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  "path": "/2026/03/dead-man-walking.html",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-18T00:40:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://40yrs.blogspot.com",
  "tags": [
    "there was one executive at Hulu who hated the show who killed the new series",
    "past weekend’s shock news",
    "return of the Slayer",
    "director Chloé Zhao",
    "new interview with People",
    "Ready or Not 2: Here I Come",
    "Sunday’s Academy Awards",
    "Deadline"
  ],
  "textContent": "While I enjoyed the original film with Donald Sutherland and Kristy Swanson, I have never seen a full episode of the TV spinoff of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_.\n\nIt never appealed to me.\n\nThat being said, I understand and appreciate the sincere intensity of the fans of the series.\n\nThat being said, when I heard the news that a Buffy reboot with (most) of the original cast was canceled, I could imagine heads exploding through the \"Sklayerverse.\"  (Is that what it is called, I honestly do not know)\n\nIn a recent interview, Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played the eponymous said that there was one executive at Hulu who hated the show who killed the new series.\n\nIf this report is accurate,  the executive mentioned below is in for a world of (hopefully just social) hurt.\n\n> This past weekend’s shock news about the death of Buffy: New Sunnydale felt like it came out of nowhere for fans hopeful for a return of the Slayer. That shock similarly applies to returning star Sarah Michelle Gellar and director Chloé Zhao, who have spent the past days since reflecting on the show’s sudden staking. But while Zhao has erred on the side of mystery about what went on with the show, Gellar herself has been much more open—putting the show’s axing in the hands of a single man.\n>\n> In a new interview with People, Gellar reflected on the way the news rolled out—suddenly over a weekend, with the actress herself breaking the news to the public on Instagram this past Saturday. She especially questioned the timing of that news, with Gellar claiming that the call to confirm the series wouldn’t be moving forward at Hulu came as she was attending the SXSW premiere of her return to horror cinema in _Ready or Not 2: Here I Come_ for Searchlight, one of the studios involved in making New Sunnydale for Hulu, and while Zhao was preparing to attend events tied to Sunday’s Academy Awards, where she was nominated for Best Director for _Hamnet_.\n>\n> ………\n>\n> But while Zhao took to the Oscars red carpet and described the cancellation as unsurprising, saying that she would “welcome the mystery” of whatever came next, Gellar wasn’t willing to be so vague.\n>\n> “We had an executive on our show who was not only not a fan of the original, but was proud to constantly remind us that he had never seen the entirety of the series and how it wasn’t for him,” Gellar told People. “That’s very hard when you’re taking a property that is as beloved as _Buffy_ , not just to the world, but to me and Chloé. So that tells you the uphill battle that we had been fighting since day one, when your executive is literally proud to tell you that he didn’t watch it.”\n>\n> While Gellar did not go as far as to name the executive she believes is responsible for delivering the killing blow to _New Sunnydale_ , a new report from Deadline alleges that Gellar was talking about Disney Television Group President Craig Erwich. According to the trade, _New Sunnydale_ ‘s pilot, written by Nora and Lilla Zuckerman, had already undergone a significant round of changes after an initial version was described as playing to too young an audience and aiming its scope too small, putting more focus on the new Slayer, played by _Star Wars: Skeleton Crew_ ‘s Ryan Kiera Armstrong. A rework of the pilot’s script to make the tone more adult, and to incorporate more of Gellar as Buffy Summers, was much more strongly received, sparking talks that a pickup for _new Sunnydale_ would be imminent.\n\nThis is like f%$#ing with Corvidae (Ravens, Crows, etc.).\n\n",
  "title": "Dead Man Walking",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-18T05:58:18.604Z"
}