Cinescape Online has quoted an interview in the Australian newspaper, the Courier-Mail, in which Nicholas Brendon, who plays Xander on the popular series, stated that next season could well be the last go-round for the winsome vampire-slayer.  Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Geller, was recently quoted in Movieline to the effect that she was not at all certain that she would continue with the series after her contract expires next year.  Series creator Joss Whedon has a number of other major projects in the hopper, including a prime time science ficture adventure series (see 'Buffy Creator Sells Sci-Fi Series To Fox'), and Whedon's plethora of projects might be another factor if the Buffy series does shut down next year.  Certainly nothing is definite at this point -- this could all be pre-contractual posturing designed to up the ante for any continuation of the series beyond next year, but the importance of the Buffy property means that pop culture retailers should keep an eye on this situation.

 

With comics from Dark Horse, trading cards from Inkworks, a collectible card game from Score, action figures from Moore Action Collectibles, plus lots of apparel items, Buffy has been a solid, durable license over the past half dozen years.  TV properties tend to have much longer life spans than their movie counterparts, but eventually even popular TV series grind to a halt for one reason or another.  Fortunately with some 125 episodes already in can, Buffy should have a considerable 'half-life' as a popular rerun series in syndication.  And if the series ends with an 'event,' the property could have a last hurrah in pop culture stores.