By Jennifer Asencio
| Published 28 seconds ago

Max Landis’s attempt to return to Hollywood isn’t going too well. The director submitted a script for consideration for a new movie based on Hasbro’s G.I. Joe franchise to co-producer Paramount. It was announced on March 14, 2026, that they were turning it down.

The proposed script would have been about a world where the evil organization CORBA has succeeded in its plans for domination, and the G.I. Joe organization is considered a “conspiracy theory,” or even an underground group of rebels. Max seemed very proud of the subversiveness of his idea, but Hasbro and Paramount rejected it for creative reasons.

Landis’ Exile From Hollywood

Max is the son of John Landis, best known for classics like Animal House, Three Amigos, Coming to America, and Michael Jackson’s cinematic music video, Thriller. With such big shoes to fill, Max’s success has only been moderate in comparison, with writing credits for Chronicle, the Netflix fantasy Bright, and Victor Frankenstein. He also penned 18 episodes of a series based on Douglas Adams’ novel, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.

He has largely been out of the entertainment industry due to allegations of sexual misconduct from 2016. He’s written a few projects but has mostly remained out of the spotlight until news broke that he submitted a pitch for the proposed G.I. Joe project. Among his future projects, according to IMDB, is a proposed rewrite of his father’s werewolf comedy, An American Werewolf in London. Given his treatment for the G.I. Joe movie, it’s concerning to imagine how he’s going to mangle his father’s legacy.

Danny McBride Might Save The Day

Other ideas for a G.I. Joe movie are being considered jointly by Hasbro and Paramount, including a script from Danny McBride of Pineapple Express and The Righteous Gemstones fame. Paramount wants to expand on this franchise, although the studio hasn’t been very good at that lately: Starfleet Academy, their latest Star Trek failure, is probably not airing its second season. This may mean they are extra-cautious about what script they choose for the iconic and patriotic franchise.

The general sentiment among fans is that they’re glad this script never got off the ground. Reducing the Joes to shadowy guerrillas is an idea more like a bad fanfiction than a story about the “real American hero” that was so beloved in the 80s. The general sentiment is that a G.I. Joe movie should be like the cartoon from our childhood.

Since Danny McBride’s name has been mentioned over the other scripts, it seems likely they are taking him seriously. This may be a good thing, as McBride excels at being a big kid and is of the right age that he would have been a genuine fan of the show. Whether his concept wins the pitch or not, whoever manages to capture the spirit of the Hasbro franchise will probably be rewarded at the box office, while attempts to change the franchise too much might reject fans the way Starfleet Academy and The Acolyte did to their fanbases.

Regardless, it’s obvious that Max Landis was not that fan. Stay tuned, because eventually we’ll know whose script Paramount and Hasbro pick, and knowing is half the battle.

Lindsay Hubbard took a jab at ex-fiancé Carl Radke while trying to talk him up to Summer House season 10 newbie Bailey Taylor.

“It wasn’t a date, but it kinda felt like a date,” Carl, 41, told his housemates during the Tuesday, March 17, episode of the Bravo series, revealing that he hung out with Bailey, 30, earlier that week in the city.

He noted that Bailey told him that Lindsay, 39, had some nice and not-so-nice things to say about him before they spent time together.

“You were just like, ‘Go for it,’” Carl claimed Lindsay told Bailey, who didn’t come to the Hamptons that weekend and therefore couldn’t weigh in on what was said between her and Lindsay ahead of time.

Lindsay clarified to both Carl and the group that she told Bailey, “You should go for Carl,” adding with a laugh, “See, I’m nice.”

Carl then claimed that Lindsay told Bailey she actually gave him “two thumbs down” but to still “go for it” if she wanted.

“She paraphrased that,” Lindsay claimed. “I said, ‘He probably won’t have sex with you but he’s a great conversationalist.’”

Lindsay’s confession stunned the table, with castmate Amanda Batula pointing out, “You were so close to being nice.”

Carl didn’t address the topic further with everyone around, but he later told the cameras that Lindsay’s remark was pegged to how their sex life diminished before they broke up.

“Lindsay and I weren’t sleeping together [toward the end] because of how not stable [the] foundation [was that] we were on,” Carl claimed in a confessional.

Related: Summer House’s Carl Hasn’t ‘Kissed Anybody’ Since Lindsay Split

Lindsay Hubbard has a new man in her life, but her ex-fiancé, Carl Radke, is still healing from their broken engagement. “I haven’t kissed anybody since Lindsay,” Carl, 39, confessed during part 2 of the Summer House season 8 reunion on Thursday, June 13. “I haven’t hooked up with anybody since Lindsay.” Carl called his […]

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He then alleged, “But when we first started dating and having sex, she used to say it was the best sex of her life.”

Carl pointed out, “Before that I used to get destroyed for being a f***boy, having too much sex. Now I’m being a little more careful and I get dragged for that? Can’t win.”

When Summer House premiered in January 2017, Lindsay and Carl’s friendship was one of the many dynamics fans loved. After years of friendship, the pair attempted to date during season 4, but they soon decided they were better off as pals.

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Related: Carl Radke Says Ex Lindsay Hubbard Seemed ‘Much Happier’ Amid Pregnancy

Lindsay Hubbard brought the pregnancy glow to Summer House season 9, according to her ex, Carl Radke. Carl, 40, told People in an interview published on Wednesday, February 12, that Lindsay seemed “much happier” while filming the latest season of the Bravo reality show last summer. At the time, Lindsay, 38, was expecting her first […]

Lindsay and Carl gave their romantic relationship a second shot in fall 2021, with Carl exclusively telling Us Weekly in January 2022, “I’ve never felt more myself around someone than her. And for me, that’s powerful.”

Carl eventually proposed to Lindsay in August 2022, which fans saw play out on season 7 of the Bravo show.

One year later, as they were preparing to walk down the aisle, Carl called off the engagement in August 2023.

While Lindsay has claimed she was “blindsided” by their breakup, both she and Carl have remained part of Summer House.

They were even housemates when Lindsay was pregnant with then-boyfriend Turner Kufe’s baby in summer 2024. (Lindsay welcomed her daughter, Gemma, in December of that year.)

Summer House airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.

Dakota Johnson is working on her fitness and serving looks while doing so. The actress was recently spotted leaving the Tracy Anderson Method Gym in Studio City, and while her toned abs were peeking over a pair of high-waisted black leggings, it was the fresh pair of Nike sneakers on her feet that caught our attention.

Johnson styled the sporty kicks with calf-length crew socks, a white sports bra and a black t-shirt over her shoulders. Such a neutral color palette would normally have rendered her inconspicuous, but the blue-and-white Nike V2K running sneakers added a vibrant pop of color to the gym fit.

If the pair piqued your interest, we have good news and bad news: Unfortunately, the eye-catching hue Johnson is seen sporting is highly coveted; it’s almost completely sold out everywhere we’ve searched. However, you can still get the exact Nike sneaker on Amazon. There are over 20 variations of the style currently available, but be warned that sizes are selling out fast.

Get the Nike V2K running sneakers for $119 at Amazon! Please note, prices are accurate as of the publishing date but are subject to change.

The White/White-Platinum Tint colorway is our favorite after Johnson’s bold blue. We love a statement shoe, but a classic black-and-white sneaker will go with everything in your workout wardrobe, not to mention your everyday attire outside the gym, too. However, if you want to follow in Johnson’s shoes (pun fully intended) and opt for something that will stand out, the Sanddrift/Pink Foam and Platinum Violet/Chrome-purple hues are guaranteed conversation starters.

In fact, the conversation surrounding the Nike V2K running sneaker has already started amongst reviewers. One five-star reviewer raved, “[I] love that they’re trendy to wear with more casual or sporty outfits, but also perfect for the gym,” adding that the traction on the bottom “is great” and that they “love the body style.”

Another reviewer felt so passionately, they wrote in all caps, “SO CUTE BUYYYYYY IT.”

Johnson’s Nike running sneakers are selling out fast, so if you’re even entertaining the purchase, we wouldn’t hesitate to add your favorite pair to your cart ASAP.

Get the Nike V2K running sneakers for $119 at Amazon! Please note, prices are accurate as of the publishing date but are subject to change.

Looking for something else? Explore more sneakers here and don’t forget to check out all of Amazon’s Daily Deals for more great finds!

Related: Jennifer Lopez’s Chunky White Sneakers Are a Rich Mom Staple

If you follow Jennifer Lopez on Instagram, you might have noticed her affinity for Nike sneakers. The megastar has been known to complete her workout fit with a chunky style. Her exact pair, sadly, are out of stock, likely because they were part of a limited-edition drop. However, an incredibly similar pair also from the […]

Apple TV has some of the best drama series of recent years, with standouts like Severance, Pluribus, and Slow Horses. The streamer is quietly dominating the half-hour comedy space as well, with hilarious series like Platonic, Shrinking, Trying, and Loot being steady hits on the platform. Apple TV’s comedy series work so well because they have silly, specific humor and excellent ensemble casts made up of unique, complex characters.

One of the best comedy series of recent years is Apple TV’s Mythic Quest, which ran on the streamer for four seasons, and was sadly cancelled in 2025. Created by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘s Charlie Day, Megan Ganz, and Rob Mac, Mythic Quest is a hilarious and outrageously funny workplace sitcom with a delightfully bizarre sense of humor, and some of the most inventive sitcom episodes ever.

What Is Apple TV’s ‘Mythic Quest’ About?

Mythic Quest follows the creative team behind an extremely popular multiplayer roleplaying video game called Mythic Quest. This game takes a lot of people to keep it running, including the executive producer, David Brittlesbee (David Hornsby), the head of monetization, Brad Bakshi (Danny Pudi), and the testers, Dana Bryant (Imani Hakim) and Rachel Meyee (Ashly Burch). At the helm of it all are MQ’s creator and creative director, Ian Grimm (Rob Mac), and the game’s lead engineer, Poppy Li (Charlotte Nicdao). No matter how successful a video game is, if they aren’t constantly switching things up and introducing new expansion packs, they are at risk of losing their players’ attention. At the start of the series, Mythic Quest is about to launch a new expansion pack called Raven’s Banquet that they’ve been working on for two years, but Ian still has little tweaks that he wants to make.

As a workplace comedy, Mythic Quest shows the MQ team clashing with each other and dealing with very specific work problems each episode, whether they’re disagreeing about a major decision for the game, trying to win over gaming streamers, or dealing with a hacker. The core conflict of the series is that of Ian and Poppy, who represent the creative and practical aspects of the game. Ian always has his head in the clouds and doesn’t think about the logistics of his big visions, while Poppy always has to think about how to make his visions happen — instead of getting to have big ideas of her own. Throughout the first season of Mythic Quest, the MQ team tries to make sure the Raven’s Banquet launch goes smoothly. Meanwhile, Ian and Poppy try to make their partnership work for both of them, while Poppy starts to consider what she wants her future at MQ to look like.

‘Mythic Quest’ Perfectly Balances Humor and Heart

Mythic Quest is an excellent workplace comedy, but it is also very inventive and bold in both its humor and its emotional core. Mythic Quest has some absolutely hilarious and strange storylines, with episodes that see the MQ team holding a committee to figure out what qualifies as hate speech within the game, and Ian challenging a hacker to a duel in front of the whole world. In Season 2, Mythic Quest has a bottle episode with the premise that every MQ employee has taken a personality quiz, and they refuse to accept their results, or even to leave the office for the night. Mythic Quest always pushes the envelope with its humor, both embracing its characters’ unique quirks and personality traits, while also giving thoughtful and satirical commentary on the video game industry.

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Mythic Quest also has a tradition of a departure episode each season that leaves the main characters to follow someone else who has a connection to the game in a way that also touches on the core theme of that season. The Season 1 installment follows two characters who never otherwise appear in the series, but who used the MQ office a long time ago. Season 2 and 3 have backstory episodes for main characters, and Season 4’s centers on Charlie Day’s recurring side character.

Mythic Quest as a series does not shy away from change, and each season shows the characters making major shake-ups to both their personal and professional lives. As such, MQ is always adjusting to new power dynamics in the office, as well as to changes in the gaming industry. Alongside the silliness, Mythic Quest gives all of the characters intentional and thoughtful character development, in ways that both show them growing and regressing. The show regularly touches on its core theme of what it means to monetize one’s art, and it does so in both tragic and outrageously funny ways.

By Robert Scucci
| Published 32 seconds ago

If you’ve ever taken a creative writing class, you know how hard it is to use simple language to get your point across. Written, published words are forever, and it’s easy to fall into the trap of overcomplicating things. Mark Twain famously said, “Don’t use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do.” As much as I wanted to enjoy 2020’s The Mimic, written and directed by Thomas F. Mazziotti, I mostly felt like I was back in college workshopping an overzealous undergrad’s short story that was clearly written with the help of a well-worn thesaurus.

It’s not that the movie isn’t funny at times, or that the characters aren’t great. It is, and they are. The problem is that nobody talks like this, and dialogue meant to sound witty often makes the whole thing play like a prolonged episode of Gilmore Girls. The Mimic certainly tries to be a smart and witty comedy, but I’d enjoy it more if it didn’t feel like it was constantly reminding me how smart and funny it was.

The Kid Is A Sociopath

The plot for The Mimic would make for a great sketch or even a sitcom episode, but its 81-minute runtime becomes tiresome once you get to know the principal characters. Our protagonist, simply billed as The Narrator (Thomas Sadoski), is a widower and a writer (it’s all starting to make sense now). When The Kid (Jake Robinson) becomes a presence in his life, The Narrator immediately suspects he might be a sociopath. His reasoning is simple: The Kid copies everything he does and seems to have no personality of his own. The Kid never breaks eye contact while conversing, suggesting he’s constantly sizing up whoever he’s interacting with.

The Kid also has a number of odd hobbies, including ducks (in general), wild mushrooms, and talking about a wife who is never seen on screen. Fascinated by The Kid, and eager to prove his theory, The Narrator consults a woman known only as The Librarian (Jessica Keenan Wynn) so he can learn more about sociopathy. His ultimate goal is to write a story about The Kid and impress the women who work at the local paper, who constantly “bicker over semicolons.” As the two men get to know each other better, it slowly dawns on The Narrator that he and The Kid aren’t so different after all, raising the very real possibility that The Narrator himself may also be a sociopath.

All of the above scenarios make for a solid comedy if done right, but the standout moments that truly made me cackle, like The Kid’s awkward, impromptu bathroom escapades with Gina Gershon’s “Woman at the Bar” character, are few and far between.

That’s It. That’s The Whole Thing

Being married to a woman who was a teenager when Gilmore Girls was the talk of the town, the only thought I had while watching The Mimic is that The Narrator and The Kid are basically male versions of Rory and Lorelai Gilmore. Every single conversation becomes a rapid-fire deluge of pop culture references, psychological ramblings, and gotcha-style exchanges that force the viewer to keep up with them, despite the fact that most of these exchanges don’t drive the story at all.

What’s unfortunate is that there are some tremendous zingers here, but you’ll probably miss them while trying to unpack every single line of dialogue in real time.

Circling back to that Creative Writing 101 vibe, The Mimic falls into all the familiar traps. Mazziotti is too precious with his jokes and doesn’t always know when to trim things down. Given the film’s 81-minute runtime, it often feels like there simply wasn’t enough story to stretch the premise into a feature-length film. It makes you wonder how much better this might have worked if the whole thing had been trimmed to a sharp 20 or 30 minutes.

Things get even more convoluted when the perspective zooms out and we learn that two characters known as The Director (M. Emmet Walsh) and The Writer (Doug Plaut) are actively writing the script for The Mimic, arguing about motivation and how much of each character’s backstory should be revealed to the audience. The whole thing smells like an undergrad’s notebook. The kind of smell you get when the PB&J they packed a week ago and forgot about breaches the Ziploc bag and leaks all over the first draft right before peer review.

The Mimic, as a concept, has a lot of promise. As a feature-length film, though, it ends up feeling like all flash and no smash. I wouldn’t mind spending more time with these characters because they’re genuinely fun and riff well off each other, but I wish we got a more distilled, cohesive version of what Mazziotti was trying to accomplish.

As of this writing, The Mimic is streaming for free on Tubi.

Taylor Frankie Paul’s domestic dispute has reportedly caused The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives to press pause on production — but will it affect The Bachelorette season 22 premiere?

While Taylor, 31, was allegedly involved in a domestic violence dispute with on-again, off-again boyfriend Dakota Mortensen this month, Variety reported on Monday, March 16, that the investigation “will not impact” The Bachelorette’s release schedule or press plan.

Taylor, who is the newest lead of the ABC dating franchise, is currently promoting the series in New York City. She is also set to attend a premiere event in Los Angeles this weekend ahead of the network premiere on Sunday, March 22.

Us Weekly has reached out to ABC for comment.

News broke on Monday that producers halted filming Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives after an alleged domestic dispute took place between Taylor and Dakota, 33, shooting season 5.

A Draper City Police Department spokesperson in Utah later confirmed to Us that a “domestic assault investigation” involving the former couple is ongoing.

“Allegations have been made in both directions” and “contact was made with involved parties on [February] 24th and 25th,” the police told Us.

Taylor, who is an original member of the SLOMW cast, has since felt the repercussions of the scandal within the group.

“The Mormon Wives cast [is] honestly terrified to film with Taylor right now,” a source exclusively told Us one day after the news made headlines, noting that production is “shut down” at the moment and “the women have made it clear they don’t want to be around her because they see her as a major liability.”

Prior to the ordeal, Taylor’s SLOMW costar Mayci Neeley revealed that the mom of three appeared to be “in a better mindset” while away from Utah and filming season 22 of The Bachelorette.

“That was an opportunity for her to be forced to be away from the toxic cycle that she was in with Dakota, at least for a period of time, to hopefully figure out what she wants and what she needs,” Mikayla Matthews exclusively told Us on March 2 of Taylor’s change. “I’m excited to watch The Bachelorette back, because I don’t know [what happened].”

While Taylor was seemingly in a good place while shooting the ABC dating show — which was filmed prior to her return to SLOMW — now, her suitors are in a bind as her and Dakota’s drama unfolds publicly.

Related: Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ Taylor Frankie Paul Is the Next Bachelorette

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Taylor Frankie Paul is set to hand out roses on season 22 of The Bachelorette — yes, really. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star, 31, was announced as the new ABC lead on Wednesday, September 10, via an appearance on Alex Cooper‘s “Call Her Daddy.” (The podcast previously teased a Bachelor Nation-related announcement this […]

“The men on The Bachelorette have all been rallying around each other in solidarity and feel extremely upset and let down by Taylor and the situation,” a source told Us on Tuesday.

Prior to her reality TV debut, Taylor made headlines for being part of a Mormon swinging scandal while married to Tate Paul. The exes, who share daughter Indy May, 8, and son Ocean, 5, got divorced in 2022.

Taylor has since been in an on-again, off-again relationship with Dakota, which has been tumultuous at times. The former couple share one son, Ever, 23 months.

The Bachelorette premieres on ABC Sunday, March 22, at 8 p.m. ET.

Westerns are celebrated as a timeless genre, but they’re too often rooted in nostalgia. When looking at the most popular contemporary Western shows of the 21st century, many are built on a yearning for a more old-fashioned tradition of stark moral boundaries, and they don’t acknowledge how much more complicated the world has become. Justified was a truly modern Western that doubled as one of the most engaging, exciting thrillers of its era. Although the short story “Fire in the Hole” provided the basic inspiration for the story of the no-nonsense U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant), Justified went far beyond its source material to become a sprawling epic filled with memorable characters.

Even though it debuted on a prestige network like FX, Justified could have been a fairly straightforward procedural if it hadn’t been for a critical decision made during the pilot’s production. Walton Goggins made such a memorable impression as the smooth-talking gangster Boyd Crowder that it became impossible to go by the original plan and kill him off. The cat-and-mouse dynamic that grew between Raylan and Boyd evolved into mutual begrudging respect, as the two men on opposite sides of the law occasionally saw themselves on the same side. Justified was never predictable because it was never just one thing; it was an exciting adventure, a compelling mystery, a nail-biting thriller, a moving family drama, and a searing commentary about the state of America’s heartland all at once.

‘Justified’ Expanded Far Beyond Its Original Premise

Most crime shows are either procedurals or interconnected epics, which are two modes of storytelling that have their attributes and drawbacks; procedural shows offer variety without sticking to an evolving premise, and epics may be more consistent, but don’t have the opportunity for spontaneity. While the story’s threats were too complex to narrow down to just one episode, Justified never became repetitive because each season went in an entirely different direction. There was a variety that resulted from its revolving door of excellent guest stars; while Margo Martindale offered a sobering, dramatic performance that made Season 2 the show’s most emotional, Neal McDonough’s terrifying performance as a remorseless killer turned Season 3 into a high-octane thrill ride.

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Walton Goggins also stars in the tense crime drama.

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What differentiated Justified from other modern Westerns is that the show had top-notch writing and some of the strongest dialogue of the decade, thanks to the brilliant work of showrunner Graham Yost. Justified is responsible for dozens of memorable one-liners, but the show was never so obsessed with being clever that it forgot that its characters were real people; Raylan may be a charismatic figure with luck on his side, but he’s also a fallible person capable of making mistakes, which is something that is explored particularly well in the final season when his career becomes threatened. The show was also remarkable in how it examined complex issues without painting in black-and-white; Raylan was able to be a hero without the show lionizing law enforcement, and the depiction of a post-recession America was lived-in without caving to obvious messaging.

‘Justified’ Is the Most Consistent Thriller of the 2010s

It’s rare that a show perfectly sustains its run, but Justified ended at just the right point without getting derivative. Although it’s such a bingeable series that it may feel like no time had passed, Raylan transforms from a hawk-like loner to a valuable member of a community by the time that the series ended. Olyphant sadly missed the chance to fulfill his potential on a different Western show when Deadwood was cancelled prematurely by HBO, but he became so synonymous with his role as Raylan that he was called upon to play similarly terse law enforcement officers in Fargo and The Mandalorian. As for Goggins, Justified turned him from a bit player on The Shield to a slick, whip-smart villain whom audiences loved to hate, and then appreciated unconditionally; it seems unlikely that he would’ve landed roles on Fallout, The White Lotus, and The Righteous Gemstones without his versatile role on Justified. It also proved to be a testing ground for Yost, who would find great success on Apple TV with the sci-fi epic Silo.

Justified was a lightning-in-a-bottle success that proved difficult to replicate. While the revival series Justified: City Primeval dug deeper into Leonard’s influences and examined Raylan’s maturation as a father, it lacked Goggins’ greater presence, even if Boyd Holbrook did an admirable job as the new antagonist. The increased stakes led to an even more dramatic season, but Justified: City Primeval didn’t have the same eclectic pacing as the original, which remembered that all Westerns were based on tall tales that were intended to be fun. As a mystery that respected the audience’s intelligence, a workplace drama about the everyday responsibilities of the law, and a rare show that celebrated an unabashed hero in an era where antiheroes had become the norm, Justified is a true gem that continues to age well.

There are very few TV shows more 90s than “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” which starred Sarah Michelle Gellar as the titular Slayer. Even though there were a few different Slayers that were awakened during her tenure, Buffy Summers is considered the Slayer, and that’s unlikely to change any time soon. Despite various attempts to reboot the series over the years, “Buffy” has one big problem: finding its audience.

 Why The ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Reboot Was Seemingly Cancelled

At this point in time, it’s unclear why the reboot, which would have starred “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” alum Ryan Kiera Armstrong as the new Slayer, was scrapped. Although financial concerns most certainly played a role, Sarah Michelle Gellar seemed to point the finger at one person during a strongly worded interview with PEOPLE magazine.

“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,” she added. “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.”

So Who Was The ‘Buffy’ Reboot Really For?

Although Deadline sources seem to point to that executive being Disney Television Group President Craig Erwich, who oversees Hulu original series, it does raise the question of who the show was supposed to be for. Was Armstrong supposed to be a new Slayer for a new legion of teenage fans? Or was Gellar supposed to be nostalgia bait for an older audience?

“I loved the duality that we had with this new, younger slayer who was where Buffy was when the show started, and then we would pick up with where Buffy was now,” Gellar told the publication about the plot, hinting that it would have had something for everyone, which means that there was a substantial risk of alienating some viewers who might not have been satisfied with that kind of passive approach.

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The reboot appears to have been caught between positioning Armstrong as the face of a new group of fans while still leaning on Gellar as a tether to the past. This risks satisfying neither audience, leaving the series stuck in a limbo that might end up letting everyone down. Either the reboot is a nostalgia-grab powered by Gellar’s iconic status or a bold reimagining aimed at a newer audience, but it can’t be both.

Concerns About The Reboot Being Too ‘Small’

Sources told Deadline that there were various concerns about the production, including that the scope of the project might have been too “small” to achieve what they hoped to accomplish. However, those goals remain unclear, as audiences haven’t been given a concrete reason as to why the production was suddenly shut down.

There were also, apparently, some concerns about Armstrong’s age. She was only 15 when she was cast. Compare that to Gellar, who was 18 when “Buffy” first started production. However, Armstrong is hardly a new actor and has already amassed extensive experience in film and television, so it is unlikely that her age played a major role in the show’s cancellation.

While some insiders said that the pilot was “not perfect” and “not great,” a new rewrite addressing the feedback was apparently “more adult” and featured a lot more of the OG Slayer. Unfortunately, it seems that it was not enough to convince the one executive that Gellar singled out.  

There Are Plans To Make Another ‘Buffy’ Down The Line

Deadline reported that there is hope that another show will emerge in the “Buffy” universe somewhere in “the next couple of years,” but for Armstrong, it looks like her chance at a career-defining role has come and gone.

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Many fans have taken to social media in order to voice their frustration. A large part of fan ire stems from the original “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” itself. The show’s pilot episode and first season weren’t particularly well-received, but the show improved over time as it found its footing. Cancelling the reboot after only one episode may have robbed it of the same opportunity.

‘Buffy’ Fans Are Expressing Their Frustration

Many fans have taken to social media in order to express their frustration over the reboot’s cancellation. One fan compared it to Netflix’s “Cobra Kai,” writing, “I think Hulu dropped the ball here. Reboots/Remakes draw a lot of attention to streaming services. Look at what Cobra Kai did. It became one of the biggest shows on Netflix. It brought in old fans and new fans. Wasn’t a perfect show, but fans of Karate Kid and new fans loved it.”

“This is an absolutely bonkers call to alienate an Oscar winner AND the one name the show absolutely can’t go on without as a first move under a restructuring Disney empire. It’s not too late to fire Erwich for incredibly bad judgment,” another fan wrote, adding, “This deserved a shot even if it needed more work.”

A third user pointed out how hard it was to get Sarah Michelle Gellar on board with even this version of a reboot, and noted that she was unlikely to come back in the future. “Well, whatever they do with the IP now, they’ll never get Gellar involved again,” they wrote. “That’s one seriously burnt bridge.”

Overall, any reboot is unlikely to happen for two main reasons. For one, it’s unlikely that Gellar is going to get her hopes up with another “Buffy” project, only to watch it get axed again. Secondly, it appears that execs still haven’t decided who exactly the reboot is supposed to be for. Either it’s nostalgia bait or a bold reimagining, but it can’t be both. And, until they decide what audience they want to appeal to, it looks like “Buffy” is going to stay stuck in purgatory.

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