Leavin' the WB in the dust.

"Weep WB!
Buffy/Roswell spell your doom --
Now on UPN."

I wrote this intriguing little haiku for one purpose, and one purpose only.

Ok, maybe two.

The first, as we all know, was to inform the readers of Popcrazy that UPN, although a three letter word, also counts as three syllables in a haiku.

The second (and admittedly more important reason) was to assure loyal Buffy-buffs and fanatical Roswellians where their favorite shows would be headed this fall --

UPN.

Yes, I can hear your gasps of pain, and even horror! After all, UPN has been called many things, although my favorite (from Ain't It Cool News) is -- the "Red-Headed Stepchild of the Networks." Why would the Smackdown network pick up Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Roswell, two sterling jewels of teenage angst with healthy doses of the supernatural, from the WB?

For Buffy, it all came down to money. Roswell was a different story completely.

As all devoted Buffy watchers know, our Slayer has been dusting vampires and kicking demon ass for about five years now -- which means it was time for the WB to renegotiate how much it was going to pay 20th Century Fox (who owns Buffy) for the rights to show the show. The WB had been paying about one million dollars per episode of Buffy -- and Fox wanted more.

Buffy is expensive to produce, and Fox was looking to regain some of the money they had been putting into it. The WB was willing to pony up about 1.8 million per episode, but drew the line there. Some way to treat the show that created you, huh? So Fox opened Buffy up to other networks -- and UPN was willing to pay $2.3 million per episode for it. Fox agreed, and signed away the rights to UPN for another two years.

Still on Earth, but switching networks.

But the "trans-network express" (as it was deemed by Time magazine) didn't stop there. 20th Century Fox also owns Angel and Roswell, and speculation was that the WB might cancel one or both of these shows in revenge for the Buffy move. UPN was very interested in acquiring Angel, probably to show with Buffy on Tuesday nights for a solid night of programming like the WB -- and also, because Buffy had been an expensive purchase. UPN would need to convince advertisers to pay more for commercials on Buffy, and they could do that if Buffy had a partner like Angel. But the WB kept Angel, exiling it to the "death spot" after the sickly-sweet wholesomeness of 7th Heaven.

At the last minute, Roswell (which had been cancelled) was picked up by UPN to be paired with Buffy on Tuesday nights. Both our favorite Slayer and tabasco chuggin' aliens are together on one night -- what could be better? I'd say look for the two to be heavily touted as a pair this fall.

The WB is betting on the mismatched duo Gilmore Girls and another supernatural coming of age drama, only this time with Teen Superman, called Smallville. From my newly found digs over at UPN, I defiantly cry, "Bring it on, WB!" I shall now forever refer to the WB as the "Where's Buffy?" Network.

For the latest scoop on everything Roswell, head over to Crashdown.com.

To check out the cool new Buffy banner courtesy of the folks at UPN, head to www.upn.com and click on "This Fall." --Brian Pietras