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RESURRECTED: Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum Amber Benson whose alter ego Tara was killed off last season will return in the fall for several episodes. Benson will most likely be playing a new character.

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Moonves to Creatives: Days of Big, Fat Paychecks Are Over

John Consoli

JULY 15, 2002 -

PASADENA, Calif. -- Broadcast networks are no longer going to sign long-term deals with show creators, studios and acting talent and only in exceptional instances are they going to sign pricey contracts with guarantees to keep shows on the air, CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves told Television Critics Association attendees in Pasadena Sunday at the 2002 Summer Press Tour.

"The networks are no longer going to pay $5 million for some guy who is the fourth writer on Friends," he said. "It was a horrible situation where everybody got into, where everybody would bid up the price, and shows would get on the air for the wrong reasons, because a big penalty was attached to it."

Moonves said he believes all the networks are going to abide by the new philosophy.

Moonves said what has exacerbated the networks financial problems in dealing with programming costs, has been the change in foreign distribution money, which has decreased considerably in the past year. "It works backward from the studio side," he said. "The studios don't get as big a back-end, therefore, they don't put as much money on the screen, therefore, they want more money from the networks if they want them to do it. I think everybody is sort og getting rational on the amount of money they need to spend on shows."

Ironically, it was UPN, which Moonves now oversees since both UPN and CBS are under the Viacom umbrella, that prior to Moonves assuming oversight over it, paid more than $2 million per episode to acquire the rights to Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, when the WB refused to pick it up for that price. UPN has lost a sizable amount of money on Buffy, about $1 million per episode by some industry estimates, but Moonves says in the case of Buffy, you have to look at the bigger picture.

"You can't take Buffy as an entity alone," he said. "I compare Buffy to when Fox stole the NFL from CBS way back when. Fox overpaid by about $200 million. At that time it may have looked ridiculous, but what it did was, it made Fox a major league network. Suddenly affiliates were jumping ship, and suddenly the P&L of one item is not so important, is not the be-all and end-all."

Moonves said Buffy "helped put UPN on the map. It got a lot of attention. Yes, it was a high price tag, but it was a price tag that raised the entire value of this entire network."

Buffy is seen by research people as a major reason why UPN finished ahead of the WB in many demos this season by drawing new viewers to the network.

WB execs have been very vocal also about why they decided not to pay the hefty price tag to bring the show back. Instead, they picked up a new drama, Smallville, at a fraction of the cost and it turned out to be the new hit of the season for the network.

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Sunnydale High, which was blown up when Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her friends graduated, has been rebuilt. Once again, it's located over the "hellmouth," a portal that unleashes demons into the world.

Buffy's sister, Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg), will enter high school, and Buffy will spend time there working for a school-based community outreach program. The characters will both relive aspects of high school and realize how they can't relive it.

Xander (Nicholas Brendon) and his construction crew are involved in building the new school, and he's become financially successful. He'll use that new-found wealth to attempt to woo back demon Anya (Emma Caulfield), whom he left at the altar last season.

Vampire Spike (James Marsters), who had his soul restored in the season finale, also will be connected, but Whedon wouldn't explain how. He would say Spike's reinstated soul won't lead to a repeat of Angel-with-a-soul stories.


Whedon is planning to bring back many past characters this season, including the vampire slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku), evil demon Glory (Clare Kramer), the nerd Warren (Adam Busch), vengeance demon Halfrick (Kali Rocha), Tara (Amber Benson), crazy vampire Drusilla (Juliet Landau) and ditzy vampire Harmony (Mercedes McNab).

Former librarian Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) will appear in at least 10 episodes.

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From jessica: Do you have any gossip on season seven from Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
More Anya and more Giles. Anthony Head is planning to be in at least 10 episodes, now that Ripper is basically on hold. And Joss said he's working Emma Caulfield into more of the central storylines, because "she deserves it." There's also more Dawn. The new Sunnydale High has replaced the Magic Box (which you'll remember was torn down in the apocalyptic Willow madness), so we see plenty of Buffy's little sis in her new element. There is no more Doublemeat Palace (which enraged advertisers), and supposedly, Buffy gets a job at the new high school.

From stalinenerd: Tell us about the Buffy party! How did my boy James Marsters look?
Dashing in his sporty new invisibility cloak! It was all the rage with the Buffy cast last night, except for Emma Caufield, who looked stunning in her new short dark-brown 'do--and Adam Busch (Warren) and Clare Kramer (Glory), who were onboard for some reason. Other than the no-shows, it was a great party, complete with tours of the set and a photo-op in Spikey's crypt. And Joss was his usual superstamina self, giving a marathon interview to a relentless sea of reporters. Don't know how he does it.

From screwielew: So why were Adam and Clare at the party?
Beats me. And beats Adam. I asked him, and he seemed legitimately surprised at the invite--he's had no word of a return. I'm guessing they desperately needed more Buffy types there, since most of the cast declined. But perhaps--and this is just a guess--they're planning a big all-villain comeback stunt, which would lend more credence to the rumors about the return of the Master. I did ask Joss if Clare's attendance meant she was coming back, and he replied simply, "Not necessarily."

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