James Marsters on Spike as Spock

Great insights as James Marsters compares the character Spike with Mr. Spock from Star Trek!

ET Online:

"In Buffy, I thought that I wanted to be the new Spock," he tells ET. "I was a little side character that no one really thought would be much, but I kind of turned the theme at a different angle so you could kind of look at it. …Spock was that side character that nobody thought would be much and he ended up kind of turning the theme on its head, ‘cause Star Trek really was about human beings perfecting a world view and then sharing it with the galaxy, and then Spock was just trying to figure out how to be human in the first place."

The now fifty-something star was just one of many sci-fi icons present at Creation Entertainment’s Grand Slam Convention: The Star Trek and Sci-Fi Summit in Burbank, CA, among other such notables as Sir Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, and many more.

. . . "In the world of Buffy, vampires were supposed to be ugly and very quickly dead. Joss used to say that he wasn't into the Anne Rice thing. He didn't want vampires to be romantic. That's why in Buffy when we bite people we become hideously ugly. Because in Buffy vampires are a metaphor for all the problems you face in adolescence. So, the vampires of today are very different. They're more in the Anne Rice vein. And that's cool too."

"I think every generation has their own take on vampires, and I think it's fabulous," he continued. "I think vampires, for some reason, they are the most malleable of all of the basic archetypes of horror. Like, wolfman has to be wolfman, has to be a good man or woman that's forced to do evil by the moon. If the wolfman is a jerk, it just doesn't work. Or, if the invisible man is not a jerk, it won't work. The reason the invisible man works is he's a real jerk and so the audience is terrified when he's invisible cause, what's he going to do now? If it's a really nice guy and he's invisible, who cares? But for some reason, vampires can almost be anything. You can use them to whatever ends that you want. Whatever the zeitgeist is in this decade, or whatever, vampires can morph to fit that."

~~~More at Link~~~

What does he think of Joss Whedon? (My transcript)

Joss is a true artist. I knew him when he was about to have a heart attack at all times. I asked him one time "It must be wonderful to wind up the universe and just see how it plays out." And he was like sweating, and like "Yeah, the problem is, I have to keep winding."
He was really killing himself to put the show out and basically do a 48 hour movie every week. And so, I got to see him under intense pressure. He's a genius so it's like, some days you'll get a huge amount of love, and some days you want to hide from him.

Buffy related shows top TV Guide List of Shows to Un-Cancel

TV Guide posted a list of cancelled shows that fans wish would return to the small screen, and out of 15, three were Buffy-related - including two in the top five shows. I think that's a sign that Buffy fandom is just as strong as Star Trek fandom, and these shows will never die.


Number 14 on their list ~ Sarah Michelle Geller's "Ringer"

The CW series that was supposed to mark Sarah Michelle Gellar's big return to television post-Buffy was canceled after just one season, leaving viewers to wonder what exactly happened to recovering drug addict Bridget Kelly and her twin sister Siobhan Martin, whose identity Bridget assumes. The show's loyal fanbase has launched several online petitions to revive the show, in order to gain answers to questions — What really happened to Malcolm? Will Siobhan try to get revenge on Bridget? — that remain unanswered.

Number 3 ~ "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"

All these years later, our users still want be slayed on a weekly basis. It wouldn't take a genius to revise Buffy. Dark Horse Comics' continuation of the series provides ample story lines to draw from. Though sadly, the gang would be down one Scooby since Anya died in the final battle. But at least, thanks to Angel, Spike could return to try his hand at wooing our favorite Slayer once again.

Number 1 on the List ~ "Firefly"

Joss Whedon's beloved one-season wonder was canceled after airing only 11 of its 14 episodes (some of which Fox aired out of order). But fans' devotion to buying DVDs and spreading the word did help Whedon continue the story on the big screen via the feature film Serenity. Although that rare opportunity probably makes a return to TV for Captain Mal unlikely, our users have proven once again which show has the most devoted fan following. If any group could get their favorite canceled show back on the air, it's the Browncoats!

Joss Whedon Talks Avengers II

Joss Whedon's modern update of Much Ado About Nothing opened in Ireland today, and he did a press interview which mentioned his attitude towards The Avengers II:

From ComicBookMovie:

Responding to questions about doing more Shakespeare, Whedon says he doesn't want to do another one exactly like he did Much Ado About Nothing. He says that he needs to keep trying different things from a creative standpoint. From there, the discussion turned to The Avengers sequel.

Whedon: When I first considered doing Avengers 2, my first question was what can I do that's new? Because I can't make it bigger....but I can make it better.

The moderator asks about his philosophy for Avengers 2.

Whedon: Death, death and death. (Crowd applauds madly.)

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Homecoming

This week I've posted some of the songs from the episode "Homecoming," Season 3 - Episode 5.

More about the Episode Here

At the beginning of the episode, the song "Fall Into Loneliness" by Lori Carson plays at The Bronze as the gang discusses renting a limo for the Homecoming Dance. (Later, Buffy and Cordelia end up sharing the limo, which gets hijacked, putting them both in danger). In addition to Buffy, Lori Carson's music has been featured on Dawson's Creek, Melrose Place, Baywatch, CSI Miami and Roswell.



Next is "Jodi Foster" by Pinehurst Kids. This song plays while the kids are having their pictures taken for Homecoming.



The poignant song "How" by Lisa Loeb plays when Xander and Willow kiss. This is foreshadowing for what happens in "Lover's Walk" when Cordelia almost gets a spike through the heart after catching Xander and Willow kissing once again, leading to her final break-up with Xander. Lisa Loeb is best known for her song "Stay" which easily could have been a Buffy song.



Next is the song "Fire Escape" from the band Fastball that provides the background music as Buffy and Cordelia run their competing campaigns to be Homecoming Queen of the school. Fastball is a band from Texas that had a huge hit in 1999 with the song "The Way" from the Album "All the Pain Money Can Buy." The song used in Buffy, "Fire Escape" is also from that album.

I like the first few lines of this song because they fit Buffy's confusion over how to be a Slayer yet fit in with the highschool kids. It also captures the predicament of Xander, who feels he never measures up to Cordelia's standards, and poor Willow who is trying hard not to be jealous but can't fight her long-time feelings for Xander, in spite of her new relationship with Oz.

Well I don't wanna be President, Superman or Clark Kent,
I don't wanna walk 'round in their shoes
'Cause I don't know who's side I'm on
I don't know my right from wrong
I don't know where I'm going to
I don't know about you



The theme of "being yourself" is completely appropriate for this episode, since Buffy goes way out of her comfort zone trying to prove herself by being Homecoming Queen. Also, Cordelia proves that she isn't quite as shallow as she appears sometimes.

And the video starts out like an episode of Buffy, with a teenage girl making toast in the kitchen. The normalcy is juxtaposed with band members showing up as dead bodies - a true Buffy touch.

Finally there is a song by the band Four Star Mary, the real band behind Oz's fictional band "Dingoes Ate My Baby" plays the song "She Knows." Four Star Mary is an alternative rock band from California and their songs were used more than any other band in the Buffy series, thanks to Oz being featured at the Bronze so many times. Read More Here

Buffy's Marc Blucas Joins "Killer Women" on ABC

On Buffy, Marc Blucas played Buffy's boyfriend Riley Quinn, and his nickname for her was "Killer." Now the actor has joined the cast of a new drama about the Texas Rangers called "Killer Women." I wonder about the theme of the show at a time when society is trying to de-gun itself, but oh well . . . I hope it's a hit for Marc Blucas!

Via Hollywood Reporter

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Necessary Roughness star Marc Blucas is about to meet some killer women.

The actor has been tapped to co-star opposite Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer in ABC's adaptation of Killer Women...

. . . The drama centers on Molly Parker (Helfer), the only woman in the notoriously male Texas Rangers.

Blucas will play Dan, an East Coast educated, dedicated DEA agent who's personally reserved and highly noncommittal. He has an undeniable attraction to and physical relationship with Molly but like her, admits superficial is all he can handle. The duo will work together to solve open cases.

Happy Birthday to Anthony Stewart Head

Happy Birthday to a great actor, Anthony Head, who played Buffy's stuffy but perceptive Watcher and father-figure, Rupert Giles, through all eight seasons of the show. A versatile actor, he has played many other roles in movies and TV shows including Merlin, Doctor Who, Monarch of the Glen, Sweeney Todd (as a ghost of a victim), and a London stage production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

According to his IMDB Biography Head is 59 years young today.

Whedon Talks About S.H.I.E.L.D.

From ComicBook.com

Joss Whedon said, “I’m excited about the show because it’s a very hopeful show. It’s not about murder, and it’s not about crime, and it’s not people looking into their own belly buttons. It’s about people who are trying to help each other, and that’s one of the things I loved about comic books. They had costumes and the villains were cool [but] they stood for something, and I like doing a show that does that.”

More from TVLine

“We’re trying very hard to be true to [Marvel's] ethos and also to the structure of their universe,” Whedon shared. “So it is definitely a Marvel show.”

That said, Whedon says to expect “not a ton” of familiar faces from the Marvel-verse, though “there’s a little bit of talk of that” for any possible future the project has in primetime. “Right now, I want to involve people in the characters that we’ve created for the show,” Whedon said, “and then we’ll worry about [the other stuff].”

. . . Currently, the cast for S.H.I.E.L.D. — which wrapped filming on the pilot last week and is being fast-tracked by ABC — includes ER alum Ming-Na (as former soldier Melinda May), Clark Gregg (reprising his big-screen Avengers role as Agent Phil Coulson), Nashville’s Chloe Bennet (playing superhero culture-obsessed Skye), British beauty Elizabeth Henstridge (science expert Gemma Simmons), Scotsman Iain De Caestecker (tech whiz Leo Fitz) and Brett Dalton (rising star Agent Grant).

Joss Whedon wins British Film Bloggers Award

Joss Whedon has won an award in Britain:

From Cinemart

At the BFI Southbank’s bar tonight (16th Feb), the BFBC (British Film Bloggers Circle) Awards were announced. . . .

Best Director
Joss Whedon
Best Film
Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress
Marion Cotillard – Rust and Bone (not The Dark Knight Rises!)
Best Actor
Joaquin Phoenix & Daniel Day-Lewis share the distinction (ironic, really)
Best British Film
Anna Karenina
Best Screenplay
The Master – Paul Thomas Anderson
Best Adapted Screenplay
Cosmopolis – David Cronenberg
Newcomer Award
Matthias Schoenaerts – Rust & Bone/Bullhead

Here is Whedon talking last year about directing The Avengers and creating a "contemporary pop mythology":

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Velvet Chain

There is so much music to enjoy in the Buffy-verse, from the musical score of the series to the songs played by various bands at The Bronze. Where to start?

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday will be an ongoing feature of this blog until the music runs out, which will be years from now, or never, because remember there's also Angel and other shows and movies.

Let's start with a band from Season One of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, episode five which as called "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date," The artist is Velvet Chain, who played at the Bronze while Buffy danced with a boy named Owen.

But for this post, let's hear the two songs that were actually played in the show and which many fans associate with the relationship between Buffy and Angel, the remorseful vampire with a soul.

"Strong" is found on Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Album (1999 Television Series), while Treason can be purchased from Amazon. Later Velvet Chain released The Buffy EP inspired by the show. Read more about it HERE.

Sarah Michelle Geller in New TV Comedy

Exciting news: Sarah Michelle Geller will co-star in a new comedy for CBS called "Crazy Ones." This will be her first acting gig since giving birth in September to her second child, a baby son named Rocky with actor Freddie Prinze, Jr. The couple have been married for ten years and also have a young daughter, Charlotte Grace.

Entertainment Weekly

Gellar is set to co-star in the CBS pilot Crazy Ones, a single-cam comedy about a father (Williams) and daughter who run an advertising agency together. The former Buffy the Vampire Slayer star will play Sydney Roberts, the intense and driven daughter of Williams’s Simon Roberts.

Gellar last headlined CW’s one-season drama Ringer, a role that was billed as her post-Buffy return to television and was part of the 2011-2012 TV season.

First Post ~ Beginning

This blog is my new way to celebrate the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and other works of Joss Whedon including TV shows such as Angel and Firefly, and movies such as The Avengers. I will also follow the careers of the stars such as Sarah Michelle Geller, David Boreanaz, and others. I'm a fan but also interested in the writing and literary analysis of the scripts, and the influence on other books, shows, and society in general. I hope you enjoy reading this blog.