Season five (September
26, 2000 - May 22, 2001) was a momentous
one for Buffy the Vampire Slayer: it was the final season to be broadcast by
the WB before Buffy moved to UPN, and the season finale also happened to be the
100th episode! Needless to say, to have survived as a mid-season
replacement was amazing enough, but to reach 100 episodes was almost
unprecedented. In honour, the Hollywood Reporter magazine ran a special issue
in celebration of this feat.
After the move to UPN
Buffy continued to push creative boundaries. One of the most notable of these
episodes was the genre-blending ‘Once More with Feeling’, aka ‘the musical
episode’ (November 6, 2001). Writers agree that the episode was risky and could
have failed spectacularly. Critic Jonathan Bernstein writes "What could
have been, at best, an eccentric diversion and, at worst, a shuddering
embarrassment, succeeded on every level”. This large promotional poster demonstrates
UPN believed, as well, that the episode was noteworthy. In 2009 TV Guide ranked
the episode #14 on its list of "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time".
The switch of networks
didn’t affect the enthusiasm of Dark Horse Comics, either, who continued to
find creative ways to bring Buffy to the masses. In 2001 they released Pop-out
People: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Consisting of nine perforated figures of Season
five's cast printed on heavy card-stock, and a two sided background, the set
came (as was the norm for Dark Horse) with either photo or artwork characters.
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Coming up next: Lunch boxes, CDs, and more!!
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