uffy the Vampire Slayer, in a groundbreaking move, will switch networks next season, from its longtime home on The WB to UPN, the home of professional wrestling and not much else. But the change--the result of a contract renewal dispute between The WB and Buffy production studio Fox--won't change anything as far as Buffy's dedication to telling great stories, co-executive producer Marti Noxon said.
Noxon--who joined Buffy during the show's 1997-'98 season as story editor--has written more than a dozen of the show's episodes, including some of its most memorable. She will take over most production supervision next year and is also a consulting producer on the Buffy spinoff series Angel.
Like her mentor, Buffy creator Joss Whedon, Noxon believes that fans can expect the same show that they and critics alike have called one of the best-written hours on television. Buffy has already wrapped its fifth season, which ends with the show's 100th episode on May 22, but Noxon took a few minutes recently to talk with Science Fiction Weekly about Buffy's future.
How will the change to UPN affect Buffy next year?
Noxon: Creatively, I don't think it's going to affect us at all. ... It's one of the reasons why it's a good thing. Because ... one of the things that Joss and myself and everybody else here was really concerned about was that the show would be able to continue on the same creative path that it was on before, and that there wouldn't be any expectation that the show would change because we were on a different network. And we were given all manner of reassurance that that was the case. They know that you don't fix something that's not broken. So there won't be any crazy dog sidekick. There won't be any guest-star appearances by The Rock [laughs]. ... It's going to have, I think, very little effect, except that people will have to learn a new number on their television remotes. If they haven't already been watching UPN, they'll have to learn where it is.
Even though there's some changes afoot, and we're moving to a different network, we're very revitalized. I would have said I probably wouldn't still be here at five years, and going into my fifth year. [But] I feel like the show really still has a lot of energy and a lot of momentum, and I feel like we're still telling stories that feel fresh to us, and I hope they feel fresh to the audience. I think there's a lot of life left in it. And it doesn't feel like anybody here is doing this out of a cynical desire to keep a show on the air. We're really still very, very passionate about it. And so I believe that the show, for the people who enjoy it and feel strongly about it, I think it might mean something for them to know that we feel the same way, and we're all very committed to keeping the show dedicated to creative values, and it's going to be just as good.
Joss Whedon said he hopes that UPN slots Buffy in the same Tuesday 8 p.m. Do you?
Noxon: I don't know. Joss would know more about that than I do, actually. ... Our preference would be to keep it as much the same, in terms of where people go to find the show, except that it's going to be on a different channel.
This year, the writers have had lots of opportunities to cross over episodes with Angel--balance dark Buffy episodes with light Angel ones, or making ironic commentary in Angel about events we had just seen in Buffy. The change means you won't have the chance to do so much of that, doesn't it?
Noxon: Right. No, we won't. ... Even though we are obviously going to be involved in both of the shows, as we are now, they won't be complementing each other that way anymore. In some ways, that frees us up a little bit. We won't have to worry about, "Gee, are we doing similar things on the two shows." Although, knowing us, we'll still worry about it. We wouldn't want to be putting two shows on the air, no matter where they're airing, that are too similar. So we'll still be thinking about that in terms of plot. Like, if one is a sort of similar thread, we'll try to bump that to a different week. But in terms of being able to use them as sort of complementary pieces, no, we won't be able to do that anymore, which is too bad.
Won't it also make it more difficult for cast members to guest on the other show?
Noxon: I believe, although I could be wrong, that that will no longer happen. There will be no more crossovers. I would be very surprised if they did happen, although you never know. ... I think it's very unlikely ... which, again, is a shame.
Would it be your preference for Angel to move over to UPN as well?
Noxon: In a perfect world, my preference would be for both shows to be on the same network. ... But it's not because I think ... UPN is a better place. ... It just would be ideal. It was ideal the way it was. So it's a little hard to envision it a different way.
Will you be running Buffy next year?
Noxon: I'll be co-running Buffy with Joss. Now I'm sort of second in the chain of command. But next year, we're going to be more equals, although there is no equal to Joss [laughs]. But in title, we're going to be more equal.
Joss is going to be doing other projects. He will be out of the office a lot more. I will be in charge of overseeing all of the production. I've been doing a lot of that now. I've been doing a lot of overseeing different parts of the post-production and production process, but now ... I'll be flying more solo, and in his absence, I will be at the helm. ... It is quite a responsibility. Considering the fact that I was still saying "Do you want fries with that?" about four years ago, it marks a remarkable change in my life. And it's daunting, but he's still going to involved creatively. He's still going to be around; it's not like he's going to be an absentee landlord. He's just going to be stepping back a little bit. And we have tons of great support from the other writers, and many of them are also acting as producers now, and getting involved in production and post-production. They're all very talented, so we have tons of people who've been here for a while and really know what they're doing, so it's not as daunting as it sounds.
UPN is reportedly paying $2.3 million per episode, which is a considerable increase from the current level [of about $1 million]. Will that affect what you can do with Buffy?
Noxon: Some of that [additional] money will go to pay back Fox's deficit. So it's not like we'll be getting all that for our budgets. We probably would have seen larger budget cuts if we'd stayed at The WB. That was one of the reasons why budget was such an issue, and the licensing fee was such an issue. ... Any show that goes on the air as long as ours sees some budget cuts in the fifth or sixth year, because it should be at this point that costs are coming down, because sets are built and costumes are bought, and you should be able to draw a little bit more from the stuff you've been using for the last five years. That's what they say, but oftentimes you're building new sets, because the show's evolving. But traditionally, budgets go down a little bit. So we're prepared for that.
So you won't necessarily be getting more money to produce the show next year?
Noxon: I think we'll have the same amount, which is in a sense a cut, because every year in general, every person who's been working on the show, their fees go up a little bit, just through labor laws. You end up spending a little bit more for production costs. And if the budgets don't actually go up, then you have less to work with creatively. So I think we will be seeing a little bit of a budget reduction next year.
So the speculation that we'd see Buffy shooting in Europe next year or something like that isn't going to happen?
Noxon: No, we'll be looking at less money next year. ... God willing--Hello, UPN!--we will not be looking at major cuts, but we will be working with less next year, not more. So there will be ... probably a couple of shows where the villain is a tiny bug, or ... a hand puppet. A couple of sock-puppet villains next year will be fine [laughs]. ... We do a couple of conservative episodes, and then we blow it out, as you'll see in the last three episodes of this year, [which] are pretty huge. So we'll probably do the same. We'll just to have a couple more episodes that ... feature sock puppets [laughs].
Talk about the end of this season and your upcoming 100th episode, which is also the fifth-season finale. Does one of the Scooby Gang die?
Noxon: We just killed somebody! [Buffy's mother, Joyce (Kristine Sutherland), died in the episode "The Body."] What do you people want? ... Ah, you want one of the Scoobies. I can tell you that we are driving toward a very climaxy climax this year [laughs]. Because it's our 100th episode, the last three episodes of the season are huge. And very action-packed, and some momentous things will occur, but that's all I can say.
Are there deaths?
Noxon: I cannot answer that question!
Joss has talked a little about the arc he envisions for next year. He said it's going to be "Oh grow up!" and said there's going to be a musical episode. I don't know if he was serious or not.
Noxon: Oh, he's totally serious. We were just talking about it. I think "Oh grow up!" is a great way to phrase it. The season-long themes for everybody will be about sort of getting kicked into the adult world--in some cases, kicking and screaming as you go. But it's time for everybody to make some decisions and take on some more adult responsibilities. So that's going to be stuff that's going on thematically next year.
Obviously with Joyce's death, Dawn and Buffy and all of the members of the Scooby Gang are going to be dealing with Buffy and Dawn, at least, having to live in a much more adult world. There's no buffer. Buffy has no buffer next year [laughs]. So obviously that's really going to change the way she has to face the world, and the way that everybody else does, because it's a real reality check for all of them.
And the musical episode?
Noxon: It is an all-singing, all-dancing Buffy, with music written completely for the show by Joss. Because he doesn't have enough to do, what with seven or eight television shows on the air, or whatever he's got, and the comic books he writes and the movies and ... then he decided he wanted to learn how to play the guitar and piano, and now he's composing incredible music.
What I do on the weekend is, like, read the paper, and I feel that I've accomplished a great deal. I play a game of Scrabble, and if I break 200, I'm a genius, and meanwhile, he's writing musicals. It's a little tough working for him [laughs].
In our universe, there's ways we can get around this. There's reasons why people might end up singing. It's just for one episode. I can't really say more, except that there will be a reason for it. It won't just be, like, oh, this week everybody's singing.
Do you have other special episodes in the works?
Noxon: We have lots of stuff we're talking about, and we already have the first two episodes of next season broken, so we know how we start. And we know where we're supposed to end up, so these are all good things. ... I really can't [say more], because every time I do, I get in trouble.
Are there other shows in development?
Noxon: Joss is currently developing the animated Buffy with Fox. There is the possibility of a limited series with the BBC, starring Anthony Head. ... It's not a done deal, but this is in discussion. There's an idea of taking the Giles character and doing a limited series in Britain next year. Maybe just a limited run ... like a miniseries, perhaps, turning into a series.
Does this stem from Anthony Head's previously stated desire to be closer to the United Kingdom and his home?
Noxon: It grew out of the fact that Tony wanted to be closer to his family. And then there was discussion of creative stuff. It may not come to pass, but it's being discussed. It would be really awesome if it did happen, and I'm sure there'd be a way that people here would see it, too. We'd hope.
You also have a development deal for new series with Fox?
Noxon: I have a deal with Fox, which right now is pretty much covering just my work with Buffy. But there is a lot of discussion about the next thing for me, and developing series for Fox or perhaps someplace else. That's in the offing. Next year, I'm entirely devoted to this. But then after next year, I will start to look to my own future. We'll see. ... It's hard to imagine not working with Joss. It's hard to imagine not being part of his world. We'll see if that's something I do with him, or something without him. But we're definitely talking about the future.
I have a couple of ideas that I'm really excited about. I pitched one of them to Joss one time, and he said, "That is really wonderful, except there are no monsters." I have one idea that I'm very fond of that has no monsters, and then I have another one that has no monsters. ... It's always interesting to achieve success on something that has a very specific tone or genre, because then people think that's all you do. ... Most of my strengths are in drama, and that's really what I was doing before I came here. So it seemed like more likely that I would end up doing a drama without girls kicking ass. By the time I've got a show on the air, there'll be so many girls kicking ass on TV anyway, because they have many people trying to do what we and Joss do, that they probably won't be looking for more ass-kicking chicks. But that certainly seems to be what everybody thinks I should do. ... [But] I would never want to do a pale imitation of this show!
You're also doing some feature film work?
Noxon: I just finished ... a movie rewrite for Universal that has lots of monsters. It's full of monsters, and [is attached to] a director, and they're moving forward with that. So that's real exciting. The current title is Supernatural Law [aka Wolff & Byrd], based on [Batton Lash's] comic books [Wolff & Byrd, Counselors Of The Macabre]. And we did a rewrite last year with [producer] Marc Platt's company at Universal. And now [Harald Zwart], the man who directed One Night at McCool's, is attached to direct that. So that's really cool. We'll see if that actually comes to pass. At one point, it had momentum, then the [impending actors' union] strike kind of derailed it, because it's obviously a very production-heavy kind of thing, and they couldn't get it cast and up in time [to avoid the strike's July 1 deadline].
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