It's an interesting article but I've tweaked your entry to make it slightly more relevant for the front page.

Simon | October 20, 01:07 CET

I think they mean Earshot was delayed because of Columbine, not a 2 part season finale.

alexreager | October 20, 01:51 CET

I thought the finale was also somewhat delayed, but I may be misremembering.

Lady Brick | October 20, 01:56 CET

Both Earshot (for Jonathan with the rifle) and Graduation part II (scenes of armed students) were delayed because of Columbine.

kmb99 | October 20, 02:06 CET

Yeah, the delay for Earshot made sense to everyone. The one for the season 3 finale was the kind of nonsense this sensible writer is calling foul on.

dreamlogic | October 20, 02:29 CET

Pretty sure kmb99 is right, even though I wasn't watching yet (IDIOT that I was!) I remember reading about it and commenting to my wife about how foolish that was.

Chris inVirginia | October 20, 02:30 CET

Earshot was the first episode I saw all the way through. What's funny, is, when I heard they were delaying the episode, I thought it was probably a silly overreaction (this was when I thought Buffy was naught but fluff). When I saw the episode, I understood why it was delayed. As a person who worked about 2 miles from Columbine,and knew people involved, Earshot one was the first media *anything* that correctly captured both sides of such a tragedy that I had seen before or since. It got it right. Buffy wasn't fluff any more to me, it had jumped to appointment TV from that viewing on.

k8cre8 | October 20, 02:57 CET

Though it is billed that way under the title, I'm not sure how the article helped explain how "art helps us come to grips with real life tragedy." It seemed more about how people don't want reminders of real life in entertainment.

I do think art can help one come to grips with real life tragedy, and a raw and real show like Buffy can do that. A fictional show or film can give you an opportunity to feel and deal with real emotions. But the article doesn't go into that.

sari | October 20, 03:53 CET

My cousin's wife called me after she'd watched, by herself, The Body. Said she was overwhelmed by its accuracy and honesty (her mother had died recently). Said she didn't want my cousin to watch (his mom, my aunt, had been undergoing tests recently).

I said, remember Anya's scene, and of course she did. I told her to watch the episode again with my cousin (she'd been cheating and racing ahead of him--I got them interested in Buffy 2 and a half years ago) and just talk about it afterwards.

She said that turned out to be good advice.

A friend I recently met online through another site I frequent is dying of cancer. Several cancers, actually. She's 25. May have a few months left, maybe a couple of years. She thinks The Body is one of the finest things she's ever seen.

As I've often said, I firmly believe that Buffy is art, and art of a very high order. And, yes, art does help us apprehend life in all its highs and lows. Kind of its raison d'etre, I have to think.

Chris inVirginia | October 20, 04:03 CET

It's amazing how close to real life episodes can get. And I love that in both the case of Bones and Buffy the producers and writers were totally up for the change of plans - and understood the tragedy.

BrownCoat_Tabz | October 20, 05:26 CET

I remember when the WB pulled the Buffy Season 3 finale because of it's fears regarding the depiction of armed violence.

Because the episode was pulled, the WB then was then deluged with emails and phone calls from enraged fans threatening the network with violence.

Huh...

11thHour | October 21, 22:48 CET