Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy was shot on 16mm through season 3. You can chart noticeable bumps at season 2 (all new writing staff, wardrobe, production designers and stunt coordinator), season 4 (bumped up to 35mm) and season 6 (budget, especially for creatures and effects got a big bump when the show moved to UPN).

First of all, I’m sorry about comparisons to the Wire. I know they’re completely different types of shows. It’s just happenstance that inevitably leads to the comparison, not any kind of merit.

I have to disagree that Buffy season 1 compares well to Deep Space Nine in terms of lighting, makeup and music though. Those were way better in DS9 from the beginning. Leaving everything else aside, one thing Star Trek had down by that point was make-up.

Anyway, I’m determined to stick with it and ride out the early season of Buffy. The filler episodes right after the two-part premier are not making it easy though.

It’s fascinating to me that certain shows always take time get into their groove and become great shows (Star Trek: TNG, Deep Space Nine, presumably Buffy), while others start off really strong right out of the gate (Veronica Mars, Dexter, etc). It seems like scifi and fantasy shows in particular always seem to have a slow start out of the gate before getting their footing.

I’ve never seen Dexter, but for Veronica Mars, yes, it started off great, but I think it largely ran off the rails after the first season (see also Popular, Heroes, Lost, etc)

Could that divide be attributed to shows with lots of episodic content? All Star Treks, Buffy, other slow starts like Babylon 5, started out with disconnected one-episode stories. Once they got going and focused on large story arches, they got good.

Meanwhile Veronica Mars, Dexter, The Wire etc tell their coherent story from the beginning.

First season of Buffy is by far, far the worst one. I know there are people here deriding seasons 6 or 7 as worst, but…no, I would say first one is. But second is much better, and by third you should love the show already.

BTW I also loved Veronica Mars right away (and wish it had more seasons) but overall Buffy’s highs are a lot higher than Veronica’s.

It’s simpler than that. First off, smart writers don’t try to spin more story than they’ve already been bought for. Dexter was a full season pickup, so they told a story in one season (and now they’re doing that every season, apparently, after experimenting with the alternative over their only two season order). Veronica Mars was competing against a different set of standards at the time, and might have been a full season order - I can’t remember.

Second, serials fail. They just do. Episodic television has a shot at picking up new viewers every week, because you don’t come in expecting to know who everybody is and why that girl is crying in the corner and how come the big guy screams every time somebody touches his butt. Series that set out to be serials from the start have problems with that sort of behavior. Given the fact that genre shows are already starting out with one foot in the grave (genre shows don’t have a lot of mass market appeal, which is why there’s like a billion CSIs and only one Supernatural), attempting to come out of the gate with any kind of serialized story is basically signing your own death warrant, so we tend not to remember the shows that tried that and got canceled before they could make any headway.

So, I just started watching this show as a brokered deal with a friend to get him to watch the american office.

Pretty damn good so far, finished the 2nd season. Starting the 3rd.

But WTF happens to Brian? He never calls. No one ever asks about him or performs any follow-up, and considering the world they’re in you think it would have set alarm bells ringing, right?

He went to West Wing’s Mandyland I guess.

Or the Mandy Vortex, as some call it? ;)

And if anyone cares, the original movie upon which this show is based is coming out on Blu-ray this Fall.

Brian?

He’d better not leave us hanging on this.

Yes? ;)

Her mother’s boyfriend.

The robot?

Here’s The Body to explain, you only need to watch the first bit.

to get all technical the show isn’t based off the movie, it’s based off the idea the movie was based off ;)

Man, even years later that still makes me sob.

Oooooohhhhh, the boyfriend you never actually SEE, totally forgot about him. And yeah, The Body is my favorite episode. Still makes me weep after all these years. How that episode didn’t win am Emmy, I have no idea.

They went out on one date…he sent flowers, he never heard from her again…what’s to tie up? Maybe he saw her name in the obits, maybe not, but it’s not like they were super-serious. If he saw her name, I’m sure he sent more flowers. If he didn’t, he assumes she just didn’t wanna see him again.

Yeah… there’s no way Buffy and the gang would have let it lie at that, in their universe he’d be an immediate suspect because death by natural cause X does not mean a natural cause.

And I don’t think that was Joyce’s first date with him either, didn’t Buffy and her discuss him in previous episodes?