Hello everyone.
Today I’m happy to bring you a new entry
in the 'Buffy' and 'Angel' episode Guides.
Now, don’t get too excited yet!
I’m bringing the guides back provisionally.
First, I want to tell you you what’s been going on.
Second, I’m going to tell you what my plan is.
I want to give away some stuff.
AND then I want to let you know that I’ve
started a Patreon.
So...here goes.
As you may or may not remember,
since I know a lot of people skip
these Channel News videos,
nearly six months ago, FOX had saturated the
channel with a dozen or so copyright flags
...and I decided to put the channel on hold.
In the intervening time,
I wrote my Comic Con presentation
and posted one of the rehearsals on the channel.
Did a few movie reviews.
And wrote a couple of articles for Medium
that are linked in the description.
In the meantime,
I appealed every one of those copyright flags from FOX
and they have now been removed
and every video has been reinstated.
This doesn’t reflect a change in policy on FOX's part,
I just waited long enough.
For frame of reference, the 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' movie review was flagged the second it went up.
So I want to get back to making the 'Buffy'
and 'Angel' Guides again
but if I return to the pace I was at
when I started this season,
putting out two a week,
FOX has shown they’re still going to flag everything and we’ll rapidly end up back in the same situation
I was in in May.
So here’s my solution.
I’m going to stagger the Guides with other content.
A rotation.
It was always my intention that the channel would eventually have a selection of essays on content above and beyond just one television show.
I really enjoyed doing some contemporary reviews
and want to keep doing that as a part of the channel.
I’m also planning on starting a project
called 'Film School/Shmilm School'.
And after that, is an open week that could
be a live action video, a vlog, a Patreon vid
or a Bad Decisions Livestream.
In the meantime, the copyright flag that I
inevitably will have to contest from FOX 
will be running its course and fall off.
And at the end of the cycle,
I’ll go back to the next 'Buffy' and 'Angel' vid.
This will mean that content remains somewhat regular.
I get to keep giving you guys new things,
and bonus,
prevent some of the burnout
I get when I make a 'Buffy' video
week after week after week.
Now I wanted to tell you about a giveaway I’m doing.
When I first watched 'Buffy',
I knew I'd seen something
that was more than the sum of its fiction.
Great humor and pathos,
but written with a PERSPECTIVE
about life and being human that I wanted to understand.
And spending some time online
I settled on Mark Field's book,
that I've mentioned a number of times before:
'Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Myth, Metaphor & Morality'.
Mark's book is an expansive academic analysis of EVERY season of the show,
with an essay for each episode that delves into the philosophy and psychology of the fiction.
It is the base on which this ENTIRE channel is built.
He has been a tremendous supporter of mine
and for the first time,
his book is available in paperback.
If you're frustrated
by the halting progress of the channel
or want to go far deeper
on any of the topics we've discussed...
...I HIGHLY
recommend it.
And if you can’t, at the moment, afford a copy
or it isn’t sold in your country
I bought five copies and want to give them away.
Yes, I’ll send you one anywhere in the world you want.
If you’re interested in one of my five copies,
head over to the Facebook fan page,
hit the Like button on the channel
and leave a comment
on the Facebook post for this video
telling me what your favorite video I’ve made was.
I picked Facebook for this giveaway because
if the YouTube channel ever goes down 
for some stupid reason,
more people will be able to
keep up with what I do in the aftermath.
Also, it just seemed like it would be easier 
to contact the winners.
5 winners will be picked at random before
the next 'Buffy' and 'Angel' videos are posted.
If you don’t have a Facebook account,
I respect that and I’m sorry about this one .
I’ll do another giveaway….sometime.
If I can think of something else to give away.
Lastly, I've started a Patreon for the channel, by request.
I’m really nervous about this one
but people have asked me to get one going.
I tried to come up with some fun tier bonuses
and things that I thought COULD be a good time
but also wouldn’t be such time-sucks for me
that they detract from my ability to
get back on SOME kind of schedule for the channel.
Things to keep in mind if you decide to donate.
The donations are set to monthly,
rather than video by video release.
Those of you who have been here for awhile now
know that I can suffer dry spells
and vicious attacks of the lazy.
If that should happen,
you need to remember to go over to Patreon
and shut your donation down.
But Patreon income
long term will allow me to do more things like
grow the channel audience,
travel to and speak at more Comic Cons,
maybe a 'Deadpan Freud' T-shirt,
maybe hire a part-time editor one day
and with the ultimate goal of going full-time.
You can head on over to Patreon to look at the details.
Link in the description.
For now, that’s it.
I want to thank all of you for
your encouragement and patience.
I’ve received tons of messages from people
with their support,
and I'm always moved by the personal stories
people share with me
about what 'Buffy' and the channel have meant to them.
I’m going to try and get my production back to...
...well it was never great...
...but to get things back to steady.
And I’ll see you in the next one.
