Mark Carroll's Journal

So...two groups are fighting at the moment in the media.

My insane Union vs. Crazy Org and well the Feds in the middle of it. The Feds took the unions side, which is interesting although doesn't mean all that much, since the Feds on the Board of Review were pre-existing the current administration (of which we shall not name - spits).

That's just anxiety inducing.
( Read more... )

The other group is far more entertaining and much less anxiety inducing, mainly because I don't have a stake in any of it, and am mostly ambivalent.

Buffy vs. Hulu, (with well, a Zen Like Chloe Zhao somewhere in the middle?)

SMG (Buffy) announces Hulu axed the Buffy reboot with no warning, and it was because of one exec who hates Buffy and never liked the original show.

(So of course the journalists do some digging to find out who the executive in question is, because really, who in their right mind hates Buffy? - Some random executive isn't exactly helpful?)

Deadline outted the Executive...because of course... (honestly the journalists in our media have way too much time on their hands? There's either too many of them or...they just can't figure out what to do with the abundance of news already out there? Granted this is less anxiety inducing than the rest of it.)

Here's Deadline Article. [ Which is a must read for anyone interested in why it is so hard to get a television show produced and aired. And why this is a difficult business. Writing is easy - television is hard.]

"Here is how Buffy: New Sunnydale went from a dream reboot two decades in the making, with Gellar starring and Oscar winner Chloé Zhao directing, to a discarded pilot. There were issues — as Deadline reported on Saturday, the original pilot was “not perfect”; some called it “not great.” Yet, after a well-received rewrite with a lot more Buffy Summers in it, no one expected the pass. Written by Nora and Lilla Zuckerman, whose previous credits include Poker Face and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the pilot would have turned the attention to a new young slayer, commonly referred to as Nova. She was played by Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and The Lowdown star Ryan Kiera Armstrong. It's said that the premise, initially seen as promising, gradually fell apart.
( Rest of the article )

And Here's Hollywood Reporter's Article on it via People Magazine -

( article below the cut regarding Gellar's take in an interview with People and Hollywood Reporter )

"A statement obtained by People noted that because Disney owns the Buffy IP, the project cannot be shopped elsewhere."

***

What did Craig Erwich green light - or what programs did he champion?

Erwich Interview with Hollywood Reporter on Future shows

Erwich shows

"Craig Erwich will now oversee 20th Television and 20th Television Animation, with Karey Burke and Marci Proietto reporting to him. Craig will continue to lead ABC Entertainment and Hulu Originals."

https://deadline.com/2026/03/debra-oconnell-disney-craig-erwich-20th-television-1236757197/

In retribution? Someone leaked the alleged draft of the filmed pilot (I removed the link because I decided I agree with SMG not whomever leaked it.) (ETA: SMG has since requested folks not read it or share it, since it's just a draft and very rough, and pilots aren't the television show - pointing to the original pilot episode of the original Buffy series as evidence of this. In that - there was a different Willow, and Gellar had dark hair.)

Note - the leaked script was written in 2024, and has since been rewritten and tweaked. Also, I know Marsters (per interviews) was contacted in late 2025 - they'd shown interest in his return. And rumor has it that - they made the new script more adult, it was a 90 minute pilot, and more like a streaming show with a bigger budget, and everyone had liked it per the above.

So? We don't know what they would have come up with. Only the people involved know for certain.

***

I've not read the leaked script. There's no evidence it's actual? And we all know by now how much scripts change from paper to screen while shooting, often to the point in which very little on the draft makes it to screen.

I can't say I'm surprised it got axed. ( Read more... )

The online fandom, being contentious and fractious as ever - is fighting over it on various social media platforms - FB, Reddit, and X. I've seen the Reddit and FB fights, also one on X. There's several factions?
( Buffy fans are fighting over the Hulu/Buffy war )
This all rather entertaining, but not all that surprising? Fandom. Sigh. Fandom.

It is a nice distraction though from other...less entertaining and more worrisome problems, of which we shall not speak.

The leaked script sparks fanfiction ideas in my head. I'm tempted to write fanfic based on that synopsis. It's interesting. I can see all sorts of interesting things they could have done with the show and the general concept.

Stupid network/studio/streaming service executives with no imagination.

This is why I'm glad I'm not a television writer or television actor or working in television. As nutty and frustrating as my work in transportation and construction is? It's relatively sane and stable in comparison. The frustration alone would kill me - if I worked in television. Damn, that's a hard business.

So, just in case someone out there wants to get a book, novel, idea, what have you - produced and developed as a television series? Read the Buffy vs. Hulu fight, and find another career to invest yourself in. Trust me, the pain and suffering isn't worth it.

For every show, Whedon got produced - he had twenty others that never made it, and then he got cancelled - by the actors from his first successful (and possibly only really successful) television series.