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  • January 2009
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  • October 2008

Buffy cast reunion panel

As part of what is already becoming a long series of posts on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, here’s one more about a random bonus DVD!

I don’t know if you’re all aware, but (some of) the cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a reunion last year at an event called the Paley Festival. Believe it or not, I actually have a friend who attended this star-studded event (I lost her to Hollywood a long time ago…). Of course, this was the one panel she didn’t attend. No accounting for taste. But her countless photos of everything non-Buffy at the festival just made me want to see the full session even more. I tried YouTube, but only short, highly grainy clips seemed to be available, and I couldn’t find it on iTunes. Naturally, I didn’t even think to look for a DVD version. (Yes, duh, I know.)

Well, the holidays to the rescue. I got it as a gift! Without even asking for it! I have the best friends… Anyway, I watched it today and, since it’s purchasable pop culture, I just had to write about it. (Just as an aside: if you haven’t watched all of Buffy, and plan to, you probably don’t want to buy this, as it does, not surprisingly, contain many, many spoilers.)

So, details…

TECHNICAL: It’s 1 DVD of 85 minutes, and only contains the Buffy cast reunion panel that took place on March 20, 2008 in L.A. at the annual Paley Festival (courtesy of the Paley Center for Media). No extras. As an additional note, they showed the episode Once More, with Feeling at the actual event, but it is not shown on the DVD.

NON-BUFFY PARTICIPANTS: Moderated by Matt Roush of TV Guide, who does the introductions, asks the questions, fortunately lets the cast do most of the talking, and occasionally interrupts audience members. Unfortunately, Matt is in turn introduced by a Paley Festival person who, if I’m not mistaken, calls the show Buffy and the Vampire. (hmmm)

CAST: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) and Joss Whedon (beloved creator of the show) provide actual details, stories, and information, James Marsters (Spike) waxes poetic, Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn) inserts cracks about her oft-disliked character (the whining! the stealing!), Nicholas Brendon (Xander) makes an unfortunate number of bad, and sometimes inappropriate, Xander-style jokes, Seth Green (Oz) shows why he has a well-respected comedy series (Robot Chicken), Amber Benson (Tara) avoids a question by using Marlon Brando (?) and has fun sitting next to Seth, Emma Caulfield (Anya) talks about a real-life Anya moment and hides half of her face with a debonair black hat, and Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia), Marti Noxon (writer/exec producer), and David Greenwalt (writer/co-creator of Buffy spin-off Angel) barely talk.

Obvious notably missing persons:

1. Anthony Stewart Head (Giles)
2. David Boreanaz (Angel)
3. Eliza Dushku (Faith)
4. Angel-only cast members like Amy Acker (Fred/Illyria), J. August Richards (Gunn), etc.
5. …and (tear!) Alyson Hannigan (Willow), along with her significant other, Alexis Denisof (Wesley)

This is also the event where Sarah Michelle Gellar discovered certain crucial details, of which she was totally unaware, about her character’s, um, intimate relationships in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 graphic novels. Sarah’s bug-eyed look is classic. Here’s the clip, via YouTube (SPOILER ALERT!!):

(As Seth later says during the panel, and I’m loosely paraphrasing, none of this would have happened if anyone else in the cast was a geek.)

In any case, you can buy the DVD on Amazon by clicking on the DVD image at the very top of the post. And since there is always more than one way to find media these days, you can also purchase it via ebay, where many sellers will be more than happy to provide you with the DVD for a fee.

Also: for any future reunions/interviews/making-ofs, more information on the Buffy hackey sack circle, please! (you’ll understand when you watch the DVD)

comments

• string theories

  What line of work you in, Bob?
  
  - Ryan the Temp to "Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration" at The Office's Christmas party
  
  

• featured brown paper packaging

  What is it with accessories and DVD sets these days? Are knick knack companies going through some rough times? Or are studios just really desperate to sell DVDs? (Probably the latter.) First there was A Christmas Story (Ultimate Collector's Edition), with its cookie cutters, recipe book, apron, commemorative Christmas tin... (Whoa, I know.)
  
  And now there's The Notebook (Limited Edition Gift Set), which comes with a scrapbook album (with stickers!), notecards, envelopes, and "themed" bookmarks. But... wait for it... no new DVD extras or features! So totally worth it. Check out Entertainment Weekly for the lackluster DVD set review (a grade of D - harsh). Or, even better, Amazon's video montage of the contents, set to the soothing, Jane Austen movie-esque sounds of The Notebook's theme music. Hey, they know their audience.