4 ms·

My ex-wife and I watched Buffy when it premiered in 1997, and she was pregnant with our first child. We loved it! Time flies: My daughter got into it and did s

by eggy 10y ago

My ex-wife and I watched Buffy when it premiered in 1997, and she was pregnant with our first child. We loved it! Time flies: My daughter got into it and did several weeks of marathon watching with her friend when she was 17 in 2014. It didn't hold up for me when I watched a bit of one episode again, and I was definitely not in the demographic for the show by a stretch at that point ;)

ghaff 10y ago
At least for me, there's a certain "you can't go home again" element to TV series--especially ones running over a number of seasons. You typically watch and enjoy them at the pace that they aired and in the context of the culture at the time and where you are at the time. This is changing with the splintering of mainstream culture, on-demand binge-watching etc. But it certainly applies to originally broadcast series. There's also just so much new content these days. It's really hard for me to imagine devoting 100 hours or whatever to either rewatching or watching for the first time some 1990s vintage TV show.
- vidarh 10y ago
  With many shows like Buffy it also change so much over time. The early episodes are not far off "monster of the week", but then you get a lot of things towards the end with e.g. Buffy's death, and resurrection (and the subsequent "d'oh" moment on realising that they should have considered maybe, just maybe she was actually happier dead) that are a lot more complex and intelligent. It's easy with long running series to remember the characters and events they way they were towards the end of the series, and get a bit of a shock when going back and watching the beginning..
  - ghaff 10y ago
    Although I wrote elsewhere that I have limited patience for shows taking too much time to find their "voice," it's certainly fair that some shows do start out tentatively and only grow into memorable series after a season or so. For example, I'd argue that both Star Trek TNG and DS9--especially the former--were much stronger later in their runs. Of course, there are probably even more series that start out fairly strong but limp on well past their sell by date or just lose the plot so to speak.
romanhn 10y ago
To add a slightly different perspective, my wife and I watched Buffy for the first time this year and we absolutely loved it. I actually felt that it held up surprisingly well. Angel on the other hand... I forced myself through 2.5 seasons before giving up, could not get into it at all.
SwellJoe 10y ago
I've watched Buffy, Angel, and Firefly several times all the way through (Firefly the most often, by far). Certainly, some of the magic of Buffy is gone when watching it as a middle aged man (I was an adult when watching it the first time, but just barely), but it's still enjoyable. It was definitely a show that got better in the later seasons, but it was always funny and fun pop horror/fantasy, and the cast was excellent (except Michelle Trachtenberg's Dawn, who was just annoying). I think maybe Whedon's greatest talent back then was picking a good cast with great chemistry, which may be why Dollhouse failed so miserably, for me. So much of that cast was just wooden and utterly forgettable (I almost said "unlikable", but I can't remember anyone from the show other than Amy Acker and Eliza Dushku, so I can't even say I disliked the cast). Now that he's working with huge names, and the cast is already mostly set in stone, I'm not inclined to go see his films. I watched the first Avengers and remember it being funny, but not really anything else about it. The second was a snore. Anyway, Angel was maybe more adult-friendly; at least it was intended to be, since no one could pretend David Boreanaz was young enough to be messing around with high school girls anymore. Though Buffy was always funnier. But, Firefly is the best of them all. Surprisingly so, since all other Whedon shows are widely regarded as being best after they've had a season or so to find their rhythm. It seems reasonable to assume Firefly would have actually gotten better; the film hints at that potential. Though Serenity was rushed, it was still excellent, and would have made a top-notch series of episodes for the show if it'd been presented in that form.

by eggy 10y ago

ghaff 10y ago

At least for me, there's a certain "you can't go home again" element to TV series--especially ones running over a number of seasons. You typically watch and enjoy them at the pace that they aired and in the context of the culture at the time and where you are at the time. This is changing with the splintering of mainstream culture, on-demand binge-watching etc. But it certainly applies to originally broadcast series. There's also just so much new content these days. It's really hard for me to imagine devoting 100 hours or whatever to either rewatching or watching for the first time some 1990s vintage TV show.

vidarh 10y ago
With many shows like Buffy it also change so much over time. The early episodes are not far off "monster of the week", but then you get a lot of things towards the end with e.g. Buffy's death, and resurrection (and the subsequent "d'oh" moment on realising that they should have considered maybe, just maybe she was actually happier dead) that are a lot more complex and intelligent. It's easy with long running series to remember the characters and events they way they were towards the end of the series, and get a bit of a shock when going back and watching the beginning..
- ghaff 10y ago
  Although I wrote elsewhere that I have limited patience for shows taking too much time to find their "voice," it's certainly fair that some shows do start out tentatively and only grow into memorable series after a season or so. For example, I'd argue that both Star Trek TNG and DS9--especially the former--were much stronger later in their runs. Of course, there are probably even more series that start out fairly strong but limp on well past their sell by date or just lose the plot so to speak.

romanhn 10y ago

To add a slightly different perspective, my wife and I watched Buffy for the first time this year and we absolutely loved it. I actually felt that it held up surprisingly well. Angel on the other hand... I forced myself through 2.5 seasons before giving up, could not get into it at all.

SwellJoe 10y ago

I've watched Buffy, Angel, and Firefly several times all the way through (Firefly the most often, by far). Certainly, some of the magic of Buffy is gone when watching it as a middle aged man (I was an adult when watching it the first time, but just barely), but it's still enjoyable. It was definitely a show that got better in the later seasons, but it was always funny and fun pop horror/fantasy, and the cast was excellent (except Michelle Trachtenberg's Dawn, who was just annoying). I think maybe Whedon's greatest talent back then was picking a good cast with great chemistry, which may be why Dollhouse failed so miserably, for me. So much of that cast was just wooden and utterly forgettable (I almost said "unlikable", but I can't remember anyone from the show other than Amy Acker and Eliza Dushku, so I can't even say I disliked the cast). Now that he's working with huge names, and the cast is already mostly set in stone, I'm not inclined to go see his films. I watched the first Avengers and remember it being funny, but not really anything else about it. The second was a snore. Anyway, Angel was maybe more adult-friendly; at least it was intended to be, since no one could pretend David Boreanaz was young enough to be messing around with high school girls anymore. Though Buffy was always funnier. But, Firefly is the best of them all. Surprisingly so, since all other Whedon shows are widely regarded as being best after they've had a season or so to find their rhythm. It seems reasonable to assume Firefly would have actually gotten better; the film hints at that potential. Though Serenity was rushed, it was still excellent, and would have made a top-notch series of episodes for the show if it'd been presented in that form.