When I was little, my parents showed me “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. I was little enough that I don’t remember any of that particular watch-through, but my parents have a story that they love to retell. 

My house in Portland sits right next to a public park. Throughout my childhood, I had some of the best people-watching spots imaginable. One time, right around when my parents showed me “Buffy,” a blonde woman was jogging outside. Apparently little me couldn’t distinguish between blondes or fiction, and so I looked to my mom and dad, exclaiming “Look! It’s Buffy!”

I watched the full series for the first time this year, and to nobody’s surprise, it took over my brain. It’s impeccable. There’s a perfect blend of ‘90s camp, melodrama and genuinely touching narratives. Sarah Michelle Gellar, the actress of Buffy Summers, is an acting powerhouse who is compelling even in the series’ worst episodes. Honestly, there’s a reason why not even the most garbage episodes of this show are rated under 6.2.

After finishing my watch-through, I was left with a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” shaped hole that not even its sister series, “Angel,” could fill. Imagine my pure glee when I learned of the reboot in production.

Now, my distaste for unneeded reboots is well documented. I think that a series should be allowed to end on its own terms, and despite how rocky the final season of “Buffy” is, I think the finale is largely pretty good. 

But “New Sunnydale,” the proposed reboot, hit all the right boxes to pique my interest. It was going to mostly follow a new cast, be directed by Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao and be produced by Sarah Michelle Gellar. This would have been a way for fans and cast alike to revisit the world of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” without Joss Whedon, who has a whole host of controversy to his name. Like practically every other “Buffy” fan, I was stoked. 

Then came the disappointment. 

Like a stake through the heart, Gellar announced on her Instagram that Hulu had shelved the series. Working on the production was an executive who made it clear he wasn’t a fan of the original series, and he killed the project with the kind of indignity usually saved for the nameless hoards of vampires setting the graveyard scenes through “Buffy”’s seven year run. 

Though Hulu has blamed Zhao’s auteurial directing style, this decision points to a larger issue. Hulu and the whole mutated mass of companies it’s a part of don’t care about art. They don’t care about making things for an audience. To the monopolies in charge of our entertainment, there are only consumers.

They would rather kill the reboot to a beloved franchise before it ever has the chance to see the light of day than allow for a new artist to take a stab at it. To the humble executive, there is nothing more threatening than art that might not make the biggest profit to ever profit. It’s all rather paradoxical. 

Honestly, though, this creative decision points to a baffling lack of understanding. “Buffy,” as a franchise, is one whose audience would show up for a reboot — no matter the actual quality. “New Sunnydale” would have made so much money and generated an infinite amount of online buzz.

I’m not upset, ultimately, that “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” didn’t get its reboot. It didn’t need one, the series stands on its own and there are five seasons worth of “Angel” to go along with it. That being said, if any piece of ‘90s nostalgia deserved a reboot, this was the one.