Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially when that woman is capable of slaying vampires. The perpetually intrepid queen of DEADLINE Nellie Andreeva took to her soapbox on Saturday morning to urgently amplify the latest proof of that parable to her readers:
Hulu has opted not to proceed with its Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot, starring and executive produced by Sarah Michelle Gellar. She broke the news to fans on Instagram Saturday morning. The news comes a year after the streamer ordered a pilot for the project, tentatively titled Buffy: New Sunnydale, with Oscar winner Chloé Zhao, a self-professed lifelong Buffy fan, directing from a script written by Nora and Lilla Zuckerman (Poker Face).
I hear Gellar was notified Friday night of the decision, which came as a surprise to her. She had been in Austin, TX for the SXSW premiere of Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, which took place Friday afternoon. Doing press for her new movie at the festival, Gellar shared her excitement about the Buffy reboot, speaking of Zhao’s “passion, and her reasoning for wanting to do it, and why now, and why it is necessary” that convinced her to finally agree to revisit her signature character.
But were that not enough, Andreeva was inspired to double down on her coverage late yesterday with a nod to the detailed lament that Gellar shared with PEOPLE’s Jason Sheeler:
On Friday, March 11, Gellar — scream queen, patron saint to Millennials worldwide, cultural hood ornament, vampire slayer emeritus — was at the SXSW Film & TV Festival premiere of her new movie Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. It was her first time at SXSW. It was also her first time on a big screen in almost 20 years. This was, as Gellar says, a really big day. A fun day. Then she got a phone call. “I was just about to take the stage in front of all the fans,” Gellar recalls, speaking by phone Sunday afternoon. “Hulu had decided not to move forward with the Buffy revival. Let me tell you, nobody saw this coming.”
Andreeva then picked up the scent and the sword:
(A)t 6 p.m. on Friday, Disney Television Group President Craig Erwich, who oversees Hulu Originals, called auspices to inform them that the project was not moving forward, sources said. In her People interview, Gellar singled out one executive. “We had an executive on our show who was not only not a fan of the original, but was proud to constantly remind us that he had never seen the entirety of the series and how it wasn’t for him,” she said. “That’s very hard when you’re taking a property that is as beloved as Buffy, not just to the world, but to me and Chloé. So that tells you the uphill battle that we had been fighting since day one, when your executive is literally proud to tell you that he didn’t watch it.” Gellar did not name the person; according to multiple sources, the executive Gellar was referring to is Erwich.
I’ve dealt with both principals in this battle of opinions. I had the not-too-pleasurable experience of having to give similar news to Gellar and her producing partner Neal Moritz when Sony produced and tested a pilot for a proposed reboot of CRUEL INTENTIONS, the coming-of-age turn-of-the-century film which Gellar was among the titillating cast members whose sheer bitchiness and wantonless inspired the libidos of Generation X moviegoers. That was a project that was more than a year in the making and was, like the BUFFY reboot, not exactly a cheap ticket. But despite many of our own personal positive feelings (yes, that included me), the test results conclusively showed the most ardent fans of the franchise weren’t buying what they saw. So based on that feedback–which mirrored what the network’s research revealed–much to the disdain and chagrin of Moritz and Gellar, Sony and NBC grudgingly passed.
Which is why I found the ensuing anecdote Andreeva shared both infuriating and unsurprising:
After the pilot was completed and delivered, according to multiple sources, Hulu’s main note was that it played too young, with some indicating that the streamer also felt the show was too “small.”…It is unclear what exactly Erwich meant by his comments, with some suggesting that he was referring to the fact that he wasn’t the demo for the series when he said that it “wasn’t for him.”
Erwich didn’t even attempt to reference research in his comments, and judging by the support he showed for it during the meetings he graced his presence with that I attended for several Hulu-Sony collaborations my strong hunch is may not have even paid any attention to any his team may have conducted. He would show up fashionably late to every presentation I was invited to and immediately hijack the meeting to offer his own commentary. To be fair, some of these projects were probably closer to his demo’s sensibilities, so in the case of something like SHUT EYE, a short-lived drama set in the underbelly world of psychic scammers, he was somewhat more representative of the target. That said, even our less data-obsessed executives actually wanted to hear what the target thought, not the executive.
Ironically, when one looks back at the career trajectory of Erwich it’s apparent that he’s made it his mission to defer to others’ opinions, especially those of his superiors. For a substantial chunk of it one in particular has been Dana Walden, who first shepherded him at FOX and was reunited with him when Disney acquired her and the studio in 2019. When one looks back at some of the word salad interviews he’s given in recent years, it’s quite clear that he’s become somewhat expert at finding ways to articulate the vision of synergy. Witness what he shared with BROADCASTING AND CABLE’s Michael Malone during the winter TCA in 2022:
Erwich described a “very complementary relationship with minimal audience duplication” between ABC and Hulu. He pointed out Dancing with the Stars getting scores of young viewers on its Hulu airings. ABC series can triple and even quadruple their viewership on Hulu, he added. The best measure of a Hulu series, he said, is its cultural impact…The Great, about Catherine the Great ruling Russia, will have a third season, shared Craig Erwich, president, Hulu Originals & ABC Entertainment, during the networks’ TCA Press Tour event. “At Hulu, you’re not going to get Catherine the Great as a sleepy historical drama. He singled out Only Murders in the Building, Pen15 and Dopesick for making a major mark. Only Murders, he added, is Hulu’s most watched comedy.
It is humorous to see how poorly that’s all aged in a mere four years. DANCING is now amplified by Disney Plus and social media in its second life on ABC, THE GREAT, PEN15 and DOPESICK are unlamented short-order cancellations that now occupy seldom clicked-on titles on Hulu’s home page. And neither BROADCASTING AND CABLE nor the winter TCA exist.
Just last month, Erwich sat down with THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER’s Tony Maglio for yet another state of the business deep dive, where he offered scholarly observations like these:
Tell Me Lies just finished its massive breakout third and final season, reaching its largest-ever audience with its series finale. Mere days ago, the last-ever episode reached 3.5 million viewers in its first day on Disney+ and Hulu, according to internal Disney data, an increase of 70 percent from the season three premiere. A new Zombies movie is being readied for summer 2027, Erwich confirmed, and there will be no rest for the undead: Erwich told THR that a new “Worlds Collide” concert tour with The Descendants and Zombies casts is readying, and this time, the Camp Rock (3) rockers are hitting the road with the other franchises’ stars.
And here’s Erwich’s version of how he defines the “too young” appeal common to all of the above projects:
(C)oming-of-age stories, as we call them — or as we talk about them — is less of an age group of an audience and more of a time of people’s lives that everybody remembers. So there’s just endless fodder for storytelling, whether it’s people going back to relive their youth or experience their lives in a different way. And it’s always obviously a pivotal moment for people, and we’re telling these stories in multiple different ways, with, I would say, honestly, multiple tones.
I have to wonder if any such cohort groups were recruited for and identified in the BUFFY pilot research in the vein that my Sony team did when we tested CRUEL INTENTIONS. I’d be curious what, if any, variances there may have been to the overall verdict, particuarly as this appears to be a significant chunk of Hulu’s immediate future.
He did make sure to suck up to his boss and enabler in the same interview when he babbled about the efforts to attract that demo he can’t relate to via vertical video:
What we’re about is fandom — it’s really the through line of everything we do. Dana talks about this all the time. A view is a single view, but fans come back multiple times for experiences. So I think vertical video can be a lever towards that, or one thing that can provide a more immersive experience and a deeper fan experience around the show that they love, but that will also complement with things we do, like video podcasts … or concert tours, which we just did around The Descendants and Zombies — that comes out [on Disney+ on) Friday.
But just as he was getting up a head of steam to offer viewpoints on the youth of America, he and his colleagues learned yesterday that he’s now gonna answer into a new superior, which Andreeva also found the time to regurgitate:
Debra OConnell, who was just promoted by incoming Disney President and Chief Creative Officer Dana Walden to Chairman of Disney Entertainment Television, has unveiled her direct reports, which include Craig Erwich, Ayo Davis and Courteney Monroe. Erwich is adding oversight of 20th Television and 20th Television Animation, with 20th TV President Karey Burke and 20th TV Animation head Marci Proietto reporting to him. (They used to report to Eric Schrier.) Erwich will continue to lead ABC Entertainment and Hulu Originals. As he adds the TV studios, Erwich will stay firmly planted in adult programming and will no longer oversee Disney Branded Entertainment whose President, Ayo Davis, will now report to OConnell.
And that news led Andreeva to put a particularly exacerbated and frustrated conclusion to her support and homage to Gellar:
As Deadline reported, the hope is to get another take on the Buffy IP up and running within the next couple of years. Under a restructuring announced today, Erwich, who oversees Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment, also added oversight of 20th Television, run by Karey Burke. That is the studio which owns the Buffy IP, produced the original series and would be developing any future incarnations, likely for Hulu again.
So unlike a typical vampire, Erwich not only survives, but his tastemaking will continue to drive the success that Hulu apparently has–not that we’ve seen anything resembling consistent transparent data to back any of it up. 3.5 million viewers for a season finale on a dual illuminated pair of platforms is hardly headline-making. But Walden seems hell-bent on keeping him around, and now the broadcast veteran O’Connell can lean on him to help her transition into the streaming sector. Firmly planted in adult programming. Oh joy.
At least it seems she can count on a loyal champion as part of her inner circle. Every such group needs one. Our country’s current administration has Lindsay Graham. O’Connell and Walden have Erwich. Best of luck to all concerned.
Until next time…