DS reference on new Buffy DVD & controversial proposition

[ShadowsAtlanta]

Okay, this message has two parts:  first a description of a DS reference on the Season 2 Buffy DVD and then a controversial proposition (on my part) submitted to you for debate.

First things first... I was watching my Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVD tonight and was shocked and pleasantly surprised that in the featurette called "Beauty and the Beasts", there is a brief mention (with footage) from Dark Shadows!  The featurette is about the makeup used on BtVS, and lo and behold the show's makeup supervisor was a big DS fan as a kid and drew inspiration from the show.  It shows a brief clip of a vampire bat attacking Barnabas, and then the makeup guy proceeds to make a comment about how similar BtVS is to DS.  My thought was... FINALLY... BtVS is so incredibly derivative of DS that I was glad someone FINALLY officially observed this!  So, I thought that was WAY cool.  :-)

Onto my controversial proposition:  I say to those of you are waiting for a "new DS":  There already IS a new DS.  It is called Buffy.  None of the characters are the same, and the town is on a different coast, but it just doesn't GET more next-generation DS than Buffy!! Let's see,  where to begin with the similarities:  200-year-old vampires, witches, werewolves, body-snatchers, characters bouncing from good to evil to good again at the supernatural drop of a hat, spells, major characters dying (and sometimes being resurrected), and on and on and on.

I think many DS fans might be hesistant to embrace BtVS for two major reasons:  first, the name of the series, and second, the fact that it is perceived as a teeny-bopper show.  Well, it is a teeny show to an extent, but the heart of the show is in much the same place as DS, and the wit and intelligence of the writing move it beyond typical teen fare into actual viewable/enjoyable television.  

So, there it is, my oh-so-inflammatory proposition.    I'd be interested in hearing your opinions.

           Joe

p.s.  If some other new show bearing the DS name actually does come into being, you better believe I'll be catching that too!  (didn't want y'all to think I was disloyal!)

[Bj]

I "embrace" Buffy, but it's no DS.  IMO, Buffy was influenced more by Kolchak the Night Stalker than DS.  

Then again, I heard that Curtis wanted to have obligatory fight scenes between Willy and Barnabas every episode a la WWF, but the network wouldn't allow it  

[scout75]

(Buffy The Vampire Slayer) is perceived as a teeny-bopper show...but the heart of the show is in much the same place as DS, and the wit and intelligence of the writing move it beyond typical teen fare...

Hear, hear!

And the season that just ended was one of the darkest, most controversial and--IMO--one of the best of the series.

And throw in a plug for Angel while you're at it, which might actually have more a DS vibe than BtVS, since it is considered to be the more "adult" show...

Buffy's old beau just had one of his darkest years to date--and a son!  As with Barnabas, it is cool how we get to see Angel through the many years of his life and his evolution.

Like our beloved Barnabas, Angel is a vampire with a soul...

I "embrace" Buffy, but it's no DS.  IMO, Buffy was influenced more by Kolchak the Night Stalker...

Even more than BtVS, Kolchak The Night Stalker is the indirect inspiration for The X-Files--though Mulder & Scully certainly give off a Barnabas/Julia vibe lots of times...