SMG Returns To TV!!!

5 long years after Emmy Award-Winning actress, Sarah Michelle Gellar departed from television as the lead role on Joss Whedon's acclaimed Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Variety has announced that she will return to the tube. Gellar will star in and executive produce The Wonderful Maladys on HBO. The New York-based ensemble series will centre on 3 dysfunctional siblings in their adulthood, who were orphaned at a young age. Variety also reports that Gellar's character will possess "a kind of zealous immaturity – like a drug addict with a to-do list.” HBO has bought the script and aims to shoot the single-camera pilot early next year.

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In other news, four new cast members are joining True Blood. TV Guide has reported that True Blood, HBO’s new vampire series, is adding cast members for its 2nd season. Guest stars Mehcad Brooks, Todd Lowe (Terry), Deborah Ann Woll (Jessica) and Michelle Forbes (Maryann) will become series regulars, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The four will appear in the Season 1 finale, which will introduce Brooks as Benedict "Eggs" Talley, a mellow guitarist who’s had a tough life.

Christophe Beck - Sacrifice (Ultimix)

I got bored, and upon buying my most precious copy of the Buffy Score, mixed the two versions of 'Sacrifice' (original, track 22 from "Once More With Feeling" and alternate version, track 29 from "Buffy: The Score") into one, full song. It's simple, but it works. I used GoldWave, Nero Wave Editor and Windows SoundFile.

This music is intellectual property of Christophe Beck and 20th Century Fox. I do not own the rights to this song, or to any music used in Buffy The Vampire Slayer (the series or the film). I do not make claim to any ownership, writing credit or royalties from any of the material used. This piece of music was edited and posted for fan appreciation purposes only. If you own this material, or own the rights to this material and would like it removed, just send me an email and I will be happy to remove it. Thank you.

Conversations With A Ouija Board + Buffy Tarot

First question for the spirits: When will we see more Firefly?

Dark Horse Comics announced in May of this year that the publisher will be producing a set of tarot cards and ouija board based on the Buffy property. It's set to release this September with a price between $15 to $30.

From the official press release:
Named for an award-winning episode from Season Seven of the BVS television series—and written by Buffy Season Eight: Wolves at the Gate author Drew Goddard—the Buffy the Vampire Slayer “Conversations with Dead People” Board is a great game for fans, in this world and the next, to communicate with each other about life, death, and other mysteries. In the tradition of the Sunnydale Hellmouth, through which countless entities gained entry, fearless souls can let voices from the other side guide the planchette along the board to spell out the answers to their queries. Folks can channel their inner Willow and hone their witchy skills, providing hours of fun for the whole séance! Accompanying the game board and planchette, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer “Conversations with Dead People” Board includes an exclusive, comic-style instruction book featuring sequential art by Buffy SeasonEight guest illustrator Paul Lee!

ComicBookResources ran an interview a while back with the tarot set designer, Rachel Pollack, and Buffy comic series cover artist Paul Lee, who provided art for the cards. The interview also features a bit more of the art from the cards, so be sure to check it out.
Over at Occasional Superheroine, Valerie D'Orazio also has a few additional pieces of art from the tarot set, and offers up some thoughts about the amount of flesh on display by the Buffy crew throughout the deck. She also offers her services as a tarot reader -- so keep that in mind.

Buffy: The Score + True Blood

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Score (Soundtrack by Christophe Beck)

Music by Christophe Beck. Buffy fans rejoice! The Emmy-winning score to the cult hit show is here! Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Score features 29 tracks, including 'Massacre' (the Emmy-winning score from Season 2 episode 'Becoming'), 'Loneliness of Six' (from Season 3 episode 'Lover’s Walk'), and 'Haunted' (from Season 4 episode 'Fear Itself'), all scored, mixed, and produced by longtime Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and Angel) composer Christophe Beck.

Product Details
Audio CD
Release Date: 09/09/08 (US) & 09/16/08 (Canada)
# of Discs: 1
Format: Soundtrack
Label: Rounder
ASIN: B001DMW2AK

Track Listing
1. Massacre (from "Becoming")
2. Angel Waits (from "Passion")
3. Remembering Jenny (from "Passion")
4. Twice the Fool (from "Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered")
5. Moment of Happiness (from "Innocence")
6. Loneliness of Six (from "Lover's Walk")
7. Sugar High (from "Band Candy")
8. Tai Chi (from "Band Candy")
9. Kralik's House (from "Helpless")
10. Magic Snow Music (from "Amends")
11. Slayer's Elegy (from "The Wish")
12. Faith's End (from "Graduation Day")
13. Drink Me (from "Graduation Day")
14. One Last Moment (from "Graduation Day")
15. Haunted (from "Fear Itself")
16. From the Grave (from "This Year's Girl")
17. Demon Got Your Tongue (from "Hush")
18. Golf Claps (from "Hush")
19. The Princess Screams (from "Hush")
20. Spellbound (from "Who Are You?")
21. Fyarl in the Morning (from "A New Man")
22. A Really Big Sandbox (from "Restless")
23. Spaghetti (from "Restless")
24. Body Paint (from "Restless")
25. Xander's Nightmare (from "Restless")
26. The Tower (from "The Gift")
27. Losing Battle (from "The Gift")
28. Apocalypse (from "The Gift")
29. Sacrifice (alternate version, from "The Gift")

OMG, OMG, OMG!!! I HAVE WANTED THIS FOR SOOOO LONG! *JINKIES!!* Also, don't forget to tune into HBO and watch True Blood. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to update before the pilot episode aired. If you missed it, hopefully you'll be able to catch a rerun. In the meantime, to tide yourselves over until episode 2, check out the True Blood Wiki!

Buffy MMORPG Announced & Firefly MMO Delayed

20th CENTURY FOX LICENSING & MERCHANDISING AND MULTIVERSE ANNOUNCE "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER" VIRTUAL WORLD (Press Release)
Revolutionary Massively Multiplayer Online Game First Ever to be Available as Both Fully Immersive 3D Environment and Flash-Based 2D Game.

CENTURY CITY, CA
- Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising and The Multiverse Network, Inc., a leading provider of virtual world development technology for Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs), educational and social worlds, and business collaboration environments, today announced the development of an original "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" MMOG. The virtual world will be based on the mythology and iconography made popular by the Emmy® Award-winning series. The announcement was made by Academy Award® winning producer and member of the Multiverse Advisory Board, Jon Landau, during his keynote speech today at the Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo.The ground-breaking MMOG will offer a new experience for gamers, allowing them to play it either as a fully immersive 3D environment or as a Flash-based 2D game, where both types of players can interact. The game will be launched within "Multiverse Places," a new social virtual world from Multiverse. Currently under development, "Buffy" will go into "beta" testing later this year.Landau, a Multiverse Advisory Board member, who is in production on Avatar—the widely anticipated Fox film from fellow Multiverse Advisor James Cameron—commented, "Multiverse has the vision and expertise to create the type of rich environment needed for the best possible game based on the 'Buffy' series. The resources are in place to develop a great MMOG."Created by sci-fi and comic book legend, Joss Whedon, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" racked up critical and popular acclaim during its seven seasons on television. The series also inspired a line of top-selling comic books and successful merchandising lines with an avid fan base at retail. Fox Licensing & Merchandising (Fox L & M) continues to develop the brand for a number of targeted programs that reach its core market."Every once in a while a show comes along that lives long after its run on television, and ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ is that kind of show," commented Elie Dekel, Executive Vice President Licensing and Merchandising for Fox L&M. "We think that creating this virtual Buffy world is the perfect extension of the brand and will attract both fans of the show and newcomers interested in a great experience online.""As a brilliant storyteller and world-maker, Joss Whedon crafts stories that expand perfectly into the new medium of virtual worlds," said Corey Bridges, co-founder and Executive Producer, Multiverse. "Not to give away too much, but when the 'Buffy' team finished the television series, they created the perfect launching point for an MMOG where everyone will feel like they're an important character in the ongoing story."In related news, Fox's plans for the development of the previously announced Firefly MMOG have been delayed, but Fox looks forward to continuing its collaboration with Multiverse on this endeavor.Since Multiverse's launch over four years ago, more than 25,000 development teams—ranging from garage developers to Fortune 100 companies to Hollywood legends—have registered to use the company's platform technology. In addition, several hundred pre-qualified customers have already begun building MMOGs and non-game virtual worlds with the Multiverse Platform.


Joss Whedon's Popular Show May Have Ended, But The Story Lives On (IGN)
by Jimmy Thang
September 3, 2008 - Twentieth Century Fox and developer The Multiverse Network have announced a Buffy the Vampire Slayer MMO, a game based off of Joss Whedon's popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show. The announcement was made by producer and member of Multiverse Advisory Board Jon Landau at the Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo earlier today. According to Gamersdailynews.com, the game is currently in development and will be playable in a fully 3D environment, or as a Flash-based 2D application. Both types of players will be able to interact with each other. The game will launch through Multiverse's new virtual world, "Multiverse Places," and will go into beta testing later this year. One down side to this announcement is the delay of Multiverse's other MMO, Firefly, which is also based on another Joss Whedon TV show. Firefly was tentatively set for a to-be-announced 2008 release, but the company is now focusing its efforts on the newly announced Buffy title. For gamers unfamiliar with the long-running show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer starred Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers, high school student by day, and destiny's chosen vampire slayer by night. In the show, she was aided in her expeditions with the help of her friends, also known as "The Scooby Gang."