Charisma Carpenter by Bob D'Amico/ABC

Charisma Carpenter by Scott Garfield/UPN

by Matt Webb Mitovich

With the long-awaited next new episode of UPN's Veronica Mars now just a day away (airing Wednesday at 9 pm/ET), TVGuide.com grabbed a (figurative) hold of Charisma Carpenter, who this season has been appearing as Dick and Beaver's head-turner of a stepmother, Kendall Casablancas. Here is what the Buffy/Angel alumna had to share about her present in Neptune, her possible future on Paradise Island and the thing she cannot believe she revealed to Playboy.

TVGuide.com: You next appear on Veronica Mars in "The Quick and the Wed," airing March 22. I hear that Kendall makes some sort of offer to Aaron Echolls?
Charisma Carpenter: Yes, I do have a nice offer for Aaron — a piece. [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: A what?
Carpenter: A piece.

TVGuide.com: Meaning a gun? Or of a--? Or of the action?
Carpenter: That's the big question. Maybe a piece of the pie, maybe a piece of me....

TVGuide.com: On the topic of whether Duncan actually ever succumbed to Kendall's charms, Mars creator Rob Thomas said here at TVGuide.com, "Duncan's not built that way." Is that ego-deflating for you to hear or — and this is my theory — is Duncan simply built the wrong way?
Carpenter: The latter! [Laughs] I guess Kendall is just not very discerning about to whom she gives her body. But, given some new insights I've been given from Rob, apparently everything has a purpose and a meaning. My character's IQ is about to jump up about 50 points, did he tell you that? Things are about to become very clear.

TVGuide.com: What, has Kendall been putting on some sort of act?
Carpenter: [Coyly] I guess.... Rob likened her to Annette Bening in The Grifters, which as you know is an amazing role. I was like, "Really? That's goooood!" I just love those people [at Veronica Mars]. They're awesome.

TVGuide.com: So you're happy with your role? It's different enough from Angel's Cordelia? I know that has been an issue for you, always playing a bitch.
Carpenter: You know what? That used to be an issue, but to be honest, I'm not trying to play the heroine chick anymore. I grew out of that. Now it's just about having fun.

TVGuide.com: After all, let's be frank — God didn't really design you to play the nice girl.
Carpenter: Not on television, anyway.

TVGuide.com: Has Kendall had her fun and is she now all done with Logan?
Carpenter: I don't know.... She's not very nice and Logan is the bad boy. Duncan was the sweet-as-pie boy.

TVGuide.com: Who would Charisma pick? What type do you gravitate toward?
Carpenter: [Sighs] Well, in high school it was the a--hole, and then as I got older I knew how to pick them better.

TVGuide.com: Your son, Donovan, is about to turn 3. What sort of "tricks" is he doing these days?
Carpenter: His tricks are "kicking the ball," "discovering insects" and talking about the "big giant monkey that's upstairs, sleeping" — and being careful not to wake him up....

TVGuide.com: I assume the "monkey" is Dad?
Carpenter: [Chuckles] If I said yes, my husband would die because that would give the impression that he is hairy, and he can't have that. [On a tangent] My husband has decided he wants to take up motocross, which is really pissing me off. I'm like, "What, are you going through a midlife crisis?!"

TVGuide.com: Better motocross than some chirpy 20-year-old.
Carpenter: What?! That didn't even enter my mind.

TVGuide.com: I know. How could it possibly?
Carpenter: How could it?

TVGuide.com: Hey, are you going to star in Wonder Woman? [Buffy creator Joss Whedon is writing and will direct a big-screen take on the superheroine, to be produced by Joel Silver.] What a great fit that would be.
Carpenter: I know! From your lips to God's ears... or Joss'... or Joel's....

TVGuide.com: Speaking of Joss, you're sort of known as the Buffy-verse alum who doesn't charge for autographs at conventions....
Carpenter: I just think it's wrong to charge — it feels sleazy and desperate. The only reason I would charge now is because there are [disadvantaged] kids who need assistance. I'm doing a convention [Wizard World Los Angeles] on March 18, and in this case I am charging, but everything is going to charity. So my fans will be helping out a very special kid, a 9-year-old quadriplegic who needs a specially equipped van. If I can exploit myself in a way that helps others, I'll do that.

TVGuide.com: So to everyone reading this: Go to the convention, get an autograph from Charisma and help that kid get a van.
Carpenter: Yeah!

TVGuide.com: I missed your recent Lifetime movie, Flirting with Danger. What was that about?
Carpenter: [In little girl voice] I was naughty... again. I'm such a hussy! I guess Veronica Mars warmed me up to be naughty.

TVGuide.com: What about Voodoo Moon [a feature in which a psychic woman and her brother hunt down a demonic being]? Will we ever get to see that?
Carpenter: I wish I knew what was going on with that. Eric Mabius (The O.C.) plays my brother, and I really loved working on it. It was a fun thing to do and it should appeal to the people who watched Buffy and Angel. It's got fighting and zombies....

TVGuide.com: What TV do you like?
Carpenter: I just started the Season 1 DVD for 24, because I have never seen any of it, and we just finished Season 1 of Lost. I tend not to watch shows while they're airing. I'll just wait for the DVD and watch 13 hours or so in one shot. That's the best payoff — you can just go to the next episode without waiting a week. I love Nip/Tuck, and I'm a huge fan of The Sopranos....

TVGuide.com: Someone sneaked me the first four episodes of this season's Sopranos. If you're nice to me, I'll share.
Carpenter: Are you in L.A.? No, you're in New York. That's not going to work. I would have come over! We could have hung out and shared popcorn.

TVGuide.com: Don't tease an old man. What else do you have going on?
Carpenter: I have three more episodes of Veronica Mars to shoot and it's pilot season, so I'm working my ass off to get a regular job. Hopefully by the end of the month I'll find out if I have one or not. If not, I'll have another baby or...

TVGuide.com: Another baby?
Carpenter: I'd like to eventually, but I want Wonder Woman right now. I'm not holding my breath but I'm crossing my fingers and toes and praying.

TVGuide.com: Well, I think that just about covers everything.
Carpenter: You think?

TVGuide.com: Well, save for a Q&A excerpt I stumbled across during research. You told Playboy that you once had sex at an Oscars party?
Carpenter: I said that?! Oh my god, I can't believe I said that on a public level.

TVGuide.com: Does the outside prospect of doing "that" become a factor when choosing a dress for the Oscars?
Carpenter: That's a very witty question, but the answer is no — you just make it work!

Gregg DeGuire/WireImage.com

2.21.06 - Don't miss Alyson Hannigan, currently in theaters in "Date Movie."

2.1.06 - Anthony Stewart Head has been cast by ABC as the lead of a new comedy called Him & Us, a pilot inspired in part by the life of Elton John.

1.23.06 - Kristin at E!Online reports that she talked with Amy Acker last night... "[Joss and I] had dinner last night," Amy told me, "and he was still talking about doing the Spike movie." When I asked if she'd want to be a part of it, she said, "If it's Joss, of course I'll do whatever. I'll, like, be the costume designer! I don't care!" But for the time being, James Marsters is tied up with Smallville, so we shall see.

12.8.05 - TV Guide Online reports that Sarah Michelle Gellar has signed on to reprise the role of Karen in "The Grudge 2," a sequel to last year's surprise box-office hit. Gellar will appear in the follow-up only briefly — just long enough to pass along the supernatural curse to the franchise's next, as-yet-uncast, victim.

12.7.05 - From Michael Ausiello at TV Guide Online: Julie Benz (Darla) will be guest starring in the January 17th episode of Supernatural as Layla, a woman with a brain tumor who seeks out a definitely evil reverend known for curing the incurable.

11.25.05 - Kristin at E!Online talks to Alyson Hannigan and Charisma Carpenter about working together again on the set of Veronica Mars.

11.21.05 - From Michael Ausiello at TV Guide Online: Rumor has it that James Marsters is taking a few weeks off from Smallville to shoot the straight-to-DVD spooker "Shadow Puppets." The Saw-esque thriller costars Jolene Blalock (Enterprise) and revolves around four people who wake up in an abandoned asylum without any previous memories or knowledge of their whereabouts.

11.9.05 - From Michael Ausiello at TV Guide Online: Tom Lenk will have a small guest starring role on the November 15th episode of FOX's House as a geeky flight attendant.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer by James Sorenson/WB

by Michael Ausiello and Damian J. Holbrook

Think of the trend as "once more, with feeling." This TV season Buffy the Vampire Slayer alums are proving there's more to life than slaying vamps. Here, their old boss, creator Joss Whedon, weighs in on his old gang's brand-new gigs.

Alyson Hannigan
Past life: Bookworm-turned-Sapphic witch Willow Rosenberg. "[Buffy] led me to find my husband [actor Alexis Denisof, who played Wesley Wyndam-Pryce], and Joss Whedon is one of our best friends," Hannigan says. "But I'm happy to move on to the next chapter."
Post-Buffy: The decidedly hetero — and hysterical — Lily on CBS' How I Met Your Mother.
Joss says: "She's as breezy and funny as anybody I know. She's got this light sweetness about her that means she works beautifully in [a sitcom]."

David Boreanaz
Past life: Angel, the hottest vampire in the underworld, who stole Buffy's heart before scoring his equally sharp spin-off.
Post-Buffy: Seeley Booth, the hottest FBI agent in the world, on Fox's Bones. "He walks to his own beat," Boreanaz says. "Sometimes he gets slapped in the face, but he always ends up on top."
Joss says: "He would do subtle things, comedic things [on Buffy]. It's been gratifying to hear people say, 'Oh, he's really charming and he's got this different kind of chemistry and it's not just Angel at the FBI.'"

Charisma Carpenter
Past life: Cordelia Chase, the cheerleader who sidekicked it with Angel after he moved to L.A.
Post-Buffy: As seductive stepmom Kendall Casablancas on UPN's Veronica Mars, she's sexy and hilarious. "When I got the script about sleeping [with high-schooler Logan], I was like, 'This is juicy!'" Carpenter says. (Whedon himself shows up in the Nov. 9 episode as a rental-car manager.)
Joss says: "She's a stunner and can hit it out of the park."

Nicholas Brendon
Past life: Everyman Xander Harris, the quick-witted Chandler of the bunch.
Post-Buffy: Trading demon-hunting and Slayers for skirt-chasing and skillets as chef Seth on Fox's Kitchen Confidential. "The food is the most dangerous aspect of it," Brendon jokes.
Joss says: "It's a good place for him to be the funny guy. But I think part of what makes Nick great as the funny guy is that there's an edge to him. There's a lot of leading man in Nick."

James Marsters
Past life: Bad-boy vamp Spike, who went from offing to boffing Slayers during an affair with Buffy.
Post-Buffy: Going soulless again as Professor Fine, aka Brainiac, on WB's Smallville. "He is not concerned with a human version of morality," Marsters says. "He's Clark Kent's worst nightmare."
Joss says: "Much of his intensity comes from his relentless thinking, and for him to tap into that is very cool.... All of my alumni are taking over the world!"

11.3.05 - Zap2It.com: 'Buffy' Vet Noxon Has 'Pleasant' Memories After graduating from the happy "Buffy" bubble, writer/producer Marti Noxon has been taking her lumps in the TV business and learning along the way. More...

10.24.05 - From the October 24th issue of TV Guide: Buffy Master Orbits Mars As if Veronica Mars didn't have enough nods to Buffy the Vampire Slayer—Charisma Carpenter and Alyson Hannigan both have appeared on UPN's cult hit—Buffy creator Joss Whedon pops in as a testy rental car manager in the November 9 episode. "I did [the scene] with Kristen Bell, who helped me get through my inability to act," says Whedon, a self-proclaimed Mars junkie. "Apart from that, it was somewhat unremarkable to anybody who wasn't me." Genuine modesty is so unbecoming.

10.20.05 - Zap2It.com: 'Buffy' Stage Show Shut Down Dark forces have shut down in a stage production of the musical episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." But instead of demons, it was lawyers who put a stake in the show. CounterPulse, a nonprofit arts group in San Francisco, had been planning to stage 10 performances of "Once More, with Feeling," the season-six "Buffy" episode in which a musical demon puts a Broadway-style curse on the residents of Sunnydale. The group planned to re-enact the script word-for-word, augmented by a live band and dancers. More...

10.11.05 - Zap2It.com: 'Buffy' Musical Lives Again "Once More, with Feeling," the musical episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," is being brought back to life once more. Ten more times, actually. A San Francisco arts group called CounterPulse is mounting a live stage production of the musical episode... More...

10.6.05 - Dateline Hollywood: Joss Whedon Grocery List Garnering Huge Internet Buzz a spoof news item on how a bunch of people want to turn Joss's grocery list into a television series.

Arnaldo Magnani/Getty Images

9.28.05 - Alyson Hannigan will be back for episode 9 of Veronica Mars as Logan's sister. Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas says that he will bend over backwards to make sure she's in a scene with new Mars castmember Charisma Carpenter.

9.28.05 - Joss Whedon confirmed to TV Guide's Michael Ausiello that Buffy: The Animated Series is unlikely to ever see the light of day. "[Dead] is a good word for it," he said. "I think dead and possibly buried. Or even cremated." There's lots more from Joss Whedon in this week's Ask Ausiello online column.

9.23.05 - Joss Whedon has inked a seven-figure deal with Universal to write and direct the fantasy thriller Goner. "It's the story of a young woman's journey that involves a great deal of horror and some heroics," he told Variety. "It's certainly darker than Serenity, and there are a lot of left turns along the way. It is something I had in mind for a while, and it just poured out of me when I finished my film."

9.21.05 - Joss Whedon will be doing a cameo in the sixth episode of Veronica Mars on UPN this season. He will apparently be playing a rental car company manager.

Alyson Hannigan by Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

Kevin Parry/WireImage.com

7.25.05 - James Marsters will be on Smallville next season in the recurring role of Brainiac.

7.21.05 - Zap2It.com: Press Tour Tidbits: Willow vs. Xander vs. Angel - The fall TV schedule will have a distinct Sunnydale feel to it. Alyson Hannigan (CBS' "How I Met Your Mother"), Nicholas Brendon (FOX's "Kitchen Confidential") and David Boreanaz (FOX's "Bones") are all starring in new shows, while Charisma Carpenter has landed a recurring part on UPN's "Veronica Mars." More...

7.20.05 - Zap2It.com: 'Buffy' Fandom Leads to 'Mother' Lode for Hannigan - The character Alyson Hannigan plays in the new CBS comedy "How I Met Your Mother" is based on co-creator Craig Thomas' wife -- who, on some level, may be responsible for her husband casting the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" alum. More...

7.15.05 - Charisma Carpenter is joining Veronica Mars this fall as a sexy trophy wife and stepmother to brothers Dick and Beaver Casablancas. She'll appear in at least six episodes.

7.8.05 - Kristin at E!Online writes about fall shows starring some of your old favorites from Buffy and Angel.

6.23.05 - Zap2It.com: Regency Comedy Romances 'Buffy' Co-Star - Alyson Hannigan, Adam Campbell, Eddie Griffin, Fred Willard and Jennifer Coolidge are among the actors coming on board an untitled romantic comedy from spoofmeisters Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. More...

6.21.05 - Zap2It.com: Gellar Goes Down the Rabbit Hole with 'Alice' - Universal Pictures has lured Sarah Michelle Gellar to star in "Alice," an adaptation of the popular dark video game based on "Alice in Wonderland." More...

Kevin Parry/WireImage.com

5.19.05 - David Boreanaz's new show, Bones, will premiere on FOX this fall.

5.13.05 - Danny Strong (Jonathan) will be at EnigmaCon 2005, May 28th, 2005 at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA's Enigma club combines Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Gaming and Real Science to bring a day of movie screenings, panels, vendors and gaming to the UCLA campus to benefit tsunami relief efforts. Other guests include author Harlan Ellison, writer/producer J. Michael Stracynski, Elfquest artist Wendy Pini, and many, many more from the fields of movies, video game development, comics, etc. etc. For more info, check out http://www.enigmacon.org.

5.4.05 - From TV Guide Online: Buffy's James Marsters: Rock Star?

by Ben Katner

If your fantasies involve being serenaded by a vampire, you're in luck. James Marsters — beloved as toothsome Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel — has just released his first solo CD, Civilized Man. If only he could have produced the album without leaving a trail of carnage in his wake....

You see, before entering the studio on his own, the actor went on a highly successful tour of Europe with his band, Ghost of the Robot. "I believe it was our third time over there, and we'd gone from playing houses of hundreds of people to playing for thousands of people. Not tens of thousands," he clarifies quickly for TVGuide.com, "but you know, three, four, five."

Nonetheless, the lead vocalist saw the blood... er, the writing on the wall. "The chemistry of the band changed," he says. "I think we started taking ourselves too seriously, frankly, and it stopped being fun for me." What's more, he adds, "The songwriting coming from the other members of the band was way too high for my voice. So I broke up the band after a very successful tour!"

Marsters laughs at the irony, but he's dead serious. "We were just about to finish up our second album, which was sounding really good compared to our first, but I pulled the plug."

Afterward, the frontman who no longer had anyone behind him returned to Europe. "Just me and a guitar, man, which was terrifying!" he exclaims. "I'm not Woody Guthrie! I didn't believe that I could stand up in front of 500 to 1000 people with one instrument and bring enough different kinds of sounds to pretend that I was really entertaining people for a whole hour.

"But it went really well," he adds, relieved. "People responded that they liked that set better than the band's. I'm sure not everybody felt that way...."

Yeah, his ex-bandmates from Ghost of the Robot, for instance. "Probably not," he admits with a laugh. "But they're all good people, and we're on good terms. It's just, stuff for [the band], I was a little reluctant to let people hear, because a lot of it was beyond my range [vocally], and I didn't feel as if it was good enough to be called professional. But now [with my new material], I do. Some of it you'll probably like, some if it you won't.

"I guess at the end of the day," he concludes, "the best thing about the whole process is that I feel more confident about myself as a musician, which is probably what you're looking for when you do something like this in the first place."

To order Civilized Man, visit James Marsters' website.

3.28.05 - Alyson Hannigan has joined CBS' How I Met Your Mother, an ensemble comedy about a family man reminiscing about his bachelor days.

3.7.05 - Nicholas Brendon and John Francis Daley (Freaks and Geeks) have been cast in a new FOX pilot called Kitchen Confidential, about a bad-boy chef, down on his luck, who takes over a top-ranked New York restaurant. The "bad-boy chef" role has yet to be cast.

10.26.04 - Charisma Carpenter is going to play Heather Locklear's sister in the Thanksgiving episode of NBC's LAX. She's playing Julie Random (Harley's sister). Harley left home when she was a kid, so this is a reunion. Naturally, as this is TV drama, there will be plenty of it when Julie invites their parents to come for Christmas. The show's NBC rep says Carpenter will be on for just one episode, but it's possible she may return (since she is family).

10.25.04 - TV Guide Online: Buffy Star Holds Grudge

by Ethan Alter

First things first. Yes, Sarah Michelle Gellar is happy with the way Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended its seven-year run. "I love that it ended full circle with her sharing her power," says the 27-year-old actress. "I do believe that the finale should have been two hours. There was a lot of time for those Slayerettes and I felt that some of the characters, specifically Xander, didn't get enough screen time.

"I know that some stuff had to get cut," Gellar continues. "For example, there was a scene where I was walking down the hallway of the high school and having flashbacks to all of us from the first season. But in terms of the actual episode, yes, I was happy."

Don't look for The Artist Formerly Known as Buffy on television anytime soon. "I can definitively say that I won't be doing series TV for the next five years," she says. "I just physically couldn't do it."

Instead, Gellar is focusing full-time on her big-screen career. Currently, she stars in the American remake of a popular Japanese horror flick, The Grudge, as a foreign-exchange student in Tokyo who's targeted by an evil vengeance spirit. But why play another horror heroine so soon after wrapping Buffy?

"I didn't set out to do that, but being on Buffy spoiled me," she says. "It's rare to have a female protagonist who drives the story and is so well rounded. Women drive TV, but they still have a long way to go in films. The horror and thriller genre seems to be where actresses really shine, like Naomi Watts in The Ring. Some actresses can be the girlfriend or wife, but I think I would be so bored — I would go crazy."

A self-confessed devotee of Japanese cinema, Gellar says The Grudge appealed to her right away. In fact, she was so eager to land the role, she did something few name-above-the-title actresses ever do: audition. "They were surprised that I was willing to audition," she says. "I think a lot of actors get to the place where they feel they're too big for that. But I like to audition because it's my chance to say, 'Hey, this is my take on it. Are we on the same page? As a director, is this what you saw?' There's a satisfaction to going in and auditioning and getting the part. And I hope, as an actor, that I never lose that."

Instead of relocating the story to the U.S., the studio allowed director Takashi Shimizu (who also directed the original Grudge) to set the film in Tokyo. That meant that Gellar essentially scored a three-month vacation in one of the world's liveliest cities. Any time she wasn't needed on set, the actress was out exploring Tokyo and its outlying towns. "You should ask me what didn't I do," she laughs. "I went to Kamakura and Kyoto, I saw sumo wrestling, I went to all the temples, I went to the Tokyo Tower. I went shopping."

Of course, she also had a movie to complete. But Gellar says that the shoot was a smooth one, despite the fact that she and Shimizu didn't speak the same language. "I came from TV, so I thought I knew fast — you don't know fast until you work with Japanese filmmakers. But I learned a lot. As an actor, it's your job to put complete trust in your director that he can lead you to the performance that works for the piece. And as a director, you have to trust your actor to bring your vision to the screen. This was a great lesson for me, because I had to learn how to develop that trust without language."

Next up for the ex-Slayer is a long vacation, possibly followed by a role in Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly's next project. But Gellar is in no hurry to choose her next gig. "The Grudge raised the bar so high for me that I learned I don't have to jump into everything," she says. "From All My Children through Buffy, I never stopped. I never knew that it was OK to do that."

10.25.04 - Joss Whedon, is getting out of the TV business — at least for the time being. According to Variety, Whedon has shuttered his Mutant Enemy production company because he says he has run out of ideas. "I spent a lot of time trying to think what my next series would be," Whedon said. "I couldn't think of anything. When that happens, it generally means something is just not working." For now, Whedon will continue to focus on features — including the forthcoming Firefly flick, "Serenity." What does all this mean for the proposed Buffy cartoon? Apparently that remains on the drawing board.

10.25.04 - Sarah Michelle Gellar slayed the box-office competition over the weekend as her new horror flick, The Grudge, debuted at No. 1 with a spine-tingling $40 million.

10.15.04 - Dreamwatch is entering a new era this month, with the launch of the all-new US edition! - Dreamwatch #1, on sale October 19, only $6.99! Dreamwatch Magazine talks to Sarah Michelle Gellar about her new film, The Grudge, the remake of the Japanese chiller Ju-On.

"I really wouldn't categorize The Grudge as a typical horror film. It's a radically different kind of movie and it uses much more sophisticated scare tactics," says Gellar.

"The Grudge was an opportunity for me to do something totally different from other films. I truly think we've achieved that."

"This film isn't so much about screaming as being frozen in absolute fear and not being able to find your voice."

"This is the first time a Japanese film has been remade for American audiences using the original Japanese director, which is really exciting. There is an honor and a pride that comes with that, and a pressure."

"One of the things we wanted to do by filming in Japan was make a true Japanese movie for Americans and we've done that."

"The spirit and soul of The Grudge is true to the original movie."

"Everything about this job was different from anything I had ever experienced before, from the simple process of saying 'Action!' at the beginning of shot."

"Jason [Behr] and I have known each other probably 11 years now, that makes things that much easier. Whenever you go away from home, you pray that you get lucky and the cast get along."

10.11.04 - James Marsters will be appearing on the November 3rd episode of The Mountain (oh, no, now I might actually have to watch that show). He will play the father of a character named Penn Badgley, and the WB says there is a chance he could be a recurring guest star.

10.5.04 - From TV Guide Online: Why Buffy's Beau Nearly Wasn't

by Angel Cohn

Marc Blucas almost missed his chance to be Buffy's commando boyfriend, Riley, on the cult fave Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The handsome 32-year-old originally bounced around the idea of playing pro basketball or, worse yet, wasting those rugged good looks as a lawyer! Thankfully, he came to his senses at the last minute.

"I was a business major, just doing theatre on the side," Blucas recalls. "I grew up in a small town in western Pennsylvania. I used my sport to get me out of town. I love going back there, but I knew I wasn't a lifer. I got a scholarship to [Wake Forest University], played basketball there, did the Hoop Dreams thing and got to play professionally [with England's Manchester Giants] for a year.

"I had an academic scholarship to law school," he continues. "I thought that was the path that I was supposed to be on. If you grew up in Girard, Pa., people would throw rocks at you if you said you wanted to [act]. Two weeks before law school, I said, 'I don't love the law and I'm doing this for the wrong reasons.' So I called my folks — which was interesting — and said, "I'm moving to L.A."

So far, the big leap has worked out well for Blucas. Besides Buffy, he's made his way onto the big screen in movies like Sunshine State and First Daughter. And he's glad Buffy's fan base has supported him along the way.

"Buffy was a show where there was no gray area," he asserts. "It is not like people watched that show and said, 'Well, I missed it last week and I don't think I'll be able to watch it next week.' You either watched it or you didn't. The fans are fans. When I was in England, I couldn't walk out of the hotel. You would have thought I was Mel Gibson.

"It was crazy," he laughs. "I was doing laundry at the local laundromat with, like, 15 people talking about scenes in Buffy that I forgot. But I came on that show at the perfect time. It was an up-and-running hit. I went on being seen as the romantic lead and action guy, and had the opportunity to get out of it when I wanted to. It was the perfect situation for me."

9.16.04 - A rumor from TV Guide Online: there's increasing chatter that Joss Whedon is in talks to replace Bryan Singer at the helm of "X-Men 3." Singer recently signed on to direct the new "Superman" flick, leaving the fate of the next X-Men installment up in the air. Whedon's camp isn't commenting on the buzz.

9.10.04 - A pilot on the development desk since last spring has received an order for a dozen episodes by Fox. Point Pleasant (Original / 20th) a primetime soap with a mysterious edge, is from writer Marti Noxon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). According to Variety, the show has not been officially added to the midseason roster, but is likely to be ready by then.

8.23.04 - Charisma Carpenter will be appearing in two episodes of Charmed this season, airing on September 26th and October 10th, as The Seer.

8.19.04 - E!Online Fashion Police: Spice Girl - Wow! What's gotten into sweet and innocent little Michelle Trachtenberg? Our all grown up Slayer player looks way hotter than usual at the Teen People party in Los Angeles in a ginger frock, gold accessories and a wicked grin. Could it be the spillover from that steamy sex scene with her character's hunky gay black bodyguard on HBO's Six Feet Under? Hey, we'd be smiling, too.

8.10.04 - The FCC dismissed charges of indecency filed by the Parent Television Council and Americans for Decency against two popular primetime series -- Will & Grace and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The complaint about Buffy came after an April 2003 airing of the series on the Washington DC station, in which Buffy and Spike have a violent fight, and then sex. A statement issued by the FCC read, "The commission noted that there was no nudity and there was no evidence that the activity depicted was dwelled upon or was used to pander, titillate or shock the audience." A similar statement was used in the FCC's decision regarding a Will & Grace episode which aired in March 2003 on a Fox station in Phoenix, in which a female photographer kissed another woman and then 'humped' her. The FCC also noted here that both were fully clothed.

8.3.04 - Kristin at E!Online reports that Joss may be doing some Buffy-related movies of the week for the WB, but Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz have both said that they're not interested in participating.

7.2.04 - From TV Guide Online: Buffy Star's Mean Feet

After the cancellation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Michelle Trachtenberg thought she was done with the small screen. Hoped she was, even. "I'm definitely happy not to be in TV anymore," the ambitious Eurotrip starlet admits to TV Guide Online. Yet when she was invited to parody pop's tarts on Six Feet Under, she eagerly resurrected her tube career. Who can blame 'er? "Celeste is a combination of all the rumors you've ever heard about Britney, Christina and J. Lo all rolled into one," she says of the vixen she debuted in last weekend's episode. "She's just a bitchy little diva!"

Although Trachtenberg's four-episode guest gig has just begun (and continues this Sunday at 9 pm/ET on HBO), she's already back at work on her next feature, Ice Princess, in which she plays a bookworm with secret aspirations to be the next Nancy Kerrigan. "[My character] uses physics to teach people in her community how to skate," she explains, adding that mastering the sport herself was... well, painful. "I've gotten many, many injuries [making this movie]! I'm black and blue everywhere; I've fallen... torn ligaments in my ankles. No one can say I haven't suffered for my art!"

Still, Trachtenberg wouldn't trade the icecapades for anything — after all, she's getting to work with one of her idols, Kim Cattrall... or, as she's become better known, the woman who shut down the Sex and the City flick. Did the Sex fiend give Cattrall a hard time about bowing out of the celluloid reunion? "Not at all!" she insists. "In fact, we haven't spoken about the Sex and the City movie at all. It's just been very cool having her [portray my coach]. She came in one day wearing a sweater [from Samantha's wardrobe] and I said, 'Oh my God, that was the episode where you had the affair in the bathroom!' She said, 'Wow, a little obsessed, sweetie?' I said, 'I know; it's true.'"

by Ben Katner

6.16.04 - TV Guide reports that the animated Buffy the Vampire Slayer series is back on the drawing board–with Sarah Michelle Gellar erased from the cast. According to sources, she chose not to reprise her role, leading creator Joss Whedon to recruit voice-over star Giselle Loren (who did the voice of Buffy for the video game) to mouth off alongside Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon and Anthony Stewart Head in the pilot (potential distributors get a peek next month). In the meantime, story-line possibilities are endless. Says Whedon's rep: "Buffy can now shrink to the size of an ant, and it doesn't matter." That's assuming she can find a reall small stake.

5.27.04 - Jane Espenson is joining FOX's Tru Calling as a co-executive producer.

5.26.04 - KansasCity.com: Musical gives 'Buffy' set its bitee - It's a strong week for DVD collections. Today I'll talk about "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Sixth Season," or, more accurately, "Buffy: The Musical (And 21 Other Episodes)." This is the 2001-02 season set containing the magical "Once More With Feeling," in which everybody – for the only time in the show's seven-year run – sings and dances practically through the entire hour....

5.4.04 - TV Guide Online Caught in the Act: Sarah Michelle Gellar smiled for the cameras on her way to the Key Art Awards, which celebrated the people who make movie trailers and posters... Zzzz. -->

4.29.04 - TV Guide Online reports that Nicholas Brendon (Xander) has entered rehab to treat an alcohol addiction. "After realizing that I had a disease that was taking control of my life, I decided that the best way for me to regain my health was to enter a treatment facility," the actor said in a message posted on his website. "I'm grateful for the love and support I've gotten from my wife, Tressa; my entire family; my business associates; and my friends."

4.26.04 - From TV Guide Online: Buffy Babe Jumps on Bandwagon! - Does life go on after Buffy the Vampire Slayer? It does for Emma Caulfield, the babe behind Sunnydale's late she-demon Anya. "I had been ready to go for a while — [for various] reasons," she tells TV Guide Online, cryptically. "It had nothing to do with [series creator] Joss Whedon; I love him. There were just certain politics around there that made it very difficult to grow."

So, what's a disgruntled vengeance demon to do? Try her luck on the big screen, natch. Since biting the dust in Buffy's May 2003 series finale, Caulfield headlined the hit horror flick Darkness Falls and produced and starred in the indie mockumentary Bandwagon. In the latter pic, which recently debuted at the Newport Beach Film Festival to rave reviews, the former Beverly Hills, 90210 star plays a self-absorbed Hollywood thesp named, um, Emma Caulfield.

The actress concedes that her peeps were a bit worried that audiences might not get that the film was a spoof. "There was definite concern amongst my manager and my lawyer, who were like, 'This could be a bad idea. You're really making yourself look like an a--hole,'" she recalls. "[But] that only fueled me more. I don't know why it brings me such joy to make people think that I could be that big of an idiot."

Several of Caulfield's Buffy colleagues, including Whedon and Tom Lenk (Andrew) agreed to make cameos in Bandwagon, which leads us to the next logical question: What's the latest on talk of a Buffy reunion? "I know Joss has been wanting to do a movie forever," she says. "But I don't know how he would bring me back. I mean, I died." That's never stopped him before.

4.25.04 - From the Apri 25th issue of TV Guide: Seth Green

As a kid, Seth Green was obsessed with the Muppets. Now, at 30, the Buffy and "Austin Powers" star is about to see his fondest fantasy come true. On April 28, he will appear on PBS' Sesame Street as Vinny, a deliveryman for the "Letter-of-the-Month Club." -Michael Logan

Just how big a Muppet nut are you?
Put it this way: I was still wearing Sesame Street T-shirts when I was 17. I never really believed the Muppets were real, but at the same time, they kinda are real, you know? I had a very emotional reaction when I met them.

You're starting to scare me...
I hope I don't come off too crazy in the episode. I flew to New York to do Sesame Street directly from a three-month film shoot in New Zealand. I hadn't slept. I didn't shave. I looked insane.

Sesame Street aside, you sure do a lot of schlocky TV.
I did Married to the Kellys so I could play with my pal Breckin Meyer, and That '70s Show because I'm friends with Wilmer Valderrama.

Why don't you people just do lunch?
It's low-impact work that's a lot of fun, and then I get a check. It's kinda unbelievable.

And now your show Family Guy is coming back two years after cancellation.
The repeats were a bit hit on Cartoon Network, so Fox had to admit they made a mistake. Now they can say it was ahead of its time, bring it back and they look like heroes.

Your "Scooby-Doo 2" costar Sarah Michelle Gellar says you're surprisingly selfless for a comic.
I'm a team player. Michael Jordan passed almost as much as he shot. [Stunned silence] Oh, God. Please don't say I compared myself to Michael Jordan.

4.23.04 - TNT Drama Lounge: James Marsters on Buffy: How Spike buffed his ego - A funny thing happened to James Marsters on his way to television stardom. The actor, who's well known to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel viewers as Spike, trekked to Los Angeles in the '90s with one goal in mind. "I came to make good money," he admits. "The idea was to make a quarter of a million and get out." Financial gain was the only reward he believed he'd reap -- and he was fine with that. "I'd done my artistic thing in the theater. I had already found out who I was as an actor. But you reach a stage in life where you say, 'I don't want to be poor any more....'"

4.21.04 - On April 27th, James Marsters will shave his head live on On Air with Ryan Seacrest in order to raise money for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

4.12.04 - UPN has ordered a sitcom project that will star Charisma Carpenter and Tyler Labine as siblings, from Paramount Network TV, Littlefield Co., and Nervous Properties.

3.25.04 - TV Guide Online: Bloody hell! This bites! This sucks! Whichever vampire pun you choose to express your feelings on the subject, the sad fact remains: Sarah Michelle Gellar will not be resurrecting Buffy the Vampire Slayer for Angel's swan song after all. As foreshadowed in this week's issue of TV Guide magazine (on sale now), the in-demand actress' busy schedule was a deal-breaker. But that's only half of the story.

You see, Gellar wasn't asked to appear in the series finale, she was invited to return for the third-to-last episode (airing May 5). Unfortunately, when that hour was being shot, she was in Tokyo working on the supernatural horror film The Grudge and, obviously, quite unavailable. However, she was free to pick up stakes in the spin-off's capper (airing May 19). So why isn't she doing that installment? Executive producer Joss Whedon didn't want Angel's send-off to "revolve around a guest star," he says simply. "We will deal with the issue of Buffy and how much she means to Angel and Spike, but I want to end the show with the people who've been in the trenches together, the characters who have lived — and occasionally died — together... the regulars."

Whedon's Angel partner, Jeffrey Bell, adds that the idea of building the finale around the long-running Angel/Buffy/Spike love triangle "seemed to undermine the bigger picture. [So Gellar was left off the roster] in the same way that David Boreanaz wasn't involved in the series finale of Buffy." (Editor's Note: Boreanaz did in fact appear in Buffy's last episode; his penultimate cameo carried over into the first five minutes of the finale.)

Before you start sharpening Mr. Pointy and aiming it at the execs' hearts, you should know that, despite their well-thought-out rationale, at the point when they learned Gellar was free to participate in Angel's last hurrah, it was too late for her to do so. "We had already written and shot the episode [for which we originally wanted her] which emotionally dealt with [the romantic rivalry]," Bell says. "So, to go [back] and force her into the very last episode to retread stuff that we already dealt with didn't make any sense.

"By the time it became a possibility," he goes on, "the ship had sort of sailed."

Fine. So, how then will this much-ballyhooed (by us) May 5 episode give closure to Angel, Spike and Buffy — not to mention Angel/Buffy and Spike/Buffy proponents — when the superheroine in the middle of the muddle will be nowhere to be seen? "Angel and Spike arrive at an understanding — that's all I'll say about that," Bell teases. "And without her being involved, Buffy's character has come to some sort of understanding, too."

After that, the vamp-dusting ghostbusters will forge forward toward their final showdown (a two-parter airing May 12 and 19). "We're gonna get to the bottom of why we've been in Wolfman & Hart this whole time and what we're gonna do about it," hints Bell. And, though he refuses to drop any clues as to who will be "left standing at the end," he does promise this: "It's gonna be big!" As Buffy might have replied, "Well, duh!"

3.25.04 - E!Online: Angel-Buffy Reunion Spiked - Don't expect Buffy to show when the end comes for Angel.

Set storylines and scheduling conflicts mean onetime vampire slayer Sarah Michelle Gellar won't be reunited with her undead love when the WB's Buffy spinoff takes its final stab this May.

In an interview with TV Guide Online, creator Joss Whedon said he didn't invite Gellar to appear in the Angel series finale because he didn't want the sendoff to "revolve around a guest star."

"We will deal with the issue of Buffy and how much she means to Angel and Spike, but I want to end the show with the people who've been in the trenches together, the characters who have lived--and occasionally died--together...the regulars."

Gellar was invited to return for the second-to-last episode--the same way David Boreanaz appeared in Buffy's penultimate episode--but the blonde babe couldn't make it because she was in Tokyo shooting the horror film The Grudge.

And by the time producers learned she'd be available for Angel's final episode, it was too late. "We had already written and shot the episode [for which we originally wanted her] which emotionally dealt with [the romantic rivalry]," Whedon's partner, Jeffrey Bell said. "So, to go [back] and force her into the very last episode to retread stuff that we already dealt with didn't make any sense.

"By the time it became a possibility," he goes on, "the ship had sort of sailed."

Instead, the Buffy-Angel-Spike love triangle will be resolved sans the Slayer's participation. "Angel and Spike arrive at an understanding--that's all I'll say about that," Bell said. "And without her being involved, Buffy's character has come to some sort of understanding too."

Less understanding about the show's two-part finale airing May 12 and 19 are the diehard fans, who are hoping for an eleventh-hour miracle. Devoted viewers have mobilized a "Saving Angel" campaign, blitzing the network and media targets with pleas to spare the show, now in its fifth season. A rally is planned March 31 at the Warner Brothers production offices in Burbank.

They might as well try tapping the legal services of Wolfram and Hart. According to E! Online's TV guru Kristin Veitch, Boreanaz is already "looking forward to new challenges." He feels for the fans "because they have been so supportive," but "it's time to start a whole new journey."

3.25.04 - From the March 27th issue of TV Guide: Undying Love - The final battle to capture Buffy's heart
Sarah Michelle Gellar's deal to resurrect Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the May 19 series finale of Angel is all but signed in blood: "If she's available, she'll do it," her manager promises. As a result, viewers may finally learn who is the Chosen One's...um, chosen one. "Definitely, the question of Angel versus Spike looms large in Buffy's mind and in the minds of fans," says Joss Whedon, who created both shows. "But I'm not saying whether or not I have decided to answer it."

What Whedon may mean is that he hasn't yet decided how he will answer it–regardless of Gellar's involvement or how neatly the loose ends are tied up. "Angel and Spike will ultimately feel some kind of resolve about their conflict over Buffy," he insists, adding quickly that the tug-of-war over Sunnydale's stake-driving superheroine will not rule the episode. "It won't be all about that."

We'll bite: If the long-running love triangle won't be the focus, what will the episode be about? "The whole point of Angel is the idea of the fight and how it never stops," Whedon hints. "The finale was always meant to be open-ended in some respect. That doesn't mean I won't kill everybody, but I might not [explain] why."

In the meantime, Whedon will be welcoming back some other familiar faces. Michelle Trachtenberg is in talks to reprise her role as Buffy's kid sis, Dawn, for an early May episode that will also feature the toothsome tag team of Julie Benz (Darla) and Juliet Landau (Dru). But let's face it, Gellar is the "get" that any apocalypse has got to have. "Look, she either wants to do it or she doesn't," shrugs Whedon. "I'm counting on the ensemble I have now. It'd be swell to have her join them." –Michael Ausiello

3.22.04 - From TV Guide Online: Freddie Prinze Jr. looks like he needed a Scooby snack while posing for photogs, alongside wife Sarah Michelle Gellar, at the L.A. premiere of their film Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.

3.17.04 - From the March 20th issue of TV Guide: Buffy Returns
Wanna see Sarah Michelle Gellar like you've never seen her before? Tune in to The Simpsons on March 28 when the former Buffy star voices Gina, a kiddie delingquent who befriends Bart in juvenile detention.

3.8.04 - TV Guide Online reports that former Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar has not ruled out making a guest appearance on Angel's upcoming series finale. "I go back and forth on the idea, especially because Angel had such a hard time, in my opinion, getting out from Buffy's shadow," she tells SCI FI Wire. "And it never got to stand on its own. And I would hate for it to go out being about Buffy." One key factor sure to impact her decision: Gellar, currently in Tokyo shooting the horror film The Grudge, might not be home in time for Angel's last stand. What's more, the erstwhile Chosen One claims no one has approached her -- which sounds a little shady considering what Joss Whedon told me last month.

3.3.04 - TV Guide reports that Joss Whedon's long-rumored Firefly feature film is finally airborne. Universal has officially green-lighted the project, which will be released under the title Serenity and pick up six months after the short-lived Fox series left off. The show's original crew -- headed by Nathan Fillion -- all will be back for the flick. Filming begins in June for a 2005 release.

2.26.04 - TV Guide Online: Buffy's Baby Sis Grows Up

Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer remember Michelle Trachtenberg as Sarah Michelle Gellar's whiny kid sister, Dawn Summers. That's why, for those who've seen Eurotrip — which ain't many, since it kinda tanked last weekend — her role may come as quite a stunner. You see, the petite 18-year-old actress is sick of her wholesome "Dawny" label. So she's thrilled to show off her acting range, not to mention her taut figure in a itsy, bitsy bikini.

"I basically wanted a project that showcased the fact that I was 18," Trachtenberg tells TV Guide Online. "I wanted a role that was age appropriate, [so] people would realize that I'm not the annoying little sister. I never was, really, but they made me be annoying, darn it!"

Though the TV girlie-girl hoped to graduate into womanhood on the big screen, she had her limits. "Right now, I'm going to show off my body until I can't — like when I'm 60 or whatever," she sasses. "My character did originally have a flashing scene, but I wasn't going topless. I sat down with the directors and said, 'I love the script. I think it is really funny, but if I'm going to be a part of it, I will never show my boobs.' If, creatively, it is necessary to do something like that, then I am all about that. But I'm not about the gratuitous t---."

Look for Trachtenberg to don more daring outfits in June, when Six Feet Under returns to HBO. The thesp will do four episodes of the funeral drama as a pop singer called Celeste. "Honestly, when I wrapped Buffy, I made a mental note that I did not ever really want to go back to TV," she says with a sigh. "But Six Feet Under just kind of popped out of nowhere. I was like, 'I love the show. I have to. It is the coolest thing!' [My story line] is a complete spoof, and not what Six Feet Under normally has. I'm really happy to be the girl that they wanted to spoof it up with.

"[Celeste] is sort of a combination of everyone," she previews. "Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Pink and Jennifer Lopez. It is so much fun."

Hmmm... Why is she showing off her pipes now? Don't forget she was very vocal about refusing to serenade viewers in Buffy's famous musical episode. "I wasn't proud of my singing abilities," she recalls, adding, "I shouldn't have to be forced to sing, but apparently, I can carry a tune, so I'll go with that."

2.19.04 - TV Guide Online: Dawning of a New Day: Buffy alum Michelle Trachtenberg looked golden at the Los Angeles premiere of her new film, Eurotrip.

1.20.04 - Zap2It.com: Hannigan and Denisof Find Love in the Whedonverse - All in all, life in Joss Whedon's imaginary universe has been pretty good to Alyson Hannigan and Alexis Denisof, both of whom landed roles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Hannigan co-starred as Buffy's best pal, witch Willow Rosenberg. Denisof guest-starred as stuffy British Watcher Wesley Wyndham-Pryce. That on-set meeting sparked a friendship that led to dating and eventually ended up with a wedding....

1.15.04 - From TV Guide Online: Buffy Star Will Soon Marry

When Buffy the Vampire Slayer wrapped last May, Emma Caulfield was eager to shed her persona as Anya, the self-centered ex-vengeance demon. She wanted to try something different. Instead, she ended up reconnecting with her former 90210 beau, Jason Priestly. They happily reunited to make the ABC Family romantic comedy I Want to Marry Ryan Banks (Sunday at 8 pm/ET).

"I love that man so much," Caulfield tells TV Guide Online. "He is just one of those people I am so grateful that I met. He is really just one of the good ones.

"It was like no time had gone by whatsoever," she continues. "We just picked up right where we left off. And we just had such a good time. He's just lovely and I always wanted to work with him again. We had really good chemistry on Hills. How great that is, because it is rare that you have proven chemistry with someone."

In Ryan Banks, Caulfield plays Charlie, who competes on a reality show to date a famous actor played by Priestly. In a twist, she falls for Banks' best friend and manager, Todd, who's portrayed by former Alias hottie Bradley Cooper. Off screen, Caulfield had to compete for the attention of her handsome costars.

"[Cooper] is really talented, and so funny. He and Jason just got along like childhood friends," she recalls. "They just immediately clicked. They had a total little man-crush on each other. But the two of them just made me laugh, and the three of us spent a lot of time together."

Sounds like Caulfield isn't missing Anya too much. However, she was pleased with the way she ended her Buffy run. "I liked her dying," she admits. "I thought that was very poetic. To sacrifice herself for somebody else was so her whole point. [She went from] being so totally selfish and self-focused to giving the ultimate sacrifice of her life, which was just a beautiful bookend [to her story]."

1.14.04 - Don't miss Emma Caulfield, reunited with her old 90210 cast-mate, Jason Priestly, in the ABC Family movie "I Want to Marry Ryan Banks," airing on Sunday at 8pm ET on the ABC Family Channel.

1.9.04 - Buffy alum Michelle Trachtenberg is headed to HBO's Six Feet Under for a four-episode arc. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actress is in talks to play a pop singer protected by Keith (Michael St. Patrick). In related news, Trachtenberg has signed on to play a figure skater the Disney comedy Ice Princess.

1.8.04 - Yahoo! News: Buffy star works on her orgasms - Hollywood star Alyson Hannigan has been busy working on her orgasms. On the London stage, she is to play the film role made famous by America's sweetheart Meg Ryan in the 1989 cult movie "When Harry Met Sally...."

1.7.04 - From TV Guide Online: Xander on Life After Buffy

OK, so perhaps it's a bit soon for a "Where Are They Now?" piece on Nicholas Brendon. The series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired only last May. Still, we miss our Scooby gang, especially the 32-year-old actor who played goofy good guy Xander Harris. So what's he up to? He just wrapped filming ABC Family's TV-movie, Celeste in the City, which debuts in March. Now, he's poundin' the pavement, seeking work like most thesps in Los Angeles. Here, TV Guide Online finds out his future plans — and takes a look back at Xander's past antics.

TV Guide Online: Alyson Hannigan has a sitcom coming up. Why not you?
Brendon: That's what I really want to do. I want a sitcom! I'm tryin'! I've been taking meetings, just trying to figure out what to do. I did do a sitcom pilot for Fox with Ron Levin — the creator of Married with Children — called The Pool at Maddy Breakers. It didn't get picked up. But good for Alyson. I should call her!

TVGO: How pissed were you that, in Buffy's last season, you were turned into an under-five [minutes of screen time], while a bunch of Slayerettes we'd never seen before hogged all the air time?
Brendon: I was kind of unappreciated, but my wife, Tressa, talked me through it. She said, "It's not quantity, it's quality." And I had a lot of great scenes. After seven years, I think [creator Joss Whedon] pretty much said my character was kinda played out a little bit. So they brought in a bunch of people.

TVGO: Played out? That's whack. Xander always seemed to have interesting stuff to do.
Brendon: He was a great character because he was the only one who didn't have powers. Which is why I lost my eye. [He quotes Nathan Fillion, who played the evil priest, Caleb.] "Oh, you're the one who sees everything. Let's see what we can't do about that."

TVGO: Ugh! That was a gory scene, when Caleb poked your eye out!
Brendon: If we do the Buffy film, I'm gonna be wearing an eye patch. Let's not have Willow just fix it [with magic]. Let's do the patch.

TVGO: Did that hurt?
Brendon: Nathan just had a prosthetic thumb, with a wire running up his arm [to make it retract]. But the fake blood got in my eye. It was a fructose-based liquid. It felt kind of like soap! I had to do an eyewash.

TVGO: You mentioned a movie. Will Buffy hit the big screen?
Brendon: We've talked about it. I'm sure if it happens, it'd be in a couple of years.

TVGO: So nobody's actually signed on the dotted line to do it yet?
Brendon: No, no, no. Joss just always wanted to make the movie. We've only been off the air seven months, so we're just trying to catch our breath.

TVGO: Do you think Buffy bungled the long-simmering Xander/Willow romance by pretending Willow didn't really love him all those years? They had her in love with Oz, then made her Tara's girlfriend.
Brendon: That's a question for the writers. I don't want to p--- anybody off. [Laughs] Too bad they never brought it up again after Season 3. I would love to have made out with Tara and Willow.

TVGO: Wait a sec. You're not disappointed you lost out on Willow. You just want the straight guy's fantasy of romancing two lesbians?!
Brendon: Yeah, gimme a shot! Let's have a little threesome.

TVGO: Oh my! Anyway, has it been hard to move on since Buffy wrapped?
Brendon: It was my first job, so it was very emotional for me. But you get over it, and I still see and talk to all my buds.

12.24.03 - From Zap2It.com: Gellar Reportedly Nixes 'Angel' Visit - It used to be that when the forces of evil needed staking, you could count on Buffy the Vampire Slayer to save the day, but it's possible that she's not that reliable when it comes to supporting her former friends. Despite some speculation that she might drop by The WB's "Angel" this spring, Sarah Michelle Gellar may have already completed her run as Buffy. "I don't know that we'll see her on the show," Whedon tells Sci Fi Wire at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention. "I don't know that she'll ever pick up a stake again. I don't know. But that's really something you'd have to ask her...."

12.23.03 - From Zap2It.com: It's 'When Dylan Met Willow' on West End - The most famous fake orgasm in cinematic history will soon be recreated by former "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" co-star Alyson Hannigan. The once-and-future Willow Rosenberg will star opposite Luke Perry in the London theatrical production of Rob Reiner's 1989 film "When Harry Met Sally." Hannigan will step into the high-maintenance shoes filled by Meg Ryan in the Nora Ephron-scripted film, while Perry ("Beverly Hills, 90210") will take the neurotic role originated by Billy Crystal. The play, like the film, will follow two characters over the years as they go from enemies to friends to lovers and then back again, all the while wondering whether men and women can be friends once sex gets in the way.....

12.15.03 - From TV Guide Online: Sarah Michelle Gellar won't be back as Buffy this season after all. The erstwhile Slayer -- who was in talks to do a two-episode arc on Buffy spinoff Angel during May sweeps -- has opted against picking up stakes again. Says Joss Whedon, creator of both series: "She feels it's not the right time." Gellar's rep declined to comment. In related news, the Scooby-Doo thesp has signed on to star in the horror film The Grudge, an English-language remake of the Japanese thriller Ju-On.

Michelle Trachtenberg by Michel/IPA

Alyson Hannigan and Alexis Denisof by Joe Buissink/WireImage.com

10.9.03 - From TV Guide Online: The WB has given the green light to a full season of Angel, which has performed well on Wednesdays. According to Variety, the Frog network had an option to cut back to 13 episodes if the show tanked. In related news, ex-Buffy the Vampire Slayer scribe Doug Petrie is developing a contemporary take on Lost in Space for the WB.

10.9.03 - Keep an eye out for Alyson Hannigan in a recurring role on That '70s Show on Fox. She will be playing a fellow police-academy recruit to Ashton Kutcher's Kelso.

9.8.03 - From TV Guide: Former Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar recently recorded an episode of Fox's The Simpsons to air in early 2004. In the episode, the Chosen One plays a kiddie delinquent named Gina who befriends Bart in juvenile detention. She later helps the bad seed escape, and the two go on the lam a la The Defiant Ones.

9.4.03 - From TV Guide Online: It's official: Buffy sire Joss Whedon has signed a deal with Universal to turn his short-lived Fox series Firefly into a feature film. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Whedon -- who will pen the script -- will make his big-screen directorial debut with the project. Shooting is expected to begin in early 2004, and it's Whedon's hope that the show's original cast will return.

9.3.03 - E!Online: Eliza Dushku - Buffy's Bad Girl Goes All Martha Stewart and Saves the Day - She's been a cheerleader and a vampire slayer--and now, she sees dead people. But one thing never changes as 22-year-old Eliza Dushku morphs from role to role: This is one tough chick....

8.20.03 - A Fox spokesman is denying rumors that its new fall drama Tru Calling, starring Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Eliza Dushku, is being delayed to midseason. "[The rumors] are untrue," the rep tells TV Guide Online.

8.14.03 - Zap2It.com: 'Jake 2.0' Star Has Fond 'Buffy' Memories - Former "Popular" and "Odyssey 5" regular Christopher Gorham now has a show of his own, "Jake 2.0," premiering Wednesday, Sept. 10, on UPN. But even with the excitement of all that, his eyes light up when he recalls his one-episode stint on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which ended its seven-season run on UPN last year....

8.11.03 - It doesn't look like Nicholas Brendon's new show is going to get picked up midseason.

8.6.03 - Pictures of Sarah Michelle Gellar attending the Teen Choice Awards at Yahoo: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21

8.5.03 - Sarah Michelle Gellar won a Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actress, Drama. The awards ceremony will air on Wednesday, August 6th, at 8pm on FOX.

8.4.03 - E!Online Star Boards: Seth Green will answer your questions.

8.3.03 - The August 8th issue of Entertainment Weekly reports that Joss Whedon is working on a feature film version of his TV flop Firefly, which he wants to start shooting next year. He is also trying to get Sarah Michelle Gellar to schedule time as Buffy in two episode of Angel next season.

7.31.03 - E!Online Fashion Police: Get in Lime - Alyson Hannigan turns over a new leaf at the Los Angeles premiere of American Wedding. She goes ethereal in a mossy green silk georgette gown by Collette Dinnigan, adorned with gold sequins, gold heels, matching clutch purse and drop earrings. This normally garish green is a perfect hue for the pale-skinned, auburn-tressed elfin princess. This is one Buffy sidekick ready to stake her own turf.

7.29.03 - D.B. Woodside (Principal Robin Wood) will be joining the cast of 24 in the upcoming season.

7.25.03 - TV Guide Online "Caught in the Act" - Here comes the bride, all dressed in green! American Wedding star Alyson Hannigan looked glam – and gaunt – at the L.A. premiere of her new movie.

7.17.03 - Buffy the Vampire Slayer received one Emmy nomination for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series (for "Chosen"). The Emmy Awards will be presented live on Fox from the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium on Sunday, September 21st.

7.15.03 - TV Guide Online "Caught in the Act" - Out and about: Seth Green shared a laugh with a drag queen at the opening night of Outfest, where he was promoting his new film Party Monster.

7.1.03 - On July 11th, MTV will premiere the long-delayed Spider-Man: The Animated Series. James Marsters will be one of the guest voices.

6.18.03 - Buffy the Vampire Slayer has received four Teen Choice Award nominations. Sarah Michelle Gellar has been nomintated for Best Actress in a Drama Series, James Marsters has been nominated for Best Actor in a Drama Series, Alyson Hannigan was nominated for Best Sidekick, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer itself has been nominated for Best Drama Series. The awards are scheduled to air Wednesday, Aug. 6 on FOX. Teens can vote on several categories at TeenPeople.com (a subscription is required).

6.17.03 - I found these two great slide shows on Zap2It.com. The first is a collection of promo pics from over the seven seasons of the show, and the second is pics from the series wrap party.

6.16.03 - Matt Roush examines why TV Guide Online proposed an Emmy for Tom Lenk but not for James Marsters.

6.2.03 - TV Guide gives CHEERS to the best finale, series or season, of the year: the May 20 episode of UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Few shows are able to maintain their creators' vision while pleasing fans at the same time. Buffy did it, ending its seven-season run with an episode that ranks among its best. May all those vampires and their slayers rest in peace.

6.2.03 - TV Guide Online "Caught in the Act" - This Bites: Former Buffy sidekick Alyson Hannigan looked disgusted by her American Pie co-star Jason Biggs's show of affection at the MTV Movie Awards.

5.23.03 - TV Guide Online: Buffy Postmortem: Is Spike Dead? - As far as series finales go, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's was a doozy. We laughed, we cried, we hurled large objects at the TV in utter despair. But darnit if the show's creator, Joss Whedon, didn't leave us wanting more... closure, that is. For example, why of all the Scoobies did Anya (Emma Caulfield) have to die? And what's the deal with Spike (James Marsters), who bit the dust just days after making a date with Angel this fall? For answers to those questions and more, read on....

5.23.03 - From TV Guide Online: In Buffy's series finale, Spike (James Marsters) sacrificed himself for his Chosen love (Sarah Michelle Gellar). Won't that make it hard for him to cross over to Angel next season? "The trick is how to bring him back without losing the integrity of what he did," muses exec producer Joss Whedon. Fans are speculating that Whedon and co. will fall back on Shanshu, an ancient prophecy introduced during Angel's first season that says once a vampire with a soul fulfills his destiny, he will become human. "That's an interpretation," he says, "and ultimately, it could become the interpretation if we decide to go that way."

5.22.03 - MSN Access Hollywood: Sarah Michelle's Next Chapter - It's the end of an era on TV as Buffy the Vampire Slayer is laid to rest. The question: How did a show that never was a big ratings winner generate thousands of Web sites, land on 12 Entertainment Weekly magazine covers, and get studied in colleges across the country? The answer: It was a smart show with a huge star, Sarah Michelle Gellar....

5.21.03 - Roush Review from TV Guide: Although it's difficult to put the words "happy" and "the end of Buffy" in the same sentence, I've got to say that I'm happy about the end of Buffy — that is, I'm pleased that Tuesday night's long-dreaded finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was about as satisfying and entertaining a final chapter as I could have hoped to go out on....

5.21.03 - Zap2It.com: 'Angel' Will Keep 'Buffy' Torch Lit - We learned in the third season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" that death isn't necessarily final for vampires with souls. That should be good news for James Marsters. He's scheduled to join the cast of "Buffy" spinoff "Angel" next season, but when we last saw his character, the ensouled vamp Spike, in Tuesday's (May 20) "Buffy" finale, he was disintegrating after quite literally pouring his soul out to defeat the First Evil....

5.21.03 - Zap2It.com: 'Buffy' Finale Stakes Strong Ratings for UPN - "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" went out as it came in -- as a hit among younger viewers, if not the general populace. Tuesday's (May 20) series finale, in which Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the Scoobies and an army of potential slayers battle the First Evil, drew 4.9 million viewers to UPN. The episode drew the biggest audience for the show since October 2002 and finished well above "Buffy's" season average of 3.8 million viewers....

5.21.03 - The 29th Annual Saturn Awards, honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy and horror film and television, were presented on Sunday night (May 18), and Alyson Hannigan won best supporting actress.

5.20.03 - E!Online: Say bye-bye to Buffy with a look back at Sunnydale – and parting words from the cast and crew

5.19.03 - Kristin at E!Online had a live chat with Nicholas Brendon and Emma Caulfield.

5.19.03 - Zap2It.com: TV Gal Spikes Interest - Who was I kidding? How could I possibly think I could narrow the best moments of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to just 10? First of all, I'm not going to even try to pick one moment from "Once More, with Feeling" (Nov. 6, 2001) or "The Body" (Feb. 27, 2001). Those two episodes were so absolutely perfect that I declared them masterpieces and took them out of the running. Still, I agonized over the list until I realized, wait a minute, it's my column, who's to say it can't be 15 favorite moments? I tried to think about the moments that stuck with me. The moments I remember. The moments I wanted to see again. The moments that, well, slayed me....

5.19.03 - Zap2It.com: The Sun Sets on 'Buffy' - The late-April setting sun gilds the main street of Sunnydale, with its brick facades and vintage movie theater. The light also falls on hanging bits of wood and flapping blue tarp, because Sunnydale -- that fictitious haunt of demons, vampires and all manner of evil -- is now just a deserted TV set....

5.19.03 - TV Guide Online: Buffy's Creator Speaks! - Tomorrow night, Buffy the Vampire Slayer will turn in her stakes after seven demon-dusting seasons. Yeah, yeah, we know: This bites. But on the bright side, the Buffy franchise will no doubt outlive the lifespans of Spike and Angel combined – at least if series creator Joss Whedon has anything to say about it....

5.19.03 - Felicia Day (potential Vi) at Teen People's 25 Hottest Stars Under 25.

5.16.03 - Kristin at E!Online: The Stars Tell Sunnydale Tales - Grrr, argh! Does it really have to end? How will life go on without our beloved Scoobies? And what the bejesus am I going to do with myself on Tuesday nights?...

5.16.03 - MSN Entertainment: Buffy's Farewell - The end of the Buffyverse

5.15.03 - Zap2It.com: Fans Bid for a Piece of 'Buffy' - To judge by Internet traffic and message-board postings, there are a number of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" fans out there who aren't ready to let go of the about-to-end series. The show's producer, 20th Century Fox TV, is taking steps to assure that some won't have to -- at least not completely. The studio is holding an online auction through eBay...

5.15.03 - Eliza Dushku's (Faith) new show, Tru Calling, has been picked up for the fall season by FOX, and will air Thursdays at 8pm ET.

5.13.03 - Harry Groener's (the Mayor) new comedy, oddly enough entitled The Mayor, has been picked up as a mid-season show for next season by the WB.

5.13.03 - Bianca Lawson's (Kendra) new drama, Fearless, has been picked up for the fall season by the WB, and will air on Tuesdays at 9pm ET.

5.13.03 - Indigo's (Rona) new cop drama, 10-8, has been picked up for the fall season by ABC, and will air on Sundays at 8pm ET.

5.12.03 - TV Guide: Wicked Fun - From "the Master" to "the First," one "Big Bad" after another has plotted to bring about doomsday in Sunnydale. Here, we rate the Buffy evildoers on a scale of one stake (villains who suck) to four (baddies with bite)....

And there's more on Buffy in this week's paper issue of TV Guide.

5.11.03 - Zap2It.com: Gamers Get New 'Buffy' Fix Come August - There's only two original episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" left, but for video gamers the Sunnydale adventures aren't drawing to a close quite yet. Vivendi Universal Games will release "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds" in August for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Ninendo GameCube gaming platforms....

5.9.03 - Zap2It.com: The New Girl - On UPN's Tuesday-night drama "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which ends its seven-season run on May 20, Iyari Limon plays Kennedy, a potential vampire slayer who joined Buffy's (Sarah Michelle Gellar) evil-fighting army earlier this season. The 19-year-old Kennedy and the other potentials -- all teenage girls who could be "called" to duty upon the current slayer's death -- are locked in a battle with the noncorporeal First Evil and its latest human cohort, misogynistic fallen preacher Caleb (Nathan Fillion)....

4.29.03 - Marti Noxon answers some questions from E!Online's Kristin.

4.28.03 - Matt Roush from TV Guide: So Good It's Scary - Now this is what I call recycling. In conjuring memorable new supervillains for his masterful dark fantasies Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, executive producer Joss Whedon enlisted two charismatic stars who earlier this season played heroes on his short-lived sci-fi Western Firefly. The result: some of the year's most blistering and chilling entertainment. Apocalypse wow!....

4.21.03 - With the show ending, Simon & Schuster has announced that it will release its final Buffy novel on May 20.

4.17.03 - Zap2It.com: End of 'Buffy' Only Makes Gellar Stronger - Next week, Freddie Prinze Jr. and his wife, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star Sarah Michelle Gellar, are due to head to Vancouver, Canada, to start production on the "Scooby-Doo" sequel. Work on the film immediately follows the end of production on "Buffy," which is shutting down after seven seasons -- five on The WB and the last two on UPN. Without going into specifics, Prinze hints that the later seasons of "Buffy" may have been rough for his bride....

4.11.03 - Nicolas Brendon has been cast in the FOX sitcom pilot The Pool at Maddy Breakers.

4.4.03 - Watch with Kristin at E!Online: The Spinoff Sitch to the Crossover Conundrum, It's a Buffy Bonanza.

4.1.03 - Zap2It.com: Angel Returns to Sunnydale for 'Buffy' Endgame - The final episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" will be lousy with ensouled vampires. UPN on Tuesday (April 1) confirmed the widely held notion that the original vamp-with-a-soul, Angel (David Boreanaz), will play a part in "Buffy's" final story arc. The final five episodes begin airing Tuesday, April 15, leading up to the series finale on May 20 (no original episode is scheduled for April 22)....

3.31.03 - James Marsters is in talks to bring his character of Spike over to Angel on the WB.

3.24.03 - Zap2It.com: Far from Buffy's Weakest Lenk - Last month , news broke that Sarah Michelle Gellar was driving a stake through the heart of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and moving on to other projects after this season. That same afternoon, at least one member of the ever-expanding "Buffy" admitted that he isn't worried about his how the show's end will affect his livelihood. Tom Lenk is, after all, just happy to be alive....

3.19.03 - TV Guide Online: Slay What?! Joss Whedon on Life After Buffy With the clock ticking until Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar tapes her final appearance as the Chosen One, series creator Joss Whedon is running short on time. Not only does the Hollywood wunderkind have to outline the cult hit's last three episodes, but he also must consider his spinoff options, mull over possible feature projects and, in his free moments, play house with wife Kai Cole and their 4-month-old son. Yet, somehow, he manages to spare a few minutes for TV Guide Online....

3.13.03 - TV Guide Online: Buffy Spinoff: Willow the Vampire Slayer? With Sarah Michelle Gellar preparing to dust her last blood-suckers on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Eliza Dushku committed to the Fox pilot Heroine, who ever will protect viewers from things that go bump in the night? Our chosen one is Alyson Hannigan, aka the wickedly funny witch Willow. And series creator Joss Whedon just might agree with us, too. "The concept sounds cool," he admits to TV Guide Online....

• April 2000 The Xander Years No.2 by Jeff Mariotte. More novelization of Xander episodes.
• May 2000 Immortal by Chris Golden and Nancy Holder. Paperback.
• June 2000 The Evil that Men Do by Nancy Holder. When a smart, well-balanced student suddenly shoots his family and then himself, Buffy and her gang suspect the usual vampires, demons or witches. But when it turns out that everyday stuff like drugs, pressure, and thwarted love are to blame, Buffy decides to dig a little deeper. (This book was originally scheduled for July 99, was rescheduled after Columbine.) Here be Monsters by Cameron Dokey.
• July 2000 The Monster Book by Tom Sniegoski, Chris Golden, Stephen Bissette. A reference guide to all the monsters that have appeared on the show, their legends and folklore and their pop-culture connections to tele- vision, movies, comics, etc.