Posted in: Hulu, TV | Tagged: buffy, buffy the vampire slayer

Sarah Michelle Gellar on Hulu Protest: "Buffy Fans Are the Best Fans"

Sarah Michelle Gellar recognized the fans who protested outside of Hulu over Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale getting a pass.

Even though it's been a few weeks, the sting from Hulu passing on executive producer Sarah Michelle Gellar, Showrunners Nora Zuckerman and Lila Zuckerman, director and executive producer Chloé Zhao, and EP Gail Berman's Geller and Ryan K. Armstrong-starring Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale series pilot still stings. Based on what went down this week, it looks like we're not the only ones. This past Tuesday (aka International Buffy Day, aka Gellar's birthday), about two dozen or so fans protested outside Hulu's office in Santa Monica to make sure the streamer knew that the "Buffyverse" was not happy. Their efforts did not go unnoticed, first grabbing the attention of TMZ – and then, Gellar herself. "I stand by what I've always said," Gellar wrote as the caption to the screencap of the TMZ article she shared on Instagram Stories. "'Buffy fans … are the best fans."

Here's a screencap of Gellar's Instagram Stories post, followed by some insights she shared about the pilot last month – including why she doesn't want "Buffy" fans checking out any so-called "leaks" online:

Buffy: Gellar on Hoping Pilot Never Leaks, Avoiding Leaked Script

Checking in with SiriusXM's Page Six Radio in March, Gellar explained why she hopes the pilot never leaks online, despite the Buffyverse wanting to get their hands on it. "I actually hope it doesn't because then everyone's going to have an opinion on this and that, and pilots are not finished," Gellar said. "It wasn't done, right? It's not like we did a season and finished it and then they shelved it. It's not like when they made the Batgirl movie and didn't [release] it. That movie was finished. You make a pilot — and I want to clarify this — we made a pilot [first instead of a full season] on purpose because there's some new characters and you want to see how it goes. There are things you learn from it, and there are things you fix. Usually, [the first version of a] pilot doesn't air … it's a learning tool. The original Buffy pilot [had] nothing to do with the show. It was a different Willow. It was a very different show. But those are learning tools and that's what a pilot is."

As for the draft that's out making the rounds online, Gellar urges fans to avoid reading it because it's not the finalized version of the pilot script. "I've seen a version of the script out there. It's not actually correct. That stuff is really unfortunate, and I ask fans if you see scripts — if you see it leaked — don't watch it because you're not getting our vision and all of that," Gellar explained. Deadline Hollywood's reporting from earlier this week noted from "multiple sources" that the streamer's biggest concern was that the pilot "played too young" and felt "small." Reportedly, the studios and creative team wanted to keep the spirit of the original series' modest budget look and vibe. The Zuckermans' rewrite was reportedly 90 minutes long: "It was more adult, featuring a lot more of Gellar's Buffy, and was described as a more of a streaming than a network show." DH reports that "the rewrite was well received at both studios, 20th TV and Searchlight TV, triggering the internal talk of a pending pickup, with at least one executive in charge 'putting everything on the line' for it, as one person put it."

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