Despite rumblings that next season will be Buffy the Vampire Slayer's last, executive producer Marti Noxon told SCI FI Wire that she thinks an eighth season of the UPN show is likely, even though its star's contract expires after season seven. "I think that it's very likely there will be [a season eight]," Noxon said in an interview. "I'm not sure if Sarah [Michelle Gellar] will come back or not, but it's really up to UPN and 20th Century Fox if the franchise continues. It would be very hard to continue the show without her, but they might try."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer begins its seventh season in the fall—its second season on UPN, after five years on The WB. Noxon took over as executive producer in 2001, when creator Joss Whedon focused attention on the upcoming SF series Firefly, which debuts on Fox in the fall.