Buffy the Vampire Slayer

[Ehres]

Buffy and the Slayerettes

(Thank Willow for that one.)

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I'm surprised there is no thread for this popular cult classic. I remember having this huge fascination with the show many a year back (see: when I was 10 or so) but never really watched anything other than episodes featuring Spike (then my own personal teenage heartthrob before I discovered Legolas). I'm determined to watch the whole show, and I've started from season 1 episode 1 and am currently on episode 4. Not amazing progress but I am enjoying it quite a lot.

"What's Buffy? some of our younger ones will say.

"Well, I reply, "think of the pedestal on which all amazing TV is built. Think of a less-regressive Vampire Diaries where the hero(ine) is the protagonist, not the hunky vampire dude."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer admittedly came from a not-so-popular movie by the same name (I've yet to watch but apparently it's horrendous so let's see for ourselves) but spawned the fan-favourite spin-off show 'Angel' featuring Buffy's love interest... Angel! If only there'd been a show named Spike... Anyway!

Let's kick-back to a little Don LaFontaine 90s goodness.

Also, here is the unaired pilot for the show, which fortunately was fixed, edited, reacted, etc. If you've seen the first episode you definitely see they've taken inspiration from some of the better scenes.

For anyone interested, there are streams of the old episodes on WatchSeries.EU -- that's a link to season 1 -- so check it out for your Buffy goodness.

Toodles.

[mangartist]

YES. THERE IS A GOD.
I remember loving every bit of this series. Not having been able to follow the final season is my only regret about it. (going to buy the series sometime this year though) About that movie, I've seen it (years ago so my memory is somewhat wonky) The bad stuff is mostly limited to things being changed without Whedon's approval, rather than his own input.
Since you mentioned Angel, could this thread be for that as well? :3 (don't say Spike, that almost happened. ;~; )

Fun fact for those who don't know, Tvtropes started out as being about Buffy. The fact that it lampshaded, parodied and otherwise involved itself with so many different tropes and storytelling devices is what created that site.

[Ehres]

Good to see there's another Buffy lover! Also, I think it'd be better for Angel to have its own thread considering while it's in the same universe it has several seasons packed full of content, so. Feel free to go ahead and make an Angel thread if there isn't already one. Also, do you mean there was also a show about Spike? I SO would have watched!

[mangartist]

Good to see there's another Buffy lover! Also, I think it'd be better for Angel to have its own thread considering while it's in the same universe it has several seasons packed full of content, so. Feel free to go ahead and make an Angel thread if there isn't already one. Also, do you mean there was also a show about Spike? I SO would have watched!

If I remember correctly, there were talks about either a series or a movie (leaning towards the latter) about Spike after Angel ended, but it didn't go through.
I believe it was going to go more in depth about the events inbetween the time he stopped hanging with Angel and before his first appearance on the show.

Threads I make don't live long. Don't want to do that to Angel. ;~;

[oathkeeperriku09]

I got into Buffy late like with Charmed. It was Season 6 and one of most shocking moments was watching Tara die and Willow falling into darkness err I mean Dark Willow. Then the big finale with the Scoobies sealing the hellmouth and losing Anya in the process. Then I joined the whole bring Tara back bandwagon and I never looked back.

Thankful I got into it before Twilight almost ruined Vampires to me.

[mangartist]

Did some snooping around, it was apparently going to be after both series. My bad. Must've confused it with something else. It's unlikely to still happen though, at least not with Marsters. He has stated after Angel that he'd only do it if it would happen within 5 years since he believes any later would become unbelievable since Spike's supposed to be unaging. :/

[Ehres]

It's surprising what make-up can do, trust me. With Buffy and Angel's cult success they'd get a lot of financial backing so they'd have no shortage of cosmetic supplies to make the guy look young.

[Solar]

I used to love Angel, when I was way younger. Buffy's such an important and well-written piece of pop-culture, but then again, I think Joss Whedon can do no wrong. I'll have to re-watch the series sometime soon, too, as my memories are hazy and probably nostalgia-biased.

[Ehres]

Good luck on that, Solar. I've posted a link above to the first season of the show. Some of the links are 404'd but thankfully most of them work (not not just vidxden or putlocker pages which my computer unfortunately refuses to play). Just finished episode four, the one where the biology teacher gets beheaded and replaced by Ms. French who -- lovely enough -- is actually a human-sized preying mantis.

One of the thing that annoys me here is the use of the sexy evil woman and her sexy evil wiles. After watching Feminist Frequency's input on this issue (sexy women as villains) I can't help but notice there are quite a few attractive females serving as adversaries which is rather saddening considering there's much more to a woman and her wit than simply her body. I hope this isn't a recurring theme throughout.

[Taochan]

One of the thing that annoys me here is the use of the sexy evil woman and her sexy evil wiles. After watching Feminist Frequency's input on this issue (sexy women as villains) I can't help but notice there are quite a few attractive females serving as adversaries which is rather saddening considering there's much more to a woman and her wit than simply her body. I hope this isn't a recurring theme throughout.

If I recall, it isn't extremely common. Joss Whedon is a huge feminist.

BtVS was pretty much my entire childhood, along with Angel. I grew up watching the shows so I have a lot of love and nostalgia for them.

Season 1 is pretty rough but I feel like they hit a good stride in season 2; oh, and the movie is horrendous.

[Ehres]

Thanks for verifying those points for me. xD I think after I've watched season 1 (four more episodes to go, not bad stride at all) I'll just take one for the team and watch the movie to get it out of the way. It's set in L.A. isn't it, with Buffy's old Watcher? Could be interesting, hmm... Also, regarding Angel: I think I'll watch it after Buffy but I was never a huge fan of the character back when I used to watch snippets of the show -- then again it was because I was very immature and just wanted Spike 24/7 so maybe I'll appreciate Angel more this time around even if I do think his ~*~*mysterious ways*~*~ are a little annoying and, er, book-like. Hopefully I'll enjoy but if not, oh well, I watched the final season for Spike and I know how it ends, so...

Additionally, I wanted to point out that whenever any of the vampires bite someone, they have no blood on their teeth or anything reminiscent of gore/flesh around their mouths? This is, er, weird?

[Taochan]

Yeah, the movie is set in L.A. but it's pretty much considered non-canon in the Buffyverse because they neglect a lot of details from Buffy's past that are mentioned in the show. They pretty much took Joss' script and changed it to suit their whims.

Angel definitely isn't as good as Buffy is, though it does have some redeeming characters that I adore. I love Angel as a character, but Spike is better~

Like I said, season 1 is pretty rough, lol. After season 1 they do the makeup so there is blood on their fangs/face.

[Zenkure]

If you have Netflix you can see all 7 seasons of Buffy there along with Angel. I've never really seen either so hopefully I'll watch both of them sometime this summer.

[Ehres]

They are definitely worth watching if only you want that basis of pop culture knowledge. Unfortunately while the replication of Buffy-esque heroines seems to have died out you can see there's a certain brand of 'Buffy resilience' translated into other vampire/supernatural media. I'd say Elena from VD is one of those since she's steadfast and honest and whatnot, but I'm not sure if the books were written before Buffy's time or not...

[mangartist]

It's surprising what make-up can do, trust me. With Buffy and Angel's cult success they'd get a lot of financial backing so they'd have no shortage of cosmetic supplies to make the guy look young.

It's not really about the make up, it's about the actor himself. Back then he seemed pretty hesitant about returning if too much time has passed. It's him that needs to be convinced. ;) (and I do hope something comes from it)