It's not easy bringing your title character back to life and setting up shop on a new network, but Buffy the Vampire Slayer is trying to strike a balance, executive producer Marti Noxon told SCI FI Wire. "We're in sort of a dark space with Buffy, but I think we're doing a lot of funny stuff too. We're trying to find that balance between farce and humor and some of the darker issues that we're going into this year," she said in an interview. "I think we're striking a pretty good balance so far. The villains help that, because they're a little bit lighter this season. At least they are for now," Noxon added, referring to the nerdish villains who've sworn to take over Sunnydale, played by Danny Strong, Adam Busch and Tom Lenk.

Noxon added, "The thing is, [Buffy creator] Joss [Whedon] is really smart, and he is the one who came up with the idea for them, and they're just a very different direction. So it's like we're not trying to top last year's run, you know, trying to top a god. We're just going in a really different direction, and our characters are a little more relatable."

According to Noxon, UPN has been thrilled with the direction the show has been going. "You know, it's really fun for them, because they were sort of fans of the show before the show was their show," she said. "So they're very enthusiastic, and they really enjoy watching and participating in the process. They've been great."

After being resurrected from the dead, Buffy and the gang will literally face the music in the upcoming Nov. 6 episode, "Once More with Feeling," a musical installment with original songs written by Whedon. Cast members do their own singing and dancing in the episode, which airs at 8 p.m. ET/PT.