Posted in: CW, Disney+, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: ai, Audible, buffy the vampire slayer, disney, Dolly Parton, fanfic, sarah michelle gellar, slayers

Buffy: Soulless AI TV Sequel Pitch Is Scary For All The Wrong Reasons

Google's Gemini AI "pitched" a Buffy the Vampire Slayer sequel. The result? Something soulless - and scary for all of the wrong reasons.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer still has legions of fans who want to see the series continue. Not a reboot, but a continuation of the characters they've grown attached to after seven seasons of the show, played by the original cast. A TV reboot of the series was announced in 2018 but was quietly shelved in 2022. Despite the recent popularity of the spinoff sequel audio series Slayers, Disney has refused to let a second series go ahead, which implies the studio might still be trying to develop a new version of the series or something along those lines.

We decided to try a little experiment to see just how far along AI had "evolved" at this point. I was inspired by the fact that national treasure and American saint Dolly Parton is one of the producers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer – her company Sandollar Productions was behind both the original movie, the TV series, and its spinoff Angel. A few weeks ago, she mentioned that a new iteration of the series was still being developed. That made me think, "What if Dolly Parton plays the elderly Buffy, and they bring back Sarah Michelle Gellar to play the middle-aged Buffy in flashbacks?" That might be a ratings bonanza. It was a joke, by the way. Then I thought, "What if I got AI to write a one-page professional-looking pitch for that sequel TV series? I pitched it to Ray Flook, our TV Editor, then fed the instruction to Google's Gemini AI to write it. It's free for everyone with a Gmail or Google account. I typed, "Write a pitch for a TV series sequel to Buffy the Vampire Slayer where an elderly Buffy recalls the days when she was a middle-aged slayer after the events of the original TV series."

This is what Gemini came up with in five seconds. I am not exaggerating. We present the complete, unaltered, and unedited pitch below:

This Is The AI's Sequel to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"

Pitch: Slayer Emeritus: Tales of the Retired Slayer

Logline: Buffy Summers, retired Slayer and reluctant legend, is reluctantly pulled back into the fight against the supernatural when a new generation of threats emerge, forcing her to revisit her past battles and mentor a new Slayer to face the future.

Premise: Years after Sunnydale, an older, weary Buffy Summers lives a quiet life running a bookstore in San Francisco. Her days of slaying vamps, battling demons, and saving the world seem like a distant, painful memory. However, her past catches up to her when a monstrous threat resurfaces, specifically targeting those connected to the Slayer line. Forced to confront her legacy and the dangers that still lurk, Buffy reluctantly takes on the role of mentor, guiding a young, inexperienced Slayer named Amara.

The Twist: Each episode opens with Buffy recounting a past adventure to Amara, weaving the present threat into the narrative of her own experience. As Buffy delves deeper into her personal history, revealing untold battles and hidden sacrifices, she confronts old demons (both literal and metaphorical) and rediscovers the strength and resilience that defined her earlier life. The past and present collide, forcing Buffy to reconcile her identity as a retired Slayer with the hero she still has within.

Themes:

Legacy and aging: How do heroes adjust to life after their defining battles? Can they truly escape their past?

Mentorship and passing the torch: Exploring the complexities of passing on knowledge and responsibility to a new generation.

The burden of heroism: Examining the psychological and emotional toll of a life spent saving the world.

Facing your past: Confronting trauma and unresolved issues to overcome current challenges.

Audience: Buffy fans of all ages will relish the nostalgia and new adventures, while younger viewers can discover Buffy's world and connect with Amara's journey.

Additional notes:

The format allows for flashbacks and flash-forwards, keeping the pacing dynamic and visually engaging.

Each episode could explore a different supernatural threat, drawing inspiration from various mythologies and folklore.

Amara's struggles with her newfound powers and responsibilities will resonate with young adults navigating their own identities and purpose.

Buffy's journey of rediscovering her strength can inspire audiences of all ages to face their own challenges.

In conclusion, Slayer Emeritus offers a compelling continuation of the Buffyverse, blending nostalgia with fresh characters and contemporary themes. It's a story about legacy, sacrifice, and the enduring power of a hero's journey, even in the twilight years.

Let's Analyze that Pitch

Everyone who has seen this pitch has been suitably shocked and horrified that it looks this professional and even viable. Not everyone realises AI has come this far – the "intelligence" part of "Artificial Intelligence" is improving at an alarming rate but the "artificial" part is still upfront. I did not give Gemini any other details beyond that one sentence. The AI came up with the title Slayer Emeritus: Tales of the Retired Slayer all on its own. First of all, that's too clever because a sequel series or reboot should keep "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in its primary title. That is the entire brand, after all. Second, the AI came up with the San Francisco bookstore setting and the assumption that the elderly Buffy was retired when I didn't bring it up. Gemini also came up with the young slayer Amara all on its own. I never fed it any idea of a young trainee slayer, let alone the name "Amara." This shows just how far AI has come. Many people may not know this is what AI is capable of now and why it could be the standard practice in Hollywood from now on.

How can an AI write a TV pitch document that's this professional with a breakdown of the possible main themes of the show and character focus? The answer is simple. The AI learned by reading virtually every TV series pitch document and reader's analysis and report on the internet, which would probably number by the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands by now. It has learned not only to collate details and information but also to combine them in a logical thematic manner based on a human's requests like a diligent college student. It has also read fan reactions to the show from message boards and social media and combined that with an understanding of professional readers methods of breaking down and analyzing stories to identify their most important themes and selling points to write into a pitch document designed as a sales tool for getting studios and financiers interested in bankrolling and greenlighting a movie or a TV series.

I only used Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a test case for how an AI would create a TV series pitch. It reads as a perfectly feasible idea for a show – though it's derivative, unoriginal, clichéd, and soulless. This is because a good TV series still needs a living human to introduce any real creativity, emotional authenticity, and spontaneity to any new story idea. Let me repeat that for anyone missing the point…

A good TV series still needs a living human to introduce any real creativity, emotional authenticity, and spontaneity to any new story idea.

An AI would not have come up with this pitch without me telling it to. The pitch it presented would not exist if it wasn't for the thousands of people whose work is being used, analyzed, processed & regurgitated into society as a form of "new art." But moving forward, it's not so much AI that will put writers out of work. It's the human writer who's better at using AI than you are that's the real concern – and something everyone should be thinking long and hard about.

Whatever Disney decides to do with any reboot or sequel to Buffy, we hope it's a lot more creative than this.

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