'Dawson's Creek' and 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' Coming to ABC Family Starting June 22

Dawson's Creek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are making their ABC Family debut on Monday, June 22 at 12 p.m. ET/PT and 5 p.m. ET/PT, respectively.

Before Dawson, Buffy and all their friends make their first network appearance, fans will have the opportunity to visit abcfpoll.com and vote for their favorite Dawson's Creek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes to kick off each series' respective runs. The ten episodes chosen by the fans will air during "Fan Favorite Week," beginning on Monday, June 22nd at 12 p.m. Should "The Longest Day," that game-changing episode when Joey and Pacey tried to tell Dawson about their romance, make the cut? Or what about "Becoming - Part Two," when Spike strikes an unholy alliance with Buffy in order to keep Angel from destroying the world?

NEWS: Crystal Hunt, Early 2014 TV, David Tennant, Diversity Hires, Carrie Preston, Holiday TV Roundup

Former GUIDING LIGHT and ONE LIFE TO LIVE Actress Crystal Hunt Tells Her Side of Bar Fight Story
“Crystal was confronted by an inebriated woman who walked up to her and became confrontational, aggressive and menacing,” her attorney Shepard Kopp told TheWrap. “Crystal was disturbed by the woman’s erratic behavior and got up from the bar and moved over to a table in the corner, approximately 30 feet away. The woman followed her and continued her harassing behavior at the table.

“At that point, Crystal asked that security personnel in Pearl’s have the woman removed from the bar, at which point they asked the woman to leave, but she refused. She continued to approach Crystal in the same menacing and aggressive way. Afraid for her personal safety, Crystal acted in self-defense.”

UK-Bound 2014 Pilot Season? ABC Comedy GALAVANT To Film There, Will Others Follow?
Comedy series have been immune from runaway production, with only dramas making the trek to other countries, mostly Canada. That is about to change. ABC/ABC Studios' single-camera pilot GALAVANT, a comedy fairytale written by Dan Fogelman, will shoot in the UK, including Wales, employing some 150 locals. This is the first U.S. broadcast pilot to film in the UK since the country in April approved a tax credit that provides a 25% rebate on 80% of the production budget spent in the UK.

Why 100 new TV shows are launching in early 2014
More people watch TV from January to March than at any other time of year. The TV industry has known this for years, which has led networks to add more shows. Because there's more to watch, more viewers watch -- or so the thinking goes. A basic yardstick appears to bear this out: 115.1 million people watched prime-time TV at any given moment last year, from January through March, according to Nielsen. That compares to 106 million during the summer. Usage is expected to reach record levels next month -- surpassing last winter's record level.

Pivot Acquires BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and VERONICA MARS

Pivot, Participant Media's TV network targeting Millennials (18-34), today announced it has acquired all episodes of scripted series BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (20th Century Fox) and VERONICA MARS (Warner Bros.). These critically acclaimed shows have resonated with audiences around the world and are widely lauded for their positive portrayal of women and universal themes. They will join the programming roster as a 'BUFFY AND VERONICA POWER HOURS' block, celebrating the iconic, smart and powerful women at the center of each show.

The block will feature back-to-back episodes Mondays through Fridays at 10 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. ET beginning January 13, 2014.

"BUFFY and VERONICA MARS are enormously entertaining and celebrated TV shows with significant cultural and social relevance," said Evan Shapiro, President, Pivot. "Both focus on smart, strong, young women dealing with critical issues from class struggles to gender roles - challenges facing a great many of our viewers. Pivot will contextualize the shows, presenting them with exclusive commentary from fans, experts and academics, to both celebrate these two great series and begin a dialogue with our viewers."

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, the Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated series, which ran for six seasons from 1997-2003, stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers. Chosen to battle vampires, demons and other forces of darkness, Buffy is aided by a Watcher who guides and teaches her as she surrounds herself with a circle of friends called the "Scooby Gang." The series was created by Joss Whedon, under Mutant Enemy Productions, and with later with co-executive producers Jane Espenson, David Fury, David Greenwalt, Doug Petrie, Marti Noxon and David Solomon.

The award-winning series VERONICA MARS, which aired from 2004-2007, stars Kristen Bell as a student who progresses from high school to college while moonlighting as a private investigator under the tutelage of her detective father. In each episode, Veronica solves a different stand-alone case while working to solve a more complex mystery. The Kickstarter campaign for the VERONICA MARS movie raised $5.5 million from more than 90,000 contributors. The series was created by award-winning screenwriter Rob Thomas; produced by Warner Bros. Television, Silver Pictures Television, Stu Segall Productions, Inc. and Rob Thomas Productions.

NEWS ROUNDUP: Beth Maitland Visits Y&R, John McCook Crossover, DALLAS Memes

Beth Maitland's next appearance in THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS will air in late April
The Emmy-winning fan favorite posted the news on her Facebook page.

B&B's John McCook on visiting Y&R and why no one in Genoa City recognizes him as Lance Prentiss
"That was so long ago. [Laughs] Memories don't go back that far. Eileen Davidson [Ashley] was at the wedding, too. The whole schedule had been thrown off because Mel was sick. We wound up shooting the wedding in one day instead of two, which meant Eileen came at the end of a work day at DAYS OF OUR LIVES. She showed up really breathless and then pretty much sat there and wasn't given much to do. But we're all basically extras at these things. Soap weddings are all about the pageantry and the exchanging of the vows. I didn't see Peter Bergman there at all. I guess Jack wasn't invited."

On Eric Forrester's relationship with Taylor: "I was trying to keep a little dignity. I didn't want Eric jumping into bed with just any available set of boobs, but he's a horndog and he's been alone for 12 weeks. That's eons in soap time! Hey, he wasn't getting any from Stephanie. He's probably gone five years without sex. Her death freed him up to sniff around the neighborhood."

Heather Tom's son will play her son on B&B, too
THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL star Heather Tom (Katie) announced that her 4-month-old son, Zane Achor, will now be playing her TV son, Will, starting Wednesday, April 17! "He just had his first shot - my son smiled on cue!" she tweeted, adding that co-star Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy) got to hold the tot. "He's a flirt just like his TV dad!"

Why NBC shouldn't yank SMASH yet
Though the knee-jerk reaction by most network execs is that there’s always something better out there to program, replacing a low-rated show with a new one doesn’t always work.

At least SMASH won’t have to tread water for long: Beginning March 25, THE VOICE will return to help buoy the network on Mondays and Tuesdays. That development, alone, may prompt NBC to hold its breath a little longer on SMASH, which is a passion project for network topper Robert Greenblatt.

Robin Sachs Dead at 61

Robin Sachs has died at the age of 61, according to BBC News.

The British actor died last Friday, but news of his death was announced on his official website on February 5:

"Please join us in raising a glass to Robin - goodbye, dear friend. Thank you for all the laughter and the cookies. We will miss you so very much."

Further details about the actor's death have yet to be revealed.

The actor (who was just four days shy of his 62nd birthday) is best known for playing villainous character Ethan Rayne on the hit series BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. He also played roles in BABYLON 5, STAR TREK: VOYAGER, TORCHWOOD and UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS.

NEWS ROUNDUP: Jonathan Jackson, Betty White, Buffy Movie, Jon Tenney, Mario Batali

GENERAL HOSPITAL's Jonathan Jackson on telling love stories and maintaining character integrity
"It's difficult to tell love stories in a day in and day out medium. It can easily become a little bit mundane," Jackson says. "I think there's a way around that, but it's not easy. The answer can't be to always have one of the two people betray the other one and have the whole thing fall apart because the characters end up compromising everything about themselves. There has to be another way to have drama without the characters themselves doing that to themselves or doing that to each other. That would be the challenge: how do you create drama and suspense nuances but maintain the integrity of the characters? That's really difficult to do."

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ movie looking for new writer
That big-screen revamp of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER has been dealt a setback. Two sources close to the project say that the script submitted this past summer by writer Whit Anderson fell far short of expectations and, in the end, was rejected completely.

THE CHEW's Mario Batali: Accused in Butt-Slapping Suit Of Ignoring Sexual Misdeeds
Eugene Gibbons filed the suit in NY Supreme Court, claiming several co-workers ruthlessly harassed him while he worked at Batali's Babbo Restaurant in NYC -- co-owned by MASTERCHEF judge Joe Bastianich. Eugene claims Batali and Bastianich were fully aware of the harassment -- but did nothing to stop it ... the suit claims ... by their inaction the two chefs condoned the campaign of humiliation.

THE CLOSER's Jon Tenney Heads to HBO's Aaron Sorkin-Produced THE NEWSROOM
The hour-long drama is set behind the scenes at a fictional cable news network and centers on an anchor (Jeff Daniels), his new executive producer (Mortimer), his newsroom staff (Alison Pill, John Gallagher, Jr., Olivia Munn, Dev Patel, Thomas Sadoski) and their boss (Sam Waterston).

Betty White to star in MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL season finale opener
White will be seen kicking off the MNF game in which the Atlanta Falcons will defeat the New Orleans Saints.

AMERICAN HORROR STORY scoop: Second season will have new cast, locale (goodbye, Jessica Lange?)
Creator Ryan Murphy told reporters today that season 2 of the hit FX drama will begin with a new locale and a (mostly) new cast.

5 things GLEE could learn from PRETTY LITTLE LIARS
1. Camp and character can co-exist!

TV grandmas turn the rocking, knitting stereotype on its ear
Today’s TV grandmothers have evolved from the cranky or cackling grannies of old; no Granny Clampett here.

Ranking TV’s Nightlife Destinations from Worst to Best
4. Dobler’s, GREEK

How BEING ERICA took product integration too far
The proverbial last straw came with the fourth season’s eighth episode, which begins with Erica (inexplicably) test-driving a Ford Focus with Julianne.

Another peek at the upcoming season of GAME OF THRONES
We're still months away from the Season 2 premiere of HBO's GAME OF THRONES, but the network continues to throw dedicated viewers a bone (watch below).

INTERVIEW: BUFFY, ANGEL & GREEK Alum Charisma Carpenter is THE LYING GAME's Rebecca Anne Sewell

Just when we thought - maybe - we were about to figure it all out, THE LYING GAME has upped the ante! We'll soon meet Char's aunt, Rebecca Anne Sewell, who has returned to town after years of being estranged from her family. Now she's a woman of means, full of secrets, played by Charisma Carpenter.

Born and raised in Las Vegas, Charisma Carpenter lived there until the age of fifteen, when her family moved to Mexico and later to San Diego. In San Diego, she attended the School of Creative and Performing Arts and was a cheerleader for the San Diego Chargers.

In 1992, Carpenter moved to Los Angeles. After being discovered by a commercial agent, and appearing in more than 20 commercials, her career in front of the camera began. After just two years in LA, Carpenter made her television debut in an episode of BAYWATCH, which caught the attention of MALIBU SHORES creator Aaron Spelling.

Carpenter was cast as series regular, Ashley Green, in MALIBU SHORES. The series ran for only one season, but Carpenter caught the attention of both viewers and series creators. Subsequently, she was cast in a number of series through the late 90s and into the mid 2000s including: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL and VERONICA MARS.

It is through Carpenter’s portrayal of the character, Cordelia Chase, for seven years on the WB's hit show ANGEL, that she is most famously recognized. Carpenter originated the role of Cordelia Chase in Joss Whedon's popular show BUFFY, THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, and when the spin off ANGEL occurred in 1999, Carpenter’s character moved to the new show.

We Love Soaps recently enjoyed the opportunity to speak with Charisma. Below, you can read a complete, unedited transcript of the interview.