Buffy the Vampire Slayer

[Lunan]

had an odd experience tonight, was going thru my dvds, organizing things getting ready to move, and i came across my collection of buffy dvds, haven't watched in a few years so i open one up and i find the buffy musical.
well what the hell this was one of the great episodes of a tv show that had a great deal of influence on my when i was younger

so i watch it, and not only am i struck by how amazing that epesode was but by how many very real life issue are dealt with in this fantasy tv show

now i have the musical stuck in my head(and its not a bad stuck)

i'm curious how many of you found buffy the vampire slayer to be influential on you? or what you think/thought of the show?

[vacantlook]

"Bunnies! Bunnies! It must be bunnies! Or maybe midgets."

I'm definitely a Buffy fan. I didn't have access to a WB station, so I didn't get to see the show until season four when a local NBC station worked out a deal to show the more major shows of WB at odd hours. I saw a couple episodes and liked it enough that I bought these 3-tape VHS sets I saw at a video store of select episodes of seasons 2 and 3 and was wowed by them. I've been hooked ever since.

I was hesitant to give Buffy a try because of the lameness of the original theatrical film, but the show itself is far better, mostly I think because Joss got to control production of the show, whereas he just wrote the script for the film. The film was just pathetically silly and stupid. The tv show blows the film out of the water.

Also, while I haven't been buying the individual issues, I am getting the trade paperback collections of the Buffy Season Eight comics that Joss is doing. I know they're also doing an Angel Season Six comic series, but I haven't paid much attention to that yet; I don't think they have a trade paperback of any of it out yet, but I'll get it when it does. I really like Fray, so if the Season Eight plot is as good as Fray is, I'll be happy.

[Talwyn]

I too am a Buffy fan and thought that "Once more with feeling" was one of the funniest and most original things I'd seen on TV for ages. To do a musical episode in a prime time horror show, showed that Joss had real balls and we have Joss Whedon to thank for making sure his vision was brought to the screen.

I too was reluctant to watch Buffy when it came to TV way back in 1997 after seeing the feature film.

The thing I liked about Buffy was that Buffy herself was fallable. She made mistakes and wasn't always right and would be annoying at times as any person can be. The show touched on interestin aspects of social commentary, broke ground with showing a lesbian relationship and was always full of pathos & humour.

I was very sad to see it end but I would say that it did end well and I'm very happy that Joss managed to tie it all up with the shows finale.

[Lunan]

now i was a teenager in 97 (born in 82 you do the math) so the movie didn't put me off at all, in fact to this day i am rather fond of the movie, was a campy and trash flick? yes. but it had some very good humor.
the show, 100% better hell 1000 times better

but as a teenager in highschool while this show aired i can remember MANY times where it was a "damn thats exactly what i'm going thru" moments, minus the demons of course, and of course from the male perspective. from fisrt serious relationship, etc. i look back now and see so much how this show really affected my life, some decisions, made me think about things, almost as much a part of me as anne mccaffrey's books or heinlein's.
i really can't think of any other tv show that had such a large impact on me (no knocks to b5, it just doesn't have the same resonances as buffy did with a teenager who was a geeky outsider)

[Talwyn]

Heh, I can see why you liked it then Lunan since it was pretty much set in your age demographic

And yes, the various issues dealt with in Buffy, like first love/sexual experience, were handled so well that it should be almost mandatory viewing for teenagers who are struggling to cope & handle all these emotional turmoils.

I'd just finished university when Buffy came out and it made me a bit nostalgic for the good old bad days of being one of the outsiders at high school [all boys private school - ironically the same school that Heath Ledger went to which was Guildford Grammar School in Perth, West Australia but I was there much earlier than him so I never new him]. My friends & I, being the role playing/sci fi geeks we were, had to endue our own "demons" until we came of age when we were the ones at the top. Being different & not fitting in with the "in crowd" in a way made us more able to be better people in later years. I know this as I occasionally hear about X who used to be Mr Popular and is now just another average wage slave with not much to show for their live. But I digress...

Anyway, Buffy for me in 1997/98 when it started here in Australia, was something to look forward to every week. Not because Sarah Michelle Gellar & Alyson Hannigan were lovely gorgeous young women to oggle but rather we had a show that turned convention on its head and had some deep, interesting & funny things to say.

[DysfunctionalReality]

I was incredulous to this show for a time - I never really got into it until a friend of mine went out and bought all 7 seasons on DVD.

I have to say after watching it this show definately had it's moments. Like B5 it got better as it progressed - to a point. There are many memorable episodes in seasons 2-3. Season 4 was especially noteworthy, which feaured a refreshing new change of setting, government conspiracies, and not to mention one of the most visionary, enigmatic bad guys in the show's history. On top of that it was 90% arc content.

I was not too impressed with the show's progression from season 5 onwards - In my view the story lost much of it's sense of direction and inspiration it had had to begin with.

[Spoo Junky]

I'm a bit of a Buffy fan. I have all seasons of Buffy and Angel, I'm collectiing the comics for both Buffy Season 8 and Angel Season 6, and I have autographed photos of James Marsters (Spike) and Juliet Landau (Drusilla). That doesn't compare to others out there, but still.....

I'm a bigger B5 fan, though!

[SmileOfTheShadow]

I'm actually in season 6 of Buffy right now. Decided to go through it after liking Firefly so much. It has its moments...and I loved it a lot the first few seasons, but I'm finding it hard to watch now. Did they just run out of ideas?

[*Starstuff*]

I am a Buffy fan as well. I used to watch the re-runs a couple of years ago, but was so annoyed with the German voice of Buffy that I got myself the DVD's to watch it in English.

I really like the show, especially the development of the characters; not only Buffy but the others as well. Like every tv show, it had its weaker episodes, but overall I found it quite impressive. I am now in my mid-twenties, so when I watched it from beginning to end (except the last episode, I never watch finals) I was about 22 or 23. So, like one of you already said, demographically speaking I was close to the story

The show showed quite well that we have to make choices in life, sometimes choices, we don't really want to make. And that we have to deal with things that life is throwing at us. I found that actually very nice because the show didn't pretend that everything was picture perfect.

Episodes I liked most were of course the Musical episode; "The Body", where

Buffy finds her mom dead

; and the episodes after Buffy

came back from the dead

and how she had to cope with just being again.

*sigh* Loved the show.

[Shr'eshhhhhh]

When it was first broadcast here in the UK, it was always on when I was working. I caught a few episodes of it and liked what I saw but it was only when the DVD sets became affordable that I really got to appreciate Buffy and Angel.

I worked my way through the lot a couple of years ago and it was great not having to wait a week to get the next hit.

I started watching from season one again, in between domestic activities.

It really helps keep the place clean and tidy if I can reward myself with a nibble of Sunnydale between all that sweeping and cleaning.

It's so multi-layered that it's possible to watch it again and again and catch something new each time.

I also watched a bit of Sapphire and Steel when a friend came to stay over the weekend.

DVD does make the television of the past look so much better because we get the high points without the dregs.

That said there certainly seems to be a whole lot more dregs out there these days.

I wish the Buffyverse could have continued on screen for longer, the comics are fun but there was something so special about those characters that was uniquely televisual.

[I love Lyta]

Well, I liked the show but I'd not really call myself a fan.
The part when she started to "work out (if you catch my drift)" with Spike was really lame though and almost killed my interest.

Angel was also nice for a time, especially since it also featured Charisma Carpenter. But at a certain point (I don't even remember which) I lost interest.

[luvB5]

Yup, came to the series late and became a big fan. Two favorite episodes (besides the musical, of course) were the silent film tribute (Hush)and the Buffy's nuts and in an asylum (Normal Again) epics.

[Whyruss]

I was a Buffy fan in my early years ^^. The series was great till season 5 I think... and yeah - the musical episode was great - as well as that one where nobody could talk for 2/3 of the episode.
Even though I believe Angel was the better show - more mature and thoughful. OC the big story arcs where a big help there ^^ and the episode with Angel as puppet was some similar "never seen in TV" thing as the musical episode from Buffy. Joss Whedon is just great - too bad Firefly was canceled so soon...

[Radhil]

Buffy fan here. Definitely came to the series late myself. I know the later seasons bogged down (and Angel the series came to rule) but there's still more to love there than in a dozen average shows combined. 'Least for me.

Of course, I haven't watched it in quite some time. Have the DVDs. Also have a girlfriend (who in all other respects is a big sci-fi fan and great geek) who at this one show makes a face and claims allergies to blondes. Trying to find way around this.

[luvB5]

I'm actually in season 6 of Buffy right now. Decided to go through it after liking Firefly so much. It has its moments...and I loved it a lot the first few seasons, but I'm finding it hard to watch now. Did they just run out of ideas?

In season six a lady named Marty Noxon took over the show runner title (guess Joss had his hands full with Angel). Most Buffy fanatics I know say that's when the show's quality of writing took a nosedive.