Theory about Amber Bensons Future Appearance in the Opening

[Blixxt]

Ahhh... Namaste, what you're saying is making sense. I'm beginning to get a picture in my mind here... In spite of all the contradicting statements, I think I see now what may have happened. Allow me to thus present it to you in One-Act Form.

Note - All of the Amber statements are based off things she herself has said, and many of them can be referenced earlier in this thread.

Amber: Hello, I'm Amber Benson.

Audience: *swoon*

Title Card: July 2001

Amber: (sigh) I hope to someday enter the opening credits stratosphere. While not being a season regular grants me much more free time, I also really love being on Buffy.

Joss: Muahahahaha

Title Card: August 2001

Amber: (worried) I am worried. They have not offered me a contract yet. Why is this?

Audience: *cries*

Joss: Muahahahaha

Title Card: Three Days later

Joss: (finally stopping his evil laughter) Ahhhh... where was I? Oh yes, plotting future Buffy storylines. Let me see... Willow will definitely turn darker this season. But how dark? Whatever happens, she must learn the price for abusing magic. That means hitting rock bottom.

Joss: (thinking) In order to achieve such a thing I will have to manipulate the story in a certain way. If the other characters intervene, or come to her rescue too early, it won't work. Hmm...

Joss: (now deep in thought) Giles is leaving the show, so he won't be a problem. Buffy is going to be preoccupied with Spike, Xander and Anya with their wedding, Dawn with being a fifteen year old girl... That leaves... Tara.

Audience: *swoon*

Joss: Hmm... Since I am an evil man, I will have to break Willow and Tara up.

Audience: *cries*

Joss: Will that be enough, however? If Tara was there, she might shake the other Scoobies out of their stupor. This will not do...

*Joss thinks for a while*

Title Card: Three days later

Joss: Hello Amber, Goddess that you are.

Amber: Hello Joss, Evil Mastermind.

Joss: So about your contract...

Amber: (nervous) Yes?

Joss: What are your current feelings on it? Do you want to stay on the show?

Amber: (nodding) Of course! (ed. note - Amber has repeatedly stated she wants to stay on, in spite of not liking television)

Joss: I've noticed that you like your current schedule, as it gives you more time to do other movies and a general freedom the other actors do not enjoy.

Amber: This is true.

Joss: My dear... I have a theoretical storyline mapped out in my head. In it you leave for a while but then come back. If this is to be so, you cannot be a season regular.

Amber: I see.

Joss: I can go either way with this. What would you prefer?

Amber: (thinking) Well... As much as I would like to be in the opening credits, I am willing to do this. This would also give me more time to work on Chance, for my true love is film, not television. All right, I'll do it, and choose not to be a season regular.

Joss: Great! I shall retire to my Fortress of Pain to plot the story!

-Scene-

The reason I think it may have gone down like this is we have received contradictory info on why she's not a season regular (she chose not to, yet she has stated she wanted to be.) Though I know Joss doesn't like to let his actors know what's in store for their characters, he *would* let Amber know of something like this so she could plan her schedule around it. This also helps make more sense of a statement Amber herself made a while back. It basically said that we would see some characters would leave, while others might "leave for a while, but come back." At first I thought she was referring to Giles with that one, but now I'm thinking she meant Tara, as Giles fits the first description better (having essentially now left for good).

[This message has been edited by Blixxt (edited November 13, 2001).]

[Karma*]

Hi just delurking for a little bit. Im not sure if I'm allowed to start this kind of thread or not but I thought it may be kinda helpful.
Amber's status on Buffy be it, the debate as as to why shes not a regular cast member or not in the credits STILL, how many eps. she's going to be in etc., is a constant topic of debate on not only this but other boards. The last few days its been getting some more time in the spoilers thread. Now we all are agreed that it sucks she's not a regular yet so anyway I thought it may be useful to have an offical thread for this topic so all the info and speculation can be found in one easy to get to place.
As I said I dont know if the mods will allow this, and I'm sorry if its not, but I thought it could be helpful to the board.
I've got a theory myself as to why she isnt a regular yet, but I'll wait a little bit till I post it to see if the thread is allowed to be kept up.
BTW can the Kitties perhaps make some form of effort the next time Joss or Marti posts at the Bronze or on a web-chat to find out offically why Amber isnt a regular. Not why she's not in the credits which they may be able to explain away but why not a reg.

Anyyway thoughts, comments, spare change....

[Katharyn*]

Not knowing the specifics of either the situation or indeed the 6th season I would guess that asking Joss et al will not receive an answer (beyond the cryptic) simply because it would give too much away storywise. From what I believe is the current position in S6 what suspense etc would there be if Joss came out and said "oh yes Amber is in the credits from EpX"?
Yup I want to see her in there and personally hope for a mid season addition or at least S7 full regular status credit but that is unlikely to be confirmed IMHO until at the earliest after the resolution of current story lines and even then just before the ep in which it happens. Indeed there is the whole debate (in another thread which I forget the title of) as to whether Amber actually wants to be tied as closely to the show as regular status would require. I have no opinion on that really but it is an issue - but one that should likely be debated in that other thread...

Look at me I sound as I am spoiled for S6... Some things though you just cannot miss.

K

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She's my always

[drlloyd11*]

Here is what the divine Little Willow says (and she knows alot)
"
Stay Tuned >> I received many emails after Amber's appearance as Tara in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Tabula Rasa." All I can say is stay tuned. Amber is still a recurring character this season and will be in many of the episodes.
"

*reposted by WillTara

[Dr.G]

Hee hee, drrloyd, not much news there, seeing as Amber is contracted for 16 eps and Tara is obviously a recurring character, she'd have at least 7 eps to go this season, though like last season there may be more. *Fingers crossed* So yeah, I'll stay tuned, to the show that is, cuz I don't want to miss my make up smoochies darn it.

[This message has been edited by Dr.G (edited November 20, 2001).]

[gypsyfoot]

Tara has been a full fledged scooby since she realized that Faith-in-Buffy wasn't Buffy and helped to conjure the device to switch Buffy back to her own body, IMO.
Leaving Tara out of the credits and out of a few episodes may be a classic case of mis-direction. While the audience is focusing on Willow-Tara something else may occur.
Why didn't Buffy want Giles to buy the Magic Box? Because the owners have the life expectancy of a Spinal Tap drummer(?). Anya is now running the store.
What if it is Anya that is non-essential, she leaves which opens a spot in the opening credits?

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Willow: ...or-or to do that thing with your mouth that boys like.
Buffy snaps her head around at Willow and gives her a shocked look.

[Zerattakis]

Well I think the theory [I've got a theory..hehe can't resist] is a good one, very good. Whether it turns out to be true or not is something else but the planning of it is great nonetheless. Everyone here has good tidbits to add and the only way we're going to find out is to wait and see. [Though, i'm holding on to the Tara-saves-the-day type scheme or something similar]

Zera

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SO: Okay, last question. What advice would you give to someone who gets their brains sucked out?
AB: Um ... eat a lot of apple sauce, preferably fed to you by attractive young lesbians.

[La]

yes blixxt! that makes perfect sense. and namaste, those are also really good points. i agree with both of you whole-heartedly. Amber certainly deserves to be in the opening credits from the way that her role has been progressing over the past few episodes. But if she were a series regular, Joss wouldn't have been able to make her disappear for a few episodes, which I think makes a lot of sense if he needs the show to progress in a certain way.

I'll just keep believing that anyway!

~la

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It's fascinating to think that all around us there's an invisible world we can't even see. I'm speaking, of course, of the World of the Invisible Scary Skeletons.

[Kalita]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Blixxt:
Marc Blucas wasn't in every Season 4 episode, he was missing from several in the beginning. But halfway through he showed up in the credits, and was in every episode since. The same thing happened with James Marster that season as well.

The point of my theory isn't that Amber Benson is going to suddenly appear in all 22 episodes. It's that after she's gone for a hiatus to advance the current storyline, she's going to appear in the rest and *then* be placed in the credits. Now, in order for this to work Amber would then have to want to be in all 22 episodes *next* season...

---

Oh? Look at Marc's episode record. He joined the regulars crowd in S4E11, and departed after S5E10.

That's 22 episodes total. Not across a full season, but still the magic 22.

Conclude what you will.

[This message has been edited by Kalita (edited November 20, 2001).]quote:

[icefire*]

i mean come on, it's been almost 2 seasons, it's about time they put her on at the start

[Eyes Without A Face*]

When she decides to sign a fulltime contract, in blood, and thereby sells her soul to Joss.

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Wallpapers
Illegitimi non carborundum!

[This message has been edited by Eyes Without A Face (edited January 18, 2002).]

[rocketdyke*]

i think theyll put her on the credits tomorrow.

[SeanGaffney*]

I think it's all part of Joss and Marti's fake spoilers plot. They leave Amber off the credits so people will think she's going to die, then at the end of the season say "Surprise!", face us all, and put her in the credits retroactively for the DVD and video releases.

C'mon, it sounds evil, so ergo Joss must have thought of it. ^_-

--SG

[La*]

SeanGaffney, that's really funny. you and I think alike. I was just about to write something to that effect, before I hit refresh, and BOOP there's your post.

~la

*reposted by WillTara

[ScoobySnack]

Thanks for posting that! Not only does that make sense, it also makes me feel better about Amber's and W/T's futures

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Tara: I am, you know.
Willow: What?
Tara: Yours.

[Kamil]

As I understand it, being in the credits doesn't mean you have to physically *be* in each episode; it just means that they have to *pay* you for every episode, whether you are in it or not.

Charisma Carpenter hasn't been on the last two eps of Angel, but they're having to pay her just as though she'd been there.

I'm willing to ask about this if someone thinks I'm full of it -- this isn't one of the parts of TV 101 that I've paid the most attention to, but I'm pretty sure that it's accurate.

edited, again, because of the extra quotage. I've dumped my cache and temp files -- any other ideas what might be doing this?
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--
Kamil
Gunn: "I mean, who has time for love when you're out there doing it with the demons...and didn't that just come out sad and wrong."
"Heartthrob" Angel

[This message has been edited by Kamil (edited March 26, 2002).]

[tommo]

Kamil, you need to edit your profile on novogate. It's your sig that keeps coming up.

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You know I've been through hell...Joss can't you see, there'll be nothing left of me. You made me believe...