I missed this whole phenomena.But now I sit here with Buffy books piled around me, trying to get myself educated on Buffy lore.
For Pete's sake, I've attended popular culture conferences with panels on Buffy. Academics using post-modern terms to describe it.
I am at Episode Seven in Season One, with a hundred more episodes to go. Is it worth it? Did you watch Buffy and get something more than Scooby Doo with real people. Is it about more than teenagers kicking ass, changing clothes and flirting.
My husband says no, and switches on Keith Oberman. What do you think?
29 comments:
Honestly, I made fun of Buffy for years before I was forced to watch it -- just one of many, many things I've been wrong about in life. Happily so, though. To be fair, I thought the first season was plodding and pedestrian, but they really hit their stride in the second season. Season one is a half-season, so you're more than halfway done; if you can watch season two and it still isn't your cup of tea, I say give up. If you ask me, though, the chances of you giving up once you get that far are slim...
My wife loved this show. And Firefly, another Joss Whedon show.
Is it more than teenage angst? What could be more to teenagers?
There's a book out about the show that goes through each episode and talks about what's really going on. You'd probably find it pretty pedestrian, but for the show's core audience the insight that the show about the character no one else can hear or see is really about every teenager's fear of never fitting in anywhere is big.
And the musical episode is a lot of fun.
Chris is correct...the short Season 1 is (not just because of brevity) the slightest season of the series, but sadly not the worst season...but the series taken as a whole is excellent, and has no shortage of brilliant and near-brilliant episodes. Don't read the books before watching the episodes, and don't watch the extras, either, since they're often clumsily laden with spoilers. And you might want to watch the ANGEL episodes starting around season four, even though ANGEL was even more uneven than BTVS.
My favorite among BTVS episodes would have to be "The Body," the best evocation of Ingmar Bergman in series television, without being slavishly so, I've seen (Whedon et al. seem not even aware they'd done so, citing influences such as Kubrick who'd been heavily influenced by Bergman). But "Nightmares," "Once More with Feeling," "Bad Eggs," and any number of others are eminently worth the viewing. After finding the pilot and an episode or two engaging enough, "Hallowe'en" was the episode that got me hooked. "Band Candy." It's not Solely about teen angst, by any means.
While ONCE AND AGAIN was the best series on around the turn of the decade, BUFFY was always nipping at its heels.
Yeah, I'd say stick with it, too. I loved it, start to finish. There are some jaw-dropping plot twists here and there, so you really need to watch it in order.
I saw the movie that took off from Firefly and a funny thing happened. When the only other patron asked if we were big fans and we said, we'd never seen the show, he sighed heavily and said well, I guess I need to fill you in and launched into a ten minute explanation, which helped us immeasurably.
Okay, I'm sticking with it a bit. It is tempting to read the books first and be led in the right direction but I will resist.
Patti: Checking out what this "Buffy" excitement is all about is on my "to-do" list after I finish grad school. I've met so many rabid fans of all ages and education levels - so I figure there must be something to it.
We'll see.
'Hush' is a brilliant episode-hardly any dialogue at all.
Really though, the writing on Buffy, Angel, and Firefly are what made them so great.
I don't know about the books, I never bothered with them, the show is about the visuals, the relationships, the devotion of the group to each other.
And of course, the big bad...
I never watched the series but I recall friends who made a drinking game out of watching. The rules were you had to drink ever time the actress who played Buffy showed her bra strap. I gather they always got plastered while watching so that must have happened a lot.
I used to make fun of Buffy (and still do sometimes), but...I'm a huge fan. Yes, plenty of teenager angst, but plenty of stuff for adults. Joss Whedon is phenomenal with dialogue and the show is worth it for that alone.
The best season (IMO) is #3. It's a near perfect story arc and has the best baddie of the whole series. It is worth watching the whole she-bang - there are a number of self-referential jokes.
There are some great single episodes that have already been mentioned - The Body, Hush, Once More with Feeling, Band Candy, pretty much all of the Halloween episodes. Don't read the books first, just watch the show and make up your mind from that.
And SERENITY was perhaps the least of FIREFLY...on a par with the weakest episodes.
Whedon and cohort are now continuing BUFFY and FIREFLY both in Dark Horse comics magazines. His new series, DOLLHOUSE, will get a (probably short) run on Fox late in the year or in Jan.
Maryelizabeth Hart (she of the crime/fantastic fiction bookstore Mysterious Galaxy) has co-written some useful concordances, but watching the shows first and then consulting those if and when you might be confused. I really wouldn't jump in with anything before just watching the shows.
I'd probably rather boil my head than sit through this, but I'm not always the most enlightened person in the world.
Couldn't you chew your toenails or find something equally constructive to do?
I never watched Buffy but I LOVED Firefly. Guess I should give Buffy a try, but I'm not sure I want to buy all those DVDs. It's interesting how the TV series was so much more successful than the movie.
Enjoy!
Linda
My husband's still iffy like Colman but I'm gonna stick with it now that someone closer to my age has weighed in favorably. It's the number of epsiodes to watch that's daunting. Getting to Season 3 is weeks away unless I watch several a night and is that the best way to watch it. What's the proper interval between episodes now that we watch shows differently. Is watching in a rush a good idea?
Linda-I'm getting them from my libary. They rent each season's for a buck. I've never bought a DVD although Todd Mason gave me one. (Thanks, Todd) So I have one now. Oh, wait two. I have It Happened One Night which came with the first player, I think.
While my housemate will watch any series she likes in excessive lumps--she's gone through BUFFY and WONDERFALLS and THE L WORD and ROSEANNE (which Joss Whedon also wrote for) in hours-long marathons--you should probably watch 'em as you feel like, as often as it strikes you to. One or two, nightly or as the mood strikes you...no need to make A Project out of it!
(Currently listening to PEACEMAKERS on Hulu.com...the best steampunk western series...though BRISCOE COUNTY, THE WILD, WILD WEST and even that James Garner series from the earliest '70s have their claims...)
(Hulu.com also offers FIREFLY episodes for web viewing.)
And, I belatedly note, the first two seasons of BUFFY can be see at www.Hulu.com, an odd smattering of BARNEY MILLERs, and other odds and bits.
Haven't gotten into laptop watching yet. I need that big screen to take me away.
I'm really interested in hearing what you think. I missed out on the whole craze too. I was always mystified at the dedicated fan base that included older fans, but never enough to check it out myself.
So far, I haven't been captured. Some of it may be the often primitive by today's standards production values. And the problems of finding my way back to relating to teenagers. But I'm sticking with it for now. I like summer projects even hedonistic ones. Anything to get those MSNBC guys off the screen.
Hello Patti. I think I started reading you when Sara from "asalted" mentioned you recently. My favourite eopisode has to be "hush" where some villains take away everybody's voices and the episode is almost silent (but it still manages to tell a story). If I may give you a link, Sara has a nice piece about Buffy at:
asalted.blogspot.com/2008/02/buffy-season-one.html
I hope you will enjoy the Series, and its spin-offs. Pretty well anything by Joss Whedon is very good in my view.
Pierre, I am looking for that episode as we speak. Thanks for the link. I know I shouldn't peek ahead but it only makes me more determined to stick with it. Even alone with the voice of Keith Oberman assaulted my ears. Everyone needs a summer project, even if it is frivolous. Thanks.
Apologies for my laziness. "Hush" is Season 4, episode 10. Enjoy!
There is nothing wrong with peeking ahead - especially if it helps to convince you to keep watching.
"Hush" shouldn't be seen out of order, either, though it stands alone better than some.
Hi!
Oh do stick with it, and don't peep ahead. One of the things that Buffy (Whedon) does so well is layer stories and reference back. The pay off comes for the attentive viewer who says "Oh, so that's why..." etc.
Season one is slight, and standing alone doesn't advertise the Buffy world well. It picks up in 2, and season 3 is magnificant.
I'm no teen, but the themes are universal, cleverly wrapped.
I think we're on the way afte last night's epispode. Thanks, Sara.
1. To me, Buffy (and all of Whedon's work) is up there with Kieslowski and Bergman. I mention these two because like the work of both of them (and some comic books) Whedon's intelligent, thoughtful, witty, and sometimes truly funny work focuses on issues of ethics of responsibility, families of the heart, and the possibility of redemption.
2. I think the first season of Buffy is underrated. Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest, The Witch, The Pack, Puppet Show, Nightmares, I Robot, You Jane, Prophecy Girl have wonderful moments some of which foreshadow what will happen in season two. Think of the wonderful emotionally intense and horrific scene between Buffy and her father that prefigures aspects of Surprise and Innocence. Finally, the early seasons of serial shows have to take time establishing character and myth. Buffy does it well. Much better than say Star Trek: TNG.
3. Technologically Buffy can raise its head high. It took a limited budget and parlayed it into one of the best looking TV shows ever. BTW, the early seasons were filmed on 16mm.
4. Buffy books. Seven Seasons of Buffy, Reading the Vampire Slayer, Televised Morality, Reading Buffy in Close Up 1 are outstanding. If you like the work of Robin Wood check out the last, by the way.
Too much said...
I have Reading the Vampire Slayer but not the others. Instead: Blood Relations and The Aesthetics of Culture in BTVS. I'll look for these. We are at 1:10, so we almost finished Season One. THanks
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