How to get friends into Angel/Btvs?

[Ladybug]

I find it very hard to find friends that like Buffy or Angel (outside the internet, where it seems impossible NOT to find them) as much as I do - or at all. No one I'm around seems to really care that much about it or want anything to do with it. Doesn't seem like they hate it or anything, they just don't see how absolutely wonderful it really is... it's kind of upsetting, because, whenever I mention it, they have no idea what I'm talking about. It's hard, when you've seen a really funny episode, or just something you want to talk to someone else about, and they can't relate to it or don't even have any idea what you're saying. Plus there's that whole thing where if you recite a quote to them, it's not even funny... not unless you hear the actual line.

I was wondering... if anyone had friends that liked Buffy and/or Angel, if they were able to recruit fans, or if they were referred by a friend or if you have the same troubles... and if you have any ideas on how to get them to at least watch an episode or two, like it, or possibly even become a hopeless minion like so many of us seem to be.

Sorry if I'm not making a point clear =S

 

[Spirit_Of_Fred]

dont know how to help, but i have the same problem pretty much all the time. i have, like, one friend who watched buffy. i even got someone else to watch a few episodes, but they just weren't into it :buble_eye. maybe buffy fans are just spread around the world and things like these are the only way to find them 😛.

 

[Lyri]

how to get your friends into Angel/BTVS...YOU CAN'T!!
trust me, it just does not work. i've tried so hard to get my friends into thiese wonderful shows, and they just won't budge. it's like Ladybug said, they don't hate it, it's just that they ren't as interested in it as i seem to be. one of my friends would sit and watch an ep if there was nothing on TV, but she's not like me. abut a year ago, she decided that she'd never seen 'Chosen' and really wanted to watch the final ep, so i invited her to my house to watch it...boy, was it embarrassing when i started crying and she was looking at me as if i'd just grown an extra head...

 

[Ladybug]

That's what I'm starting to feel like, Lyri... but it can't be impossible. I'm going to try making all of my friends watch an ep. with me at some point, preferably not a big one like Chosen or The Gift or any premiere/finale and definetly NOT any of the last four episode of season six or Wrecked or Amends or... (continues for a long time yet), which would crush me if they did anything that upset me and most likely end in a fight. But I shall not give up hope...

 

[Frenchy Faith]

Yeah well same here... it's quite hard to get my offline friend to understand what I mean... most of the time they think I'm stupid for liking and finding so much meaning in a show with VAMPIRES in it... and if I start saying how much socio-anthropological meaning the show has, they really start looking down on me... like... yeah suuure... :looking:
I've tried to explain it to my best friend, who watched the show... but she just couldn't talk about it all the time like I did... and then I've tried to make people understand here and there.. but that didn't work either... like I said... when I was in that school where ppl are like really clever and stuff... they wouldn't give me any credits, and thought I was just a fan talking bullshit... even that girl who was a Spike addict and loved the show started rolling her eyes when I started talking about meaningful stuff from the show...

*sighs*

 

[eponinethen]

most of the time they think I'm stupid for liking and finding so much meaning in a show with VAMPIRES in it...

Yup, that's my problem too, mhm. I have one friend who I managed to turn into a kind of big fan. I mean, she's seasn most of the seasons and such, she likes it, but she's not fanatic like me. I've turned my dad into a fan, lol. But nah, other than that, it seems impossible...

It seems you have to find the show on your own, which I kind of like. I like the fact that when I found it, I didn't know anyone who watched it. I mean, that wasn't fun, but then I found this entire world online, which was so awesome, and all these people (you guys 🙂 ) had had basically the same experience as me, and that was great. I don't think it would have been the same if someone had told me to watch the show. When I found it, I honestly thought I was the only one who realised just how brilliant BtVS and Joss was...

 

[Frenchy Faith]

Ha that's true... I like the fact that friends of mine were basic fans and they were talking about it but like, you know, not the inside out way of talking... they just loved the show for its story it didn't go much further... but anyway... I thought it was prolly a stupid show, and despite their constantly talking about it I didn't watch it... then this one day... it was playing on TV just after The Pretender.. and I used to watch that... once the Pretender finished, I changed channel for a bit... and after a while, I came back on the channel where BtVS was playing... it was Becoming part 2... the last 5 minutes maybe.. and I stopped on it and saw them fighting, then the guy changed and the girl, was crying and kissing this guy.... and it looked really intense... but then she killed him.. and I didn't really understand much... but I thought it was amazing... from there on I was hooked, and the next epi I saw "Anne" confirmed my liking the show...

so yeah... I agree when you say that someone has to get to the show on their own... cause words won't often convince someone about something that you can't exactly explain if they haven't seen it.

 

[Jenny]

Yup I have as a matter of fact!!! I have these two wonderful friends who are a married couple. Know how I got them into it? I just loanded them my DVD sets. They would wait patiently for the new sets to be released, and after hubby and I had finished watching them they'd borrow them and watch them. They found it easier because there were no commercials to deal with, and they could watch as many or as few episodes as they liked. Sometimes they'd do the entire season over a weekend (well so have I lol).

My best friend...she has been a Buffy/Angel fan for as long as I have so we are very compatible! 😀

 

[Ladybug]

You lucky person, Jenny. The only non-forum person I know that likes Buffy/Angel is like, my dad. Which is not cool. Because he insists on talking through the whole episode when I'm watching it... and he always forgets Joss Whedon's name and calls him Josh Whedon or Jess Whedon or John Whedon.

 

[Angels baby101]

i dunno i've only been able to recruite a few people and they were all ex bf's and its called the power of the puppy dog eyes and little pleases lol.... but as for anyone other then ex bf's i've never been lucky enough to get them into the show so i'd have no idea where to start lol

 

[Wilkins]

Turn out all lights, turn off all telephones, make sure there is noone around to disrupt you, and make sure that the mooood is right. Then, seat your friend in a comfortable chair and watch together "Hush".

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Schillaci]

Turn out all lights, turn off all telephones, make sure there is noone around to disrupt you, and make sure that the mooood is right. Then, seat your friend in a comfortable chair and watch together "Hush".

What could possibly go wrong?

They need to go relieve themself. On their way to the bathroom an earthquake hits, the power goes out, by the time the power comes back up they are too distracted. Now, if you flung a rope into the mix...and a towel. Tied them to the chair...

 

[Joamna]

so yeah... I agree when you say that someone has to get to the show on their own... cause words won't often convince someone about something that you can't exactly explain if they haven't seen it.

I agree too.. I had the same experience too and I don't think I would have been as obsessed if it had been someone telling me to watch it. In the beginning of my obsession I noticed that quite a few of my friends actually watched the show, but no one for the same reason as me, until I came online I hadn't met anyone with the same thoughts about the show as me.

It's such a disappointment when trying to turn someone, and they like the show and all, but they don't really get it, so I'm not trying to turn people as much anymore.

It's so rarely that I meet real Buffy fans irl, I've met people calling themselves Buffy fans, but like some of you said, as soon as I start talking about the show they look at me like I'm a freak. I have turned one person into a real Buffy fan (I've kinda turned other people too, but they didn't turn out that obsessed), it's my ex-roomate, I was talking about Buffy constantly, not to try and turn her though, but it got her interested and we started watching it together, and pretty soon we didn't do much else than watch the show. And she really gets it.

 

[eponinethen]

It's so rarely that I meet real Buffy fans irl, I've met people calling themselves Buffy fans, but like some of you said, as soon as I start talking about the show they look at me like I'm a freak.

I have two Buffy fans in my class (which is cool 'cause it's the first time I just "run into" Buffy fans in Sweden), one of them is a real freak, kind of, like we could probably talk about the show for hours (though we don't, cause we don't like the same characters etc.). Then there is this guy who definitely loves Joss and Fire etc., he likes BtVS too, but it's like, when I talked about Faith, he actually had tothink a little while before he realise what character that was..... freak.

 

[Randy Giles]

The thing about Buffy is that it is not a mainstream show at all. It's the perfect example of a "cult television show" because it will never achieve anything above cult status, due to the premise and writing and humor. Most people won't appreciate the humor in it and mistake the intentionally corny stuff as it being "stupid".

Angel is a much more likely candidate, in my opinion, of gaining new fans quickly, as it seems to be done in a more sophisticated manner, and it's not as quite off-the-wall as Buffy and takes itself more seriously usually, and like The X-Files, some episodes are serious and then others are clearly a farce, whereas this wasn't as clearly done in Buffy usually.

My mom hates Buffy with a passion and thinks it's a very stupid show but she will sit and watch Angel with me, and she thinks it's funny. But she doesn't think Buffy is funny at all...which I really don't understand, but oh well.

And let me mention that it took me a long, long time to become a fan of Buffy. I liked Angel first and only watched Buffy because there was nothing else on during the summer afternoons. One day it just finally clicked and I suddenly loved it. Thank goodness for the two hour Buffy blocks that FX used to have.

 

[The Watcher]

Show them a picture of something like a person that's been killed by a vamp, or a vamp being beheaded - and they will think thats cool. So tell them it's from Buffy and they'll think that's cool and they will want to watch an episode. chances are they might like it 🙂

 

[Croft Storm]

I agree that it's very difficult to get people into the shows, I've managed to turn a couple of people though.

I think it's best to start with Buffy, Angel seems to be harder for people to get into. But when someone already likes Buffy they will continue watching Angel for the crossovers at least, and will soon start to attach to the characters and enjoy the show on its own merit.

Another thing to try for turning the more stubbon friends is making them watch Serenity. I know a lot of people who weren't familiar with the other works of joss but loved Serenity. After that you can get them into Firefly with ease, and then they'll be dying to watch more of his shows.