MBaneACP Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 The universe created by Joss Whedon in BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and ANGEL ended last night with the last stand of Angel, the vampire with a soul, and his battered bands of allies against the forces of Evil, to be replaced by ANOTHER FRIGGIN' PIECE OF REALITY CRAP!!! Despite their cutsey names, BUFFY and ANGEL were the most adult shows on television, dealing with real topics and real loss, a universe where characters really died and some evils were beyond avenging; where love came at a sometimes high price and often loyalty to friends was all that stood between darkness and light. Last night's finale of ANGEL may be the best ending I've ever see on the tube, because it delivered what may be the hardest and most uncomfortable truth there is...that there are some fights we cannot win, fights where our stands and our deaths make no difference, are truly of no consequence and there is no hope of redemption...but we fight because the fight is the POINT of it all. Bleak and dark as the rainy dead-end alley where Our Gang meets their fate. Sometimes, fix bayonets and charge is all there is. So grown-up teevee gets replaced with more DANCING WHORES LOOKING FOR FREE MONEY or WIN A SURGICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF YOUR BUTT-UGLY FACE or whatever. Sigh... Michael B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 You are not alone. Buffy, Angel (which I didn't really follow but enjoyed every now and then) and Firefly, all Whedon shows, had a streak of "real" in them no matter how Sci-Fi they were. Personally I think there has been no better scene in a long time then the first episode of Firefly scene where the captain pushes the "bad guy" into the ship engine. Trust me, it makes sense if you watched the show. My TV watching has gone down to the odd History/Discovery/etc show and some movies on any of the 50 or so movie channels I get. Buffy and SG-1 were the last shows I really followed and SG-1 conflicts with our local IPSC fun-match. Though it turns out books are cool. Vlad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdj Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 I've seen all of the Buffy and Angel episodes - except last nights! - and I rate them as some of the most intelligent well written shows on television. I've even introduced some art/lit snobs to them and they have been surprised by the quality. Now I have to find something else to get my escapist TV fix from ... or watch the DVDs a few more times Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew_Mink Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 One of my friends raved about Buffy, and I finally caught an episode quite a while back. I had to admit that the show was pretty darn good. It was the one where some creature was about to be summoned and there was a picture in a book and they couldn't translate what it read. The horrible awful evil creature finally came and then they figured out what the translation was: Life-size. I died laughing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 I think Angel suffered from mishandling by the WB. They moved it around too much. Plus, my "local" WB affiliate is so puny that I can't see the picture anymore, so I haven't really seen any of this season's episodes. So how did it all end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 I saw just about all the Buffy series, but the Angel series came on the WB so late at night that I missed most of them--including the finale--dammit. Good stuff, though. Addressed realistic issues (for a change) and dealt with 'darkness' in both serious AND humorous ways. Spike was priceless. Firefly was one of the best series of its type I'd ever seen... then it hurriedly VANISHED!!!! I am STILL devastated--utterly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38supPat Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Supposedly Whedon has the go-ahead to do a Firefly movie.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 BigJoni is/was a big fan of both... I'll send her this... be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdj Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 I watched the Angel Finale last night. I thought it nicely done and a very decent ending to the story. There's one scene that I particularly liked: "Take your best shot, little girl!" The result had me laughing out loud (which come to think of it might not be considered the norm for seeing someone's head turn to a cloud of dust but seemed reasonable at the time). I hope Joss gets to produce some more TV soon. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 "Supposedly Whedon has the go-ahead to do a Firefly movie...." God, I hope so! And the theme music was completely, totally right-on awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 Someone tell us what happened in the Angel finale! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9x23 Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Despite their cutsey names, BUFFY and ANGEL were the most adult shows on television, dealing with real topics and real loss, a universe where characters really died and some evils were beyond avenging; where love came at a sometimes high price and often loyalty to friends was all that stood between darkness and light. True. The original Buffy cast put together a group of typical high school "ousiders" who did not fit in, and gave them a job to do: save the world. Buffy symbolized the transition to adulthood, where we are forced to accpt that we have a job and can't be young anymore. The key to the show was that all of the characters seemed real, and you actually believed that this might be possible. Joss Whedon did come up with some of the most original and often terrifying story lines on TV. It's too bad that they had the network split when Buffy went to UPN. because of that, it was impossible for her to return to the fianle of Angel. Instead they had this lame-ass episode where Angel and Spike follow "Buffy" and find out she is with the "immortal", a character that Whedon just pulled out of his ass to end the story line of Buffy. Long range camera shots of "Buffy" on the dance floor from behind...... very lame. Bottom line, we deserved a lot better than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Someone tell us what happened in the Angel finale! It turns out Mulder was actually half alien, so when his sister was taken aboard the spacecraft at age seven, she wasn't being abducted, she was actually being taken back to their home planet. That's why the baby he fathered with Scully had alien super powers. Oh, wait... that was X-files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Okay, but did they explain the red kryptonite or why the $6 Million Man's eye makes that noise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Michael, BigJoni said to ask if you were a Smallville fan? be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdj Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 BigJoni said to ask if you were a Smallville fan? I'm not Michael but I am a Smallville fan. Many of our local Buffy-ites have moved to Smallville for their weekly "fantasy" fix. Not as well written but quite well acted (some performers better than others) and with interesting storylines. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3quartertime Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Admittantly I'm not much of a TV watcher. I may be the only person on this planet that has never seen Seinfeld/Friends/Etc... But I do enjoy a great story. I think the ad's for Buffy were horrible. Unfortunetly I never had any desire to watch it because of the 'bubble gum' advertising, and I've never heard of the other shows. Sounds like it would have been worth a look. I do remember a show on cable a few years back. It had a vampire that was a detective. Is that one still on? Can't remember the name but it had an interesting slant on the old story line. PS...For the vampire fans, as I was recently in the French Quarter I couldn't help but to think of Lestat roming the streets looking for a party and some fresh blood... That area is just drenched with aura!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Many of our local Buffy-ites have moved to Smallville for their weekly "fantasy" fix. Not as well written but quite well acted (some performers better than others) and with interesting storylines. Yes, Joni said it was definitely not a replacement for Buffy, but it was good and worth watching, especially if you were a Buffy fan. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdj Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 I do remember a show on cable a few years back. It had a vampire that was a detective. Forever Knight - an entertaining enough tilt at the vampire in search of redemption story. Still shows up from time to time on the Sci-Fi channel. Any show with a star with a name like Geraint Wyn Davies has to be good Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBaneACP Posted May 27, 2004 Author Share Posted May 27, 2004 Brian & all... I've never watched SMALLVILLE, but I'll give it a shot. I have to confess to being a fan of television--probably because when you spend a lot of your life in hotel rooms, sometimes its the only thing to keep you from going stark raving bats. I have to say I've become a fan of DEADWOOD ("That's right, you sorry a%$ed, c$%#sucking, muther%$#^$s!"). Some of my SASS pals are appalled, because the show so viciously punctures the myth of the Old West, but, hey, who would come to a town with no law to get rich quick? The producer goes overboard on the profanity, but the show is extremely well written. Also this season's SOPRANOS has gotten really tight and really tense again after drifting for awhile. Adriana's exit last week, courtesy of Miami Steve's pistol, was a hell of a piece of grim television...and (cover your eyes, Sig Lady!) we will so miss those *legs!* Michael B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 If you're curious, here's my review of the Firefly DVD for Amazon.com. It's down toward the bottom of the page - or maybe about to move to the next page. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...ime&start-at=11 Not to sound like I'm shilling for Amazon.com, but this DVD is priced to own and collects every single Firefly episode ever completed, even three never aired. Good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 "Firefly" deserved a much better fate than FOX gave it. It's too bad the Sci-Fi network or someone else didn't pick it up because it was a really good show, with Joss Whedon's typically excelletn dialog and stories. Morena Baccarin was another element of the show that made it worth watching. She's Monica Bellucci-level good looking and her character was really cool because Whedon chose to elevate the status of a prostitute to the higher echelons of society. In a lot of ways, that makes a lot more sense than the way things are in "real life." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBaneACP Posted May 31, 2004 Author Share Posted May 31, 2004 Wow Rhino! You're starting to scare me! Michael B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 Wow Rhino!You're starting to scare me! Michael B Okay, TV Boy ... what did I do THIS time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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