Dial File — Steve Bornfeld: Getting huffy over ‘Buffy’

Friday, July 9, 1999 | 9:09 a.m.

Steve Bornfeld is the Sun features editor. His television column appears Fridays. Reach him at 259-4081 or steveb@vegas.com

Slay on, Buffy baby.

We refer, of course, to the pouty-lipped vamp who vanquishes vampires between calculus class and chemistry lab on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." The hit WB series' controversially-delayed season finale finally airs Tuesday, seemingly bringing the Littleton tragedy/pop-culture violence debate full circle, at least unofficially. (Officially, the debate barrels on -- as it should.)

To recap: "Buffy's" season finale, titled "Graduation Day, Part II," finds Buffy and Co. squaring off -- in typical violent/action mode -- against the town mayor, who is transforming into a demon. It was slated to air May 25 -- to maximize its sweeps ratings potential -- but the WB swallowed hard and forfeited the Nielsen windfall, bumping "Buffy" to mid-July after Columbine High School and a Georgia school erupted in bloodshed. WB chieftain Jamie Kellner said the decision was born of "sensitivity" to those involved, adding:

"The timing of the finale also coincided with the over 35,000 combined junior high, high school and college graduation ceremonies being conducted nationally. We have received both praise and criticism for our decision. To all the loyal fans, please accept my sincere apology for the delay. If we erred, it was on the side of caution."

No matter: Fans of "Buffy" got huffy, using a trade magazine ad to vent their rage. Bootlegged "Buffy" tapes flooded their ranks. And several of my fellow TV critics -- who ought to know better -- called the WB cowardly.

WB: Right. Critics and fans: Wrong.

Yes, post-Littleton postponements of certain programs with violence was as much a business decision as a moral one. But the WB -- facing the wrath of rabid fans and a blown ratings bonanza -- had far more to lose than, say, CBS, which canned an episode of the far-less popular "Promised Land" and docked a still-unseen series, the mob-themed "Falcone," from the fall lineup.

TV critics, while accurately contrasting the "fantasy" violence of "Buffy" against the genuine genocide attempted in Littleton, still stupidly claimed that the difference was enough to justify its original airdate. "Fantasy" or not, unspooling the season-ender of "Buffy" -- featuring death at a high school right after the real thing shattered lives -- would have been cold and callous. There are times when consideration toward others is best conveyed by a respectful pause -- a moment of silence, if you will -- and damn the semantic hair-splitting.

And providing immediate gratification to a show's bellyaching fans takes a distant back seat to the WB's socially responsible response.

While the post-Littleton uproar over pop culture crudity and violence seems to have hardly fazed Hollywood -- witness the gruesome "The General's Daughter," the vulgar "South Park" flick and a slew of gross-out summer movies on the way -- the WB actually had a flicker of conscience.

(To echo a recent column, the WB also experienced a sense of S-H-A-M-E -- and no doubt nightmares of footage from a high school graduation slaughter juxtaposed with "Buffy" clips on the nightly news).

Curtailing media mayhem is considerably more complicated than simply benching a single series episode. But the WB proved, even if only fleetingly, that someone in Tinseltown could actually give a damn.

Bravo, Buffy baby.