UPN says ''Buffy'' and Gellar may still return | 11735__buffy_l
SHOW SLAYER Will Gellar's absence kill the show?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Richard Cartwright

Could ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' pull a ''Friends'' and rise from premature burial? It's a possibility, said CBS and UPN chief Leslie Moonves, addressing the Television Critics Association's winter gathering in Hollywood on Sunday. ''I wouldn't bet that it comes back, but it's possible,'' he told the Hollywood Reporter.

''Buffy'' remains one of UPN's signature shows, but its ratings have slipped, and star Sarah Michelle Gellar has indicated that she's ready to leave at the end of the season to pursue her film career. But Moonves said that ''she hasn't said no'' to coming back for another season. However, she may take a page from ''The X-Files''' David Duchovny and appear on the show only occasionally.

''One possibility is she comes back, one possibility is she comes back a couple of times, one possibility is we do a spinoff,'' Moonves told the New York Daily News. ''Another possibility is that we have a brand new show on Tuesday at 8 o'clock.''


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