It's Joss Whedon's world; we merely live in it!
Seriously, the second season of "Buffy" is some gorgeous storytelling, and nothing but nothing makes me smile like the finale of season three. Plus, who doesn't love "Smile Time"from the last season of "Angel"? Or "Firefly"?
PS: the first 3 seasons of "Buffy" are available free, streaming online at Hulu until October 2.
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Also, the first season of Angel is on Hulu, though I don't know for how long.
Nice. The fifth season's still my favorite, though!
Were the 2nd-4th seasons worth it? I could rent the DVDs ... Or, I could start on Supernatural (the corruption spreads ...), or some other series. I haven't watched TV in ... a decade? & only picked up Angel & Buffy because a friend recommended them. Any suggestions?
On Buffy, the 4th season just wasn't as fun as the first three & I never went on to the 5th.
Where's "Buffy" is concerned --
The first season's a bit rough around the edges, but it's short -- not a complete season. It's just setting up the Buffyverse.
Season 2 is AWESOME. The finale of it is some of the best TV I've seen. Vampires have never been so much quippy fun.
Season 3 is lots of fun; the main villain (the Big Bad) over the arc of the season is one of the most memorable in TV-Land. The season finale is one of my favorite pieces of TV, period.
Season 4 is the weakest of the series, though it has some very good episodes ("Hush" is excellent). Just go onto the next season, because...
Season 5 is very good indeed, and 6 and 7 are also worth your time. Season 6 has an all-musical episode that will knock your socks off -- plus give you hope that it is still possible to make stand-out TV... and make you worship The Whedon.
Re "Angel," the spinoff series. Where "Buffy" is engaged with the high school horror genre, "Angel" is aligned with the old film noir genre. It's a different feel and a different show, and at its best, it surpasses some "Buffy." Season 5 is my favorite; there's a lapse in the middle of the series (Connorgate, as it's often called by fans), but afterwards it gets FABULOUS.
If you're looking for good TV, go for "Buffy," "Angel," and Whedon's 1-season-long joy called "Firefly." "Supernatural" is a guilty pleasure because it's just campy, quippy fun -- and, frankly, not as good as Whedon.
Other fun TV: "Psych" and "Burn Notice" (done by USA Network; now on DVD), and NBC's "Chuck." "Moonlight," "Day Break," "Journeyman," "Kings," "Arrested Development," and "Kitchen Confidential" are all canceled now but on DVD, and they are some great TV shows. The Cine-Sib adores "Sarah Connor Chronicles." We also like "NCIS," "JAG," and some "CSI." Some of these are on Hulu.
Check some of these out and let me know what you think!
PS:
http://madminerva.blogspot.com/2008/11/tv-pop-culture-slugfest-is-supernatural.html
Cool -- thanks!
I guess I'll give Buffy season 5 and Angel season 2 a shot.
I am a big Firefly fan - watched the whole series and Serenity in one long weekend while house sitting. I still can't believe there won't be a season 2 ... (sigh)
Golly, I *LOVE* "Firefly."
There's also The Whedon's new series, "Dollhouse" (on the Fox network). Season 1 just came out on DVD, and season 2 premieres on Sept. 25.
Re season 1: it got off to a really slow start, but it starts gathering steam after a few episodes.
The web-series "The Guild" is also darn funny in a geeky/nerdy/gamer kind of way:
http://www.watchtheguild.com/
Yeah, the friend who suggested Buffy also likes Dollhouse. I may have to check that out.
Since we're on the topic (and SPOILER ALERT), there were three things that bothered me about season 4 of Buffy.
First, and biggest: In the Buffy-verse the only guy I can sympathize with is Oz -- Xander's a wuss, Angel - great character but I can't wish I was him, Giles - actually better in season 4 but still ... Oz was cool, smart, brave, said the right things at the right times, and for me he was the only really sympathetic male character on the show. When he cheated on Willow I almost stopped watching the show right there. It was such a violation of what I felt the character had been that my suspension of disbelief was no longer willing, and I lost all empathy for him. This meant there was no sympathetic male character, and the show seemed a bit of a male-bash after that.
Two, not as big a deal because I'm used to it, but Whedon repeatedly treated service in the military as stupid. E.g., Xander is driving an ice cream truck, living in his mom's basement, and gets offended because his friends might think he should join the Army. Because of the way the Army is treated, Riley isn't really a sympathetic character for me (he's just a tool for Whedon's views on the military, which I disagree with). Also, due to posse comitatus, Riley's group should have been civilians, which makes me think Whedon specifically set out to slam the military.
Finally, these issues could have been made better if Whedon had made me laugh more, but it just seemed like the Buffy-verse was a more serious place after high school, and I didn't like the direction it took.
Anyway, I'll check out season 5 and see what happens.
Oooh, I'm enjoying the Whedon conversation!
Season 4 is my least favorite, and I almost never watch it, though I have the DVDs. For me it's the apocryphal season. The Oz thing has always bothered me. The actor, Seth Green, was involved in other projects (you might remember him from the "Austin Powers" movies) and primed to leave the show, but I really didn't like the way he was written off the show. The character didn't seem much like the delightful Oz of seasons 2 and 3.
The standard fallback "oh, government-military conspiracy/secret project" plot was definitely a weak link. I didn't think too much of it since it's basically the fallback default position for the entertainment industry now, but I did think it was kind of lazy and un-creative -- and we're all used to better stuff from The Whedon. Besides, the "Big Bad" was dull.
Try season 5...and season 6's musical episode is just dazzling.
"Angel" is less of a male bash, at least! (An aside: I was frankly happy when Angel the character left "Buffy" to start his own show. I mean, in "Buffy" he seemed like everybody's punching bad. Need to pad the plot? Have somebody ambush/abduct/beat up/in some other way incapacitate Angel and then smack him around. I wanted to see him kicking butt, not getting his own handed to him all the time. Which kind of explains why I really like Spike.)
I meant "punching bag." I can't type with these dragonlady nails!
Now that I'm back from DC ...
Something's just wrong with the world when my favorite male character on the show leaves for other things. Didn't they consider that before they let him go? ;-(
Yeah, I enjoyed season 1 of Angel. Certainly not a man-bash. I was irritated when Doyle got killed off, but at least he went out like a real demon. Arrrr! I always liked the noir detective genre anyway; throw in vampires, demons, cosmic conflict between Good and Evil, a fallen man's quest for redemption, and Charisma Carpenter -- what more could a guy ask for?
What's your view on the movie "Lost Boys"? How about Laurel K. Hamilton?
Oh, yeah. Spike and Dru absolutely rock. Great characters, great couple, great villains. They too got less interesting in season 4 (and of course Dru disappears entirely).
The Master -- wuss villain. Really, Dr. Evil with fangs. And I know it's a picky point, but when he had those three warrior vamps killed for a single failure, he was no longer fit to fill a seat in the ranks of serious villains. Any real villain would have put the fear of Satan into them and sent them back twice as dedicated, or something along those lines.
Still, while I'll complain about the small stuff, the first three seasons of Buffy were just a lot of fun to watch. I really enjoyed watching this blonde teenage girly girl kick vampire butt, slay demons, and outshine the guys. It's been the other way around (girls just used as decoration for the male heroes on set) so many times that this was fresh and new and a heckuva lot of fun. I also truly admired the way the show carried off double meanings with Buffy both as the warrior-savior and still just a teenage girl who gets in trouble for breaking curfew.
And some episodes, like Hush, really were just cinematic art, in their own way.
And just since I'm on the topic and seem to have a little time on my hands ...
One of the things that made Buffy fun was the gender reversal from old films, where you have a manly man, his male sidekick, his ditzy female secretary who is in unrequited love with him, and his beautiful but scarred and mysterious love interest. It's fun to see it all reworked into the Buffyverse. Have I used my quota of the word 'fun' yet?
Whatever, that's why I'm not complaining about Xander, Giles, etc. They fit into that universe and I get a kick out of the gender tricks being played. Still, lately I just don't enjoy cinema where I can't sympathize with any of the characters, and I myself am too concretely tied into masculinity to identify with Buffy herself, much as I love her.
Anyway, random thoughts on a Wednesday evening.
Re: "Lost Boys" -- campy fun! The young Kiefer Sutherland? What a hoot!
Re: Laurell K. Hamilton -- haven't read her stuff, though I've heard of her.
Re: Spike and Dru in season 2 = FANTASTIC. Dru is so deliciously nuts, and Spike turns out to be more complicated than first thought.
Buffy seasons 1-3 are simply great. I think part of why they are is the fact that they in a way talked about the emotional hazards of high school and of growing up (boy howdy, who didn't have a tough time in high school?) and translating them into monsters that could be physically confronted. Buffy's experience with "the boyfriend gone horribly bad" is like a huge metaphor for any relationship gone South!
Once the plot got out of high school, it seemed at first to get lost and confused (season 4) -- but then again, isn't that just like the freshman year of college! ;-)
PS: Have you got past season 4 yet?
I ran into a small glitch. I went to the local video store and they don't carry anything but the last season of each. In fact, I'd say Blockbuster, at least at that location, is getting ready to go out of business.
So I called around, and it looks like I'll just have to buy the DVDs if I want to watch season 5 / 2 (of Angel).
One word: NETFLIX!
I was under the impression that there would be no math ... (like figuring out how many movies I'd have to watch a month to make it worthwhile, and are there really that many good movies out there? and what if I forget - I have a friend who ended up paying 60 bucks to watch Batman, and, and ... (cue anxious Willow impersonation))
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