Gellar alleges that the cancellation decision was ultimately made by one guy who just wasn’t a fan. “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 added, “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 says Buffy’s fans were “the only reason we were doing this show in the first place. We were doing it because everybody loves it. How do you do a show that’s beloved with someone that doesn’t love it?”
Deadline’s sources have reported that the exec in question is Disney Television Group President Craig Erwich. They also report that the pilot was even rewritten to address Hulu’s concerns that it “played too young” and lacked enough Buffy Summers. The new pilot script had been well received but didn’t seem good enough for Erwich, who has been leading development and strategy for Hulu’s original series since 2014. He has overseen the success of shows like The Handmaid’s Tale and Only Murders in the Building, and was previously involved in developing hits like 24, House, and Prison Break during his time at FOX.
New Sunnydale will not have the opportunity to be shopped elsewhere, as 20th Television, where Erwich has recently been given oversight, now owns the Buffy IP.
