Buffy Trying to Stay Alive

J

Jone

Potential Slayer
Joined
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I'm really starting to get worried about Buffy.

The Buffy Magazine stopped, there aren't a lot of Buffy conventions anymore, Diamond Select Toys are planning on making no more action figures for Buffy, and now the FX thing (which I hope isn't true) about the schedule change.

I really hope this show's afterlife goes on for as long as possible. However, I think it's leaving us sooner then we wished, hoped, and wanted.

Has anyone else noticed the major decline in Buffy products?
 
You've got the comic?!?!

I think you should be thankful for small mercies.

As critically acclaimed as the show was and though it's figures were not huge, it still gets more as much air time globally as shows such as Sex and the City.

The Magazines may be closed, but there are only so many times they can reprint an interview or 'update' old ones with the same questions asked to ASH, AH, NB and co.

There will always be conventions and the 'stars' of the show will always attend them, but it will be less show specific and more generic.

Its had a great run, and its still got some life in it, but it's not the end of the world.
 
"You've got the comic?!?!"

That's true, and they are awesome comics...

"There will always be conventions and the 'stars' of the show will always attend them, but it will be less show specific and more generic."

Besides California and the UK, name some conventions that actually have important cast members that attend them. I've been looking everywhere and haven't found one that I would spend $300 to go to just to meet an actor that might show up.

"Its had a great run, and its still got some life in it, but it's not the end of the world."

It did have a great run, but I personally think that with the right advertisements (ms) and products it could have been better. And I know it's not the end of the world, but the show is very dear to my family and me, and it's a lot to swallow. Sorry if it's not a big deal to you and it seems that I'm coming off as a child.
 
Besides California and the UK, name some conventions that actually have important cast members that attend them. I've been looking everywhere and haven't found one that I would spend $300 to go to just to meet an actor that might show up.
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I don't really do Cons but i'm forever seeing random ones that have random stars from all walks of sci-fi and genre.
Just look in regular Sci-Fi mags.

It did have a great run, but I personally think that with the right advertisements (ms) and products it could have been better. And I know it's not the end of the world, but the show is very dear to my family and me, and it's a lot to swallow. Sorry if it's not a big deal to you and it seems that I'm coming off as a child.
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'Personally' speaking, had many things been handled differently things would be so much different.
We have a lot of "If's" in this, but what we have is what we have.
Buffy means alot to me and most people on this board too, but you can't fight the inevitable, you can just remember the good times and find a way to fill the void.
 
It'll be a part of the comic cons for years to come, for what that's worth. OMWF has its own Rocky Horror-style cult building up. It could come back to TV or movies in some other incarnation (Trek style) some day. It may cycle in and out of popularity over the years, decades. Buffy will be around, part of the culture, like Superman.
 
Come to think of it, one of the action figure lines has been discontinued for the Buffy line. I forget which one.

There is the OMWF singalongs, but now singalongs of all sorts from different media are popping up at different neighborhood theaters, and the Buffy ones are getting watered down.

On the Buffy will be around forever front, the Buffy singalongs haven't slowed down. There's more all the time. A new Boxset appeared, what was it, last year, and that's usually the best indication of continued interest. The comics, aren't just there, they're considered a major success story within the industry, and they've decided to canonize the Angel comics. The BBC Giles movie sounds like it's in the bag. Buffy animated is sitting quietly in the wings with a short proof of concept clip. I wouldn't be surprised to hear of that one again. And yeah, I'm almost positive I've seen Buffy actors and crew popping up recently at conventions other than those in California and the UK.
 
The magazine and things may have gone, but yeah there's still the comics, plus novels and stuff still coming out, and I mean, there's still the fanbase here, even if there aren't that many conventions anymore, there will always be fans, so there'll probably be new things out every now and then to keep fans happy 🙂
 
Come to think of it, yeah. The fansites. That's where you'll see the last gasp if there is one. Right now, some shut down, new ones pop up.

The fan movement is still strong. Type Buffy into YouTube.
 
Re: Buffy conventions - a quick Google brought up this as the first result:

Whedon's World - Conventions

Nicholas Brendon, Amy Acker, Amber Benson, Andy Hallett, Tim Minear, Clare Kramer - they're still cropping up about the place.
 
There's only so much stuff a franchise can put out after the shows that spawned said franchise are canceled. And come on - there's so much useless merchandise out there, why do you want more? No show can live forever, it's better in my mind to just keep it alive in yourself by watching the episodes and discussing it with fellow fans. Conventions and toys don't matter.

And unless there's a new spin-off or show set in the Slayerverse made, after the comics stop getting published the franchise is just going to fizzle out. That's not necessarily a bad thing...
 
Randy Giles said:
There's only so much stuff a franchise can put out after the shows that spawned said franchise are canceled. And come on - there's so much useless merchandise out there, why do you want more? No show can live forever, it's better in my mind to just keep it alive in yourself by watching the episodes and discussing it with fellow fans. Conventions and toys don't matter.

And unless there's a new spin-off or show set in the Slayerverse made, after the comics stop getting published the franchise is just going to fizzle out. That's not necessarily a bad thing...
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The comics have been a huge success by all accounts, wouldn't surprise me if they run for a good few years. Heck, it may even last longer than then shows did.
 
I think it's only natural that, as with any franchise, there will be ups and downs in certain forms of media and merchandise over the years. Look at Spider-Man. He's hugely successful but still had an animated series on MTV that fizzled out pretty quickly and it seems like they're always cancelling comics and relaunching others.

With Buffy, I think we're in a bit of a transition period right now. We're at the end of the "Buffy as a television series" period and we're seeing the end of some things that were launched during that period. The fact that the Buffy magazine was still going this many years after the show was cancelled is testament to just how popular the series still is.

As far as the action figures getting cancelled, I can't say it's necessarily a bad thing. The designs and sculpts on some of those things are horrendous and in my opinion, they look pretty cheap. I wouldn't be surpised if you see another company pick up the license and relaunch with better sales.

The success of the comic brings me to the "post TV series" life of Buffy which is just finally starting to take it's own form. If there's money to be made, and clearly the success of the comic proves that there is nice amount of money left in this franchise, studios and executives will be interested in cashing in.

nerd4hire said:
Buffy animated is sitting quietly in the wings with a short proof of concept clip. I wouldn't be surprised to hear of that one again.
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I agree. Whereas the Buffy of the past was centered around the original TV series, I think the new direction of Buffy will exist on several fronts. The comics have started things off and I think an animated series takes care of a lot of the problems they might run into on TV. They don't necessarily have to get the original actors if they can get someone who sounds close enough to the original.

They also don't have to worry about the actors aging, which means they could make a show about the characters while they were still in high school if they wanted to. (This also takes care of the problem of having to balance continuity with the season 8 comic)

Outside of the comics and potential animated series, we've got Ripper coming up and I think we might still see a few other TV/direct to DVD movies or possibly a mini series.

Now I'm not suggesting that they whore out the Buffy name on just anything but Joss has always said he created Buffy to be a cultural icon. I think the possibilites I've outlined are just an extension of that.
 
The Buffy sideshow line has been put on hiatus. That's not to say it has not been put away for good tho. I do believe this time, it is for good. Angel's line is still continuing. Just slowly. We also have the new electric tiki figures coming out in the new year. I am very happy about those. And we have comics and there are prop replicas always being made. They are making Faith's knife soon also. Dulac cross just came out and so forth. I think we will always have it around in some form. The reason...Buffy fans are not the type of fans to sit back and let it be 'over' we push. Look, we got season 8. I realize it isn't on tv but heck, it's still official.

I too am worried to a degree, but I am also pleased that we continue to have new fans everyday. This is a good thing for Buffy. The best thing we can do for our show is make other people watch it, they will love it and JOTBW. The more that follow, the better for our Buffster.

They also don't have to worry about the actors aging, which means they could make a show about the characters while they were still in high school if they wanted to.
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I would not want that. I want it to be a continuation. I don't think I would feel the same if it went backwards.
 
You guys are right about the comics because those are an awesome way to keep Buffy alive. It also is doing very well. And even though Buffy isn't on TV that much anymore, I'm actually watching it right now (the episode "Gone" if anyone's wondering 🙂 ).

I also might-possibly-maybe-fingers-crossed go to a convention and see Nick (Xander). But he might not come...

And that's good that they're at least continuing the Angel line for action figures.

So overall, there are less conventions, less action figures, less magazines, and less Buffy TV time, but Buffy still hasn't been staked. YAY! 🙂
 
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