Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who looks a high-school student, is actually a young woman with superhuman strength. Buffy is the “Chosen One,” and her mission is to rid the world of Evil, mostly by killing demons and vampires. Pretty heady stuff for a teenager!
I bought this DVD set for a dollar at a recent Library Book Sale. Obviously they were selling more than books (I picked up a bag of CDs, too!).
The First Season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, set mostly in Sunnydale High School. Buffy and her mother moved to Sunnydale after Buffy unfortunately torched her previous High School’s gym. We’re introduced to the other characters that assist Buffy in her fight against the Undead. The “Watcher” Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) provides essential information for Buffy’s battles. There’s a friendly geek called Xander (Nicholas Brendon), a computer nerd called Willow (Alyson Hannigan) who would blossom in upcoming Seasons, and snarky socialite called Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter). They all aid Buffy in her quest in various unusual ways.
Did you watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer on The WB back in 1997? Were you a fan? GRADE: A
EPISODES:
S01 E12 · Prophecy Girl
Jun 2, 1997
S01 E11 · Out of Mind, Out of Sight
May 19, 1997
S01 E10 · Nightmares
May 12, 1997
S01 E09 · The Puppet Show
May 5, 1997
S01 E08 · I, Robot… You, Jane
Apr 28, 1997
S01 E07 · Angel
Apr 14, 1997
S01 E06 · The Pack
Apr 7, 1997
S01 E05 · Never Kill a Boy on the First Date
Mar 31, 1997
S01 E04 · Teacher’s Pet
Mar 25, 1997
S01 E03 · The Witch
Mar 17, 1997
S01 E02 · The Harvest (2)
Mar 10, 1997
S01 E01 · Welcome to the Hellmouth (1)
Mar 10, 1997
When the series started it just didn’t seem to be something that I’d like, so I passed on it. Two or three seasons in, when it looked like from what I was reading about it, that I’d made a mistake, it was too late. I tried a couple of episodes and it was like trying to start a complicated novel in the middle. Once I got into streaming a few years later, I just didn’t seem to have the energy to tackle what was, by then, a very long series. I seem to be missing the binge watching gene.
Michael, BUFFY is worth watching even if you don’t binge.
No. I know Beth is a huge fan. I watched one episode (SPOILER ALERT – the one where Buffy’s mother died- END SPOILER), which was very well done. But with so many other things to watch I have never felt the urge to go back and watch this from the beginning.
Jeff, watching these episodes the second time is even more satisfying than the first time! But, I prefer watching Blu-rays or DVDs rather than the streaming services. I like the extra content. We’re back in North Tonawanda. It’s raining in NYC and raining here!
We got lucky. For the most part, the heavy rain either missed New Orleans or came through overnight. And today (and tomorrow) – beautiful! It was 83 today, but with low humidity and a nice breeze it was delightful. We leave tomorrow afternoon, by which time New York should be drying out. I hope you enjoyed the shows.
Jeff, the shows were fun! I’ll be posting about them in a few days. Safe travels!
“The Body” (the one Jeff saw) was the best single episode of the series, by me…and it works even better in context.
Todd, one of my projects is to rewatch all of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. I was surprised and pleased to see Buffy in the series finale of THE BIG BANG THEORY.
I caught a few season 1 episodes, but was not a regular watcher.
Rick, I’ll be working my way back through BUFFY, but slowly.
The network it was on didn’t have a Baltimore station at first — and at first I didn’t care because it just sounded dumb. But I was hearing more and more good things about it, and we got the network in the middle of the first season. We watched the first episode that was available to us, and it was astonishingly good. We watched the rest of the season, caught up on reruns in the summer (when that was a thing), and watched the entire rest of the series. It remains one of our favorites, and we have all the season box sets.
Jeff, I have about half the box sets. But I love to run across them for a dollar!
Channel 50 in DC dithered for a month or so over affiliating with the WB, presumably holding out for better terms for affiliation. The Baltimore eventual affiliate perhaps likewise. Happily, I was able to see the first day’s offers of the WB…the best of their first four sitcoms, MUSCLE, was the first cancelled…they started out with just a single night of the four series…
Strange – I don’t remember watching any Vampire movies since Polanski.
When I was a student we oftensawthe early movies made in black&white by British Hammer studios – but I grew out of that. 🙂
Totally OT:
Doris Day died – I’ll never forget her performance:“Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)” from the Alfred Hitchcock film “The Man Who Knew Too Much.”
Wolf, I’m sad about Doris Day, too. I’ve watched over a dozen of her movies. One of the Great Ones is gone…
Bill Crider liked and recommended it but I never watch episodic TV and passed it up!
Bob, Bill Crider gave you some good advice about BUFFY!
George, i was a big fan of the television series and have read some of the comic books that continued the television series. I also have a read a few of the paperback tie-ins which varied greatly in quality. I found it is hard to top the original series.
I also liked the original movie starring Kristy Swanson, though not as well as the television show.
Jerry, I agree with you on the “novelizations” of BUFFY. They sure do vary in quality! I haven’t seen the Kristy Swanson movie…I’ll have to rectify that.
By coincidence , Charisma Carpenter is a guest star on 9-1-1 (on Fox) tonight.
I came to Buffy late because it aired on Tuesday nights and I worked at the bookstore then. But once I found it, I was hooked.
I hated the movie and can see why Joss Whedon wanted a reboot.
Although I watched Angel, it wasn’t as good as Buffy.
Another all-time fave from WB is Veronica Mars. I mourned its untimely demise after a mere three seasons. I was part of the Kickstarter campaign for the movie and will have to sign up for/figure out how to use Hulu so I can see the latest incarnation. Veronica Mars and Rob Thomas never disappoint.
Beth, I’m with you on ANGEL…not as good as BUFFY! Katie loves VERONICA MARS. I have the DVDs, but haven’t gotten around to watching it. I heard the Kickstarter movie was good. I didn’t know it’s on HULU now.
The VERONICA MARS movie is in rotation on HBO this past month, as well. One of my TV GUIDE colleagues was another Kickstarter participant. It’s a good series, even if Veronica’s hero-worship of her father is laid on a bit thick.
Todd, that hero-worship aspect was critical for VERONICA MARS. Yes, it was plaid on thick, but the producers wanted to make sure the audience “got it.”