Buffy the Vampire Slayer

[Nostradamus]

Forgive me if this was already covered, my summer rerun memory is poor, but was that universal Slayer empowerment spell permanent? In other words, will Angel and co. be getting aid from an army of newbie slayers?

[Natasha (candygirl)]

True, the show is called Angel - but James Marsters can act circles around David Boreanaz any day of the week (I love that t-shirt that shows DB's emotions with all the pictures that have the same expression). I think that the way that Spike and Angel deal with being vampires who love a slayer are very different, which is what makes the stories interesting. The fact that Spike wanted to do good before he had a soul sets his character apart from Angel, who wandered the earth for 100 years with his soul before seeking any redemption.

Besides, the last show was called Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I couldn't stand her character or her storylines. I watched for Spike, Willow, Xander, Giles, Oz, Anya, heck even Jonathan and Andrew. I like Buffy's role as a vampire slayer (just as I like Angel's mission to help the hopeless) but the title characters are not necessarily the main reason I watch either show.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

The latest from tvshowsondvd:

Today both Amazon.com and DVDPlanet.com placed official, final listings to accept pre-orders for Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 5 (click that link for all available details). Expect a 12/9 release of 6 discs for an SRP of $59.98.

Fox Home Video has not yet issued a press release or made any other sort of official announcement, so stay tuned for that. Possibly as soon as tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, Amazon is also listing a Buffy The Vampire Slayer - The Complete Seasons 1-4 DVD MegaSet for an Oct. 14th release! Wow, 21 discs at a list price of $219.92! This is just a re-packaging of the existing sets for Seasons 1, 2, 3, and 4; please don't expect any changes to the disc content.

In the meantime, in a strange twist, DVDPlanet is also listing a Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Complete Sixth Season DVD set, for release on July 6, 2004! It is certainly a long time before that Tuesday next Summer, and something makes us think that this listing will be taken down in the near future and held until a time much closer to that date (if it's even reliable).

In fact, we should point out that there is at least one aspect of that listing which is wrong: the supplements listed at the bottom are taken from the information about Firefly. Right now the listing is more of a curiosity than anything else...but a preorder will probably be eventually honored nonetheless. Hey, the worst that happens is you cancel, right?

[JPP13]

I'm not knocking Marsters as an actor - I think he does a fine job. Its the character.

In a way, we'll see. It will play itself out on Angel. But here's the history.

Season 2, Spike had a small but pivotal role, along with Drusilla. Best Buffy season ever. Best scene ever, for my money was the 2 at the end. Buffy kills Angel, then leaves town. Spike nowhere to be found.

Season 3, Spike is absent. Very good season, with the Mayor, Faith, etc. Last season for Angel on the show.

Season 4, Spike is back, and gets caught up with the initiative. Holding pattern, at best.

Season 5, Spike around full-time, mostly just taking up space while "chipped". Great finale scene with Buffy on the tower. I'll give Spike credit for a decent episode where Glory tortures him.

Season 6. Now its all about Spike and Buffy. Sex, debauchery, depravity. The worst season, until....

Season 7. Again, its all about Spike. He's souled, he's good, he's bad. Etc, ad infinitum. He saves the world at the end. hooray. Ratings plummet. Fans and critics turn away.

Its pretty much agreed that the last 2 seasons of Angel have been very strong, and the show has surpassed Buffy. I agree with that as well. Spike now enters the mix. Lets see how the show fares. If it continues strong, I'll admit I was wrong. If it starts to backslide, lets begin to think about why.

As a caveat, I would point out that in fairness to the character of Spike, the last 2 seasons of Buffy were also the Marti Noxon Seasons.

Again, not a knock on Marsters, but Spike.

All of this my own humble opinion of course. Others may disagree.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

I don't think that the ratings dropped for BtVS solely because of Spike's storyline. The most obvious reason is the network switch - a lot of people STILL do not have a local UPN affiliate. They were watching the show (by downloading) but they did not produce ratings.

One of the biggest reasons that people have cited for disliking S6 & S7 was the dark tone. Joss wanted S6 to be about becoming an adult, being stuck, not knowing who you are or what to do, and he did an excellent job of conveying that feeling of being lost while stuck in a rut - but who wants to see Buffy worrying about the copper pipes being replaced? If anything, seeing the depths that she was willing to sink to (having sex with Spike) was more interesting than seeing her work at the Doublemeat Palace. Doing something like flipping burgers when you're desperate for cash is one thing, but debasing yourself in order to forget how desperate you are is another.

S7's biggest problem was the monotony of the Slayerettes and the First. At least Spike's storyline progressed throughout the season (crazy, not crazy, crazy again, the trigger, etc.) but watching new girls come into the house week after week bored me to tears. That storyline went nowhere, and at a painfully slow pace. The payoff in the finale was okay (all the potentials become slayers), but did not require a 21 episode buildup IMHO. Buffy said it best when she asked the First if it was going to try to talk her to death. Yawn.

As for everyone else, Xander and Anya - still blaming each other for the demise of their relationship, Willow - "I can't do magick...unless I go to LA to restore Angel's soul because that's a snap!" and hooking up with some spoiled bossy obnoxious Slayerette whose sole reason for wanting a relationship with Willow is that she's hot (blech), Giles - barely around at all, Dawn - less annoying than S5 but more annoying than S6 (still pouting about being left out and relegated to research, which is infinitely less painful than hearing her shriek "GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!"), and Buffy - spent the season alternating between lecturing and looking bored. The storylines were long and boring and the main characters had nothing to do except speechify and whine - I know that's why I got bored watching S7.

I remember when there was something to like about almost every BtVS episode, but the last few seasons the writing and the arcs lacked a lot of the snap of the first five seasons. Was this the result of Joss putting his energy into Firefly? Maybe. Did BtVS suffer because a lot of the writers and crew went to AtS and Firefly? Perhaps. Strange how in the early seasons, it was easier to pick out the few episodes I didn't like. In the last two seasons, I could only think of a few episodes that I really did like.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

You can view S5 cover art here. Special features for this season:

Disc 1:
Commentary for "Real Me" by writer David Fury and director David Grossman
Script for "The Replacement"
Disc 2:
Script for "Fool For Love"
Commentary for "Fool For Love"
by writer Doug Petrie
Disc 3:
Script for "Into The Woods"
Featurettes:
"Buffy Abroad" (5.00)
"Demonology - A Slayer's Guide" (10:00)
"Casting Buffy" (10:00)
"Action Heroes! - The stunts of Buffy" (10:00)
Buffy Series Outtakes
Disc 4:
Script for "Checkpoint"
Commentary for "I Was Made To Love You" by writer Jane Espenson
Disc 5:
Commentary for "The Body" by writer/director Joss Whedon
Disc 6:
Featurettes:
"The Story of Season 5" (30:00)
"Natural Causes" (10:00)
"Spotlight on Dawn" (10:00)
Still Gallery (approx. 50 static images)
Interactive Game Trailer: "Buffy Videogame Trailer"
DVD-ROM Buffy Demon Guide

Info on S6 courtesy of tvshowsondvd:

Fox Home Video has officially listed the July 6, 2004 release of Buffy The Vampire Slayer - The Complete Sixth Season among their DVD announcements last night, and have the extras and specs to go with it.

As usual, the extras are quite extensive:

Disc 1:
Commentary for "Bargaining" by Marti Nixon and David Fury
Disc 2:
Commentary for "Once More With Feeling" by writer/director Joss Whedon
Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
Easter Egg
Music Videos:
"I've got a Theory/Bunnies/We're Together"
"I'll Never Tell"
"Walk Through the Fire"
Disc 3:
Commentary for "Smashed" by Drew Z. Greenberg
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences panel discussion
Disc 4:
Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
Easter Egg
Disc 5:
Commentary for "Hells Bells" by David Soloman and Rebecca Rand Kirshner
Commentary for "Normal Again", by Rick Rosenthal and Diego Gutierrez
Disc 6:
Commentary for "Grave" by James Contner and David Fury
2 Featurettes
Outtakes
Interactive Game Trailer
DVD-ROM

Fox also listed the specs for this release. It has the same $59.98 SRP as Season 5 ($89.98 for Canada), and is another 990-minute 6 DVD assemblage. Tracks for English, Spanish, and French are all in Dolby Surround Sound.

Fox's release info makes it sound like all 22 episodes on this set will be Full Frame (1.33:1). However, based on previous statements both from Fox and from the people at the show (including Joss Whedon himself), TVShowsOnDVD believes that the episode "Once More, With Feeling" will be presented in widescreen on these DVDs. This is because that episode - written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon - was originally broadcast on 11/6/01 in widescreen, as a special "all-musical" treat for the fans. All other episodes were originally broadcast in Full Frame (1.33:1), and will definately be presented that way for this release, as Mr. Whedon intends.

[Emeralduk]

I totally agree with you 'candygirl', it's easy to pick out 1 or 2 least favourite eps of the first 4 seasons, but then from season 5 onwards (as I said before, when the darker tone began) there are only a few favourites to pick out.

Least favorites:
Season 1:The Puppet Show-just a bit creepy for me, I guess.
Season 2:Some Assembly.., Killed by Death
Season 3:Beauty and..,Gingerbread
Season 4:Beer Bad of course, Where the Wild..
Favourites:
Season 5:The Replacement, The Body, Intervention, The Gift
Season 6:Life Serial, All The Way, Tabula Rasa, Once More.., Gone, Older and Far Away
Season 7:Conversations.., Storyteller, Chosen

I think if season 7 had had some fun eps like season 6 did, then it would have been a better season.

*~Emerald~*

[Natasha (candygirl)]

I totally hear what you're saying! Even dark S6 had some fun episodes (OMWF, Tabula Rasa) but S7 seemed to have few fun moments instead of fun episodes. The few good S7 episodes (like Conversations with Dead People) weren't fun.

[lance]

You can view S5 cover art here.

Argghhh! Bad link, bad link. I am not getting the cover art. Where was this posted? tvshowsondvd.com?

Candy,

I agree wholeheartedly with you analysis of Buffy Seasons 6 & 7. A much, darker, darker tone and frankly not as fun. Again, I will buy seasons 6 & 7 not for the seasons as a whole but for some of the more fun episodes contained there.

The writing, yes that has been the loudest complaint about seasons 6 & 7. No clearly defined season arc, characters & plotlines just cast adrift, very disappointing.

Another thing I have heard repeatedly, Sarah Michelle Gellar did seem to be into her character as much. She just seemed to be going through the motions.

As for Angel: 5th Season, will just have to wait and see what happens. There are some awesome cast photos here:

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/ ... /index.htm

Just scroll down and look for "angel update"

LanceMan

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Hmm, I don't know why the link isn't working for you (I can click on it and see the picture) but you can also view it here.

[lance]

Hmm, I don't know why the link isn't working for you (I can click on it and see the picture) but you can also view it here.

Much better, thanks.

LanceMan

[Nostradamus]

My two cents on the Buffy/Angel/Spike-Gellar/Boreanaz/Marsters debate:

IMHO, this is kinda like asking "Who's the best Star Trek captain?", or "Would Jackie Chan whup Mike Tyson in a fight?", or "Will any NFL quarterback ever live up to the likes of Marino, Elway and Montana?". At first glance, those might seem like reasonable questions, but I believe they're apples and oranges. Sure, some actors (or QBs or whatever) are better than others, and of course each fan will have their favorites, but you don't need a royal flush of stars to make a good show. As long as the actor is a good fit for the part, and assuming they have decent writers and behind-the-scenes crew backing them up, it'll usually work out OK. And, with the exception of those last couple of Buffy seasons, it pretty much has worked out. I suppose you could devise some sort of "Thespian Deathmatch" to pit actors against each other in a trial of poly-mimetic depth and range, but as long as they're making good TV, who cares?

Now, that said, wouldn't it be cool to see David B. and James M. in a dusty ring, swinging heavy stacks of scripts at each other while the old Star Trek fight music plays in the background?

[lance]

My two cents on the Buffy/Angel/Spike-Gellar/Boreanaz/Marsters debate:

IMHO, this is kinda like asking "Who's the best Star Trek captain?", or "Would Jackie Chan whup Mike Tyson in a fight?", or "Will any NFL quarterback ever live up to the likes of Marino, Elway and Montana?". At first glance, those might seem like reasonable questions, but I believe they're apples and oranges. Sure, some actors (or QBs or whatever) are better than others, and of course each fan will have their favorites, but you don't need a royal flush of stars to make a good show. As long as the actor is a good fit for the part, and assuming they have decent writers and behind-the-scenes crew backing them up, it'll usually work out OK. And, with the exception of those last couple of Buffy seasons, it pretty much has worked out. I suppose you could devise some sort of "Thespian Deathmatch" to pit actors against each other in a trial of poly-mimetic depth and range, but as long as they're making good TV, who cares?

Now, that said, wouldn't it be cool to see David B. and James M. in a dusty ring, swinging heavy stacks of scripts at each other while the old Star Trek fight music plays in the background?

LOL! Would they have to battle over a fire pit and be surrounded by Vulcans?

LanceMan

[Nostradamus]

D'oh! I totally spaced the fire pit! They also need to be shirtless, with leather suspenders...

I dunno if Vulcans would work, or maybe Klingons with pain sticks?

[Natasha (candygirl)]

FYI - S6 is now available for preorder at amazon. Now let's see how long it takes before Fox finds out, gets mad, and makes amazon remove the listing from their site. Just a hunch.