Cool News
Don't Forget About BUFFY!!
“Angel” returns to the WB at 9 tonight with a new episode.
But almost as excitement-worthy for the Strong household is FX’s early-evening Monday airing of “Welcome to the Hellmouth,” the very first hour of the WB version of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
Are you sitting down? When “Hellmouth” originally aired some four and a half years ago, it made no positive impression on me. Whatsoever. Of course I was probably just half-listening to it while balancing my checkbook or downloading porn.
Understand. It was another time. I had no faith in the WB Network and even less in Buffy’s nobody creator, Joss Whedon. Like so many others, I’d seen the Kristy Swanson “Buffy” movie and decided it represented some pretty poor filmmaking.
Moreover, as “Buffy’s” short, 12-episode first season wore on, I kept checking in with it casually and sporadically and remained wholly underwhelmed. I remember thinking its monster-of-the-week formula was off-putting and confusing. She’s a vampire slayer; why is she beset by mantis-ladies and hyena-boys?
I was, of course, a big giant idiot. With the second season came Spike and Dru and Angelus, and I’ve since grown to regard “Buffy” as the best TV show in production -- perhaps even the finest ever crafted. About a year ago I got to see the original (rejected) half-hour sitcom version of “Buffy” created for the Fox net and thought it superb.
But I’ve not seen “Hellmouth” since March 10, 1997.
And I can’t wait for tonight.
Are you sitting down? When “Hellmouth” originally aired some four and a half years ago, it made no positive impression on me. Whatsoever. Of course I was probably just half-listening to it while balancing my checkbook or downloading porn.
Understand. It was another time. I had no faith in the WB Network and even less in Buffy’s nobody creator, Joss Whedon. Like so many others, I’d seen the Kristy Swanson “Buffy” movie and decided it represented some pretty poor filmmaking.
Moreover, as “Buffy’s” short, 12-episode first season wore on, I kept checking in with it casually and sporadically and remained wholly underwhelmed. I remember thinking its monster-of-the-week formula was off-putting and confusing. She’s a vampire slayer; why is she beset by mantis-ladies and hyena-boys?
I was, of course, a big giant idiot. With the second season came Spike and Dru and Angelus, and I’ve since grown to regard “Buffy” as the best TV show in production -- perhaps even the finest ever crafted. About a year ago I got to see the original (rejected) half-hour sitcom version of “Buffy” created for the Fox net and thought it superb.
But I’ve not seen “Hellmouth” since March 10, 1997.
And I can’t wait for tonight.
Moreover, as “Buffy’s” short, 12-episode first season wore on, I kept checking in with it casually and sporadically and remained wholly underwhelmed. I remember thinking its monster-of-the-week formula was off-putting and confusing. She’s a vampire slayer; why is she beset by mantis-ladies and hyena-boys?
I was, of course, a big giant idiot. With the second season came Spike and Dru and Angelus, and I’ve since grown to regard “Buffy” as the best TV show in production -- perhaps even the finest ever crafted. About a year ago I got to see the original (rejected) half-hour sitcom version of “Buffy” created for the Fox net and thought it superb.
But I’ve not seen “Hellmouth” since March 10, 1997.
And I can’t wait for tonight.
But I’ve not seen “Hellmouth” since March 10, 1997.
And I can’t wait for tonight.
Readers Talkback
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That's all I wanted to post, and Buffy RULES
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The entire Season 1 and Season 2 of Buffy are out on DVD in England (region 2) already, with Season 3 coming out in October.
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Or SMG's first season wardrobe. Be happy: you're getting the new series soon while us poor fools in the UK who don't line Murdoch's pockets are only a few episodes into season five. Anyway, "Hellmouth" is fun and a fine intro to the characters we love so much.
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I just recently had the opp of screening Buffy from WTTH through Becoming 2. There's a remarkable consistency even in the earliest shows. I think it really began to hit it's stride, relationship-wise around the 5th ep, "Never Kill A Boy," and by the 7th ep, "Angel," we were off and running.
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..the Season 2 finale. I was somewhere in a hotel in America and couldn't find anything on the TV. I came upon Buffy at the beginning of the show and kinda got interested at the "previously on Buffy..." preview (aftview?). Not expecting much, I began to watch the show. By the time Angel said "I just had the strangest dream" I was completely and utterly hooked.
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The entire Season 1 and Season 2 of Buffy are out on DVD in England (region 2) already, with Season 3 coming out in October.
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I have never heard of this rejected Fox pilot! Has anyone else seen this? Is it floating around the internet? Who plays Buffy? I must find a copy!
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Seriously. I loved the humor as much as the horror and thought that it played out much better than the movie ever did. Joss rules. Buffy rules. Everybody rules. I'm in a good mood tonight.
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and had a weight that was healthy looking as apposed to now. Also DB's faciacl expression attempts at acting back in S1 were also a laugh a minuete
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IT WAS JUST MOST PEOPLE DID NOT TAKE THE SHOW SERIOUSLY INTELL THE SECOND SEASON
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I did not start to watch Buffy until the end of the second season, so this is great! I had to have my mother fill me in about things I had missed. She's been watching since the beginning.
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I've read the script, the summaries, and the transcripts but I've never seen the episode. I can't wait to see the crew for the first time. I'm so danm excited I may need new underwear. OOPS! Too late. Now I need a cigarette.
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in the original pilot, every cast member is accounted for except alyson hannigan. there was a different willow. that's it. i bought a bootleg copt of it about a year ago. it's pretty good. "hold that thought!"
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FX is really launching Buffy in style. Tonight from 5 to 8 they are airing 3 consecutive hours of Buffy! The original Kristy Swanson movie will air from 5 to 7, and Welcome to the Hellmouth follows immediatly after.
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Does this mean we may finally see the first couple of seasons on DvD in the US now? I know they waited until X-Files went into syndication to release the series collections. I have every Buffy ep on tape, but they are rapidly deteriorating.
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Sept. 24, 2001, 12:46 p.m. CST
I've already got the recorder set up: Buffy at 7 and Angel at 9
by Smugbug
I remember really watching Buffy for the first time, and was mesmerized. Which was odd, cuz I had had the show "on", but I had never actually sat down and watched the show. And oh boy, I was hooked. Now, my boyfriend gets to see all that he has missed since he only started watching BTVS last season. BTVS is the best on TV. I will never digress from that statement.
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If you live in Canada, or can get Space: The Imagination station, it airs Buffy every weeknight at 8:00pm EST. Season one ends Tuesday with season 2 kicking off Wednesday. I don't know how far they have syndication rights but if you missed any along the way its a good way to catch up.
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Ah, I remember seeing my first Buffy episode as though it was only last year.....no....wait...it WAS only last year. Like many others, I'd seen the sadass Buffy film, and figured that the series would be a one season sort lived embarassement. Boy, is my face red now ! My wife bought me the boxed set of season 1 on VHS for my birthday, and I've been hooked ever since. (In the UK, box sets of seasons 1 through 5 are available, along with Angel, seasons 1&2) So, I've caught up with the episodes at my own pace and in the correct chronological order. Independent of the BBC's habit of editing the hell out of them, and pre-empting them at the drop of a hat. Easily the best tv series since the original Twilight Zone, and that's the highest praise I can give anything !
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i remember i was away on a summer job for the first episode, but came back the next day. my friend/roommate said, "you've got to watch this show!" so for episode 2, and everafter, i was hooked. time to be hooked again. i can't wait for the episode when buffy dances with xander...ohhhhhhhhhh.
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I can't believe this show has been on this long. I've been quietly watching since the first episode, and in all that time, thanks to reruns, I've probably only missed a couple episodes altogether. I did like the way Buffy looked in the first season more, though. I hope FX doesn't cut out too much for syndication. Some of the best elements of the show are the little throwaway gags.
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Man, watching the old eps made me realize it... Gellar was hot as HE11 !!!!!! back then (I'm 16, so I can say that without being a psycho hotpants old-man). I've been with the series since the beginning (and the flick), but I musta forgot how hot Gellar was in the beginning.
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I saw it after the fairly lame hyena episode and figured this series was toast (from the apparent plot line of "evil living dummy", will Michael Cain make a guest appearance?). Oh God, this is turning into a bad imitation of the X-Files recycling bad 70's and 80's movies, I thought. But there was a twist. I won't give it away for people who haven't seen it, but at that point I was a fan.
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That was a trip to see this guys from 5 years ago and then 2 hours later see them on "Angel" (in letterbox-YES!). There was some foreshadowing to events in season 2 in the Pilot. Joss you are a genius. What is the word on edits. I couldn't tell where some of the rumored cuts were, but I haven't seen this ep since 1998 when the WB ran the first season as fill on monday nights. So what is the word? Those without cable check your local listings. One of my BROADCAST stations is running the pilot this weekend. This is going to be like the ER reruns: 5 days a week on cable and one or two eps on broadcast on the weekends. Stay safe tonight.-----later-----m
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Sept. 25, 2001, 2:36 a.m. CST
Pulp dusk could the cuts have been for the weekend showings the
by MGTHEDJ
Maybe? Folks,any info. will be appreciated. Thanks Pulp, I'm firing up the VCR for the tuesday rebroadcast.-----later----m
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Buffy's first season will be released within the next six months. It was originally planned for January of this year, but there was a stipulation that got brought up by F/X at the last minute from the contract to show Buffy on their station that forbade the release of the show in home-video format by season until the first one hundred episodes had been cycled through at least once. So twenty weeks, I guess, is approximately how long we're going to have to wait. Unfortunately Fox has not used this extra time to spice up the Region 2 discs. Whereas they could have scraped together more commentaries, the pilot... in short more goodies the release is going to be the same. (While this could be corrected in future releases, I think we can forget about getting the WB's promos which is what a lot of people will bemoan most). Some of you may be asking "why should I buy them if they are going to be shown on cable?" Easy: Besides tape deterioration, there are going to be approximately 2 minutes edited from each episode to make room for more commercials. How and what they are going to edit, I don't know, but that's the word from The Buffy Newswire. Well, I need to finish some thing so I can get home and watch the season premiere of Angel! Wahoo! The Buff is back! (I've been saving a bottle of my finest IBC Black Cherry Soda for the occassion.) EPILOGUE: Having seen the premiere of WTTH last night, I couldn't find anything cut, either. I'm wondering if this was a one time occurance or if they're going to hold off until they've been shown once, then begin slashing... I'm still getting the DVDs. And I for one thought the Angel premiere was much better than last years opening episode. On the topic of the problems with vamps being exposed to sunlight (someone was talking about it. Can't remember where), I always thought the "only direct sunlight" rule was brilliant because moonlight is reflected sunlight and last I checked, they came out at night. However, they could do a better job of watching out for discrepencies as they have goofed quite a few times.
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I can't believe anyone would show new viewers only the first and last episodes of the first season! I admit, I thought "The Pack" sucked rocks, and even now its only watchable if you're a Xander fan missing the days when he looked like a teenager(or you've got a sick fetish for teens cannibalizing a principal and getting away with it). But "The Witch" still boasts one of the best villains of the series, even though Amy's mom is herself for about three seconds. She was still better than Glory, Adam and the Initiative combined. I can only hope next season's big bad will be this spooky. And hell, "Angel" is practically the first real episode of the second season. It's here that we learn who and what Angel is, when we learn about his past(which was actually remembered by the writers when they wrote "Darla" and "Fool for Love"!!), and of course there's that poignant last image of the cross burn on Angel's chest. Plus, Darla's dialogue at the end is a hoot. Too bad I already have these episodes on tape. I guess the higher definition of FX will make them well worth copying though.
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You can get the unaired pilot episode on the file-sharing service called Kazaa (or Morpheus)...just search for "Buffy pilot." I'm not sure of the web site, but I'm guessing it's http://www.kazaa.com :) Enjoy!
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