Spoiler Slayer

It's likely to be quiet for a while, but I'll try to post daily with things that I might hear or see. I'm also trying to get into a set schedule for updates, so people won't have to constantly check back during the day to see what's happening. Something like Noon and Midnight (EST), which may sound like odd times, but that's usually when I first run across news here on the West Coast.

Tony D passed along this information he found on a messageboard (sorry, no link. Also typos are not mine).

Also i heard the reason why there is such a big time gape before new eps was after all the fan backlash drop in ratings and bad reviews for sweeps moth eps Joss has ordered all the coming eps scripts to be re tooled or scraped and be completely re written in hopes that the current trend with the ratings dropping. Also there have been other rumors that a certain producers job might be in trouble "Marti" if things don't turn around. BTVS represent almost a 100 million dollars investment for UPN. For a second tire network that's is about 15 to 25 percent of there annuli budget. So after all the pre season hype good press and favorable ratings for the first couple eps the UPN is a little more than upset that what was consider there ratings and critical triumphed is losing to Gilmore Girls every time and in the TV business when something like this happens heads will role and some one will have to fall on the sword

This seems to becoming the new trend, since people can't figure out new things to make up about the actual plots in the show, they're trying new avenues. Similar to the one which has James Marsters leaving at the end of the season, this is another one of those which is ridiculous theories running around the net. If UPN expected to receive a huge increase in ratings as well as expanding Buffy's core audience, I would be shocked. I could buy this theory if the show was still in it's first two season's, but at this point it will be hard to change the set expectations the average TV viewer has about what Buffy is about. Retooling the storylines is not going to draw more fans in and the ratings technically have not slipped from the previous years. Once you get beyond the Big Four, ratings aren't very useful in determining a shows popularity. It's more a question of how much press that you are getting, and Buffy really does rank up there with the top twenty shows in terms of media exposure (and not just from network advertising). In fact, I agree with the majority of people who feel that the current ratings system is garbage anyway. With the advent of VCR's and Tivo's, more and more people are watching multiple shows at once. I would guess that the majority of fans who watch Buffy, are also taping Gilmore Girls at the same time (I know I am). Finally, one should consider that this show is not produced, developed, or written by UPN. It is a Fox television show, and they have always supported it strongly.

BTW, an interesting read on the ratings for November Sweeps can be found at MediaWeek.com