J is for… (#atozchallenge)
- J is for…
Joss Whedon and (Jensen Ackles again)
Now thanks to the My Laminated List I’ve already covered Jensen but I think he deserves another little picture, don’t you?
Now I did debate on putting this post under G for Gods. Jensen is my current God of lust (for reasons that should be obvious to all and especially those who have watched Supernatural) and Joss Whedon is my God of TV.
I remember seeing Buffy the Vampire Slayer the movie (I think it was back in 1992) – I probably went to see it because I’d loved The Lost Boys. Now the film, if you take it as a comedy and bit of fluff was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it. So when I heard it was being made into a TV Series I was soooo excited.
I loved it straight away and another one of my obsessions began – of course the fact that there was this gorgeous brooding vampire played by no 3 of my list). Angel left at the end of season 3 – nooooooooo, but he got his own show……..yes, thank you God, I mean Joss. Then the evil spooky priest dude (nearly no 5 on My laminated list) got a show too, Firefly (which I only recently watched and have only seen once – a re-watch is on the list) and a film Serenity. Then Faith got her own show where she played a girl who could be anyone in Dollhouse and Fred from Angel turned up in that too.
In my view all of these shows have been cancelled way too soon because I think Joss is too clever for words and that he says so much about current issues whilst framing it in the Supernatural and sci-fi. I think he’s got a lot to say and I can’t wait to see what he does next and who from his previous series star in it. Joss (and his fellow writers though he is the initial concept guy so gets top billing here) can do horror, comedy, drama, genre, brilliant characters and conflict and well, pop-culture references I love to recognise. In fact he does everything well sometimes all in the same episode.
Here are a few of my top episodes
Buffy
Once More with Feeling – Musical. Episode. Nuff said – love the song I’m Under Your Spell. And that training montage – pure class.
Hush – The Gentleman are some of the freakiest creatures ever to have been invented (just ask my sister she hates it when I do my Gentlemen impression). And the majority of the episode is done without dialogue (makes note to rewatch as part of my screenwriting lessons).
The Body – deals with human death in such a heartbreaking way – the non use of backing music in this episode is eerie
Normal Again – Does the it was all a dream with a psychosis twist and leaves you wondering at the end…
The Pack – Xander turning into a Hyena – kinda sexy
Out of Mind, Out of Sight – we’ve all had that feeling invisible scenario but what happens when being ignored makes you disappear?
Halloween – I love Halloween – this episode makes me very careful about what costume I wear – hence punk fairy, vampire with cool wings.
Lie to Me – you want to be a vampire – really!
Suprise/Innocence – Bow chic a wow wow with Angel, Angel is like a lot of blokes after but worse and they kill a giant smurf!
Becoming Parts 1/2 – Xander how could you!!!
Band Candy – Giles used to be called Ripper and he’s hooking up with Buffy’s mum – fab
The Wish – Vampire Willow is badass
Dopplegangland – normal Willow as vampire Willow – hilarious.
The Zeppo – Xander saves the day and nobody realises
Earshot – think being able to hear what people are thinking is a good thing – think again.
The Prom – school protector – they did notice.
Beer Bad – alcohol makes you a Neanderthal – literally.
The Initiative – The ‘bedroom’ scene with Willow and Spike is pure comic genius
Dracula – Dracula – and Buffy’s got a little sister – what?
The Gift – 100 episodes and still cracking
Seeing Red/Villains/Two to Go/Grave – And the big bad of the series is… And they are stopped with a yellow crayon.
Help – A young girl faces the inevitable but Buffy refuses to let fate play its hand – does she succeed?
Same Time, Same Place – another creepy, creepy monster in this one – gives me the shivers just thinking about him
Storyteller – really love this for Andrew’s character
Chosen – the final episode and what a corker
Angel:
Smile Time – the best Angel episode – puppet Angel makes me Guffaw (yes, I said Guffaw)
Rm w/a Vu – Cordelia queen of mean defeated by a ghost – as if
I Will Remember You – you bring us hope and then you take it away
Hero – Doyle!!!!
The Ring – Angel gets his fight on
Five by Five/Sanctuary – Faith’s in town
Over the Rainbow – Hello Fred
Billy – violence begets violence
Lullaby – there really is nothing stronger than a mother’s love
Dad – Angel with a baby – ahhhhh
A New World – where’s the cute baby – instead we have an Edward Furlong in T2 lookalike
Deep Down – bring back Angel – please
Spin the Bottle – a teen return – fun episode
Souless – Angelus is back
Just Rewards – Spike isn’t dead anymore, well he’s only half dead
A Hole in the World – Nope I didn’t see that coming :o(
Dollhouse
Ghost – seems Dolls have issues too
The Target – do they not vet these people?
Stage Fright – The Bodyguard 2.1
Gray Hour – Just when you need to break out of a safe someone goes and wipes you
True Believer – Echo plays Blind and it’s about freaky cults
Briar Rose – Altruistic use of Echo – plus we meet Alpha
Instinct – there really is nothing stronger than a mother’s love even when it’s imprinted
Belonging – revenge is a dish best served bloody
Stop-Loss – Victor centred episode
The Attic – so that’s what that is
Epitaph One/Epitaph Two: Return – two futuristic episodes bookend the end of each season – a warning for us all?
And I need to watch Firefly more before I can pick, but Serenity (the film) is bigger and just as damn good
To be honest I’m happy to watch all episodes over and over, please do try them out if you haven’t seen them. I’ve pre-ordered the Buffy Season 8 DVD (Comic Book Style) – now available in iTunes but I’m going to wait and watch it in one hit on a bigger screen.
Has anybody seen Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog?
I’ve highlighted my, ‘if I could only ever watch three episodes of this series what would I pick’, in bold.
Which of these series do you like and what are your top three episodes in it?
Posted on April 12, 2011, in #am writing (and all things writing related), April A-Z Challenge, Kirsty rambles on about life, the universe, tv, and everything! and tagged Angel, Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2011, Buffy, Dollhouse, Firefly/Serenity, Jensen Ackles, Joss Whedon. Bookmark the permalink. 11 Comments.
Good grief!! How do you ever find time to sleep?! I daren’t start watching any of those shows because I know I’ll get hooked, and my Sky+ gets woefully overloaded as it is!!
Sleep, Pah! I spit on sleep. These are quite old shows mostly, mind you Buffy I have re-watched numerous times.
You will get hooked, some great Wicca moments in later series of Buffy.
Never watched Buffy or Angel, just caught a few episodes, but it was ok. Dollhouse too, I somehow missed season 2 on the TV.
I really liked Firefly and it needed more episodes, but the film rounded it off nicely.
I can’t name favourite episodes, sorry, not familiar enough with them all, but I liked the last ep of Season one on Dollhouse with Alan Tudyk in.
You can always borrow them, can’t believe you never did Buffy.
I sat with imdb open to get the episode names though I did remember some of them.
Some of the descriptions on imdb weren’t very detailed, may have to do some updating. Ooh wonder if they’d pay me to watch tv and write synopses?
Luckily most of those shows were never shown on terrestrial TV so didn’t get hooked, but I did love Buffy.
And yes, I watched Dr Horrible when it was available for free (only for a few days I seem to remember) – excellent.
Ooh, I haven’t checked YouTube for Dr Horrible.
You really should watch the shows if they ever do go terrestrial or you go digital.
Yay! I was just browsing the surprise button and you came up – so I thought I’d just say hello and where’s K?
Sorry, work then out now more work but just about to type out a very quick post.
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