The much-discussed, long-delayed season finale of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" has finally been scheduled -- it will air Tuesday, July 13, at 7 p.m. on the WB. And we'll finally get to see what all the fuss is about.
The major fuss came when WB executives decided to delay the episode because of some unfortunate timing that was completely out of their control. The show features a climactic confrontation between Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sunnydale's evil mayor, who turns himself into a demon -- in the form of a 60-foot serpent -- and devours the town, starting with the senior class at Sunnydale High's graduation ceremonies.All of which proved to be a bit more than the folks at the WB were willing to handle back when the episode was originally scheduled to air on May 25 -- 35 days after 13 were killed by two teenage gunmen (who also killed themselves) at Columbine High in Littleton, Colo.; 24 days after two students were shot and one killed at a high school in Alberta, Canada; and five days after a student shot and wounded six of his high-school classmates in Conyers, Ga.
While there is certainly no chance of what happens on "Buffy" happening in real life, WB officials obviously feared that some act of violence would take place at some graduation somewhere and it would be blamed on their show -- much like scenes from the movie "Basketball Diaries" have been replayed repeatedly in association with the Littleton massacre.
"Our decision to delay the air date of this episode had to do with many issues, the foremost of which was being sensitive and respectful to the two communities and individuals devastated by recent acts of violence in their local high schools," said Jamie Kellner, the WB's CEO, in a prepared statement. "The timing of the finale also coincided with the over 35,000 combined junior high, high school and college graduation ceremonies being conducted nationally.
"We have received both praise and criticism for our decision. To all of the loyal fans of 'Buffy,' please accept my sincere apology for the delay. If we erred, it was on the side of caution."
The brouhaha that accompanied the WB's decision was blown out of proportion. Some were calling it a free-speech issue, which is patently ridiculous.
The network always planned to air the episode, and delaying it a few weeks -- while somewhat annoying -- works no hardship.
What's sort of odd and decidedly dumb, however, is that the WB has not scheduled a repeat of the first half of the two-part episode to accompany the long-awaited season finale. That second-to-last installment won't be seen the week before, and wouldn't it have made sense to air the two shows back-to-back on July 13?
TONING IT DOWN? All the talk about violence on television supposedly has the networks running scared. Supposedly.
Tapes of fall pilots are beginning to roll out to critics, and there are some really questionable sequences. Keep in mind that these could be edited before they get on the air -- but whether they are will say a lot about whether actions are going to follow all those words from network executives.
Fox had already issued statements that it was going to tone down the violent content of "Harsh Realm," the new sci-fi series from the creator of "The X-Files" that is scheduled to air on Fridays at 8 p.m. And the current version of the pilot is indeed very violent. But the show that precedes it, "Ryan Caulfield" -- a drama about a 19-year-old rookie cop -- has also produced a pilot that's loaded with blood and graphic violence.
And over on NBC, the new show "Third Watch" -- from the producer of "ER" -- contains one of the most graphically violent scenes in the history of network series television. A character is shot repeatedly in the chest, and when he tries to move -- bleeding profusely all the time -- he's shot again in the hand. This show is scheduled to air Sundays at 7 p.m. Lovely.