I keep hearing rumors that there is talk, talk of rebooting the groundbreaking television series BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. And I honestly don’t know whether this would be a good thing or a bad thing. Could they possibly capture the lightning in a bottle again, the way they did with the first series (which remains, as of now, the only series)? I just don’t think they could. Also, the world has changed since then. Think back to when BUFFY debuted on the fledgling WB Network in 1997. Who could have predicted that it would even last, much less become the cultural phenomenon that it is? Certainly not I. I wouldn’t have given a nickel for its chances. Such TV shows simply didn’t have the ability to garner ratings sufficient to keep them on the air. BUFFY was a fluke.
How much geek fare was there on the airwaves back then? There was BUFFY and there was THE X-FILES. That was it, in terms of the standouts. Everything else was stupid sitcoms and doctor shows and the seventy-seven spinoffs of LAW AND ORDER. Today, if they tried to bring a new Buffy to the screen, look at what she’d have to compete against? And worst and most formidable of all, she’d have to measure up to Sarah Michelle Gellar. No, I just don’t see it working out.