Buffy: Slayer of the Vampyrs

It seems almost serendipitous that my 100th post would coincide with me finishing my re-watch of Buffy. 100 posts sounds like quite a milestone while at the same time it doesn't feel like I've been doing this for very long. Still it's been fun to do even though some days it's hard to find a topic to write about and it keeps me adding positive things to the internet rather than wasting too much time on the darker side.

Now anyone who knows me or has read some of this blog will know that Buffy is my second favorite TV show ever, second only to Firefly. Even though I now say Firefly is top it was Buffy that had more of an impact at the time it first aired. The show has been described many times as a metaphor for the anxieties of adolescence. I was 18 when I first saw Buffy (on VHS!), slightly out of the high school age group of the characters but not far off. It was still a fresh memory to me so I was the exact demographic it was being aimed at. Being a fan of horror films I was first convinced to try it simply because it was about vampires, but I soon realised there was a lot more to it than that. By the second series I was completely hooked and wouldn't miss an episode. That even got a bit obsessive later on as I drove across the country each week (Sheffield to Manchester) to record some of season six because my Sky system was broken at the time. It was essentially the right show at the right time, lovable characters of my age group which I then grew up with.

As I got older, probably around the time the Angel spin-off began, I started paying more attention to the creative people behind the scenes. At which point I became a fan not just of Buffy but of Joss Whedon as well. I sought out his previous work and was surprised to find things like Toy Story, Speed & Alien 4 on his resume. They were all things I had previously enjoyed and now I had another reason for why. Of course these days I'm a member at Wheadonesque, a news/forum site where Joss himself posts sometimes and I follow everything he does. Part of me can't help but wish people would stop cancelling his shows though. Although he's a good director I'd prefer to see him back as a writer/showrunner. However The Avengers is going to tie him up for a few years now.

Of all the Whedon shows Buffy is the only one which got to end naturally. The story of Firefly being abruptly cancelled only to become a film later is pretty well known now. While Angel and Dollhouse both got a chance to end but only rushed at the last minute, being cancelled but with a commitment to show the remainder of the season. That means Buffy, at least to me, got the most satisfying ending. I'm not sure how many times I've watched the whole series now but it's quite a few and I still enjoy it every time. I expect I always will as it will remind me of those formative years of my life.

The next Buffy Season Eight TPB won't be out until October so I'll have to wait a while for my next fix. Which means I'll probably have to watch Angel & Firefly again too along with buying the new Dollhouse boxed set. However first I've got a big Quantum Leap set to watch.