'Buffy' will be going away, but that won't be the end

There won't be a spinoff from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" anytime soon. But there might be someday. In the meantime, some of the characters from "Buffy" might end up on "Angel." At least briefly. Assuming that "Angel" returns for a fifth season in the fall. Which it probably will.

So says Joss Whedon, the creator and executive producer of "Buffy" and "Angel."

"There could be a spinoff sometime, but there's no talk of one besides 'Angel' right now," Whedon said, completely ruling out the possibility of a successor series in the fall. It could happen eventually, but he's not in formal talks with UPN, the WB or any other network.

"Right now, I'm in talks with sleeping," Whedon said. "What I basically told people is — we thought about it, the opportunity kind of passed us by and everybody is very beat up after seven years. No one more than myself, but everybody to an extent. And we all need to take a break and give it a few months and let our brains sort of heal.

"And then I think we'll see if there's somebody or some premise that we're so attached to that we can build off."

But he's not really ruling out anything after "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" ends its seven-season run on May 20. There could indeed be a spinoff series or a theatrical film. Or films.

"We do not destroy the entire fabric of the universe at the end of the last episode," Whedon joked. "And some people even live. So there's definitely an open door" for either "more series or a movie. You name it."

On the other hand, Whedon sounds confident that the current "Buffy" spinoff, "Angel," will return in the fall, even though the WB has not yet picked it up for a fifth season. Well, he's "pretty sure" it will be back.

"We haven't heard anything, but I think the prognosis is pretty positive. It's doing well (and) there's a big love for us at the WB," he said. "I feel pretty sure they're going to pick us up, and I feel pretty sure they're not going to tell us that until the very last moment."

But "Angel" won't be exactly the same show next season. Whedon is deliberately vague about the changes, but we do know that in the upcoming season finale Angel (David Boreanaz) and his team will be offered the opportunity to take over Wolfram & Hart, the evil law firm that's been pretty much in limbo since pretty much all of its staff was killed off.