Well, the crazy week at Paley ended last night with my most anticipated event, the BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Reunion.

Knowing that the event was going to be the biggest night of the week, Kath and I had to strategize a game plan in hopes of scoring the best seats possible. Luckily we didn’t have to camp out the night before as some folks did because we had the Premium Package seats which guarantees you the first 4 rows
(suckas). Honestly, I would have been fine with any of those but deep down I knew that the fan in me wanted as close to the front as possible.

We had an early lunch with our pal Holly then Kath drove me over to the Arclight to line up at 2pm. The event wasn’t until 7 but when I got there the Stand By (wishful fans) and General Admission lines were OOC! We went around to the front where the Premium folks line up and thankfully we were the 10th & 11th people in line.

The group up there was hysterical. They’d started to create a seating chart which each of us picked our seats on so that it was a nice/friendly/orderly way of getting into the front rows without it turning into a scene our of Pamplona. I called it the Tooth Chart because no matter how brilliant and drop dead funny it was to create a chart, the damn thing looked like the chart at your dentist where they point out your issues teeth. Whatever, I’m rambling. The whole thing was called Operation Streisand and it was so not as gay as it sounds. Think cock-blocking a Babs serenading Pushy McPusher that the night before had elbowed someone at the front of the line.

You may ask… where was Kath in all of this? Well, she was down the street at a Borders so that she could finish watching the end of the series (so sad, Project Buffy is over) before the damn reunion! Why Borders you ask? Well, she was afraid the people in line would lynch her for having not being a long-time die hard fan. Don’t be haters.

She came back around 4:30, we got our package passes at 5 and were told that at 5:30 we’re going in. Thank God the Paley Center and the Arclight came up with a plan of action for the night because up until this point (ie. every other night of Paley), it was one of the most poorly organized crowd control situations I’ve ever seen. For Buffy they had security up the wazoo and routinely checked in to tell us how entrance to the theatre would work in order to avoid a stampede. The Tooth Chart was adhered to and we all filed in 2×2 (not 5×5 b/c Eliza didn’t show - boooooo). And we’re in…

Once we got in the theatre it was just one big geeky Whedon waiting game. There was chatter that Alyson Hannigan (our dear Willow) and Eliza Dushku weren’t going to make it but I tried not to panic because really for me it was going to be about watching Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon and Sarah Michelle Gellar talk about the show. Though, I would have loved to received some information on Joss’ DOLLHOUSE but whatevs… Life goes on.

Marti Noxon took to the stage (apparently wearing underwear) and told us that Joss was still on his way over and then introduced a screening of “Once More With Feeling.” While I totes would have preferred that those 43 minutes be used for the Matt Roush moderated panel, not having Joss there would have been an issue.

After my Buffy loving gay ass cried a little when Buffy sang that she was expelled from heaven (that part can make me tear up while listening to the soundtrack as well - because that’s how I roll) the lights came up and Roush introduced the gang.

David Greenwalt (Co-Exec. Producer), Amber Benson (Tara), Seth Green (Oz), Charisma Carpentar (Cordelia), Marti Noxon (Writer/Exec. Producer), Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn), Emma Caufield (Anya), James Marsters (Spike), Nicholas Brendan (Xander), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy), and Joss Whedon (The Master - with standing ovation) took their seats and it was time for me to pass out a little. Sweet Jesus there they all were.

Can we talk about the hotness of the ladies on the panel? Amber is looking damn sexy with the bangs. Charisma’s breasts, still ripe from having a baby = marvelous and check out Emma’s hot pants. I’d like to see her dancing crazy in those short shorts. Buffy herself was looking flawless in her pink number but some were complaining about her hair. Myself, I don’t mind it at all.

The boys? Seth Green was sporting what looked like a black velour leisure suit but it still made him look adorable. James had literally come directly off a plane from shooting the new Dragonball film and as Kath will tell you, looking a little more like Spike’s real age. Nicholas looked pretty good until he opened his mouth…

The panel had its ups and downs, with the downs being almost anytime Xander opened his trap. I don’t know if he has a nervous tick that spews diarrhea but damn he doesn’t understand when to shut it (’Shida).

Same goes for Seth Green. While I love the kid and think he’s a comedic dynamo, he doesn’t know when to let other people have the spotlight. Sure he had the place in stitches but after trying to insert every possible unrelated joke into every question asked of every other panelist it got a little old.

The problem with the whole reunion panel was the lack of direction. Matt Roush did a good job of being a fan and being a interviewer but he couldn’t direct the group through clear and concise answers. I don’t fault Roush, it was clear that there was no controlling certain members of the cast.

Maybe it was my own expectations… I really wanted to know about the interpersonal relationships on the show and the nuances of creating the friendships and family we grew to love over seven seasons.

While there were issues, I still hearted the shit out of that reunion panel. Seeing the Scoobies back together again was almost surreal. I missed Alyson and Eliza being there as I would have loved to have seen Buffy, Xander and Willow reunited. Same with Tara and Will. And like there weren’t 850 people dying to learn something about Dollhouse! Come on…

It was great seeing Joss and Sarah talk about the show because there really was a genuine trust and love in the moments they spoke about. Sarah was incredibly well spoken and while a little stiff on her posture, very open to talking about almost anything related to Buffy.

So what did we learn?

Buffy Reunion Photos:

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 at 10:14 am and is filed under Buffy, Ducky Does TV, Eliza Dushku, Joss Whedon, Paley Festival. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.