‘Buffy’ cast reunites for just one night

updated 3:16 p.m. ET March 21, 2008

LOS ANGELES - “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was resurrected for one night only.

The cast of the popular supernatural series, which ran from 1997 to 2003 on The WB and then UPN, were in good spirits Thursday while reuniting for a panel discussion at the William S. Paley Television Festival. That doesn’t mean fans should expect the gang to get back together on screen.

“So many stars would have to align,” creator Joss Whedon said about the possibility of a new “Buffy” project.

For seven seasons, the slayer and company battled vampires, demons, werewolves, high school and other forces of darkness with tongue planted firmly in cheek. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” based on the movie of the same name, was never lauded with many awards, but it has been cited by many critics as being one of the most influential shows in TV history.

Sarah Michelle Gellar said she was surprised to find out moments before the reunion that her character recently had her first sexual tryst with a woman in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight,” a comic book series that picks up where the show ended. Gellar also reminisced about auditioning 11 times before landing the role of Buffy Summers.

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“All my friends felt sorry for me because I was on a midseason replacement on a network no one had heard of on a show based on a movie that wasn’t all that,” the 30-year-old actress said.

Before the panel, audience members watched the fifth-season musical episode “Once More, With Feeling.” Other cast members at the reunion were Amber Benson, Nicholas Brendon, Charisma Carpenter, Emma Caulfield, Seth Green, James Marsters and Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Buffy’s surprise sister Dawn and will join the cast of The CW’s “Gossip Girl” this fall.

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