I've been thinking a lot lately about the shows I watch now and the shows of the past. Which shows did I like because they were actually good and which did I like because I was young and silly? Of course, that led me right to the classic, the all powerful Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I realized something: as fun as it was at the time, Joss Whedon and the rest of the world had the potential for better. Angel was better and we all know how much of a brooder he is (he and Batman should have a brood off). I decided to take this a step further and asked my friends whom I know have seen a majority of the show. It's not really a good sign when about 90% of them loathe the main character and about 65-70% say Angel was better by a long shot.

So, I started to think about why Buffy lasted as long as it did and I realized, when the show started there really was nothing else. Certainly nothing like it had even been seen before (unless you want to count the movie which...... no) and people saw it, said 'Hey, this is my kinda thing' and tuned in weekly to see what our whiney Slayer and her awesome companions were up to. My point being, high quality show or not, Buffy paved the way for all the better shows to come. There never would have been Angel or Firefly (as short lived as it was I still think it's Whedon's masterpiece) or Supernatural or even shows like Smallville (and who knows, the new Doctor Who - and subesquent spin-offs - might not have come to fruition without it). Buffy proved that audiences weren't just interested in Cop Drama and Dr. Sexy M.D. So, I came to a conclusion. I don't care if Buffy isn't my favorite show, that I hate the main character and there's only a selection of episodes I'd feel motivated to watch again and again because without it, our television selection would be very different.

Flunky

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