Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Los Angeles, Calif.---Twentieth Century-Fox Television and Mutant Enemy Productions have announced that the final episode of UPN’s BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER will be subtitled as THE BUFFY VARIETY HOUR. Unlike the usual fare for this one hour action drama, now completing its seventh season, VARIETY HOUR will tell its story in the confines of the traditional television musical comedy revue, complete with song and dance numbers and slapstick sketches.

This episode, the series finale, will be formally titled "Chosen," and will be written and directed by Joss Whedon, the creator of the series. He originated the Buffy character in the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" motion picture, which he wrote.

Whedon, who previously broke new ground in genre episodic TV with an all-musical episode of BUFFY titled "Once More, With Feeling," says that "Chosen" will "revolutionize television as mankind knows it."

"Frankly, I was kind of bored with the show," Whedon reveals. "I was really hoping to spend all of my creative efforts on FIREFLY this year, but Fox pretty much ruined that plan. When I committed to doing the final BUFFY, I just had no enthusiasm for it. I turned in a one-page script that said, basically, ’The bad guy wins, game over.’ But [Supervising Producer] Jane [Espenson] pointed out...rightly so...the inherent production flaws in this. Ordinarily, I don’t much like being told I’m wrong, but in this instance, I was too mentally tired to do more than key Jane’s car in the parking lot and leave a rude message on her voice mail.

Anyway, I was up a few nights later, because the baby is teething and simply refusing to grant me the six-and-three-quarter hours of sleep I need each evening, and I was flipping through channels. Suddenly, I came across an infomercial for a ’Best of Laugh-In’ video tape, and I was struck by a thunderbolt of Jove!

I realized then and there that my miasma wasn’t due to the characters nor the storylines, but rather, because I was simply bored with the strident restrictions of the episodic formula which we labor within week after week. If ’OMWF’ proved anything to me, its that rules are made to be broken. Unless they’re my rules, but I digress.

Suddenly invigorated, I plunged ahead with the script, writing straight through for 36 hours until I was satisfied that I had the makings of something brilliant. The hardest part was the structure of the variety show, which has an ebb and flow of its own. Luckily, Hollywood is full of talented variety show writers who really haven’t worked much since SONNY AND CHER went off the air, so I was able to get them cheap, and they helped me over the rough spots.

We’ve got some musical numbers...James Marsters does a stunning tap dance bit worthy of Donald O’Connor, and little Michelle Trachtenberg at long last gets to indulge in her lifelong fascination with the concertina...and there are also some comedy bits that are, dare I say it, wacky. We’ve got some interesting guest stars lined up as well: Rip Taylor, Ruth Buzzy, and Jimmy ’Dyn-O-Mite’ Walker. And to play the First Evil, I’m more than proud to say that we’ve got none other than Charo!

Yep, all in all, I’m feeling pretty good about this episode. I really think it’s what we’ve been building up to these past seven years."

In related news, have a fun-filled April Fool’s Day, everybody. :)