10 Years of Buffy
So, ten years ago today Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on the WB. For seven years it was my favorite show, and it still is now. Even though I haven't watched a full episode (except one) since Angel went off the air, Buffy is still the show of my heart.
I first came into contact with BtVS via the movie. Friends convinced me to rent it for a sleepover for my birthday one year (at least I think it was my birthday). We rented that and My Cousin Vinny (!) and only ended up watching Vinny. The next day, after most everyone had left, the two friends who had convinced me to rent it watched BtVS with me, and that was probably the beginning of the end.
I really liked the movie, even got my mom to order me the tie in novel, which was out of print (or at least not available in any local bookstores). Years later when I learned what the movie was supposed to be like, I was a little sad, but I did really enjoy it for what it was: a sort of horror comedy. Plus, I've always been a big fan of slightly cheesy horror movies, so it was right up my alley in that respect.
I remember the first time I heard about the television show was in that year's TV Guide issue that talked about the upcoming midseason replacement shows (I may actually have that lying around somewhere, I should look for it). I feel like I might have brought it over to L's house (the girl who introduced me to the movie) to show her, but if I didn't I know I told her about it. She was all "eh, I don't know" about it, but I knew from the moment I read the little TV Guide blurb that this was going to be a great show. Don't know how I knew, I just did. Going into the first episode, all I knew about the show was whatever was in the blurb. I wondered what they'd do with the movie canon: scrap it incorporate it, what?
The first episode had the misfortune of airing during the one week of night rehearsals for the school play (my freshman year I was on the running crew for "The Mouse that Roared"), so I asked Dad to tape it for me. I think I had planned on taping it every week without commercials anyway, since I had this feeling I was going to love it and want to be able to rewatch, but I knew I was going to miss the first one, so he taped it for me that night. I didn't get home until probably 10:30/11 or so, but I know that I had to watch it before I went to bed.
I remember the moment I fell totally in love with the show. It was that scene in WttH where Buffy arrives at Sunnydale High for the first time. We see Xander skateboarding down the sidewalk (and what ever happened to that skateboard, anyway?), and as he catches sight of Buffy, he's so captivated that he crashes right into an unfortunately placed railing. Willow comes up and mocks him a little bit, and that's it for me. It became my favorite show, and it definitely stayed that way for the next seven seasons.
I liked Angel a lot, but it was never MY SHOW like Buffy was. I mean, during Season Four, I had moments of "why am I watching this?" (and to be honest, there are several S4 eps that I've never even seen, since I was in London for that time period and just never bothered to watch them), although it did redeem itself with Season Five (and totally gut me with the series finale). I never felt that way about BtVS, and even though there were some less than perfect episodes, I loved every one of them. Yes, even Bad Eggs.
This show has made me cry so many times. I'm not a big crier, but Joss has managed to reduce me to tears more times than I can remember. The fact that I could get so invested and so emotional over a television show is probably why I was almost always one of those "just trust Joss, he knows what he's doing" people. And I love that. I wish that more shows effected me that way.
So, as I said up there, I haven't watched an episode of Buffy since Angel ended, except for watching the pilot on the WB's last day on the air. I was going to start with Season One at the beginning of the year and try to fit all of them in before today, but this year has been busy so far. So, starting really soon (like tomorrow, or maybe Monday to start off at the beginning of the week) I'm going to watch them all. I'm going to start with "Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest" and work my way up to "Chosen." I'm going to do this differently from the way I watched them originally, and (except for crossover episodes) not watch any episodes of Angel. I want to see how BtVS works without Angel, and then I intend to go back and watch Angel without BtVS. Just a little experimentation to mix things up a bit.
So, if I feel like it, you may see some commentary about various seasons/episodes as I go along. It's been a long time since I've seen some of these episodes, so it'll be fun to revisit some of my old memories.
Happy Anniversary Buffy!
I first came into contact with BtVS via the movie. Friends convinced me to rent it for a sleepover for my birthday one year (at least I think it was my birthday). We rented that and My Cousin Vinny (!) and only ended up watching Vinny. The next day, after most everyone had left, the two friends who had convinced me to rent it watched BtVS with me, and that was probably the beginning of the end.
I really liked the movie, even got my mom to order me the tie in novel, which was out of print (or at least not available in any local bookstores). Years later when I learned what the movie was supposed to be like, I was a little sad, but I did really enjoy it for what it was: a sort of horror comedy. Plus, I've always been a big fan of slightly cheesy horror movies, so it was right up my alley in that respect.
I remember the first time I heard about the television show was in that year's TV Guide issue that talked about the upcoming midseason replacement shows (I may actually have that lying around somewhere, I should look for it). I feel like I might have brought it over to L's house (the girl who introduced me to the movie) to show her, but if I didn't I know I told her about it. She was all "eh, I don't know" about it, but I knew from the moment I read the little TV Guide blurb that this was going to be a great show. Don't know how I knew, I just did. Going into the first episode, all I knew about the show was whatever was in the blurb. I wondered what they'd do with the movie canon: scrap it incorporate it, what?
The first episode had the misfortune of airing during the one week of night rehearsals for the school play (my freshman year I was on the running crew for "The Mouse that Roared"), so I asked Dad to tape it for me. I think I had planned on taping it every week without commercials anyway, since I had this feeling I was going to love it and want to be able to rewatch, but I knew I was going to miss the first one, so he taped it for me that night. I didn't get home until probably 10:30/11 or so, but I know that I had to watch it before I went to bed.
I remember the moment I fell totally in love with the show. It was that scene in WttH where Buffy arrives at Sunnydale High for the first time. We see Xander skateboarding down the sidewalk (and what ever happened to that skateboard, anyway?), and as he catches sight of Buffy, he's so captivated that he crashes right into an unfortunately placed railing. Willow comes up and mocks him a little bit, and that's it for me. It became my favorite show, and it definitely stayed that way for the next seven seasons.
I liked Angel a lot, but it was never MY SHOW like Buffy was. I mean, during Season Four, I had moments of "why am I watching this?" (and to be honest, there are several S4 eps that I've never even seen, since I was in London for that time period and just never bothered to watch them), although it did redeem itself with Season Five (and totally gut me with the series finale). I never felt that way about BtVS, and even though there were some less than perfect episodes, I loved every one of them. Yes, even Bad Eggs.
This show has made me cry so many times. I'm not a big crier, but Joss has managed to reduce me to tears more times than I can remember. The fact that I could get so invested and so emotional over a television show is probably why I was almost always one of those "just trust Joss, he knows what he's doing" people. And I love that. I wish that more shows effected me that way.
So, as I said up there, I haven't watched an episode of Buffy since Angel ended, except for watching the pilot on the WB's last day on the air. I was going to start with Season One at the beginning of the year and try to fit all of them in before today, but this year has been busy so far. So, starting really soon (like tomorrow, or maybe Monday to start off at the beginning of the week) I'm going to watch them all. I'm going to start with "Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest" and work my way up to "Chosen." I'm going to do this differently from the way I watched them originally, and (except for crossover episodes) not watch any episodes of Angel. I want to see how BtVS works without Angel, and then I intend to go back and watch Angel without BtVS. Just a little experimentation to mix things up a bit.
So, if I feel like it, you may see some commentary about various seasons/episodes as I go along. It's been a long time since I've seen some of these episodes, so it'll be fun to revisit some of my old memories.
Happy Anniversary Buffy!