Fox Execs Would Like To Re-Vamp Buffy
Eventually, rewatching all 90s shows will become a two-pronged experience: the original seasons, and then the Trump-era revival season with lots of in-the-moment “fake news” jokes. With all the revivals we’ve seen lately, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that 20th Century Fox wants to bring back Buffy badly. What IS surprising is the restraint they’re showing in regards to that decision.
Fox TV chairman Gary Newman addressed a crowd at the INTV Conference in Jerusalem and admitted out of all the properties they own and haven’t resurrected already, “Buffy” is the name that’s most often brought up. But he refuses to let it happen without the involvement of creator Joss Whedon.
“Most times when we brought things back, it started with the creator coming into us and saying I’ve got another story I want to tell,” Newman said. “It’s something we talk about frequently, and Joss Whedon is really one of the greatest creators we ever worked with. When Joss decides it’s time, we’ll do it. And until Joss decides it’s time, it won’t happen.”
This confession of respect for Joss’s feelings is new. When it came time to re-transfer the Buffy film negatives and make an HD version, Fox decided to make a sloppy edit without Whedon’s input, full of claustrophobic cropping in some cases and the reveal of behind-the-scenes props in others (Joss never shot the show assuming it would be widescreen). This edit aired on ABC’s Freeform for about a month before bad ratings banished it to early morning.
[Source: Variety]