by KrisBo5 » Wed Jun 19, 2002 11:09 am
AutumnT suggested that I drop in on this discussion since I attended the little festivity last night at the Academy. So, . . .
First, let me say that I was present at the first BVS party thing when it was celebrated by The Museum of Radio & Television William S. Paley Festival after its 1st or 2nd year, so I knew what to expect. Or, should I say, I thought I knew what to expect.
The lights went down and they showed a 4-5 minute montage of clips from the show, particularly Season 6. Most had Sarah in htem, but there were big chunks with Xander/Anya, Dark Willow/Buffy, Spike/Buffy. Then the man who was the mod on CSI came out and talked about BVS and the nights moderator. And the show began. They all marched out and found their respective seats. Aly proceeded to try to put her Hello, my name is sticker on her shirt, then Nicholas, then it got stuck on the frills of her sleeve. Everyone laughed as she shook her arm all over; Nicholas finally peeled it off and stuck it on her seat.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with Hellcat, the moderator, Janet Weeks of TV Guide was very bad; couldnt control the panel and sounded like a fan rather than someone there as a facilitator for the event. We were supposed to be able to ask questions and didnt get to. Also, the whole set-up, with her in the middle, forced the guests to look at her and not towards the audience. Very annoying. They also were given hand-mikes, instead of lapel-mikes, so they were fairly constrained in movement.
Her first question, about the Musical episode, sparked comments for quite sometime. Joss said Aly had said she wanted to sing and dance and kept bugging him, at which point, Aly raised her mike and said in a small voice, No. He said it did come out of the readings at his house and that James, from then on, constantly had his guitar and was very eager to sing. So he wrote a musical. He said he taylored all the songs not only to the performers, but also to existing sets. He said he thought it was fantastic and was impressed by everyone, cast on down to the crew. When asked about which person surprised him the most with hidden talent, Joss responded Emma Caulfield. They each talked about how scared they were, nervous about doing stuff like that, but once they started, they got into it. Michelle said that she cried cause she was upset that she had to sing, but when she finally did it, she felt better; she trusted Joss.
The tone of the season was brought up and he and Marti basically said, thats life, thats what we wanted and needed to explore; that they wanted to get their characters to certain places and to experience certain things and this is how they did it. Whoop-di-doo. Thanks ever so much! Joss said he felt he needed to explore dark things cause Buffy was resurrected, Willow was a junky, etc. Love and loss.
Sex was brought up. How graphic it was, etc. Joss said it had a purpose, particularly in Smashed, when Spike and Buffy have sex for the first time and the house falls down around them. He said it was a metaphor for her life, she was out of control and lost and sad. Okay. Some jokes were had about the sock James had to wear, that it got bigger or smaller depending on how cold the set was; also, that Sarah always had clothes on and laughed at him cause he didnt.
Tara was brought up. Silence and then a hum filled the auditorium. Joss looked up at the ceiling and Marti looked down, as did everyone else on the panel. He started talking about how hard it was to do it, but that he knew he had to, that it was right; it served his purpose of getting Willow from A to B (hes a smart man, he couldnt come up with something else???). He spoke about the gun, saying they brought up guns and how awful they are, in several previous episodes; then, Tara is killed by one, and it is the most human, mundane way to die. Joss and Marti both had comments about positive portrayals of gay couples on tv, and that they didnt believe they were killing Tara cause she was gay; just to serve the story. The moderator said, She couldnt have been wounded? And Nicholas said, She was. Just mortally. Ha Ha, very funny. It didnt go over very well. Aly was very quiet during this part, nodding every now and then, but her eyes were downcast for the most part. Everyone spoke very highly of Amber, how much they love her and miss her, how hard it was to lose her (are we surprised, Kitties?). When Michelle spoke with great affection and loss, Aly joked that Shes not really dead, and it lightened the moment briefly.
There was a lot of talk about how fantastic the writing is, and lots of praise for the DP. Aly and Michelle, and actually all of the cast, kissed up to the DP quite a bit, remarking that he can give them great light and make them all look wonderful, or give them bad light and make them look awful. To which, Joss commented, We didnt exactly hire dogs(or something like that).
About Spike. Another Angel. No, Joss said, we did that already, were still doing that, just on the WB. Spike is completely different and will go through stuff he never thought he would and James will be tested greatly.
Joss brought up The Trio, and mentioned Dark Willow killing Warren. Everyone clapped. Good on Alys performance and on her characters behavior. Joss said if any of the characters were like the writers, it was those three. He said they were the funnest villains and the discussions they had were pretty much what the writers talked about.
About Season 7. Yes, Sunnydale High will re-open and Dawn is the age that Buffy was when she became the Slayer. Hmm. She will get to wear black, high heels, and do some ass-kicking. Willow will have to face the consequences of killing Warren, but she wont be all weepy and guilty for the whole season(Joss is quoted as saying Tara is gone for good, Amber is not in an interview on SciFi Channel as well as Saturn Awards and such. He reiterated that they were going back to the original mission statement of female power, and that, although there would always be angst and heartache, it would not be as dark as this season was. Also, he said there would probably be more Giles, as The Watcher on the BBC has stalled production. Joss did say that he realized how much of an impact Anthony Head had on the show when he came back for the finale. Everyone clapped.
Nicholas said he cried when he watched Aly and Amber in Seeing Red, particularly the blood splatter and Alys reaction and sobbing. She seemed embarrassed by the attention but did tell the fun(if you can call it that) story about all the takes to get the splatter pattern correct; they only had 2 shirts and had to keep washing them; eventually she just wore a wet shirt and then did cry when the Cut! Print! was called.
Shes just so cute.
Then there was some mumble-jumble and Joss turned to the audience and said Someone ask a question. To which, Janet Weeks announced, No, sorry, thats it, were out of time. She didnt thank them, or the audience, or the Academy. She was bad. Then everyone went up to the stage and tried to get autographs. I shook Alexis Denisoffs hand and Marti, Joss, and most importantly, Alys. She is beautiful, and so people-friendly. Just not a single Im a star bone in her body.
I think that just about covers it, if I think of anything else, Ill drop it in later today or tonight.
KrisBo5
When it comes to matters of the heart, there is nothing a fool wont get used to. Michael McDonald
Frell that!
PS, if Amber were to come back for one or two episodes only, she would not be under contract. She would be considered a "Day Player" or "Weekly PLayer" Only for an extended period of time would they contract her, thus securing her services for the show and preventing her from signing to do something else.
! However, with both Amber's and Aly's comments I truly believe we will probably get AU Tara. It's not what I want, but hopefully if we ever get official confirmation on if/how many episodes we can finally figure out what Amber will be playing, and how this affects Willow's story. Of course this could all be spin to keep us watching in hope of seeing Amber, and with that in mind I hope soon we learn either way (yes she is coming back for x number of episodes of no Tara is dead). I am tired of the guessing game, and really have no desire to think about this all summer!
