Angel versus Buffy
 

OK here it is folks. I know this topic might generate alot of disagreements. Which do you thinki is the better show and why. I think Buffy started out great and has always been consistent until the last 2 seasons. Angel on the other hand has been such a pleasant suprise. I think Angel has had more interesting arcs over 5the past 2 seasons and has been better. Buffy has some great single episodes but Angel as a whole seems more consistent and has some serious darkness that I enjoy. Case in point was season 2 where Angel just left Wolfram and Heart in the basement withy the vamps was shocking and the big bad for this season seems great

I like Buffy better, overall - seasons 4 & 5 were kind of weak, but this season is shaping up to be the best ever.

The ideal thing would be if Angel never spun off and they would've just merged the two shows, taking the best ideas from each and blending them to make what would have been the best series ever.

Well, this has been argued both ad infinitum and ad nauseum around here, but here's my brief take:

I love both shows, but nothing <I>Angel</I> has done matches <I>Buffy</I> at its peak. The second halves of seasons 2 and 3 set the bar so high neither series has come close to reaching it since. Add to that the incredible accomplishments of 'Hush' and 'The Body' and 'Once More with Feeling' and <I>Buffy</I> just has too many great moments to be passed over even by a great show like <I>Angel</I>.

das

This season Angel but overall Buffy has been the better show

I'd always thought of Buffy as much better than Angel, but Angel has been so great the last 2 seasons and Buffy's been so weak the last 2 seasons, I think I'd have to give the edge to Angel. Season 5 of Buffy is the best season of any TV series I've ever seen, but obviously I don't like the other seasons of Buffy as much as most people. And since Angel hasn't even had a 5th season yet, I guess I have to definitely vote for Angel as the better series.

A lot of people say Firefly isn't as good as Buffy or Angel, but I have to say I didn't really even like the first 2 seasons of Buffy. The first 2 seasons of Angel are much much better than the first 2 seasons of Buffy, but I still didn't think they were too great. Whereas even though so far Firefly can't compete with Angel or Buffy in their prime, Firefly is completely blowing away the first 2 seasons of Buffy and Angel. I guess Joss and Mutant Enemy keep getting better and better, which makes the last 2 seasons of Buffy so puzzling.

I personally think that the last season and a half of Angel have been pretty bad.

Hi,
I've always found Angel to be wildly inconsistent. Some great episodes that build to only be let down by some real stinkers. Buffy on the other hand is usually on the money. Many may not agree with the tone of the show at times, (personally I think last year is vastly underrated), but outside of some growing pains in the first 13 episodes I can't think of a series that has remained as steady in writing & performance over a span of 7 years as has Buffy. If this is indeed Buffy's last year, well, I've always got the DVDs. Long story short, for overall quality Buffy blows Angel away.

Though I have not yet seen most of the first season of "Angel", I started watching at the beginning of season 2. My vote hands down has got to go with "Angel". I have been a fan of both shows, but since the "Scooby Gang" left high school BTVS has really sunk to new lows each week minus a shining moment once a great while. Do not get me wrong, "Hush" and "Once more with Feeling" were great episodes and groundbreaking in many aspects. But besides the Glorificus arch, the last few seasons have really been lacking in a linear story line or arch.

Both shows to me seem to have lost their respective paths, but I find myself looking forward more to new episodes of "Angel" than "BTVS". And if the show (BTVS) is continued on with the lead character being Dawn I will certainly only be an "Angel" viewer.

I don't know, the way Angel left off with Cordy doing Connor - and Angel outside the window - you've got to take off a lot of points for that.

What a horrible way to leave off. Characterization is everthing in TV, and Cordy WOULD NOT do Connor under ANY circumstances. This is the snobby rich girl who gained enlightenment. This is the young woman who changed Connor's diapers. This is the woman IN LOVE with Angel! HORRIBLE scripting there, folks.

And the worst part is it looks like a thread that will be ongoing and have a lasting (and rather negative) impact on the show.

Sorry, when I think of Angel, that's the first thing that comes to mind... (The second being that HORRIBLE season finale last year.)

Other than that, Angel is a great show. ;)

Until Season 6 of Buffy, I would have said it was the best hands down but last season was horrible except for the musical.
Its rebounded this season but its still showing its age.
Angel has held its own after season one and has found its strong points. Unfortunately this season as good as it is, you can tell the creative staff has changed and that Josh has been away. Cordie with the Amnesia and her doing Connor were two of the lamest and Soapy plot points that this show could have done and the whole Connor character has been nothing but a Black and white character. If he stickes around, they have to add some shades of gray to him and find something redeeming to him or who will care really?

I just wish they could do some crossovers and then I would really be happy.

Nothing on Buffy has ever been as bad as the Pylea arc on Angel.

Aside from the "darker and darker Wesley" storyline, I'm really not that interested in what happens on Angel. The introduction of Connor as an adult just killed all interest I had in the show.

Buffy - on the other hand - just keeps getting better and better. I'm in the category of folks who thought last season was vastly underrated - with the angst and the gang's inability to focus on anything for very long almost perfectly mirroring real life for 20somethings.

While I didn't think it was the greatest thing in the world, Cordy sure would do Connor. It wasn't about love, it was about pity. She's convinced the world is ending. She's convinced she can't stop it. She cannot even speak of the horrors that she knows, and she's weak from fighting. She pities Connor for the life he's had to live, and in part she feels responsible for his pain. And before they both die, she decides to give him one happy moment in his life, even if it really means nothing to her. I don't have a problem with it. It's just pity sex ... it's not love. In a way it reminds me of Saavik helping Spock through Pon Farr.

As for her and Angel, she certainly <I>loves</I> him; however, I'm not sure I buy that they are <I>in love</I>.

das

couldn't she be the first evil in disguise?

As much as I enjoy both shows, if I had to pick one over the other, it would be Buffy.

I like Angel, but David's talent doesn't come anywhere near Sarah's in delivering good drama or comedy.

I really liked the first five seasons of Buffy. The dark tone of season six is not what bothered me. It was the whole addict thing of the magic (lame) and the uneven feel, to me, of the story telling.

das - I agree, Cordy and Angel may love each other, but in love? Plus, the whole thing with Angel not being able to give ANY woman he cares for a complete relationship without losing his soul? Why bother going there again? I like the fact that he and Buffy were each others one true love.

Sorry, I don't buy that. Neither the snobby, stuck up Cordy that was introduced on Buffy, nor the Cordy that developed on Angel would do it. Come on, like you can't just picture her talking to some other character (about Connor), "What? Me do him? Like, EWWWW!! Never mind that he's just a kid, and never mind that I changed his diapers just a couple of months ago, wouldn't that just be like a stake in the heart to Angel? We're in the business of righting wrongs, not making wrongs." Or something to that effect.

She's been through what could have been, "the end of the world," before, so she shouldn't be THAT affected by this whole thing that she just gives up and does something that she never would otherwise.

Like I said, I just don't buy into that "pity" thing. Connor deserves better (or not - after all, he did try to permanently get rid of Angel). He deserves something real, or nothing at all.

That thread is just bad writing.

Ever since Angel came on the air, I've preferred that over Buffy. Angel is always a must-see for me. Buffy I never really care if I miss an episode.

Buffy is better, hands down.

I like "Angel" when it focuses on Angel or Wesley. The rest of the cast, while talented, has to constantly go through "plot" stuff that just annoys the crap out of me.

Things like:

Karaoke (and EVERY character had to have a turn.)
Pylea
Connor (and Cordelia, of late)
Fred/Gunn - that has been the worst...two people with NO chemistry and I have to watch them be lovey-dovey.

I only enjoy "Angel" when it's kicking ass and taking names. It meanders, quality-wise, worse than any show I have ever watched.

"Buffy," while having some weak moments, still manages to stay ahead with better characters, better stories and better writing. It's FAR more consistent.

I enjoy "Angel" when it's good...but when it's bad, it's awful. At least bad "Buffy" is still entertaining for me.

Buffy is better easily, but this season so far i would prefer angel, the bad from angel is so badd ass, and angel has better fighting i think, but still overall buffy is better!

It's kind of sad that they had to turn Wesley into Darth Vader to make him more interesting. That and for him to learn how to kick some butt. But this is the most interesting his character has yet to be. I can't wait to see what they do with him.