Buffy to come back from the dead

real fans know buffy, the vampire slayer, is already dead (she gave her life to save her sister last season). but buffy, the show, faces equally daunting challenges, according to the entertainment weekly cover story. (the piece is one of the cornerstones of their encyclopedic fall tv preview issue.) for one thing, buffy moved down the food chain and up the pay scale to upn from the wb.vamp menace sarah michelle gellar will likely become undead or resurrected soon. i hear i will be on the show in some form this year, she says, but i can't tell you anything. sorry. but for now ew reports she's playing the part of a buffy bot roboslayer. even after they work out the life-after-death thing, the show still must cope with the exit of giles (anthony stewart head, homesick for family in england), a time slot that pits buffy against other youth-demo faves (that '70s show and gilmore girls), the exit of creator joss whedon (working on a buffy animated series and a uk giles spinoff for head)-- not to mention another recent emmy snub for what is widely regarded as one of the best-written shows on the tube. perhaps most irksome to s.m.g. is the flak the show has been taking from groups like the conservative parents television council, which rates buffy the third worst show on the air. we're, like, the most religious show out there! she says. we're more religious than seventh heaven! we're greek mythology -- we answer the big questions. they just make me laugh so i hard. i say, 'come debate me. i want to see you bring your arguments to my face. because you will lose -- so quickly'. word to the wise: don't mess with a wounded slayer.