By Sarah Skilton

 

 

Battle of the ex-"Buffy" Stars

No less than five "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" alums are starring or co-starring in TV shows this fall. In fact, the only person not showing up in a new series is Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar. (Her hubby Freddie Prinze, Jr. even snared his own show, aptly titled "Freddie", for ABC.)

Buffy's one-time flame Angel (David Boreanaz) co-stars in Fox's new procedural series "Bones" with Emily Deschanel. Crazy good chemistry and creepy plots seem to have captured audiences right off the bat, particularly those who crave a bit more personal life from their "CSI"-knockoffs. Boreanaz's FBI agent and Deschanel's forensic anthropologist sport a classic love/hate relationship that should keep viewers intrigued.

Over at "Veronica Mars" on UPN, Charisma Carpenter (snooty Cordelia from both "Buffy" and "Angel"), plays a hot step-mom to the Casablancas brothers. (Shades of Bill and Ted, anyone?) "Veronica Mars" has previously played hostess to Alyson Hannigan (besides "Buffy"'s Willow, she's best known for playing the flute in the American Pie trilogy – yes, trilogy). Speaking of Hannigan, she can now be found in the sitcom "How I met Your Mother" with "Freaks and Geeks" alum Jason Segel, and "Doogie Howser" himself, Neal Patrick Harris.

Three down, two to go: "Buffy"'s Xander (Nicholas Brendon) works as a pastry chef in "Kitchen Confidential" over at Fox, and James Marsters (hot vamp Spike) remains true to his WB roots by portraying a professor / the villain Brainiac on "Smallville." (This season the caped one attends college.)

Whose show has won the ratings war thus far? Based on premieres alone, "How I met Your Mother" (10.9 million viewers) juuuuuuuust squeaked by "Bones" (10.8 million.)

Of course, if you count ex-"Buffy" writers, several of whom ended up working on "Lost", they're the biggest winners of all with 23.5 million viewers.

The Outsiders Re-released on DVD

The best-selling young-adult novel of all time has been re-released on DVD with about 22 extra minutes of film and a new soundtrack. Director Francis Ford Coppola re-inserted scenes that were edited out (notably one featuring Sodapop and Ponyboy,) and added what he considered more authentic '60s tunes to the background music. It's worth another rental, if only to see break-out performances by a veritable who's who line-up of stars: Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Diane Lane and C. Thomas Howell definitely rock out with their bad 1983-selves.

A surprising new project from the late Tupac Shakur

Why surprising? Because it's a film instead of an album! 2-pac's had posthumous success beyond what most people achieve in a lifetime. Since his death, the rapper has released a dozen CDs. But his latest project is a stunner even to his fans. A screenplay he wrote in 1995, called Live 2 Tell, is being brought to the big screen by indie production company Insomnia Media Group. Though originally written as a starring vehicle for 2-Pac, the lead character has not yet been cast. Filming begins in March 2006. 2-Pac's mother, Afeni Shakur, will produce with Preston Holmes of Hustle & Flow.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the plot of Live 2 Tell "centers on a black teen from the projects who becomes a drug kingpin and then turns his life around."

 

 

 

 

 
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