There’s something weird going on in New Sunnydale, and it’s not the vampires and demons. Hulu canceled “Buffy: New Sunnydale” after shooting the pilot episode (it seems no post-production was done, and it will never be released), and most reaction to that news has been negative.
And it’s been confusing. Sarah Michelle Gellar says no one saw it coming, but director Chloe Zhao says she was not surprised. Gellar says a Hulu executive canceled the show because he was not a fan of the O.G. “Buffy.” But then why spend any money at all, if that was the factor?
While the reasons for the cancelation are unclear and possibly stupid, a read of the pilot teleplay reveals fans dodged a crossbow arrow just as they did with the non-Joss Whedon early 2010s movie that might’ve featured “Glee’s” Heather Morris as Buffy.
Yet another alternate reality
Despite chatter that “New Sunnydale” continues from Whedon’s timeline, the script by Nora and Lilla Zuckerman reveals it does not. Buffy, Slayers, vampires and even the history of Sunnydale itself (!) are rumors at worst or boring history at best in the town that’s being rebuilt on/in the sinkhole.
This contradicts the fact that the supernatural is widespread knowledge starting – at the latest – in “Buffy” Season 7/ “Angel” Season 4. It’s such ingrained worldwide knowledge that Buffy’s Slayer army and other magic-based groups are open political entities in the comics’ Season 8-12.
Also in the comics, there are a couple thousand Slayers worldwide. As stated at the end of Season 7 when Willow’s magic resets the rules, all Potentials now become Slayers. The rules and powers of magic go through ups and down in the comics, but by the end, this rule is again in place.
In “New Sunnydale,” teenage Nova (“Firestarter’s” Ryan Kiera Armstrong) goes through the same “calling” Buffy did, surprised to learn she has become infused with this physical and mystical power – although she and her Pike-esque friend Hugo do vaguely know about Buffy and Slayers. Though it’s certainly a big deal for Nova, it should not be so totally confusing and shocking to experience something now normal in the world.
A pilot without a navigator
The pilot isn’t horribly plotted, and the 2003 vampires reacting to the new tech and new slang of the 2020s are fun. But it has a lot of on-the-nose references to Gen-Z woke culture, reminding me of the “Frankie the Vampire Slayer” novels set on an alternate timeline where Willow has an immaculately conceived Slayer-witch daughter. At least those books give us some Willow, Spike, Oz, etc. – and Frankie’s thorough knowledge of the prior generation puts her on the same page as the reader.
“New Sunnydale” is further evidence that it’s not a great idea to continue a saga by ripping it away from the original creator, thinking you can do it just as well. George Lucas (to his later regret) voluntarily sold “Star Wars” but he included his treatment for “Episode VII,” which Disney threw in the trash. Disney has spent a decade overwriting and undercutting Lucas’ universe, to – if one is generous – mixed creative results.
Whedon did not give his blessing to this project. The writing staff includes zero O.G. writers, and there’s no evidence any were even contacted, though the Zuckermans wrote seven episodes of “Agents of SHIELD.” Pilot director Zhao is a regular Oscar nominee and huge “Buffy” fan, but her most famous genre work, “The Eternals” – though it has its moments — is uneven and unfocused.
Gellar (who cameos at the end of the pilot) is my favorite actress of all time, almost entirely because of “Buffy,” but she’s not a writer, and she’s the only direct connection to the O.G. She gives it the same credence as does Mark Hamill playing a Luke Skywalker he had to think of as “Jake Skywalker” just to get through the scenes.
One Whedon TV show continued without him, the last six episodes of the 12-episode “The Nevers,” and it’s pretty good. But those episodes had Douglas Petrie and Jane Espenson on the staff, plus the inertia of being made right after the first six.
Flying again?
“Firefly: The Animated Series” – announced almost simultaneously with “New Sunnydale’s” axing – is a mildly different animal, enough for cautious optimism. Whedon gave his blessing to Nathan Fillion, to whom Disney has lent the license. The entire living cast (Ron Glass died in 2016) is on board to do voices. The lead writers will be the wife-and-husband team of Tara Butters and Marc Guggenheim; Butters wrote two “Dollhouse” episodes. Fillion says the pair met on the set of “Firefly,” but neither has an IMDb credit for the show.
We don’t know yet if any O.G. writers will be recruited, but we do know the episodes will be set between the TV show and the “Serenity” movie, a time period well-chronicled by the comics, including several written by Whedon and other “Firefly” writers. Unless it adapts existing comics and novels, which is unlikely based on historical precedent of how these things are handled, “Firefly: The Animated Series” will likely overwrite Whedon’s own narrative.
Granted, the overwhelming majority of the TV-consuming public takes this view: The spinoff materials – even if written by the show’s writers – do not matter compared to TV/movie materials – even if not written by the original writers. That’s not based on any logic, just on “I prefer the screen medium” or “I’m not interested in tracking down all that other stuff.”
That’s fine. But when you decide the vision of a story’s creator does not matter, you’re setting yourself up for something apocalyptically bad.
Click here to visit our “Buffy” Zone. Click here to visit our “Firefly” Zone.