Please... Buffy is a horrible show. I tried watching some and I couldn't get into it at all.

Xena was way better than any of the Buffy shows IMO.

The only time I ever watched Buffy was when my (then) girl friend's teen age daughter wanted to watch it.

It never looked appealing to me (I didn't not like it, just more ambivalent) but I could understand someone liking the show. It's got a huge following with very devoted fans. Whenever one of the cast/crew shows up at the San Diego Comic-Con there would be HUGE crowds to see them. This year they finally got "Buffy" herself so I imagine there will be riots

Back when I was about 11, I got to see the movie at a free preview and actually won a bunch of Buffy merchandise thanks to a local radio station. I liked it the film, but it wasn't anything special to me.

I was shocked later to hear that a TV series was coming out. I pretty much ignored the first few seasons of the show, since I was really more into comedies like Friends and Seinfeld at the time, but I started bumping into the show from time to time after the 3rd season, getting to see "Hush", "Buffy vs. Dracula", and the season 6 premiere.

A friend of mine told me how he and his family had watched the show since almost the beginning and with the impending DVD release, I decided to pick up the first season to see what all the fuss was about. The MSRP was pretty low, so why not?

The show totally blew me away, and I couldn't believe the depth that was added to the Buffy character as well as the development of those around her. I was definitely sticking around for season 2, which hooked me even more. I only wish I had not seen some of those later episodes which proved to each have major spoilers for years to come.

I now proudly own all available Buffy and Angel sets, plus the movie and an import version of "Once More, with Feeling."

I can totally understand people who have given the show a chance and still don't like the show. Everything isn't for everybody. Judging it without seeing it is kind of a bad idea though. From the outside it does look stupid, but given a shot you just may come to like it.

Like some others have said there are shows that people rave about on these boards that I just cannot stand (though I've given the shows I've judged fair shots). And there have been other shows that I had no desire to watch, but since people here really loved them, I gave them a go and ended up loving them.

first off- everyone is entitled to their opinion.
no argument there.

as far as the shows writing goes- something needs to be understood- the crew there is not trying to replicate the natural conversational style of contemporary teenagers- as some of the writers say in one of the commentaries- this is what teens would sound like if they have 30 yr olds writing for them.
and these are 30 yr olds with a love of language, a love of poetry, an appreciation of classical literature (Whedon was hosting regular Shakespere readings at his house with other members of the cast...which was partly how the musical ep OMWF came about).
i quickly developed a love for the show because in the writing i could see a love for language- a very playful and irreverant affection.

also, the way the show stradles genres.
yes the vampire staking is cheesy- as is the kung fu routines.
i get tired of seeing that too- but for the most part, that becomes just the banal de rigeur of the characters profession- its treated as perfunctory and as bland as the night shift at Wendys changing the paper towel dispenser in the bathroom.
it becomes just a silly, surreal backdrop to the shows real focus.

also, i appreciated the way the show dealt with the cliches of the horror genre.
someone brought up the first season episode with The Dummy.
i went into that episode dreading it, because as soon as i knew the 'monster of the week' was an evil ventriliquist's dummy, i could see the whole tired scenario, sutiably altered to take advantage of the teen high school setting, play out in my head.
'cept that wasn't the case- the show took every convention and cliche of that premise and turned it on its ear.

not all the shows have been like that.
there have been a good share of disposable clunkers.
but on the whole the material maintained a startling degree of freshness and creativity over the course of the 6 seasons, playing with season long arcs, and major changes to the cast line-up that seem organinc and not just contrived to accomodate salary disputes of demographic focus switching.



the point i knew i was hooked on the show was when the Mentor figure, Giles, makes the comment about why he doesn't like using a computer and would rather stay and confine his research to the musty old volumes of the library shelves- "because computers have no smell and that scares me...knowledge should have a sensual, tactile quality associated with it"

for a jokey little genre show, i thought that was not only a rapturous observation on one of the primary sensual delights of being a book-lover (how odd is that for something that is supposedly aimed primarily at teenage girls?), but it was also a smartly realized insight into this ficitional character.

its a show obstenisbly about teens that actually celebrates intelligence and puts a premium on wit.
even when it sucks its better than 75% of what else is out there.

i started off liking Buffy, then when Angel left...I kinda did too, and chose to watch Angel (which I love btw, now collecting the Box Sets, only have Season One at the mo tho).

anyways, i saw the last 3 eps of Buffy Season 7...they were alright i guess as series finale's go....i see that the "humor and sarcasm" in their voices is still there, that kinda bugged me, coz it wasnt funny!

that is all!

ANGEL 4EVER!!! w00t!!!

G x

I never would have considered watching Buffy a few years ago. I had never seen one single episode but I just knew I wouldn't like a "stupid" series about vampires, demons, and teenagers fighting them.

About two years ago I decided to buy the season 1 boxset after reading all the rave reviews about the series from critics and online fans. My wife and I fell in love with the series almost from the first episode of season 1. I could believe that I had missed out on this great series because of preconceived notions I had about it. My wife and I have purchased season 1-6 and Angel 1-3 and we're working our way through watching all the seasons again.

With that being said, let it be known that I don't worship Joss Whedon and I think that there have been several stinkers each season. I also think the only proper way to get into the series is to begin watching it from season one episode one and watch them in order. I only wish I would have caught this series on tv during its first fun so I could be surprised when things happen. Even though I tried to avoid spoilers when I was watching this the first time on DVD, I kept running into them.

Brett

Regarding the Spike movie,
there has been an announcement by the actor who plays Spike that he is disbanding his band because of increased workload.
He is first scheduled to do an adaption of a Shakespear play. He also stated that there would be a Spike telemovie and that Spike was one of the few characters that survives the final.
There is a web site that is trying to bring back any version of the Buffyverse. It has around a 1000 members. The forum is a good source of Information. The url is savingangel.org That is where his statement was posted yesterday
Austin

Shakespeare wrote musicals?

Does anyone else find the image of the cast and crew of Buffy reciting Shakespeare hillarious? I would imagine it would be similar to Keanu Reeve's performance in Much Ado About Nothing.

Nick Brenden, Whedon (I hope he just observed), Hannigan, Marsters, Boreanaz, Charisma, and Gellar? A little bit, yeah . This isn't to say I think they're bad actors. I think they've all got some chops.

Anthony Head and Alexis Denisof however could hold there own against some proper Shakespearian actors IMHO (and not just because they're british). So a big fat no there.

Denisof was born in Maryland, and raised in Seattle WA. He's just able to maintain a consistent accent a little better than James Marsters, who in the last season of Angel seemed to be providing viewers with a tour of the British Isles via an ever-shifting accent.

So, you've watched about 80 episodes of a show you can't stand?

This entire thread is both hilarious & sad. At least you gave the show chance, quite an extremely long chance, before deciding you hated it. What's worse is the people who speak so vile about the show they admit to never seeing.

As with some others, I wasn't addicted at first viewing either. I didn't have a WB station in my city so I didn't get to see the 1st season or the first half of the second season. The first episode shown in my city was the night that BtVS was moved from Mondays to Tuesdays with the premiere of Dawson's Creek. It was "Innocence" if I remember correctly. I was expecting an action-packed, funny, horror type show and what I got was a heart wrenching ep of teen love. I won't go into any further details as not to spoil anyone. But anyway, I kept tuning in since I loved the premise and I had enjoyed the movie. Before that season had ended I was completely addicted.

/me raises hand

The one thing I have noticed consistently about the Buffy haters is that either they haven't watched the show, or they "caught an episode here and there." This original poster is the first person I have ever seen that watched from the beginning, miraculously watched for a full three seasons a show he doesn't like, and came out with a negative opinion of the show. Perhaps if they could stop being so closed-minded and actually give the show a fair shake then we wouldn't have so many posts that contain the words "never seen it, looks stupid." Do people who post that know how ridiculous that sounds? I know you're entitled to your opinion, but do you expect other people to give your opinion of the show any credence at all?

i don't think the Shakespere readings were intended as opportunities to impress others with their acting chops, as much as it was just to revel in the beauty of the writing being read aloud (by people with some preforming talent).

amazingly enough, for a lot of people Shakesperes work is still vibrant and...fun- not just something to name drop.
it was one of these get togethers that someone started to play the piano or the guitar and they put away the shakespere and started to jam, and Whedon saw that he had talent that could pull off a musical.
the guy is obviously a fan of many film genres and i think part of the thing that kep[t him interested in the series was that he could play in the sandbox of these other genres during the course of the shows run ( he was already mixing horror/comedy/ and drama- and beofre the show was over he added musical and (in a fashion) silent movies to the mix).

before i recently burned out a little on the show, i was starting on the second season and have actually been disappointed with it after going thru 3,5, and 6.
the first 12 eps are highly disposable- very formula, and lack the strong connective tissue that made the series so compelling later on.
i can see someone watching it and walking away with an "eh..." reaction.
however 3 and especially 6 i thought were some of the best serial TV i've ever seen.

mini S6 spoiler

I went inside....and liked it even less. I gave it a good 4 or 5 episodes and just couldnt take it any longer. I nearly puked.

These sessions are starting to sound like the beginning of a very bad porno.

Funny, that's exactly how I feel about this thread.

Sorry about posting this in the wrong place.

For me, Buffy is up there with Hercules and Xena. Not the worst shows ever made, but just too goofy and ridiculous to be taken seriously. There were a few episodes from season 2 that I actually enjoyed (I remembered "Passion" being a good episode), but beyond that, I didn't get anything out of it. And the villains are just awful.

James Marsters was always a pain in the ass. I can't believe they made him into such a big part of that show. I don't see how the world is always in such danger with incompetant villains like him trying to take over it. Just bad, sorry. Cobra Commander had better schemes than this guy, and he never won.

I'm anti Buffy AND anti anime. Flame away.

Angel was always better than Buffy.

I don't hate the show...

But exactly how many episodes of a tv series should a person watch before knowing that its not their cup of teas?

I will tell you what I think about this show and it is a direct quote from my 14 year old cousin...

"This show is the shiznit!"

BTW, even though some of the villians do look campy, the writing was phenomenal on this show and made it even better for me. And Sarah Michelle Gellar and most of the women on the show are not all that bad to look at.

Well I would say at least one. And if you have read through the thread you can see that most people who commented have not even given it that small chance. Look if people watch a few episodes here and there, and don't like it, I'm not going to argue with them and try to convince them that the show is great. Everyone has different opinions. I was just noting the fact that the people who have given the show an honest chance by watching from episode one, and continuing in order, that they usually have been surprised how much they ended up liking the show. It's just the kind of show that is not going to work for you if you haven't seen the backstory.

I would also like to say that anyone who thinks the show is mainly about a girl who fights cheesy looking monsters doesn't know what they are talking about.

I have a similar opinion (I would save the term "hate" for truly vile stuff like Friends ), and mine is with a sample pool of @ 50 episodes. I would really like to get behind this show. I like the milieu, good friends of mine, with solid taste and trustworthy opinions swear by it, but...it's just not happening. I won't go into specifics, because they aren't important, but (as this thread proves), we're not the tiny, persecuted minority we seem to be.

Maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment, but I usually watch movies that I hate at least one more time, and often more (spacing them out) so I can see them with fresh eyes and maybe have them work for me, or at least mitigate some of the damage. It works, on occasion.

But not often.