"Should Buffy Move?"
April 2001

I know I already did a rant about "Buffy" being ignored and I suppose this is along the same lines, but this is really bugging me, so here I am!

Most of you probably know that "Buffy" is sorta homeless right now. For the rest of this season, you can catch the show on the WB. However, the WB doesn’t own "Buffy". 20th Century Fox does, and it gets money from the WB because, in a way, it leases "Buffy" out to it. Like, the WB pays 20th Century Fox money and 20th Century Fox pays the stars and production costs and all that, then the WB gets to put the show on it’s network. The contract that the WB signed with 20th Century Fox is up. They went through negotiations and couldn’t come to an agreement by the deadline, so now 20th Century Fox can shop the show around to other networks. As I write this, I believe that the media has listed ABC, UPN and the Fox Network as interested networks. If any of them make an offer to 20th Century Fox that they’d like to accept, they have to give the WB a chance to match it.

So that’s the situation, and here is what is bugging me. If you read the other rant, you know I am kind of annoyed the way shows like "Dawson's Creek" get way promoted… and not "Buffy". It’s the show that made people stand up and take notice of the WB when it was still first getting started. "Buffy" is arguably the best show on the network, especially when you consider the WB’s reputation for being popular with the young people. Sure, people who watch "Dawson’s Creek" and have never seen an episode of "Buffy" would disagree…. But most critics and a lot of other people would. Despite my irritation at this, I was hoping "Buffy" would stay on the WB. I fear that on other networks, "Buffy" will get buried due to bad ratings. I mean, what’s considered good on the WB is considered cancelable on Fox. Of course, since everyone has Fox (unlike the WB), I think "Buffy" is bound to get better ratings. And who knows, it could end up really thriving on a real network, especially since I think more and more people will be acknowledging how great it really is after Joss’ Emmy nod and Sarah’s Golden Globe one. Still, there is also the "Angel" issue. "Angel" belongs to the WB, unlike "Buffy." Therefore, if "Buffy" goes to Fox…. "Angel" stays on the WB. When shows are on two different networks, it gets a lot harder to do crossovers… sometimes impossible. Therefore, we can say goodbye to those!

Like I said, up until a point, I was like "let’s keep Buffy on the WB, even if they do piss me off!" but now I am not so sure…. Thanks to Jamie Kellner, the WB’s chief executive. I was never a big fan of the man, after all the pulled episodes thanks to Columbine… but I knew that it was the way things were with those network people. The same thing probably would have happened had Buffy been on Fox, ABC, anywhere. Now he goes to Entertainment Weekly and says some stupid stuff, like:

"It's not our No. 1 show."

No… it’s usually the number *2* show! Seriously, go to http://members.home.com/wahoskem/ and you will see that it isn’t *always*, but Buffy has often been number 2… and number 1 as well.

"It's not a show like 'ER' that stands above the pack."

Yeah, because "ER" airs on the WB… oh wait, it doesn’t… the show most often number 1 on the WB is "7th Heaven"… and I’m so sure that it’s ratings are comparable. You know how much Fox wants the WB to pay per episode for Buffy? Two million. That probably wouldn’t even pay the cost of the salaries for the actors for one episode of "ER." So someone is living in a dream world! Plus, he also implied "Buffy" is just a teen show… unimportant.

I got pissed and so did Joss! He went and replied in The New York Daily News, "It makes me angry to see this show belittled. For Jamie Kellner to call it a teen show and dismiss his own product angers me. It doesn't breed love."

"If we end up somewhere other than on The WB, we'll be the exact same show, and producers at 20th Century Fox have supported us on everything. I think the fans will find it."

"I keep thinking it will be best for everyone if the show stays where it is, but ultimately, I don't know if that will happen."

On the one hand, I suspect that Jamie Kellner might have just said that stuff because he’s "posturing." You know, he doesn’t want to say what maybe he is really thinking, "We really need ‘Buffy’ and don’t want to lose it!" because that gives 20th Century Fox the upper hand. It doesn’t make me any less annoyed, though.

Joss has made it clear that he isn’t happy and I have heard the other producers, Sarah Michelle Gellar and the rest of the cast feel the same way. This was just so disrespectful, not only to them because of their hard work, but to us, the fans who love this show. It’s like they want us to watch their network, they are quite happy when we do… oh, but what we love is just a teen show, nothing important. I know *I* am insulted.

So basically I know that it might be best if "Buffy" stays on the WB as far as being safe. It has good ratings on the WB scale, so we don’t have to worry about it being cancelled. However, there is the chance Buffy can thrive elsewhere… and if it moves and the ratings come in and they are great… I’ll be happy.

The thing is, though, I am not an "Angel" fan. I think that those who are have something else to consider. Not only will we probably say goodbye to crossovers, but this could possibly hurt Angel’s ratings. At the end of last season, "Angel" and "Buffy’s" ratings were averaged… and they tied. I’m thinking this season "Buffy" will win because if you check out the link I posted above, you can see that "Buffy" consistently gets slightly higher ratings. I think one could say "Buffy" is a good lead in show, so without that, "Angel" could lose some viewers. I don’t want all the "Angel" fans jumping on me! Go to that site, look at the ratings, they speak for themselves! I am no TV ratings expert but I bet there are some people who have "Angel" on at 9 PM that wouldn’t if "Buffy" didn’t air right before it!

Responses

Dawn
From what I hear, the frontrunner for BTVS, aside from the WB, is UPN. There is very little likelihood that the show will go to the Fox TV network, for a variety of reasons. Now, aside from the venerable Star Trek franchise, UPN is not a respectable network, and it doesn't air everywhere, so that would hurt both BTVS' image and its ratings.

If you look at the ratings for last season, "Angel"'s ratings were ahead of "Buffy"'s near the end of the season. The drop this season is probably from Fox's show "Dark Angel" being in the same time slot as "Angel", even though critical opinion is virtually unanimous in praising "Angel" and criticizing DA. "Angel" can probably survive without "Buffy" as a lead in, because it is a younger and more dynamic and well-written show, but being a B/A fan I don't want to lose the crossovers.

 

Add your own response to the rant

 

<< back