I love Firefly, the Avengers and Cabin in the Woods because Joss Whedon has a great way of writing characters and dialogue. But is Buffy worth trying? Also was Dollhouse any good?
Buffy is good, you should start watching it now. I was lucky? enough to have caught it while it was on air and continue to re watch it over the years. I've probably seen the whole series a couple of times. You probably gotten through the firefly series a lot more though :).......
Yeah, for sure. I mean you say you like the dialogue and Buffy is where that stuff was born. Just...umm... be ready to liberally skip episodes as some of them horrible plots.
Also, make sure you check out Angel when the time comes; IMO, it just fucking smokes Buffy.
Yeah, for sure. I mean you say you like the dialogue and Buffy is where that stuff was born. Just...umm... be ready to liberally skip episodes as some of them horrible plots.
Also, make sure you check out Angel when the time comes; IMO, it just fucking smokes Buffy.
This.
Be warned, Buffy takes a while to really get going with the middle seasons being the best.
The final 3 seasons of Angel just completely blows Buffy out of the water though, although the first two seasons are ROUGH. Both have their ups and downs but I tend to prefer Angel also.
Most of my friends tell me that Buffy is amazing and I need to watch it. I couldn't get into it though. I watched the first season and someone said "you should really start with the second season because it's so much better." That kinda put me off of the show too. Ignoring a whole season?? That friend might have been crazy though. It doesn't it to try it out.
Buffy is worth watching as a Whedon fan, but it should be known that Whedon wasn't as hands on with Buffy through the entire series as he was with the one season of Firefly that we got. That's one of the reasons I think Firefly was so good and holds up as well as it does. The end result with Buffy is a show with a ton of absolutely great moments and more than it's fair share of really terrible ones. With that said, I do not suggest skipping anything on your first watch. People will "advise" you to skip this episode or that episode, but I've heard plenty of folks put some of my favorite episodes on their worst lists. Not only that, but Whedon has a habit of referencing previous episodes in subtle ways that you won't get if you start skipping things.
I watched it again recently and I think the only reason I really enjoyed it is because I'm very nostalgic when it comes to that series and it's characters. If I watched it for the first time today I wouldn't be into it, especially if I had to watch the first 3 seasons.
Having watched the entirety of both not that long ago, I think Buffy is more consistently good than the X-files. Though they've both got their stinkers, Buffy's are slightly less monotonous. Where the X-files relies mostly on Mulder and Scully and later on to a certain extent Skinner, and then not even Mulder when Duchovny left the show for a season, Buffy has a much larger permanent/semi-permanent cast to center episodes on and is three seasons shorter. Angel is alright too, but I was never a big fan of Boreanaz' character from Buffy, the other characters steal the show for me, but the ending is just unfortunate.
The only reason Firefly is held in such high regard is that, well, it is excellent, and then it wasn't around long enough to produce any stinkers. Dollhouse is definitely worth watching as well, but has some rough edges due to odd production schedules and such when they weren't sure if it was coming back for another season or not, and then it did come back, and then it was cancelled.
Whedon seriously needs to sit down with Bethesda or Bioware and write them an RPG.
I think it was Whedon's best show. I've never loved a TV show more than it, but I could understand how it would be hard to get into now. The first season is a lot shorter than the rest and suffered from feeling really cheap, not that episodes in later seasons didn't also, but it looked reaaally bad in spots. Firefly had real potential and I could have seen it going on to do really great things, it has gotten pretty tiresome to hear a lot of people unable to let it go, it was fine for a bit, but man let it go. Serenity is an awesome movie... watch that, but not before watching the show.
I liked Angel a ton, almost as much as Buffy in spots and characters I wasn't the biggest fan of from Buffy like Cordelia and Wesley became really well fleshed out and in the case of Wesley was given a complete overhaul in the personality department and made him one of the best creations Whedon has ever given us.
Dollhouse is half junk, but the last 6 or 7 episodes showed some real promise. I couldn't recommend it to anyone other than the most hardcore of Whedon fans. Either way try Buffy and endure the first season, it really did get rather good.
Buffy is worth watching period. Though I can't comment because I still haven't gotten around to watching Firefly. The first season of Buffy is really hammy and slow but I wouldn't skip it, just stick with it and half way through the second season you'll want to marathon through the whole show. I agree with Angel being even better than Buffy.
Dollhouse was pretty decent though I think in ten years time people will still be talking about Buffy Angel and Firefly and have forgotten all about Dollhouse. I watched both seasons though and thought it was pretty good.
Off topic, Tru Calling is another great show (not Whedon) but I always think of it in the same breath as Firefly/Dollhouse as it was also unceremoniously cancelled literally just as they were about to blow it out of the water. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend it, it's amazing and the series was heading into some deep philosophical waters with the introduction of Jack.
Buffy is definitely worth trying if you're a Joss Whedon fan. It's got the Joss Whedon touch you'd expect with the dialogue and characters and the humor and the emotion. I went through Buffy this summer for the first time and it didn't disappoint. Except for the first season, that is. The first season's pretty shaky. Give it to into the second season before you judge it too harshly.
Hell yeah Buffy is worth trying. It's my favorite show. As most have said the first season is the worst season but it's required viewing. Also the second season probably won't immediately grab you. At about the half way point of season 2 the show really gets going. So you should really give the show two seasons. Also you should watch Angel it's pretty good. If you get the chance watch it concurrently with Buffy start with Buffy season 4 and Angel season 1. That will help you greatly through getting the rough early parts of Angel. Dollhouse is terrible you should skip it. The only redeeming parts of it are the last episode of the first season and the end of the second season. Where Whedon shows where the show would have gone which was amazing but Whedon took too long getting it there.
@Chop: I've been going through the X-Files and there's definitely some stinkers in that towards the end.
The one episode that stuck in me and my feathers craw which killed our wish to watch the rest of Xfiles. Was the episode that was in black and white with the hill billies.
On Buffy and Angel, I am not at all a firefly fan. I am too invested in the more traditional Scifi like Star trek and Stargate. However Buffy and Angel I would pop in and watch a few eps.
I didnt get invested too much, however I think I watched the last season as it got me hooked.
It may be a bit harder to take due it being a show from the 90s. However a strange yet great episode is the Musical one, it will make sense come the time.
Angel I never really watched it yet somehow kept up with some of the story, not bad.
Here's another perspective for you. Firstly, my credits:
Watched Avengers but not Cabin in the Woods
Watched lots of Buffy/Angel
Haven't watched Firefly, but have considered it many times.
I watched Buffy from the second season and probably stuck with it for most of the show. I had some great laughs with that series, mostly for the witty dialogue (as you might have guessed). Nowhere does the Avengers quality come through better than in the characterization and humour. Of course, Buffy also had lots of dirty jokes, which I'm sure most people don't mind, but I for one was glad to see Whedon shine in Avengers without all the sex-stuff that I despised about Buffy. I watched Angel from the first episode and found it darker than Buffy (in a good way). I think overall I enjoyed Angel more. Regardless, I eventually stopped watching both as I found the plot deteriorating in the later seasons and it started to feel like the characters were turning into pawns in some fangirl's shipping game. Well... I hope this helps.
That's got me wondering if I'd enjoy Firefly any, based on my assessment above. I don't wanna hijack this dude's thread, but if anybody's got a comment, I welcome it. :-)
I watched the first two seasons of Buffy and I can tell you that you should probably watch that show. First season came off as kinda campy but I hear the show gets way better over the seasons.
Depends on your age, it's kinda tailored towards the 13 year old crowd and I'm not saying that adults can't enjoy stuff intended for a younger audience it's just that with Buffy and Whedon crap in general it's particularly bad once you are old enough to intensely feel the flaws, cheapness and cheese while watching it.
Depends on your age, it's kinda tailored towards the 13 year old crowd and I'm not saying that adults can't enjoy stuff intended for a younger audience it's just that with Buffy and Whedon crap in general it's particularly bad once you are old enough to intensely feel the flaws, cheapness and cheese while watching it.
This duder's got a point, age plays a role. When I enjoyed Buffy, I was probably just about 13. Got harder to stomach as I got older, but bearing that in mind, I watched Avengers as a 26-year-old and I loved it without reservation.
I'll join to help the Dollhouse lovers. Obviously you can see that Buffy and Angel are both totally worth it.
Dollhouse is a harder sell. It's a slow burn for sure. The first couple of episodes make it seem like a kinda offbeat procedural but then you start to realise that the larger narrative of the show is moving along. Then eventually the "Case of the week" is suddenly thrown out the window and the large story unfolds.
Buffy and Angel is awesome but hella long. If you're looking to watch a smaller contained story with a beginning, middle and end, watch Dollhouse.
I wish I had cared more for Firefly or Serenity. Firefly's good, and probably one of the better "traditional" sci-fi series out there, but the characters who are most interesting largely get the short shrift, and a lot of the characters are exceptionally stiff. Serenity exemplifies these problems and tosses in a kind-of-mediocre plot for good measure.
But my friend, who is a massive Joss fan, stands by Buffy pretty steadfastly. You should probably try it, and if you're not enjoying the first season, just read a synopsis of season 1 online and skip ahead. It's how I plan to catch up on Doctor Who or TNG someday.
You should probably try it, and if you're not enjoying the first season, just read a synopsis of season 1 online and skip ahead.
I would recommend against that. Since the real value to the first season is the character set up, their interactions, and the character development which are lost through a synopsis. The characters in greatly evolve over time and it is worth i to see where they started. Also some of the most important developments in Buffy the character happens in the first season.
I like Buffy a lot but some parts of that show is fucking frustrating. That said, Firefly and Buffy has pretty much nothing in common in terms of how the story is told, characters and so on.
You should probably try it, and if you're not enjoying the first season, just read a synopsis of season 1 online and skip ahead.
I would recommend against that. Since the real value to the first season is the character set up, their interactions, and the character development which are lost through a synopsis. The characters in greatly evolve over time and it is worth i to see where they started. Also some of the most important developments in Buffy the character happens in the first season.
Better than giving up partway through Season 1 or just skipping the season altogether though, right?
I suppose I'll have to try again in the second season to judge it, but the first season of Buffy was definitely not my speed. I didn't find it funny and I didn't find it suspenseful, and I found Buffy's eternal flippancy in danger to be less of a coping strategy, like it seemed with Mal, and more her character being incomprehensible. Hot, though.
Buffy starts off pretty rough, with some forgettable plots and really bad special effects/CGI. It really starts to pick up for the second season, and the third season was amazing. Just be warned, Joss Whedon does have his particular style to him. If you like that stuff, then Buffy is all of that. And make sure you start watching Angel when the time comes. I think it's best to alternate. They're both on Netflix.
Finally, be aware that Buffy has a LOT of romantic subplots (occasionally plot-plots) going around. For the most part, I've found them to be fairly well done, but make sure you have a tolerance for that stuff. Overall, I'd say just stick with it for two seasons. If you like it by then, you like it. It took me a while for it to really sink in with me.
Dollhouse was pretty good too, but it takes a while to get really good and then it just kind of abruptly ends. Buffy and Angel are a must for Whedon fans, and if you got Netflix then you can just watch all of it online.
Like people are saying, the first season and a debatabley sized chunk of the second season are pretty bad, even as someone who loves that show. Watch them anyway, just so you know, and there's some ok moments. About half way through season two, when a...thing...happens is when the show really starts to pick up though. Season 3 is amazing. Season 4 is probably the worst barring 1. Season 5 is back to form. 6 and 7 are fine. People like to complain, but I liked the overall plot of 7 and 6 had a lot of great standalones. Plus, the last four episodes or so of 6 I really liked.
And yes, watch Angel. I fall on the side of not liking it as much as Buffy, mostly because I just didn't care about the characters in the same way. I loved two of them, and the rest were good, but my top 5 or so from Buffy easily crush them. That said, season 5 of Angel is fantastc and up there with the best of Buffy. It also has maybe the best series finale I've ever seen.
I feel like the odd man out in that I never liked anything I saw of Buffy or Angel, to the point where I straight up avoided Firefly for a long time. Finally got around to giving it a shot, though, and ended up really enjoying it. I don't think it's because Joss Whedon did anything terribly different, though -- I just think that the actors in Firefly (for the most part) did a much better job with the script and Whedon's directing style. Probably also helps that I really like sci-fi, whereas I have very little interest in the setup for Buffy and Angel.
Id highly recommend buffy seasons 1-3, they are really good. After season 3 though the show goes downhill really fast and never really gets back the charm it had during the first three seasons. Id also recommend all of Angel, that show is pretty damn good.
You should probably try it, and if you're not enjoying the first season, just read a synopsis of season 1 online and skip ahead.
I would recommend against that. Since the real value to the first season is the character set up, their interactions, and the character development which are lost through a synopsis. The characters in greatly evolve over time and it is worth i to see where they started. Also some of the most important developments in Buffy the character happens in the first season.
Better than giving up partway through Season 1 or just skipping the season altogether though, right?
Yeah at least watch the final episode. Also the two episode before it are worth watching they are not good but they are pretty heavily referenced through the rest of the series.
@Veektarius said:
I suppose I'll have to try again in the second season to judge it, but the first season of Buffy was definitely not my speed. I didn't find it funny and I didn't find it suspenseful, and I found Buffy's eternal flippancy in danger to be less of a coping strategy, like it seemed with Mal, and more her character being incomprehensible. Hot, though.
If that was your problem then yeah you should continue watching it. Especially since Buffy's entire arc in the first season was believing that she was invincible because she was Chosen but by the end of the season understanding she can die and the only reason she was Chosen in the first place was because every Slayer before her died. Afterwords that flippancy is very much a coping device and it has various other meanings behind it as she evolves.
Regardless of your appreciation of Firefly, I think Buffy is worth a try. I've spent years trying to convince my girlfriend to watch Buffy with me. She's not much of a Whedon fan either way, but after watching Cabin In The Woods recently, she finally decided to give it try. We're midway through s3 now, and she's hooked, despite not having much of an opinion of science fiction/fantasy/horror fiction. But the story lines run deep and the character work is some of the best ever on a television series. It's goofy, campy, downright silly at times, but the show goes places with its characters that show a lot of balls, especially for something that first aired in the 90s. And, to echo an often-voiced sentiment here, the spinoff series Angel totally rips. It's one of the most compelling universes out there, with a lot to sink your teeth into (pun INTENDED).
I feel like the odd man out in that I never liked anything I saw of Buffy or Angel, to the point where I straight up avoided Firefly for a long time. Finally got around to giving it a shot, though, and ended up really enjoying it. I don't think it's because Joss Whedon did anything terribly different, though -- I just think that the actors in Firefly (for the most part) did a much better job with the script and Whedon's directing style. Probably also helps that I really like sci-fi, whereas I have very little interest in the setup for Buffy and Angel.
This post urges me to give Firefly a shot. Now I just need someone to convince me there's less "romance" in it than Buffy/Angel and I'm sold.
I pretty much spent the summer watching all of Buffy and really enjoyed it. I would agree with people that the first season isn't very good and that it sort of loses steam in later seasons. I found it fun to watch things like the monster makeup, effects and fighting progress as the show went on. It definitely has its charm and humor. I felt like the later seasons is kind of when Whedon plays around with the writing, which really pays off in my opinion. Anyone who's watched enough probably remembers the musical episode and the silent episode.
Also, if you like it, you should probably watch Angel too.
I feel like the odd man out in that I never liked anything I saw of Buffy or Angel, to the point where I straight up avoided Firefly for a long time. Finally got around to giving it a shot, though, and ended up really enjoying it. I don't think it's because Joss Whedon did anything terribly different, though -- I just think that the actors in Firefly (for the most part) did a much better job with the script and Whedon's directing style. Probably also helps that I really like sci-fi, whereas I have very little interest in the setup for Buffy and Angel.
This post urges me to give Firefly a shot. Now I just need someone to convince me there's less "romance" in it than Buffy/Angel and I'm sold.
Next to no romance in Firefly so you should give it a shot.
I love Buffy and it's definitely worth checking out. It's not an easy show to get into since the first season is frankly bad and it actually really takes off around the midway through season two. Just keep that in mind when you go into it. It should be worth it though.
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