High School is Hell, did Buffy lose its identity after Season 3 ?

[Moptop]

High school WAS hell for me, not a pleasurable experience at all. I sure don't want to revisit it! I have never been to any of my high school reunions........and my 50th is this year! I'm definitely not going to start now!🎓

 

[NoShip]

I think it was the network that forced it. It certainly wasn't the writers who all loved the Riley character. Most people read Xander speech about him being thr guy once in a life time as the writers lecturing the fans rather than Xander telling Buffy

I think you are right.

And that leaves ..... the Fox Studio execs. These folks wanted to maximize the back end profits while pushing for the highest broadcast fees possible. If they didn't see a character as contributing, they would not hesitate to push him out.

 

[garfan]

I think it did to an extent. High School, at least in the US, is a universal rite of passage. Everybody does it.

College or University isn't. On top of that, everybody experiences college differently. So there is no more universality. Some people get the stories because they lived them. Others don't. The population becomes very splintered very quickly. And its hard to write to that. So most transitioning shows move thru college redicliously fast so they can get to the adventure or drama or romance or whatever the production team had decided the show will be.

S5 BTVS tried really hard to recapture High School BTVS without the High School. They did a good job. The Magic Box was a great meeting place. The storylines were decent to great. The overall arc was excellent (despite plot holes you could fly 747s thru). The characters settled into adulthood rather well. So, Transition Successful. Right?

Then came S6. S6's main problem was a new showrunner who decided to completely rewrite BTVS and a different way of breaking eps that clashed with everything the writers were used to. Essentially, she created a different show. Lots of viewers loved it. Lots more viewers hated it.

S7 was the attempt to "right the ship" and get BTVS back on track and it failed. Too many viewers left and never came back. Too few new viewers gave BTVS a chance. The Lead Actress was over the demands of the show and refused to extend her contract to S8.

So Buffy hobbled to the finish line and we got what we got.

the biggest issues of season 5 and season 6 that seasons 4 and 7 tried to avoid (there are others that are unconnected) was seasons 5 and 6 were all about the Scoobies problems, to the point that Buffy didn't care if everyone died and Willow was the one who almost kille everyone.

Sunnydale High represented Buffy protecting a community. And season 4 the college and the Initiative were kind of replacements for that community. And in season 7 the high school and the potentials tried to represent that