I found all seasons of Buffy and Angel for $100 total. I have never seen either of the shows however. A lot of shows that I loved as a kid in the 80s and 90s though have aged very poorly. I have gone back and rewatched several shows I loved as a kid, but as an adult they are just painful to watch. Is Buffy the same or does it hold up?

Do you have Netflix? They have Buffy and Angel on there. Give the show a few seasons before deciding to invest.

Oh hell yes.

Buffy/angel holds up pretty well.
Buffy S1 is a bit aged, but buffy didnt hit its stride until S2.

Easy YES.

Two of the best genre shows of the past 20 years - yes, worth it.

In my opinion, definitely not. Nobody tell my wife I said that...

To quote myself:

I also recommend Netflix if you've never seen either show. Buffy is generally very good, except for the fourth season which is awful (although it contains "Hush," perhaps the greatest Buffy episode of all time). Most of Angel seasons one and two are also forgettable, it's not until the end of season two that Angel hits its stride.

I liked Angel S1 and S2.

To be fair, Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video have the last four seasons of Buffy in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is not Joss Whedon's approved ratio (1.33:1).

I don't have Netflix or Amazon Prime. My local library gets new DVD releases, so I get my DVDs from there. They don't carry TV shows on DVD however.

Just skip the god-awful musical episode. It'll make you hate the show. Had bought Season 1 on DVD before that episode first aired. Once it aired, I returned the set. It wasn't until years later I revisited the series. I skipped that episode so I wouldn't hate the show again.

Once More, With Feeling (the musical) is one of the best hours of television ever! You certainly don't want to skip it, you will likely want to watch it over and over again and buy the cd of all the songs.

Bunnies aren't just cute like everybody supposes
They got them hoppy legs and twitchy little noses
And what's with all the carrots, what do they need such great eyesight anyway?
Bunnies, bunnies, it must be bunnies!
Or maybe midgets...

All you need to know:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gdrzKmpwNoA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Season 2 is my favorite season. I love season 1. Season 3 is epic. The only season I'm not fond of (and ANGEL remains my all-time favorite series) is the final season, because to me it's almost "Buffy-lite" and it just turns me off.

Whedon's general lack of involvement with the series as a whole has made many fans of his work avoid (or completely ignore / forget) Angel (almost as though if he's not as heavily involved as he was Buffy, Firefly and Dollhouse then it's not as good), but I consider that an upside because season 5, which he was pretty heavily involved with, is a testament to why Whedon's lack of involvement worked in the series' favor.

It's no surprise that Whedon's more vocal fans who avoid Angel somehow love season 5, which is made more obvious that his Buffy-styled sensibilities clashed with what his co-creator / producers David Greenwalt and Tim Minear developed which set it apart from Buffy. They did just fine without him and season 5 is an example of why, since both were gone by that point and Whedon was in more control.

I really disliked season 4 of Angel, easily my least favorite of all Buffy/Angel seasons. Season 1 of Buffy is also a bit dull. All the rest of the seasons of both shows are fantastic (including season 5 of Angel which Nick Martin seems to dislike). The evolution of are brilliant.

As someone who is currently working his way through both shows for the first time I recommend that you keep in mind how much TV has changed since they were on.

They probably won't have as big an impact on you as many fans would lead you to believe. They're good shows no doubt and I think they hold up pretty well (except for season 1).

Also, it's interesting to see just how much future shows and other properties would borrow from it, but there have been so many great shows the last 10 years, that Buffy/Angel might not entirely live up to expectations....

Oh yes! Great blind buy!

The best 100 bucks you'll ever spend.

Might want to spoiler that malichai.

Yes

Another vote for "yes you should buy them".

It all depends on if you like Whedon's tone. His shows exist in a alternate universe where the official language of the US is witty banter. Think of Alan Sorkin's shows (Westwing & Newsroom) if you have not seen Whedon's other shows; Castle and Bunheads have similar feels. If you are not immediately turned off by that (some people can't get into shows like that), I say give it a try. Both shows are easily in my top 5. They basically ruined me from being able to watch episodic shows anymore, it typically have to be serial or I pass on it. Angel is a bit more adult-ish in terms of themes and tone so I like it more... But yeah, good stuff.

TV has changed in no small part due to the influence of these shows.

It's really hard to get two fans to agree on which are the best and worst seasons of these shows. I actually enjoyed the heck out of Buffy S1-5. Six and Seven are horrible, and the only seasons of either show that I do not own. The musical episode gets a lot of praise, but as I have never done high school theatricals its charms are lost on me.

I think a lot of the love that Angel S5 gets isn't due so much to Whedon being back at the helm as it is to it being a vast improvement over the dire S4.

Definite yes. I even liked S4 of Buffy... not sure why it gets so much hate. Yes, overall the big bad was lame, but the individual episodes are solid entertainment.