Buffy the Vampire Slayer

From the good folks at: Mutant Enemy Inc., Kuzui Enterprises and Sandollar Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television: 1997-2001 WB, 2001- UPN; UK Sky 1, BBC2. (Stations in bold aired it first over here.)

What's it about?: "In every generation," the voiceover on the first episodes tells us, "there is a chosen one." The duties of the one in question - to battle against the demons and the forces of darkness that harangue mankind. She (for those new to this, the chosen one is always female) is the one called the Slayer, and the current carrier of the burden is Buffy Anne Summers. She never wanted the job, but she's stuck with it and must try to cope with being the Slayer and at the same time a woman with all the pressures of "normal" life. Her ways of dealing with the supernatural in general and vampires in particular - Angel (ex-Angelus) and Spike (ex-William the Bloody) in even more particular - have ruffled the feathers of her now ex-Watcher Rupert Giles, the ex-librarian of the ex-Sunnydale High School (but in the end he sided with her against the Council, and has now returned to England); and nor are those around her unaffected.

Why is it good?: That's like asking "Why is Piers Morgan annoying?" So many reasons, but let's start with the most obvious - it's rightly acclaimed for its appealing characters, its strong writing and deft performances. It blends fantasy adventure and more "realistic" drama with aplomb, it's witty without ever sacrificing itself on the altar of camp (with the arguable exception of Season 1's 'Big Bad,' the Master) - though that's not to say it hasn't had room for basically comic episodes like "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" and "Band Candy" - and it can make you laugh, gasp and cry in turns. In other words, this is so much more than the Dawson's Creek-with-fangs some insist on pegging it. (It's also worth noting that "Welcome To The Hellmouth"/"The Harvest" - the two-part first episode - established that the Hellmouth, on which Buffy's town of Sunnydale is situated, is home to all manner of creatures, not just vampires, and thereby free of the restrictions of its title.) Add in all the action sequences (the Buffy/Angelus swordfight in "Becoming Part 2" is a particularly good example) and a successful avoidance of the dreaded Fifth Season Syndrome, and you have one of the most layered, most consistently watchable dramas on television. Better than The West Wing (itself no must-miss), and much better and more involving than The Sopranos. (There. I've said it.) As The Guardian's Gareth McLean wrote after "The Body" (the stunning episode dealing with the death of Buffy's mother), "Joyce may be dead but long live Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

Who likes it?:

  • Viewers worldwide; it's a genuine cult hit, thought perhaps a bit too mainstream to qualify as "cult"?
  • Fans of decent television.
  • UPN (in the autumn of 2001 they became the show's new American landlords - since the last original episode to premiere on the WB dealt with Buffy's death, you could say she was born again - and have benefitted greatly from its audience as well as separating it from the spinoff Angel, a show I no longer watch).
  • Men's magazines - most of the show's female stars have worked their ways into male viewers' affections, most notably Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy herself), Alyson Hannigan (Willow), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia, now on Angel) and Eliza Dushku (Faith, last seen in jail and unlikely to return now Miss Dushku's pursuing a movie career) - although Amber Benson, Emma Caulfield, Mercedes McNab, Julie Benz, Elizabeth Anne Allen and even Michelle Trachtenberg (Tara, Anya, Harmony, Darla, Amy and Dawn respectively) have their admirers.
  • The Internet - not least since the show's writers are quite willing to go online with fans on the show's official forum (Joss Whedon was very sympathetic towards the travails suffered by the show's British fans - see below).
  • Guardian readers. Who doesn't?:
  • Emmy voters - there was much grumbling from fans, critics and Marti Noxon (one of the show's main writers and current executive producers) when it was completely snubbed for the 2000-2001 season. See below for more.
  • Gorehounds.
  • Hardcore readers of The Voice - the show has very few non-whites, though this doesn't seem like a deliberate thing (although I doubt Kendra (see "What's My Line?" and "Becoming - Part 1") went down well).
  • Snooker fans - BBC2's screenings, in addition to being snipped for the 6:45 airings (and usually uncut for late night repeats), are regularly disrupted for sport, especially snooker. And boy, do Buffy fans not like that, particularly since the Beeb thinks nothing of constantly repeating The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which were barely worth screening the first time.
  • Anyone who dismisses it on the basis a) that it's American and b) of its title.
  • People who demand "real" TV
  • Anyone who likes Millennium (apologies for this sweeping generalization).
  • Kristy Swanson. Notes:
  • Kristy Swanson played Buffy in the original 1992 movie, which took nowhere near as much advantage of its premise as the series but was still fairly diverting (Whedon claims rewrites watered down his concept, and the evidence does suggest this).
  • The episodes "Earshot" and "Graduation Day" were held back on their original US airings in the wake of the Columbine shootings, even though the plots are a far cry from them.
  • The high school that played Sunnydale High (until "Graduation Day Part 2" that is) also stood in as the location for She's All That, which explains SMG's cameo in it.
  • The series made its BBC2 bow on December 30 1998 (the day Eliza Dushku and myself say "Happy birthday to us!")
    EMMYS(bold denotes a win):

    1997: Outstanding Makeup In A Series ("Welcome To The Hellmouth."

    1998: Outstanding Hairstyling In A Series ("Becoming, Parts 1 and 2"); Outstanding Makeup In A Series("Surprise/Innocence"); Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Dramatic Underscore)(Christophe Beck for "Becoming, Part 1").

    1999: Outstanding Makeup In A Series ("The Zeppo"); Outstanding Sound Editing In A Series ("Lover's Walk").

    2000: Outstanding Cinematography In A Series (Michael Gershman, "Hush"); Outstanding Hairstyling In A Series ("Beer Bad" - one of my least favourite episodes BTW); Outstanding Writing In A Dramatic Series (Joss Whedon, "Hush" - one of my most favourite episodes).

    2002: Outstanding Hairstyling For A Series: "Hell's Bells." Outstanding Makeup In A Series (Non-Prosthetic): "Hell's Bells." Outstanding Makeup In A Series (Prosthetic): "Hell's Bells." Outstanding Music Direction: "Once More, With Feeling."

    Click here to go back to the front page, or here for the TV list.

    For more of the Buffyverse....

    Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Official UPN Site)
    Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Heart & Soul
    Slayage
    Much Ado About Buffy The Vampire Slayer
    Slayer.net

    Email: cindylover1969@yahoo.co.uk