Opinions would be appreciated

Tome

Berktwad
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Black Thorn
Alright so, I haven't watched BtVs myself for quite a bit, but I've done an Angel rewatch with a good friend of mine. He really liked it at first(up until end of s3 or so), and we blew through the episodes... Then it slowed down. When we finished s4(he thought the whole Jasmine's storyline was stupid), we took a break. And I managed to get him to finish the last season, but he'd only watch an ep like every 2 weeks or so. Took forever!

Now... I actually talked to my bro today and convinced him to give BtVS a shot(he saw some eps when he was like 9 in 1997). 🙂 I thought I might get that friend to watch it with us. But, considering he usually has a hard time loving tacky or cheesy shows(and BtVS sure is sometimes), I'm not sure if we should start with s1, since it's probably the cheesiest one.

What do you all think? Should I still start with s1 and tells him it gets better if he doesn't like it? Or simply skip s1? Or maybe show them ONE great ep(like Hush, Innocence, Helpless) to prove them right away that the show isn't just tacky?

I'll appreciate any feedback. Thank you.
 
Maybe start with season 5 its not cheesy and one of the best seasons. Just to get him hooked. Cause the early seasons are full of cheese you could always just quickly fill him in. That's jut my thoughts.
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You know, I think the same about season 1. I don't think it's the right one to start with, even if it's the first one and exmplains the whole slayer and vampires thing. But season 2 is what made Buffy a legend. And you can always skip some epidoes that don't seem like they can affect people well in first watch.
 
Angelic Slayer
Angelic Slayer
Oh my gosh! I'm a BANGEL fan and your banner still made my heart ache. Probably my new fave on the boards, awesome job! :)
Season 5 or Season 2 would be good...even though I always think one should start with the first season, no matter what. But if you don't wanna risk him watching it in a long time period, then the seasons above should be fine.
 
From season 1 they should really watch 'Angel' & 'Prophecy Girl' before you give them anything from S2. However I'd get them to watch it from the start.
 
For someone's first watch, you gotta start from the beginning. Just hammer into their heads that if they give up on it, they'd miss out on one of the greatest shows of all time. Just my two cents.
 
Tome
Tome
Haha, damn I miss seeing you post more, dude. But yea, I could always hammer it. ;)
brinkster130
brinkster130
I agree, hammer it ;)
From season 1 they should really watch 'Angel' & 'Prophecy Girl' before you give them anything from S2. However I'd get them to watch it from the start.

What do you think about ''Welcome to the Hellmouth'' and ''The Harvest''? I was actually considering watching these two, then ''Prophecy Girl''. 😛

And thanks to you all for taking the time to reply! I'll take your opinion in consideration when I decide where to start.
 
I've never really tried to convert anyone into becoming a btvs/or ats fan before. So I wouldn't even know where to begin telling you which season for him to watch first. Sadly.🙁
 
I don't know about starting with Season 1... some of the episodes are pretty terrible. I love it and appreciate it, but only because I'm so invested with the characters and their story. I was going to recommend what you just suggested - Welcome to the Hellmouth, The Harvest, Prophecy Girl and then move on to Season 2. It's almost like a movie then rather than 10 hours of television.

The one person I converted I did with The Body and then we watched the rest of Season 5 with me pausing every now and then to explain an in-joke or backstory. Then we continued through to Season 6, then watched Season 2-3, and then 7, and then 4 and then 1... Haha... Might seem strange, but it definitely worked for us!
 
I think there are more "important" episodes. Like the first 2. Like Prophecy Girl. The rest of that season doens't matter much (for showing it to newbies), so I'd skip all those rest.
 
What do you think about ''Welcome to the Hellmouth'' and ''The Harvest''? I was actually considering watching these two, then ''Prophecy Girl''. 😛

And thanks to you all for taking the time to reply! I'll take your opinion in consideration when I decide where to start.

If you're gonna only do select eps then you need to do ...

"Welcome to the Hellmouth"- "The Harvest" - "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" - "Angel" - "Prophecy Girl". These five eps are the center of the main seasonal arc. Any others can be skipped without missing any real relevance to the season or the show in general for that matter.
 
To get the best and most important parts of the season I would go:

Welcome to the Hellmouth
The Harvest
Angel
Prophecy Girl

That covers all the major plot points and characters for both S1 but also going forward.
 
Oh, I have the same problem. I want to attempt to get my Dad into the show and he's the same. He doesn't really appreciate cheesy shows or anything like that, he's very picky. I don't want to start with season 1 because I knwo he'll give up on it straight away no matter how many times I tell him it gets better.

I'm considering starting with season 2 or 3 but I don't know how confusing it would be. It might work if you start by showing them an amazing episode such as Hush or soething to that effect (something that doesn't have a huge effect on the overall arc of the season) to show them how good the show can really be. I might do that, but not with Hush because my Dad probably couldn't sit still for that one if it was the first ep he watched.
 
Start from the beginning, it makes sense. Buffy is all about seeing the characters grow and develop, its how you begin to love the characters.
 
To get the best and most important parts of the season I would go:

Welcome to the Hellmouth
The Harvest
Angel
Prophecy Girl

That covers all the major plot points and characters for both S1 but also going forward.

I agree with those four but you can't leave out "Never Kill a Boy on the first Date". It introduces the "Anointed One" and further establishes The Master's mythos. It's also fun to see her date someone who isn't Angel in the first season(s).

Start from the beginning, it makes sense. Buffy is all about seeing the characters grow and develop, its how you begin to love the characters.
Pretty much this.
 
You've got to start anyone with Season 1. I agree with the order of Welcome to the Hellmouth, The Harvest, Angel, and Prophecy Girl before jumping to Season 2 to give someone a taste and show the awesomeness of the show from the beginning.

That said - the only time I tried to get someone converted to Buffy-ism...I just let my sister borrow my Season 1 DVDs. That led to her asking for my Season 2 DVDs...and so on. I didn't need to tease her into liking the show - it just clicked with her.
 
I'd start with Season One too. I've gotten many people into Buffy, always starting with Season One. I just preface it with, "Okay, it's really corny and campy, but it's also wonderful and you'll like it, damnit." Or something to that effect. Everyone I've shown it to has seen the merit in S1 and kept watching, although they weren't "wow"ing aloud until S2 or 3.
 
Great topic! I'm sure there's lots more other people still trying to enlist people to the BtVS army.
I myself would love to get a new Buffy watching buddy who will sit through it for the first time.

If it helps, my first time around when Buffy started airing on Belgian tv years ago I probably watched season1 and season 2 sporadically, but I only really got hooked on season 3.
Then stopped watching for a while (sporadic episodes while season 4 was airing) but I got really hooked again on season 5.
Actually season 3 and 5 were therefore the only ones I watched religiously when they aired. All the others I just bought on DVD.

I guess it all depends on what the person you're trying to convert likes. I think every season of Buffy has its own destinguishable likeable elements that could match and draw a person in initially.
For me it was season 3 and 5 obviously.... but it could be different for your brother.

While I was in Japan I only had seasons 4 - 7 with me (I didn't have the others at the time) and I did a successfull conversion starting from season 4 with several of the fellow foreign students.

Just saying, they'll be ok catching on pretty much anywhere you start and if he has questions about anything, you can just tell him It gets explained in season so and so, which is a new incentive for him to watch more 😉
 
caitaintdead
caitaintdead
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