Should Buffy Go Blu, If It's Not The TV Show?

I checked out the latest DVD column from Aint It Cool News, and it mentioned that next week, along with the Star Wars Blu-Ray release that everyone hates, we'll get the blu-ray version of the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Fans of the TV show have been at a fever pitch about when the blu-ray version of the TV show will be available. Some of Joss Whedon's other shows have gone blu, including Firefly, Dollhouse and Dr. Horrible. Even Serenity has a blu-ray release. I have that DVD. So why not Buffy, and Angel for that matter? Is it cost, music royalties, deciding on the artwork for the package? Demand for those shows in blu-ray is quite strong. The decision should be obvious.

Now, making a blu-ray of the original Buffy movie would be a good idea, if you added something the regular DVD doesn't have. I checked the specs for the blu-ray release from the Foxconnect.com site. It's exactly the same as the regular DVD. The cover picture may be different, but that's not enough. This movie is more than just regular filler on a couple of cable channels these days, It's the movie that eventually saved the WB, and led to girl power on TV (and, we guess, Twilight)
Next year is the 20th anniversary of the movie. Why not have a cast reunion? Seeing Kristy Swnason, Luke Perry, Paul Reubens, Hillary Swank and David Arquette discuss the movie would be a hoot. Add cameos from Ben Affleck and Seth Green, and you have something even better. Notice I didn't mention Donald Sutherland, who played Merrick. I'm not sure he'd be part of the cast reunion. If you add Joss, though, that would REALLY be something.

Also, AMC had a TV show called "Backstory", where it talked about how certain movies were made. One of those movies was Buffy. It was how I found out Alicia Silverstone and Katies Holmes almost got the title role. Why not add that episode to the blu-ray?
So, Fox is hoping to get a few more bucks by making a blu-ray DVD of the Buffy movie with no additional extras. That, I think, is a waste of time. If you want a blu-ray, it should be updated compared to the original DVD. It should have more features. Otherwise, getting the regular DVD would be just fine.

So, Fox Home Entertainment, make up for the dull blu-ray version of the Buffy movie and approve the blu-ray version of the Buffy TV show...and Angel, too. After all, Buffy's 15th TV anniversary is coming up. A release date of next March should do it.

The Guild's New DVD...A Big Step Towards Season 4

It's probably the first successful internet sitcom, about a group of people who play video games a bit too much to deal with reality.
Now, it's led to fame, a fair amount of fortune, a lot of awards, a music video that would rival anything MTV airs, and soon a three-part comic book mini-series.

Season three of The Guild has just been released on DVD. Unlike previous seasons, where the show and story lines were more like a typical sitcom, the third season is structured like a movie called "The Fall and Rise of the Knights of Good." They deal with a rival group of games called the Axis of Anarchy, the dark side of the KoG. The A of A successfully harasses one member, and convinces another to join them. Vork, the leader, quits to go on a quest, leaving the post to Codex, the reluctant heroine. Zaboo and Riley the Stupid Tall Hot Girl take their relationship to scary levels. In fact, Riley (Michele Boyd) is more frightening than Zaboo's mom (and people who saw season one might agree). Clara's marriage is in big trouble because of her video game obsession, and she lets her husband join in. It all culminates in a showdown between the A of A and KoG, and a shocking ending that some people dared not to predict.

It's kind of Lord of the Rings for gamers, but it's another winning season for creator and writer Felicia Day, and her fellow Guildies (Robin Thorsen, Jeff Lewis, Vincent Caso, Amy Okuda and Sandeep Parikh). The show also pulled off a big coup by getting Wil Wheaton as Fawkes, the leader of the A of A.

The DVD has all 12 episodes, including commentary from the cast and crew. The cast, by the way are very funny, too. Their comments about how Riley carries Zaboo over the threshhold in episode 2, or Vork's triple take after Codex chews him out, are especially funny. They even ask why cartoon Vork doesn't cut his hand when he tosses his sword in the opening credits.

There's also the famous "Do You Want to Date My Avatar" video (nearly eight million hits on YouTube since August), some behind the scenes video, gag reels, and the special Halloween video. Also, there's several videos from people who hope to join the KoG, even if it's only part of the story line. Remember the guy with white hair and beard who just stood there and smiled? He talks now, and sounds like a grizzled old prospector.
We also get up close to the Axis of Anarchy, and get some good insight from Wheaton and the other actors who make up the group. There's also good tips on making Vork's sword, and web video in general.

After I saw the DVD, I went back to the DVD from the first season. Back then, The Guild was a smart sitcom that was made on half a shoestring, but proved the internet can be just as entertaining as regular TV. It's also hard to believe the first season was just two years ago. Look at the latest episodes, and you'll see the show has come a long way.
Fans are now waiting for a three-issue mini-series which starts next month, and hoping for a fourth season. Considering how this past season ended, it should be a foregone conclusion. That's why fans should buy more copies of this season, and get their friends to do that same. Also, send a DVD to MTV, and politely tell them to put "Do You Wanna Date My Avatar" on heavy rotation...because it's better than Ke$ha.
MUCH better.

Dollhouse's First Pilot: Can It Fight a "Ghost?"

When Fox announced it would bring Joss Whedon back to TV with a new show called Dollhouse, fans were very excited.
A pilot episode called "Echo", after the main character, was filmed, then Joss decided to start over because of what was called "a few clarity issues for some viewers"

Fans can now see the original pilot as part of the season one DVD box set. They'll notice the plot is very different, and Echo herself is treated differently. If you remember in "Ghost," we find out her real first name as Adelle DeWitt tries to convince her to become an Active. After that, we see her in action as a "negotiator" trying to save a kidnapped girl.
In "Echo" we see her in different roles right off the bat, then the plot tackles three issues that were supposed to be the main themes: how the Actives should be used, how the Dollhouse tries to prevent FBI agent Paul Ballard from finding them, and whether Echo is "evolving" beyond the imprints and developing her own personality. Many Whedonesque posters have said they liked "Echo" better than "Ghost".

Was Joss right in deciding that a pilot that looked at Echo as an Active was better a pilot where we see her many faces, but threw in three plot lines at once..and had some great lines, too?

"Echo" starts with the title character underwater, while we hear this from the head of the L-A Dollhouse, Adelle DeWitt: "The world is a very simple place, at first. Then as we grow up, it grows around us, a dense thicket of complication and disappointment." Then we see her, complete with tea, make her pitch on why a man should use an Active. She insists that an Active is the "truest soul among us", and will do whatever the client wants within reason. Then, we see Echo in many roles: a woman who tries to lead a girl away from drugs and prostitution, a date for a man who wants to make his ex-girlfriend jealous at her wedding, and a tough cookie negotiating with Mexican gangsters. This is the job of an Active, to fulfill the needs of the client. Adelle calls this "a treasure, one I guarantee you will never, never forget."

Now, could this segment replace the one in "Ghost", where we see Caroline/Echo recruited, then as someone's date, and then back to the Dollhouse for her treatment? It would be a tough fit, but it would be possible. The scene in "Ghost" would be used again in "Echoes", while the start of "Echo" would be used in "Epitaph 13".

In fact, some of the scenes in "Echo" will be recycled in future shows. The scene were Paul Ballard meets with Lubov (Victor) is in "Stage Fright". A later scene where he gets Caroline's picture at the FBI is in "The Target." Topher's "little bit bison" speech is in "Grey Hour". Except for Paul getting the picture, the other two scenes were different than the ones we remember. When Paul talks to Lubov/Victor about the Dollhouse, Paul says he's "seen the reports" that show such a place is possible. When Topher notes Sierra, Victor and Echo are meeting at the same lunch table more than once (being a little bit bison), he thinks it proves that Echo is evolving beyond the wipes, which is bad news for her. He also gives a great argument about how everyone is programmed in some way. "This is cutting-edge science," he tells Boyd, "in a house full of hot chicks. Morality is programming, too." In fact, Topher seems to be smarter and a little less arrogant in the original pilot.

We also see Sierra for the first time. It;'s clear she had been with the Dollhouse for sometime. She's dressed like she's in Mad Men, except she has a cut above her left eye. She is treated by Dr. Saunders, who we see in shadow for most of the episode.

The "A" story looks at how DeWitt and then-Security Chief Laurence Dominic tries to stop Ballard from finding the Dollhouse. They even have a direct link to his FBI office. They decide to use Echo to find out what he knows and, as a last resort, kill him. She poses as a woman who is looking for her sister. She gets to his house, where he talks about his file, and how his search for the Dollhouse cost him his marriage. She also sees her picture on the ground. He then gives a speech on how the case has affected his life:

Nobody thinks it'll make, which is a pattern with me. Everybody tells me "no, give it up, back off"...Is it real? Am I anyone? And then you show up, and I remember. I remember yes, I remember connection

Then he surprises Echo by pulling a gun at her, and says "who tells me exactly what I want to hear? Who gives me just what I need? Nobody. So I think maybe that's who you are, nobody."
Echo says, as she grabs the gun, "I'm not nobody." But are you Caroline, he asks? She answers by shooting him twice.
So, the Dollhouse has eliminated Paul as a threat, right? Well, Adelle suddenly gets a phone call from her boss, saying that killing Paul isn't a good idea. She sends Boyd to pull Echo off the case.

Meanwhile, Topher is trying to sneak into Dr. Saunders' office to get Echo's file, which he can do anyway. We also see the doc's face, which is scarred because of what happened with an Active named Alpha. We later learn she doesn't fix the scars because she wants to remember what happened. She also mentions that Actives are healthier when they're doing good deeds. "There is a physical need for something other than fulfilling the whims of the rich," she says. Topher responds: "I program them so that it feels good...So, I'm a monster, right?". Maybe, Topher, but maybe you're a selfish Henry Higgins. However, it does create an interesting issue: what is more important, the needs of the clients or the needs of the Actives. The quick answer is maybe the clients because they have the cash, but what good are Actives if their roles are killing them? Too bad this wasn't part of season one, but it may be considered this season, especially since Dr. Saunders knows she was an Active.

The episode ends with Boyd stunned that Topher actually programmed Echo to kill Paul. "We live in the Dollhouse, which makes us dolls," Topher says, "and the people playing with us little children. Children break their toys, Boyd." Adelle is surprised, too. She wonders how Echo could shoot Paul and not kill him...unless that was her decision. That's what Actives don't do, but Echo may be doing. "We're all in this together," she says. "The day we forget that will be our last."

But Echo has the last word..."Caroline." That was also the last word in "Omega", too.

It's interesting to note that in "Spy in the House of Love", Echo volunteers to be imprinted to find the mole...and she does this while in her Active state. When Adelle is told about this, she's actually intrigued rather than worried. What a difference a pilot makes.

If "Echo" did become the aired pilot. We'd have a much different show. The story would center more on the Dollhouse, and how it's trying to battle Actives slowly becoming real people, a doctor who thinks they are people, and an FBI agent threatening to find it. That would have taken some of the spotlight away from Echo's story. Thus, it's just as well we got the season that Fox aired. It created a very interesting story that continues on two tracks, the present and the possible future in 2019.

The fans can decide for themselves when they get a copy of the DVD set, now available everywhere.