I find that people who watch something in real time are a lot mroe sensitive to variations in quality among seasons. If you’re watching it all on DVD at once, it blends together a lot more smoothly. Like, yes, S7 is weaker than the previous seasons, but it’s not unendurably crappy in a way that you’d think from the people who watched it as it trickled out.
He missed Fool for Love, too. Those are like the two best non-Joss standouts.
Yeah I watched all 7 seasons for the first time marathon style, and I loved seasons 6/7 too, even if I disliked some elements there (like robobuffy).
Buffy on top of an RV fighting an army of Crusader Knights while driving fast down the highway is super cool.
I feel this way as well. First time I watched Angel or Buffy it was all the way through and they were pretty even. Strike that, Buffy was pretty even. Angel is still awful in season 4, but I love season 5
Some seasons were better than others true. But… All of Buffy was great.
Except the parts that sucked.
REPORTED
Heh, loved that scene!
that picture alone makes me want to rewatch Buffy so much!
There’s no accounting for taste, but for me, S5 was the last good season.
S6 is boring, nothing much happens other than “Life is depressing”, and by S7 you can see the people involved no longer had their heart in it, it was just a job, one they weren’t exactly happy to be doing.
And don’t tell me S7 is still pretty awesome TV. Maybe in comparison to a previous generation of TV shows, but by 2003 TV was pretty darn awesome, and S7 fell short.
Still an awesome TV series, but one that went on too long IMO. At least it ended before S8, man, nobody will ever be able to make me think Whedon actually knows what makes his shows good.
ARISE!
The wife and I have been listening to the Storywonk podcast about Buffy and Angel each morning on our carpool to work. It’s super-nerdy, detailed, and the hosts aren’t shy with the episode critiques. So far, it’s been pretty enlightening to watch these shows and listen to a critical analysis of each script afterwards.
Some things on the show have aged rather poorly. The effects are often dreadful and the shows’ pacing is a product of their time. This is before “prestige television” like Game of Thrones, The Wire, or Mad Men, so you get a lot of very pedestrian scripts that conform to advertising break standards. The acting is uneven, even when you get past the first season. A lot of sets are too cramped or obviously fake. High concept episodes aren’t pulled off as well as they seemed to be on first viewing. Directing is at times amateurish.
Some of the stuff the shows did carried successfully through the years. The overall concepts are solid. The main characters are well-defined and (usually) act accordingly. The “Big Bads” for each season (with the exception of Adam) are terrific villains. Once past the first season of Buffy and Angel, the shows did a great job with their seasonal arcs. There are some standout episodes that manage to remain some of the best that TV has ever offered. (Hush, The Body) The dialogue is still funny and listening to the patter makes you wish you’d actually talked that way as a teenager.
It’s interesting to see concepts that Whedon tackled in his later work being wrestled with here. Season 4’s The Initiative is pieced into the MCU via Avengers, Captain America, and Agents of SHIELD. Riley is Steve Rogers with his small town charm, inherent sense of good, and even his eventual disillusionment with his superiors. An approximation of SHIELD’s shadowy council even pops up in the season ender! It’s weird to see this Whedon MCU stuff in its infancy here. Obviously, he was cribbing from comics for Buffy and Angel in many ways, but The Initiative is standout for it’s almost wholesale appropriation.
Anyway, just wanted to bring this up because it’s odd watching this decade+ old show now.
Actually started rewatching this again recently. Halfway through season 3 and pleasantly pleased that every episode has had some purpose in moving things forward. Season 2 was highly lacking in that regard and was very uneven – it still puzzles me that the swim team episode is the lead-in to the finale and there are probably half a dozen other filler that could be cut from the season with no consequence.
I re-watched all of Buffy about 3 years ago. One thing both my gf and I could agree on was that the Initiate, Adam and Riley were the worst parts of the show!
Yeah he’s unbearable. Almost makes Angel tolerable.
I’m finally getting around to watch this series from the start; have never watched any before and for the life of me I can’t think of why.
Most of the exterior shots of Sunnydale High were filmed at my real life highschool, Torrance High. It is much more satisfying seeing the old school this way rather than in Beverly Hills 90210.
Also I keep waiting for Willow to start out, “This one time, at band camp…”
Guess what? Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of Buffy!
Here’s a tidbit I just learned today: The first ever use of “google” as a verb on TV was on Buffy’s season 7, episode 4 Help.
I saw the movie in 1992 (it wasn’t good; I mainly remember Paul Reubens’s bit part). Then I remember seeing an ad on the side of a bus for ‘a new drama’ on the WB and thinking “Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a drama? that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!” Couple years later my buddy told me it was the best-written show on TV; few years after that I dove into the DVDs myself and became a fan. The other night watching Billions I saw Danny Strong as a hedge fund guy and thought to myself that “Superstar” is still one of the best episodes in the series.
This anniversary makes me feel old, but not as old as my college 20th last year.
It’s funny, we moved a little while back to Torrance, CA, where a lot of Buffy was filmed back in the day, and I pass the “Mayor’s Office” every day.
Guess we live on the hellmouth now. ;)