Were there any other final notes you wanted to strike before the conclusion and couldn't, besides having Tara come back?

We also talked about bringing Oz back, and quite frankly we didn't have the money. We had a whole cool idea and we just didn't have a dime.

What's next on the agenda for you? You made an allusion to the demise of "Firefly" being only temporary.

I have hopes that there may be another venue for "Firefly," although I don't have any proof yet. But I've been fighting to find a place to do a version of that because I like the story so well and the actors so well.

Was that a big change to do a show that was centered on a grown man instead of a young woman?

It's so funny, because I have a lot of movie ideas and they all tend to revolve around young adolescent female superheroes. But not "Firefly." This one is about Joe Schmo, everyday life, and then of course I introduce River, the young female superhero. Let's face it, I'm just addicted. But it was nice to have a show that was about different perspectives and to really get to explore all of them. I was excited that I was going to have a happily married couple that was not boring. Because that's just so rare in fiction and it's such an important thing in life. And yet apart from [Dashiell Hammett's] Thin Man series, I think it's never really been adequately represented. And I had a preacher on board, to explore the concept of faith, people who don't have it and people who do. And of course the captain was the me figure because he's very tall and handsome, but cranky and also slim.

Are there going to be any all-new projects?

Yes, I think there are. What they are I can't say, obviously. I still have a deal with Fox, and I'll be running "Angel" and I believe there will be some development down the line. I definitely want to make a movie of some kind in the next couple of years. I have a number of ideas that are vying for my attention, sort of like a horse race. They're all at the starting gate and it'll be interesting to see which pulls ahead.

Both TV and movies?

Yeah, but I'm letting it be a void right now because I'm so fucking exhausted. It doesn't hit you until you let it. I used to get sick every season at the end of the season. My body said, OK, can I? After seven years I have to admit I'm kind of reeling. Now, I also have a 4-month-old child, so: double reel.

Is it going to be hard not to have "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in your life? After all, that's what you've been doing for seven years.

You know, no. Because it really was time to stop. Like, I loved going to college, but I was happy to graduate. It was an extraordinary thing and there will never be anything like it again. Ultimately, I wasn't going on set as much, wasn't directing as many episodes. I was still very much involved, but the physicality of being there was less. The people on the show that I'm pals with I see anyway. I had a great crew, and hopefully I'll get to work with them again. I'll miss them, but I won't miss having to turn out 22 stories about Buffy in a year. I feel like we did the best we could for a long damn time and it's time to tell the next story. Even if it's about Willow.

Is that a hint?

No. If there turns out to be a spinoff with any of the characters, I'll be interested. It'll happen because we have something to say and not because we have an actor ready. But we won't have anything to say until we catch our breath.

A last question: Can you tell us about some of your favorite Buffy moments or stories from the past seven years?

Here are a few of my favorite things that also represent larger things. The scene where Angel has become Angelus but is pretending he's not and that he's just had a one-night stand with Buffy and that destroys her. When he came to her and said, "Why are you making a big thing out of it?" When he acted like a guy. I wrote that scene and thought, "I might be a worse person than I ever imagined because I am able to write this scene. I think I just tapped into somebody really horrible and it came rather easily." Ugh.

I would have to say the moment Amber and Tony started singing together [in the musical episode "Once More With Feeling."] That made my hair stand on end. That makes me so happy. First of all, it was the first counterpoint I've ever written. It was beautiful voices raised in song about really depressing emotions. My two favorite things put together.

Off the top of my head, Willow licking Willow. Just having double Willows, just the absurdity. That whole thing was such a romp. As a director, I didn't do too many of the romps. It was always, [in an agonized voice] "Oh, Angel, we can't ever be together!" Ally [Hannigan, who plays Willow] was like, "Your shows are always about Buffy," so I said, "I'll write one for you. In fact, there'll be two of you, what do you think about that?" God, some of the funniest stuff we ever did was in that episode, but also the scene where they find out that Willow is alive and everybody, everybody, is so goddamn funny. It's Giles, Xander, Willow and Buffy, the fearsome foursome.

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