Is it just me, or is EVERY genre series getting compared to Buffy and/or Angel this season?

Haunt | September 28, 01:10 CET

Well, when you raise the bar so high... ;)

deepgirl187 | September 28, 01:33 CET

Yes, deepgirl187, the bar is high indeed...my wife and I were watching the first season of Six Feet Under (friends gave it to us), and I kept stopping the DVD to point out the overwriting and clumsy exposition, and my wife said, "Chris, if you're going to compare everything to Joss Whedon, you're going to be disappointed."

So be it.

Chris inVirginia | September 28, 01:36 CET

Can't blame you there, Chris. However, I will contend that the first season of Six Feet Under is one of the best. I had to stop watching after season two, when the characters started reminding me of my own family. ^_^

deepgirl187 | September 28, 01:40 CET

I admit to getting totally Buffy nostalgic during the fight scene at the end of the episode. I was like "This is sooo Faith vs. Buffy".

But just because a female heroine kicks a little butt doesn't make her like Buffy. None of the female characters I've seen on T.V. since Buffy (Dark Angel, Alias, Bionic Woman) have had her charm, her wit, her humor, or her bouncy shiny hair.

kerfuffle | September 28, 01:44 CET

"..if you're going to compare everything to Joss Whedon, you're going to be disappointed."

Amen.

kerfuffle | September 28, 01:45 CET

Yes, I'm slowly learning that the only way I'll ever be able to enjoy TV again is to stop comparing everything to Whedon shows.

RaisedByMongrels | September 28, 01:49 CET

Or for Joss to create a new show for us to watch.
Hint. Hint.

[ edited by kerfuffle on 2007-09-27 22:52 ]

kerfuffle | September 28, 01:51 CET

I didn't like the pilot nor will I watch anymore of the series. TV is SO disappointing these days.

ChosenGuy317 | September 28, 02:06 CET

Yup, I hear that - I gotta stop looking at TV through a whedon-colored lens. Anyhoo, "comparisons are odious," or words to that effect.

But...

"Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby.
So glad we had the real thing."

*sigh*

I think, too, that Buffy is often invoked by TV execs-and-marketing struggling to retain and regain that elusive and web-surfing youth demographic.

But, Great Jumping Moogly, doesn't Katee Sackhoff truly Rock the Proverbial Casbah? If I watch this show again, and... oh, I dunno, I prolly will/might/we'll see, it will be due in no small part to her Supreme Awesome-ositude. She holds that small screen like nobody's business. Her performance in that little "time out" scene was riveting. Plus, what a cool+++ part.

(Loved Eick's use of his BSG peeps and dual-BSG+Firefly actor Mark Sheppard... not so crazy about Michelle Ryan, but I think she will probably get better fast. Hope so, 'cause... *insert many bored-and-sad smileys here.*)

QuoterGal | September 28, 02:18 CET

Yeah, I just watched this pilot and it was very much not good.

MindPieces | September 28, 02:20 CET

I didn't watch it, but I disagree with the attitude that ALL tv shows suck. There are some exciting shows on this year, new and old, i.e., Chuck, Pushing Daisies, Without A Trace, Dexter, Supernatural, just lots of 'em and I for one am looking forward to watching them all. Yes, it's too bad that Buffy (and Spike, *sniff*) is off the air, but life goes on....

luvspike | September 28, 02:37 CET

I turned the TV off after the protest rally/bar line about her dad. It was way too ridiculous...and not in a good way!

MadeToLoveJoss | September 28, 02:41 CET

Huh. I loved the first episode of Bionic Woman. Easily the best new show I've seen so far. It effortlessly went to some dark places that I'm sure most other series won't even try to get to. Sure the plot was a little clumsy at times, and some characters were only hastily sketched, but its a pilot and it's introducing us to a large new world.

I'm certainly going to be watching next week.

bigsofty | September 28, 02:44 CET

The biggest mistake Bionic Woman made is to have two of them, and I hear we'll have more fights between Jamie and Evil Sarah throughout much of the season. That's going to distract from some of the potential themes including "Whose Bionic Body Is It Anyway".
Now, if it turns out that we're going to have a showdown between Sarah and Will's dad, who created the Bionics, and the supposed Good Bionic guys led by Jamie and Will, that should last two weeks, then end with Jamie and Will winning in a 12th round knockout. Otherwise, the fans will side with Katie Sackoff's character because they are wishing she were Jamie, not Michelle Ryan. If the show gets better with all the writing and producing changes, there's a hope.

impalergeneral | September 28, 03:31 CET

As I said over on Dot Org, I think part of Michelle's problem might be trying to focus on her accent. I'm hoping once she has a little more time in Jaime's skin and gets a more natural handle on that accent we'll have a better idea what she's capable of. I'm optimistic... I didn't think she was THAT bad.

Obviously I loved Mark Sheppard and Aaron Douglas, and Katee Sackhoff really should go without saying. But right now I'm most excited about Miguel Ferrer. It's Bob Morton/Special Agent Albert Rosenfield all over again... only probably not as funny.

Haunt | September 28, 04:23 CET

Yep. Katee is why I watched it. And for now, she's why I'll go back. But I found it interesting. And MS and AD? Fun. There's potential to be had. I hope they have it.

Bobbi | September 28, 04:45 CET

I think that people are being a little too liberal with their words when comparing a new show to Buffy. It seems that these days, all it needs is a lead female role that isn't degrading, and presto! A modern incarnation of the spirit of Buffy. I think that certain people just drop that comparison to lure all of us into the series on the premise that "Like Buffy, this series..."

Maybe this series really will be comparable but I'd just like to see people not try to capitalize on Buffy's legacy rather frivolously. Let the series (or any series for that matter) excel on its own merits rather than basking in reflected glory. The latter would just be degrading.

zohrael | September 28, 06:02 CET

my wife and I were watching the first season of Six Feet Under (friends gave it to us), and I kept stopping the DVD to point out the overwriting and clumsy exposition

*blinks*

*reads again*

*blinks*

You are clearly watching another show called "Six Feet Under" that I know nothing about. One that isn't televisual poetry. One that isn't so full of wonderfully rich, real human characters. One that isn't delightful in its dark humour. One that doesn't illuminate and educate.

Overwriting? Clumsy exposition? Are you sure you're not watching Angel Season 4?

crossoverman | September 28, 07:47 CET

I definitely thought Buffy during the chick fight - totally thought of Buffy/Faith fighting.

Speaking of Faith....does anybody else wish they can close their eyes really tight and hope Eliza appears on the screen instead of the worst actress on the show that happens to be the lead. sigh....other than that, I enjoyed the show. The writing could tighten up, but the ensemble cast (especially KS who is just freaking amazing) is wonderful.

Harmalicious | September 28, 08:13 CET

Well, the comment in the article about Jamie Sommers whining was right on. I mean...how bout yay for not being dead! I also found the Sarah Corvis character more interesting, she seems conflicted about something, not sure what. But it makes for much more interesting development then the innocent bartender who makes the leap to stone cold killer in one episode.

I would have liked to see her get her butt kicked, but then narrowly escape using her brains and her newfound abilities. Something to show that she is smart and not just gonna frown her way through the show. She needs to earn her abilities. In fact, from reading the comments, perhaps they should remove the Sommers character altogether and focus the series on the slow moral rehabilitation on the Sarah character. Everyone loves bad guys gone good.

Medusachick | September 28, 08:39 CET

Jaime's whining was nothing compared to the reviewer's whining. I really like the show and am looking forward to learning what the show's groove will be.

willbueche | September 28, 09:35 CET

This was better than the unaired pilot (which had pacing all over the shop and some very dodgy effects) but i'll miss the deaf sister, reckon it would've been interesting to see the friction/guilt between one sister having super powers (hearing among them) and one sister being hearing impaired. As it is, they're both basically superheroes because the sister is now some kind of uber-hacker.

I reckon Jaime's reaction was spot-on. If you've been near death but unconscious you don't "feel it" as much as a concept. Having your body violated and it's very ownership cast into doubt, however, you would "feel", big style.

And personally, i'm kind of very, very over every single show with a female protagonist being compared to Buffy. Sure it was a high point in TV but let's expand our comparative vocabularies a bit eh ? There's other great stuff out there.

(and the whole "forced into service by patriarchal organisation/military industrial complex" thing has been there since the original pilot of "The Six Million Dollar Man" - and the book it was based on "Cyborg" - nevermind "The Bionic Woman", it's not new and it's not exclusive to women or Joss, though I think applying it to them makes it more interesting and relevant)

Saje | September 28, 10:15 CET

Oooh, them be some fighting words about SFU. I would say more but I am a pretty nice guy and I don't wanna get banned. To each their own I guess.

theMidnighter | September 28, 15:32 CET

This pilot has been around a long time and has been so reworked, including re-shooting all the scenes with the new sister, so I'm wiling to give it the benefit of the doubt. Clearly Michelle Ryan was directed to be so dark and pissed so while I would have liked some more humor, or at least see her enjoying her powers more, hopefully this will happen in the next few episodes. Ditto the clumsy dialogue.

They have also clearly planted the seeds of lots of back stories, what's up with her sister, why can't she use a computer, what's up with her father, what's up with his father, why was he in prision, why is Sarah so pissed and so on. Will these be interesting enough to keep people interested?

It got good ratings and they've already shot 14 episodes so the next few episodes to air will make or break it. By the time the verdict comes in the will almost have shot an entire season so maybe they'll give it a decent chance to succeed.

zz9 | September 28, 15:41 CET

I kind of dug the pilot the first time I saw it, but when I went to sit down to watch it again on wednesday I found myself becoming somewhat bored. I'm also a majorly tweaked that they replaced the sister. Mae Whitman was awesome and I'm not digging this new girl. To top it off they completely changed the character. She's no longer deaf which is a shame because that made for such an interesting dynamic considering her older sister is all bionic now. Instead she's a girl hacker? Clearly the same thing. Who wants to bet that she manages to hack into a high security government computer at some point to help her sister, because as everyone know the government (in this reality at least) is able to build bionic women but not build a decent firewall.

war_machine | September 28, 16:28 CET