Great blow-by-blow report here from TVsHenry on Thursday’s UPN upfront, notable for the presence of Joss Whedon and neo-scoobies Michelle Trachtenberg, Emma Caulfield and James Marsters. (Note please: if any of their characters were dead or headed to “Angel,” would they be at the UPN upfront?)
Word is now that the two-hour premieres for both "Buffy" and "Enterprise" will be in August (Screen Actors Guild permitting), to get a jump on the competition.
Here’s TVsHenry:
Here’s TVsHenry:
It all starts with a video (like they did last season) of president Dean Valentine and his sidekick who just stands there with a blank expression on his face. They are standing on the beach ruminating on their quest to get 18-34 males to watch. They first think a good new show would be a sci-fi reality show. We see an alien voting out "Kronk." Then they visit William Shatner at Paramount to talk about what makes Star Trek so great... Shatner offers the expressionless guy a beer and throws it at him only to have it go right past him without him even flinching. Then they think of having a vampire doctor show and we see film of that. Then they decide maybe they should just get the real Buffy. Cut to Warner Bros. Studios. Dean and his sidekick repel up the side of the studio wall and find the Buffy set. They sneak in when the guard isn't looking and leave with a crypt, some stakes and a Buffy cardboard standup. And finally they take the Buffy sign in front and repel down. Their quest is now completed... but something is missing. Kelsey Grammer wanders up and asks for the time. They look at each other and start to chase after him.
Dean Valentine comes out and his sidekick is still in character. He makes some opening remarks until Shatner comes out. He gives a Star Trek-esque intro to head of programming Tom Nunan.
Nunan talks about how passionate fans of their shows are and introduces the schedule in reverse order starting with Tuesday. And of course first off is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He talks about its great ratings on the WB and that leads into a montage of scenes from the fifth season and quotes from critics. He then mentions that it will have a 2 hour UPN series premiere to reintroduce the show. Without further ado, he introduces Joss Whedon.
Joss comes out and sees that the Teleprompter says "[Joss speaks]." He hasn't prepared anything but he starts off talking about how his original mission was "Destroy UPN!" and how the mission has changed slightly. He also says his mission with the show was to do it for a season then return to movies. That changed too because he fell in love with the show. He had two words for UPN: "Thank and you." He talks about the passion of the show and how UPN really gets that. As Marti remarked "we lure them in with the vampires and action and sneak in the life" and how the story is about the myth of our life's journey. His original idea was to create a show that you couldn't miss once you started watching.
He introduced the cast (and gave a shoutout to the ones in far-flung parts of the world making movies). First Anthony Stewart Head, then Emma Caulfield (who tripped as she walked in, Joss teases "you are just... stupid," earlier he remarked that "a woman this beautiful shouldn't be this funny"), then James Marsters and finally Michelle Trachtenberg. The cast is so thrilled to be there and I am thrilled to see them there. He finally introduces exec producer Marti Noxon. You can really "feel the love in the room," sorry for the cliche.
Next Roswell. Clips from the first two seasons but no one from the cast or crew. Probably too last minute.
Then Monday night. They start by introducing One on One, about a single father and daughter. Then a montage of The Hughleys, Parkers and Girlfriends. Nearly the entire casts of all four shows comes out after this.
Fridays. Montage of movies like Batman Forever, The Net, The Wood, Rumble in the Bronx, Operation Condor, Booty Call and Outbreak.
Then they go to midseason. Reality shows will be Rebuild Your Life from Endemol (sounded like Big Brother with families) and Manhunt (WWF stars hunt down people with paintguns, survivors win cash). The only midseason drama is Dead Zone based on the Stephen King novel starring Anthony Michael Hall. They talk about the Source Hip Hop Music Awards and its ratings last season and mention in an aside that this year it would be "safe." Then there is a mention of... I kid you not... Monique's Holiday House Party. Lots of big stars will be in it somehow.
Then Shatner comes out to talk about the Iron Chef Showdown in Las Vegas.
Back to the lineup. Thursdays. WWF Smackdown! highlights followed by an intro of Vince McMahon and wife.
Finally Wednesdays. Special Unit 2 first. Haven't seen too much of it but the clips are pretty funny. They bring out the main actor and the "gnome."
And what we've all been waiting for: Enterprise. Not Star Trek Enterprise, just Enterprise. No footage as of yet but there is a montage of great Star Trek moments of the past. Interviews with producers about the show on the new set. It will take place 150 years before Captain Kirk and there will be a 2 hour series premiere in the fall.
That's all folks... all in all a better Upfront than WB's.
