The In Praise Of Buffy Thread.

rittchard · Post by **rittchard** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 1:51 pm

The other big effect from Columbine was that they pulled the "Earshot" episode completely (which sets up some of the things in the finale). I don't remember if they ever ended up airing that episode, but I think they did much much later.

- - -

OMWF is probably my favorite all time episode of any show. Just absolutely brilliant. I even converted it to some weird video format so I can carry it around on my cel phone and watch it at any given moment

Bakhtosh · Post by **Bakhtosh** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:55 pm

Covenant72 wrote:Actually, if you rewatch that scene, you will notice that she is "massaging" that thing for nearly the entire presentation.

Mr. Pointy? Wasn't it a gift from Kendra?

Covenant72 · Post by **Covenant72** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 3:00 pm

Thank you! It's been awhile since I have seen it, and it was irritating me not remembering what the object was. And yeah, it was a gift from Kendra.

Bakhtosh · Post by **Bakhtosh** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 3:07 pm

When that episode first came on, I didn't see what happened next cause I was laughing so hard.

Mr. Fed · Post by **Mr. Fed** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 6:01 pm

OK, having run out of Veronica Mars episodes, am now watching this. (OK, so I have a weak spot for strong female leads). Hadn't ever watched it before. Have gone through about half of the first season. Nothing stunning so far, but potential. Based on recommendations here, will stick it out to the second season.

GuidoTKP · Post by **GuidoTKP** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 6:05 pm

Mr. Fed wrote:OK, having run out of Veronica Mars episodes, am now watching this. (OK, so I have a weak spot for strong female leads). Hadn't ever watched it before. Have gone through about half of the first season. Nothing stunning so far, but potential. Based on recommendations here, will stick it out to the second season.

If you don't love it early in Season 2, you never will. Season 1, Joss was clearly still figuring it out (although, there is still some great stuff in Season 1). Watching them without having to wait for any of them is the best thing ever.

triggercut · Post by **triggercut** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 6:06 pm

Mr. Fed wrote:OK, having run out of Veronica Mars episodes, am now watching this. (OK, so I have a weak spot for strong female leads). Hadn't ever watched it before. Have gone through about half of the first season. Nothing stunning so far, but potential. Based on recommendations here, will stick it out to the second season.

First season ain't much, other than seeing Niedermeyer (Dead!) playing an ugly undead vampire leader.

Second season gets things rolling.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 6:26 pm

What triggercut said. Everything clicks in Season Two.

triggercut · Post by **triggercut** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 6:45 pm

Having said that, though, I'll also point out that it took me about 5 tries to watch season 2, mostly because the first episode of the season is a little weak.

Things get stronger and stronger as it goes (the introduction of a new villain, one far more devious and fun than anyone in season 1 helps a ton), but I think episode 7 of season 2, "Lie To Me" is the one where the show made the leap into greatness.

Barry Stuart_Hargreaves · Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:47 am

Anything that features SMG in little dresses is good by me

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:52 am

You sure about that?

SMG, the "All My Children" years:

Peacedog · Post by **Peacedog** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 8:37 am

Buffy is good.

Terrified · Post by **Terrified** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 1:59 pm

Chaosraven wrote:"The official word from creator Joss Whedon is that Doyle's death was planned from the very beginning"

Just to fill that out a bit... Joss has said that he liked shaking up the audience. He deliberately hated when you had the feeling that "So and so is in the opening credits, so they are safe." He said that directly worked against the horror aspects of the writing. He wants you to feel like anything could happen. I don't know if you remember season 1, episode 1 of Buffy, but Xander had a friend? And that guy dies in the first episode? Well, that guy was supposed to be in the opening credits, and that was supposed to serve as Joss saying "No one is safe." I don't remember the details, but the opening credits got messed up, it was too soon, and so no one really noticed.

So when he planned Angel, he decided to bring that 'trick' back. But this time, he wanted to establish the character before they died. And that was Doyle. Now, there's rumors that the actor's lifestyle got him written off the show, but I believe Joss's explanation.

sgoldj · Post by **sgoldj** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 4:01 pm

Having watched all of Buffy/Angel and now caught up with Smallville, I believe that Smallville exists in the Buffyverse.

That's the universe where all highschoolers are HOT and over 25. I wish I could be at the National Convention of HS Principals in that universe...

"We have this Hellmouth where demons coming pouring out"
"Oh yeah.. well this meteor shower has made every HS kid get weird powers and they eat each other!"

Freezer-TPF- · Post by **Freezer-TPF-** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 4:19 pm

Did anyone else catch the recent episode of The Office that Whedon directed, with Jim leading Dwight to believe he was turning into a vampire? Hilarious.

Animus · Post by **Animus** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:43 pm

Total Buffy n00b question here: The wife and I love Firefly, but that's our only Whedon experience. We tear through most HBO shows, Weeds, BSG, etc. We just caught up with Veronica Mars and loved it. Now we need something new and I've always been meaning to check out Buffy. I grabbed the first disc from Netflix and watched the pilot on my own to guage whether the wife and I would be into it. Suffice to say, the acting was a little painful and the whole thing left me very lukewarm.

In line with most of the comments in this thread, would we be missing much character background and essential exposition by starting with season 2? We both are familiar with the main characters and the general premise of the show. Or should we tough out the first season and expect it to get better?

Peacedog · Post by **Peacedog** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:51 pm

You probably could skip it, but there are things you wouldn;t understand reference wise later.

There is a lot of good in season 1, OTOH. The show without question has to grow up, and it does (fittingly).

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:58 pm

You can skip it, but it isn't that big of a deal. The first season is only a half-season long. Lots of the characters and situations in season 1 come up from time to time, so it is worth the dozen or so episodes.

Season 1 was pretty much the network saying, "Joss, guess what - you've got your show. You're starting now, have it on the desk in fifteen minutes. Oh, and you may not get renewed past this half-season." With season 2 he actually had the time and a firmer footing from which to work.

Terrified wrote: Now, there's rumors that the actor's lifestyle got him written off the show, but I believe Joss's explanation.

I honestly believe that Doyle was intended completely and solely as a vehicle to give Cordelia relevance. You don't bring a star into a spin-off and make them someone's secretary, but Cordy's character was already established in Buffy and didn't really have anything to build off of. They needed to add 'something'. Doyle was a sort of a deus ex machina.

GuidoTKP · Post by **GuidoTKP** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:00 pm

Animus wrote:Total Buffy n00b question here: The wife and I love Firefly, but that's our only Whedon experience. We tear through most HBO shows, Weeds, BSG, etc. We just caught up with Veronica Mars and loved it. Now we need something new and I've always been meaning to check out Buffy. I grabbed the first disc from Netflix and watched the pilot on my own to guage whether the wife and I would be into it. Suffice to say, the acting was a little painful and the whole thing left me very lukewarm.

In line with most of the comments in this thread, would we be missing much character background and essential exposition by starting with season 2? We both are familiar with the main characters and the general premise of the show. Or should we tough out the first season and expect it to get better?

What was pretty stellar about Firefly was that they hit the ground running with that show. Pretty much by the second episode it was awesome, the characters had some depth, and the timing was there. Buffy had a much longer warming up period. So did Angel. Neither of those shows really hit their stride until the second season. I'd gut it out (since that's what I did), since there were certainly some very enjoyable moments in the first season.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:41 pm

Two my favorite moments in Buffy history:

Spoiler:

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 10:07 pm

Just a note since there seem to be a lot of people getting started in Buffy...

My wife is the one who finally convinced me to take some interest in the show - before that I chalked it up as another hokey teen "drama" - but even sillier since it had monsters and vampires.

The first few episodes did nothing to change my mind. The jokes were often corny, the whole vibe was cheesy. But I stuck it out, largely in part due to the fan base on these boards.

I'm very glad I did. Because when it finally 'clicks' you realize that the corny jokes and the sometimes cheesy monsters are simply a fluffy little layer on top of a really clever show. And before you know it, you realize that all those awful puns and snappy asides have really endeared you to these characters.

It was amazing to me to watch this show transform in my mind from a silly throwaway teen trifle to an example of some of the finest television I'd ever watched.

Big Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:54 pm

YellowKing wrote:
Spoiler:
The episode where Buffy's mom dies still sticks in my mind as one of the most horrifying, emotional, gut-wrenching moments on television. I can remember very few times in my life when I was as stunned/shocked/disturbed watching a television show.

Spoiler:

Muddyboots · Post by **Muddyboots** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 1:22 am

"Cup of Tea. Cup of Tea. Almost got shagged. Cup of Tea."

Chaosraven · Post by **Chaosraven** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 1:27 am

RE: YK spoiler

Spoiler:

Barry Stuart_Hargreaves · Fri Mar 16, 2007 5:50 am

AWS260 wrote:You sure about that?

SMG, the "All My Children" years:

I'd still hiddit!

Baroquen · Post by **Baroquen** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 11:51 am

Terrified wrote:
Chaosraven wrote:"The official word from creator Joss Whedon is that Doyle's death was planned from the very beginning"
Just to fill that out a bit... Joss has said that he liked shaking up the audience. He deliberately hated when you had the feeling that "So and so is in the opening credits, so they are safe." He said that directly worked against the horror aspects of the writing. He wants you to feel like anything could happen. I don't know if you remember season 1, episode 1 of Buffy, but Xander had a friend? And that guy dies in the first episode? Well, that guy was supposed to be in the opening credits, and that was supposed to serve as Joss saying "No one is safe." I don't remember the details, but the opening credits got messed up, it was too soon, and so no one really noticed.

I can't believe they killed 24's Milo in the very first ep without so even an opening credit!

Spoiler:

In regards to skipping season 1, I'm trying to hook my fiancee on the show, and while she's enjoying it so far, I'm finding I like these episodes more than I remembered. Yes, they still aren't as great as season 2, but they aren't that bad.

tru1cy · Post by **tru1cy** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:19 pm

Season 1 can be skipped, but I would stick with it as some of the episodes are quite good.

Buffy was very good TV especially seascon 2, 3 and 4. By seaon 5 you could see the series was coming to an end.

One thingI didn't like:

Spoiler:

I like to add that...minor spoiler

Spoiler:

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 2:52 pm

tru1cy wrote:

I like to add that...minor spoiler

Spoiler:
I thought Faith could have carried her own show. Could have set it in New York, but two Slayer series would have been to many I guess

I could be wrong here, but I believe that offers have been made in that regard. Eliza simply isn't interested in being a 24/7 actress.

sgoldj · Post by **sgoldj** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 6:20 pm

So............

What about Season 8?

(I haven't picked it up yet, I was hopeing for some impressions)

Arnir · Post by **Arnir** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 6:22 pm

Barry Stuart_Hargreaves wrote:
AWS260 wrote:You sure about that?

SMG, the "All My Children" years:

I'd still hiddit!

No kidding.

Biyobi · Post by **Biyobi** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 9:54 pm

Blackhawk wrote:I could be wrong here, but I believe that offers have been made in that regard. Eliza simply isn't interested in being a 24/7 actress.

There were offers made, but considering she was in the process of getting Tru Calling together, I'd say you were wrong about the 24/7 actress part. She probably just felt the the Buffyverse was finished without Buffy.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 11:17 pm

Arnir wrote:
Barry Stuart_Hargreaves wrote:I'd still hiddit!
No kidding.

Dude, she's like 16 in that picture! With poodle hair!

Chaosraven · Post by **Chaosraven** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 7:16 pm

AWS260 wrote:
Arnir wrote:
Barry Stuart_Hargreaves wrote:I'd still hiddit!
No kidding.
Dude, she's like 16 in that picture! With poodle hair!

14 April 1977

"All My Children" .... Kendall Hart Lang Henry (1 episode, 1993-1995)
- Episode dated 11 March 1994 (1994) TV Episode .... Kendall Hart Lang Henry

-imdb

Arnir · Post by **Arnir** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 7:33 pm

I grew up in that fashion period so that's what the girls were wearing when I started noticing.

I always checked driver's licenses first - good advice from our government teacher. So, I would have waited another year+ if she was 17ish as the math suggests. I have no interest in anyone under 18. Hell, in reality, no interest in anyone under 30 really, but I digress.

Now I need to take a shower. I feel dirty.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 3:06 pm

Arnir wrote:I always checked driver's licenses first - good advice from our government teacher.

You must have had an awesome government class.

Arnir · Post by **Arnir** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 3:23 pm

AWS260 wrote:
Arnir wrote:I always checked driver's licenses first - good advice from our government teacher.
You must have had an awesome government class.

It was unique, shall we say.

Biyobi · Post by **Biyobi** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 3:27 pm

Arnir wrote:
AWS260 wrote:
Arnir wrote:I always checked driver's licenses first - good advice from our government teacher.
You must have had an awesome government class.
It was unique, shall we say.

What is it about government teachers? Mine ended up marrying one of his ex-students.

Arnir · Post by **Arnir** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 3:30 pm

The lady who was my teacher was also the student council advisor, etc. She was quite liberal but not "that" friendly. Since we talked about laws, etc, age of consent came up. As most of us were seniors we were crossing the 17-18 year old line and that had interesting ramifications at the time.

Kraegor · Post by **Kraegor** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 3:40 pm

well... just finshed up the final season of Buffy. (still got 1 season of Angel to go!)

What an awesome choice for final villain! Nathan Fillion played his part perfectly... I'm beginning to see how the initial cast of "Firefly" was rounded up

Too many choices for favorite episode... first that comes to mind is the singing episode.... hilarious... I'd need to surf back thru seasons 2-4 to find my other favorite episodes. seasons 5-7 had some strong episodes but not as many struck me as "brilliant". whereas in the earlier seasons the really smart episodes happened more often. Guess that was just Joss running out of steam/focus.

Still... I enjoyed the entire ride! took me around 2yrs via netflix, heh. spose I gotta buy the damn box set now...

Kraegor · Post by **Kraegor** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 3:43 pm

YellowKing wrote:
Spoiler:
The episode where Buffy's mom...

"The body". That was an exceptional show. The presentation was so stark/empty, it really resonated.

Octopus Overlords

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