: Bwha! Wonder if she saw Boreanaz get out of it and decided that if he could do it, she could too! ] Eliza Dushku (Hmmm), Anthony Stewart Head (It is a damn long plane trip) and David Boreanaz (so much for that taped message).

[Me: Well, you've got to admire his skill in avoiding certain people. I tip my hat to the man.]

Applause Meter: Whedon, natch, got the most enthusiastic reception from the packed house, followed by Gellar, Marsters and Carpenter.

Party Crasher: Less than five minutes in, it was painfully obvious that Brendon had suffered a recurrence of ericbalfourism, an affliction that causes actors to hijack panel discussions with erratic behavior and unfunny banter. (Brendon was first diagnosed with the debilitating disease at the 2005 summer press tour while promoting Kitchen Confidential.) The first sign of the relapse came while Gellar was eloquently discussing the positive influence her alter ego had on young women – including her. Just as she was wrapping up her remarks, Brendon jumped in with this doozy: "You mean it wasn't Susan Lucci?"

[ME: Oooh! Burn! Nicky, I think I may love you. ]

If Gellar had a stake, I'm pretty sure she would've driven it through his heart.

Music to our ears: Whedon said he's spent "time daydreaming" about bringing Buffy to the Great White Way someday.

Dark Buffy: Gellar admitted that both Whedon and Noxon had to "talk her down off the ledge" a few times during the controversial sixth season, which saw Buffy morph from a butt-kicking heroine into a dark, bitter basket case. Ultimately, Whedon agreed that the real Buffy had "been gone too long" that season.

Quote of the day: Summing up the appeal of writing for a show like Buffy, Greenwalt said, "There's nothing like taking all your pain and misery and shoving it into good-looking people's mouths."

Nickname game: Unbeknownst to Gellar, Whedon and Greenwalt would refer to her as "Jimmy Stewart" in the writers' room. Whedon leaned over to tell a confused-looking Gellar that the nickname "was a compliment."

[Me: Because Mutant Enemy writers weren't known for sarcasm.]

Choose or lose: Roush asked Gellar to once and for all choose between Angel and Spike, to which Brendon cracked, "Given the comic book, I think Willow."

[ME: Nicky was on a roll!]

OK, I'll give him that one. Speaking of Buffy's lesbian tryst in the recently-published Season 8 comic book, Whedon said "it's not a giant life change. It's not Willow. It's someone who is young… with a lot of time on her hands."

Behind the tears: Caulfield at long last revealed what was going through her mind when she delivered that gut-wrenching monologue in the acclaimed "Body" episode: "I had to go to the bathroom!"

Unsung hero: Gellar agreed with Whedon's assessment of Kristine Sutherland (aka Buffy's mom) being one "of the most underrated" actresses working today.

Same-sex hysterics: Greenwalt revealed that shortly after word leaked that Willow was going to be coming out of the closet, he got a call from an unnamed WB exec who said, "Is [Joss] really going to do this gay thing?" Whedon threatened to quit when the network asked him to leave Willow and Tara's first kiss on the cutting room floor. "It's the one time I pulled that out," he said. "And they were like, 'No, it's OK. Leave it in.'"

The infamous Emmy snub: Whedon reminded everyone that "you don't put a show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer on the WB and think, 'I'm going to win Emmys!'" Gellar added: "We made the show for the fans." Cue painfully unfunny knee-slapper from Brendon involving an empty trophy case and eBay.

[ME: I love the scent of bitter in the morning! Bitter w/ snark is even better!]

Good taste: Gellar Reads TV Guide! She just referred to our list of TV's Top Ten Steamiest Love Scenes, in which Buffy and Spike's inaugural roll in the hay was named No. 1!

Show killer: The audience Q&A portion of the show got off to a disastrous start when a fan asked the entire panel to reveal both their favorite movie of all time and what they're currently listening to on their iPod. What resulted was the most excruciating 20 minutes in Paley Fest history. Brendon spent three of those minutes inventing fake movie titles and berating Gellar for not adequately answering the iPod portion of the question. (For the record, she did. She's listening to the soundtrack from South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut.)

Um, awkward: Asked to reveal the real reason she refused Whedon's offer to return in Season 7 as a demonic version of Tara, Benson joked that she was too busy "making love to Marlon Brando." All kidding aside, she wanted fans to remember Tara as the sweet

ETA: More tidbits from Wrongda:

Sarah didn't know until someone told her tonight that Buffy's hooking up with a girl in the comic. [Me: I win my invisible bet with no one that she didn't know.] 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.

From TVSquad:

At 7 pm, there were more pre-game activities. We watched a clip from All My Children (1994) that featured Sarah Michelle Gellar and Susan Lucci. The crowd laughed and swooned at this. [Me: Odd choice, but I would suppose this is what brought La Lucci to NB's mind. Did he actually know about the infamous feud?]

Roush [TV Guide critic] decided to begin with "Once More, With Feeling" as the audience had just viewed it. Of the episode, Whedon said it was fun, there was music everyday. He also mentioned that the musical was not the hardest episode. He felt "Hush" was harder. James Marsters said that none of the cast members signed on to be singers and none of them were professional singers. But, they knew Joss had written a get script. Marsters also commended his fellow castmates for their courage, especially Sarah Michelle Gellar who apparently had begged Whedon to get out of .

When asked what her most terrifying moment on the show was, Michelle Trachtenberg answered that it was the musical. She even mentioned that she gave herself "pyschosomatic tonsilitis" when she found out she had to sing. After Michelle explained how her face was puffy from crying about the episode, Seth Green chimed in that he cried because he wasn't in it.

Roush asked Whedon if he had any plans for a Broadway musical after the success of "Once More, With Feeling." Joss said he would love to do a Buffy musical but he would not expand on his musical episode. He would just start from scratch. When the cast was asked if they would go to Broadway with Whedon, all but Gellar raised their hands.

Discussion of "The Body"

After the cast talked about the musical, they spent a lot of time talking about "The Body." Matt Roush said it was a raw and dangerous episode of Buffy and he wondered what their memories of it were. Sarah Michelle Gellar said that both she and Michelle have strong single mothers. It's hard to separate the real from the show with episodes like "The Body." Gellar retold how Joss wanted to do one shot for when Buffy finds the body, "You mean, no retakes?" She had half the day to prepare and then they shot for three minutes with a handheld. Gellar mentioned how this was instance of the show breaking the rules and challenging the cast (as well as the audience). She said it felt more like a live stage play than a television show.

Trachtenberg said she was honored to be in the episode. She felt like the decision to have no sound while Buffy tells Dawn about their mother's death was a good one in retrospect. It allowed the audience to connect with the scene better, she felt.

Emma Caulfield recounted how a fan approached her and asked about her monologue in "The Body." The fan asked what was going through her mind when she read her lines. Emma told the fan she just had to go to the bathroom and was really hungry. She then said she felt bad for upsetting the fan and called it an "Anya moment."

What's your favorite movie and what's on your iPod? (A question from a fan)

Joss Whedon: Matrix / Steven Sondheim
Sarah Michelle Gellar: South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut / no answer for music
Nicholas Brendon: Kojak, the movie / then he talked forever about nothing
James Marsters: Apocalypse Now / Beck, Rolling Stones, Nirvana
Emma Caulfield: Silence of the Lambs and Pulp Fiction / Radiohead
Michelle Trachtenberg: Labyrinth and Rain Man / Madonna, Kanye West
Marti Noxon: Poltergeist and Good Fellas / 2 artists I've never heard of
Charisma Carpenter: Anchorman / The Killers
Seth Green: Raising Arizona and There Will Be Blood / He said he has over 25,000 songs on his iPod.
Amber Benson: Sullivan's Travels / Steve Earl
David Greenwalt: The Godfather and Serenity / He joked he didn't know what an iPod was.

I overheard a superfan say that Sarah Michelle Gellar has never attended a Buffy convention or event until last night. She is not on any of the DVD commentary either. But, later on, I hear another superfan say that Gellar had indeed attended the 1998 Paley Festival where Buffy the Vampire Slayer was honored for the first time.
Best lines of the night. David Greenwalt (in a weird effort to skirt around a question) told the audience, "I'm not wearing any underwear." To which Seth Green replied, "That's kind of a bomb to drop."
When asked "Angel or Spike?," Sarah Michelle said, "Well, he's sitting on stage," and pointed to James Marsters.
It seemed as though most of the cast hadn't read the season 8 comics. Sarah Michelle didn't know that Joss wrote her a new love interest, a woman. "Willow?," she said quickly.
Joss Whedon said that he would give up the comic for a chance to work with the cast again (presumably on a movie). But of the movie possibility, he seemed dubious, "So many stars would have to align."
When Nicholas Brendon wouldn't shut up about something (sorry, I forget what), Michelle Trachtenberg said that he was just mad because she was taller than him now. "Bigger boobs," he retorted. Ouch.
A fan asked Sarah Michelle Gellar if it was hard to play Robo-Buffy. She answered that Robo-Buffy helped her from getting lazy with the character and forced her to find the essence of Buffy.
Seth Green said that what he missed the most about working on the show was arriving each day to his trailer and finding that David Boreanaz had pooped in it. Amber Benson said she missed making out with hot chicks. And David Greenwalt said he missed directing Gellar who he called "a machine."
Amber Benson was asked why she declined returning to the show. At first she joked that she was having sex with Marlon Brando at the time and needed to be by his bedside during his last days. (Whoa.) Then she said that she was directing a project in London and just wasn't available.
When asked about season 6, Gellar said that Buffy "felt so foreign to me" and "felt so removed from me at the time." "I've always looked up to her," she continued about her character. Moreover, Gellar mentioned that it was hard to watch Buffy suffer.