So here we are, celebrating the 10th anniversary of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and I pick up the 2008 Wall Calendar and discover once again that there are publicity shots of the cast members that I do not yet own. I have over a hundred 8 x 10 glossies from the show all with the official "Vampire the Vampire Slayer" logo stamped in white on them (except for a black & white shot of Drusilla that has the stamp in black), and of the dozen main shots that make up the top half of this calendar I have nine of those shots. What I am missing are the solo shots of Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy for January and November, along with the shot of Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase for September (for some reason there are a lot more cheesecake photos of Charisma out there than publicity shots from "BtVS" or "Angel," and that was true even before she did the spread in "Playboy"). Of the 36 smaller photos (three for each month) I have a third of them as 8 x 10s and another half-dozen in other formats. That is why there is a never-ending quest to track down these photographs.
The format of these calendars has become fairly standard by this point. Technically it is a 16-month calendar, with the last four months of 2007 on the first page of the calendar, but no self-respecting "BtVS" fan has taken down their 2007 Wall Calendar yet (but I do appreciate that the inside front cover is never the art for January). The top half for each month has one photograph blown up to full size and then a strip of three smaller photographs off to one side of the larger shot. The bottom half has the calendar for the month in a color matching the dominant tone of the main photograph with a quote from the person shown (or, in Anya's case, the exchange with the bartender where she tried to order a beer at The Bronze). As is standard these days, the calendar has holidays for the United States, Canada, and the U.K., although the equinox, solstice, and full moon dates are given to Eastern Standard Time or Eastern Daylight Saving Time as applicable.
There are two months devoted to Buffy, who also appears one month with Angel, with Willow, Xander, Giles, Dawn, Spike, Anya, Tara, and Cordelia getting their own months, with nine cast members from Season 5 in a group shot for December. In the supplementary shots you will spot Oz, Drusilla, Dark Willow, the Gentlemen, Caleb, and Glory. There is an emphasis on couples with seven such shots appearing, as well as several smaller group shots. The photo I most want to get my hands on is the middle one of Willow with Alyson Hannigan in her long red hair from the early years. You can see all of the upper halves of the complete calendar on the back if you check it out at your local mall if the calendar kiosks that pop up at the end of the year are still up having their end of the year half-price sales, but I assume that all fans of the slayer of the vampyre only need to be reminded and not persuaded to pick up this calendar for next year, especially now that we no longer have the Angel and Spike calendars to flank this one.
