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She saved the world, a lot

Posted on 01 Jun 2003 in Science Fiction

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Few tidbits from this weekends SMH article on the passing of Buffy:

Describing Buffy as “the most original, witty and provocative television show of the past two decades”, Britain’s The Independent ran this obituary: “With astonishing bravura, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has succeeded in blending the conventions of teenage soap opera with smart, dialogue-driven comedy, a phantasmagoria of supernatural motifs – and even knotty theological debate.”

The Toronto Star lamented the end of a “multi-dimensional, deeply recessed and densely layered mythology … that could engage both supernatural escapism and earthly social constructs such as friendship, love, power, religion and free will”.

Jana Riess, the religion editor for the US-based Publishers Weekly, is writing a self-help book called What Would Buffy Do? A Vampire Slayer as Spiritual Guide. “Whedon may call himself an atheist,” she says, “but Buffy deals with profoundly religious themes. It serves as a strong moral example most of the time.”

There’s 487,000 Buffy and 373,000 Angel viewers in Australia with the dominant group being females aged 25-39.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/05/30/1054177723260.html

Buffy: Chosen

Posted on 01 Jun 2003 in Science Fiction

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Finally watched the last episode of Buffy, it broadcast in the US on May 20th, but I hadn’t time until now. Don’t worry, I definitely won’t give anything away in this post, so Buffy fans several episodes behind on Australian TV can keep reading. I certainly didn’t pick the ending and as usual very credible rumours were dropped in the media as to what some of the cast members would be doing post-Buffy, from which you could draw certain conclusions, but were of course totally false. The rumours were clearly designed to send one last “fuck you” to spoiler spies that have plagued the shows producers for years, leaking plot twists to spoiler web sites feeding the insatiable appetites of those want to know the plot twists and mysteries of each season ahead of time. Personally I hate spoilers and have avoided them, so you’ve gotta laugh at all the red faced spoiler spreaders. Anyway, I will say one thing about the episode as a whole, I was left wanting more.. I guess the closure will come soon.. bye Buffy, what a brilliant show.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Posted on 16 May 2003 in Science Fiction

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@N-Zone rounds up where the Buffy cast, writers and producers are heading workwise post-Buffy.

http://www.atnzone.com/tvzone/features/buffyblowout_2.shtml

The Village Voice: Buffy Puts a Stake in It

Posted on 15 May 2003 in Science Fiction

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Press: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer leaves the air this week, and I haven’t felt so sad to see a series end since my childhood.. The only good thing about the demise of Buffy (and the likely cancellation of its nearly as endearing spin-off Angel) is that I’ll no longer feel compelled to convince nonbelievers of its virtues. I understand why people wrote it off as a cult geek-show: low-budget sets, B-movie ghouls, and hot teenage chicks kung-fu fighting in graveyards do not usually signify top-notch drama. Despite the cheesy trappings, Buffy was not only one of the funniest, smartest, and sassiest shows on television in the last decade?it was also the most mournful.. Buffy struck a chord that’s incredibly rare on TV, and it will be missed.”

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0320/tv.php

Why Spike ruined “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”

Posted on 15 May 2003 in Science Fiction

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Weinman suggests why Buffy has sucked so badly this final season, laying the blame clearly on the writers focus on Spike and the lost opportunities in essentially ignoring Willow, Anya, and Xander. I tend to agree somewhat, the whole Spike thing has really gone nowhere, but they keep on pushing it. An interesting analysis and quite spoilerish if you’re not up to date with US episodes. The real test of a Buffy season is when you rewatch it in a single sitting, rather than 1-3 weeks between episodes. (heh, sorry non-Buffy fans.. I warned you

http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2003/05/13/spike_buffy/

Buffy Fox Auction

Posted on 14 May 2003 in Science Fiction

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FOX have a number of items from the Buffy set up for auction. The hot item currently at US$2,125 is a tank top and jeans worn by Sarah Michelle Gellar in episode 17 (season 7). I wonder if they’ve been washed.. sorry I just can’t shake the disturbing imagery of the GUY who ends up buying this for dressup’s.

BTW, my Buffy Season 6 boxset should arrive today! If you’re not a Buffy fan you should probably tune out for the next few weeks as this blog becomes a dumping ground for post-Buffy comments when the show finishes up on May 20th.

http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/foxauction/

NPR: Buffy Studies

Posted on 14 May 2003 in Science Fiction

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Interesting 5 minute NPR radio piece on the historians, political theorists, ethicists, philosphers, literature and pop-culture academics who study Buffy and how they’re coping with the series coming to an end. Has some nice points on the depth of the Buffyverse and some of the issues the program addresses. As I get my episodes from the US, I’ve only got two episodes to go before it’s all over for me, the last 144 or so episodes have been quite a ride, it’ll be sad to see it go. Boohoo.

http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_1262180.html

Buffy Season 6 DVD Box Set

Posted on 03 Apr 2003 in Pop Culture

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Fox have released (possibly unofficially) several menu shots of the Season 6 DVD box set. Looks good.

http://www.r2-dvd.org/article.jsp?sectionId=3&articleId=5369

Buffy officially finishing up

Posted on 28 Feb 2003 in Pop Culture

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Sniff – sniff – Buffy The Vampire Slayer, my all time favourite TV series and without hesitation I’d say one of the best shows EVER made, is ending after seven highly successful years. It leaves behind a massive cult following of loyal fans and a unique complex universe of characters, mythology, demons, magic, relationships and stories that I’m sure will live on for many years to come in spin-offs, books and our memories. Joss Whedon has officially acknowledged the end of Buffy with the departure of Sarah Michelle Gellar at the end of this season.

The last episodes should be quite a ride: “We’re gearing up to tell a fabulous, huge, great arc,” says Gellar. “It’s going to be pretty spectacular.”.

So it looks like things are looking up for the rest of season seven as the whole First Evil and the Slayer Camp really hasn’t grabbed me so far. [via WHEDONesque]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=JPL1REG0DBJ1ECRBAEOCFEY?type=televisionNews&storyID=2296208

Amber Benson talks ‘Once More With Feeling’

Posted on 13 Dec 2002 in Science Fiction

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RealVideo: “Amber appeared on BBC Breakfast this morning and really sold the show, even getting those complex lesbian issues into this cosy couch filled environment.” [via WHEDONesque]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/38580000/rm/_38580891_buffy08_benson_vi.ram

Fametracker Fame Audit: SMG

Posted on 25 Nov 2002 in Pop Culture

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Some insightful comments here:

“Because it [Buffy] is a sinking ship. Even a Dawnie-come-lately like this commentator knows that the appointment of Marti Noxon — author of the soppiest, schmoopiest episodes in the series’s history — as executive producer was just the intake of breath that preceded the show’s painful, season-long death rattle. That series creator Joss Whedon — who wrote the screenplay for the original movie, and has also written and directed most of the series’s best episodes — has seemingly abandoned the show to Noxon’s stewardship as he works on his new FOX series Firefly isn’t a good sign for Buffy’s longevity.”

and

“While Buffy — due to its berth first on one and now on another marginal TV netlet — has never exactly been a Nielsen powerhouse, it is an enduring cult classic, legitimately on a par with the aforementioned X-Files. Since Gellar portrays the title character, the show obviously rests heavily on her diminutive shoulders, and she has inhabited it for six seasons with grace, humour, vulnerability, wit, confidence, and ass-kicking ferocity. If Gellar hadn’t been credible in the role of a teeny blonde Valley Girl who could, when called upon, beat the unholy shit out of all manner of otherworldly villains, the show would not have lasted as long as it has. For years, Gellar has earned kudos from TV critics for making Buffy a unique, even iconic TV character, and in this commentator’s opinion, she deserves all the credit she gets.”

http://www.fametracker.com/fame_audit/gellar_sarah_michelle.shtml