Supernatural?

[kurtlaynevedder]

This may be taboo, or already discussed but I was just curious. What are your thoughts about Supernatural? I am a die-hard Buffy fan and once Angel ended I have been desperate for good television. I saw previews for Supernatural and thought it looked cool so I watched all the eps online. At first it was obvious why the show was around. 100% Buffy replacement. A show about people hunting down monsters appearing on the same network as Buffy started, coincidence? I think not. All the monsters were the same as Buffy's, it wasn't nearly as fun, so on and so on. Many things are synoptic with Buffy: someone gets sent to hell, is tortured, one day equals years there, something mysteriously pulling that person out of Hell for a mysterious purpose, having to dig their way out of their own grave, they pretend to not remember the hell experience etc.(Sound familiar, if you mix Angel being sent to hell and Buffy returning from Heaven this is what you got). But then I got hooked. The overall arc of the story is more in-depth, clever, and interesting then Buffy. Very edge of your seat stuff. But that isn't what Buffy was about. Buffy was about the characters more so then the story. Buffy reigns supreme over this genre of television (which Buffy pretty much created if you ignore the X-files). Supernatural may not have everything that Buffy had, but it fills in allot of where Buffy lacked. They use real myths and legends, an unveiling mystery throughout the whole serious that keeps you wanting more. Plus I love (as someone training for ministry) how they deal with the supernatural and God. Demons are very similar to Biblical demons, Angels, God, etc etc makes the show very interesting. Again this show is not BTVS and is nowhere near as good, but for someone who is dying for a buffy-like show I highly recommend Supernatural.

For people who have watched it, what are your opinions? How do you compare the two?

 

[PurplePoof]

I've always found Supernatural to be amateurishly written and acted, and I've never been able to get caught up in it at all. It just seems too fluffy for me...it's got nothing on Buffy, in my eyes...

 

[white avenger]

I missed most of the episodes when they aired, but over the last few weeks, I've been watching the series on line, and I have been really impressed with it. The stories, the action, the actors, have all been excellent, and there's even the occasional "Buffy" alumnus popping up when you least expect it (Amber Benson playing a vampire who, rather than kill humans, drank animal blood.). Probably the best show of the genre on tv at present.

 

[PurplePoof]

Best show of the genre on TV right now? Does it even have any competition?

 

[Blondie Bear]

I've been borrowing the DVDs from a friend. I like it okay. It doesn't stack up to Buffy (but then, not much does), but I enjoy it. I liked the earlier episodes, where they were almost all stand-alone, better than the later ones with the longer storyline and the demon thing (I've seen up through the end of S2).

 

[Skanky Vamp]

It had me early on, I must admit it. I think if people would stop trying to compare it to Buffy then you can see where it does do some things actually better than Buffy. Its a different series, the goals are different; I just dont see how you can really compare the two.

Though the one like WWBD (what would buffy do) was really worthwhile.

 

[kurtlaynevedder]

You have to watch through the third season to really get hooked. It cracked me up cause there was an ep with Harmony (don't know the actresses name) playing a girl who was just turned into a vampire and didn't understand what was happening to her. I was like "Come on can't you play anything else?". I thought the actors were terrible at first, but after watching the third and so far the fourth season, I've never seen two grown men cry better lol. It is hard not to compare to Buffy because the topics are soo similar. No doubt Buffy is better, but Supernatural has to be number three on my list (Buffy, Angel, Supernatural). If Joss could write a few eps the show would be awesome. It has its funny parts, but it lacks the wit of Buffy. A Buffy/Supernatural crossover would be amazing.

 

[Buffy Summers]

I don't think Supernatural and Buffy are similar at all, except that they deal with the Supernatural. I mean, I guess if you try really hard you can make connections but I doubt they were looking for a replacement for Buffy. I mean, yeah they both have Hell in it, but Supernatural uses it more in the Biblical sense. This season has been especially good with the advent of Mr. Yummy (Castiel).

I don't think a Buffy/Supernatural crossover would make any sense...

🙂

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

I've seen a few episodes and I enjoyed them. That's about my only opinion on the show..

Oh.

And no - I certainly don't think it compares to Buffy in any way.

 

[goldenboy]

I think the show keeps getting better. This latest season has been the best, IMO. I'd say it has more in common with X-Files than Buffy...but even less so now that it's building up its own mythology. It's actually occasionally scary. Pretty rare for TV.

It's not as dramatically, interpersonally complex as Buffy since it's just the boys and assorted allies. Ackles is the better actor, no doubt.

I personally almost always love the comedic eps; the ones penned by Ben Edlund are usually great.

 

[Friendly Lurker]

I like Supernatural and just like Buffy (the person!), I don't feel like it's similar to Buffy at all. Sure, they both have monsters but the shows are VERY different.

Oh and the current season has been very good so far. I'm definitely not religious but I've always been fascinated by how God and angels are portrayed on television.

 

[white avenger]

Speaking of "Supernatural," if you want a laugh, watch this:


YouTube - Dean Jensen Ackles Eye of the Tiger Supernatural

 

[Tranquillity]

I love Supernatural, love to watch it each week on the telly, am facinated by the relationship of the two boys. It's funny, it's emotional and, although it is not up to par with Buffy and Angel, Supernatural does do 'scary' better. I have the DVDs and watch certain episodes again but not the whole series like I do with Buffy and Angel. Oh, and Jensen Ackles is certainly abnormaly good-looking, imo 🙂

 

[Blondie Bear]

It definitely does well with scary. I think they borrowed some of the SFX people from The Ring and The Grudge, especially with the Woman in White and Bloody Mary.

 

[Washburne]

*Wonder where Joyce is*

This may be taboo

Why would it?

I've never been able to get caught up in it at all.

It took me quite a while to get hooked. At least to the middle of season 2 if not longer. But since everyone said it would get better (don´t mean the first season is bad but you know how it is. Buffy´s first season isn´t the best one either) and now I watch every episode.

I personally almost always love the comedic eps

Me too. Some are just so much it gets ridiculous but it´s always enjoyable. I need some funny parts to love a show. Might be the reason I didn´t enjoy season 1 as much. If my memory works (which it rarely does) that season wasn´t that funny. But maybe that´s just me. Seemed much darker and scarier in the beginning. Or maybe it´s just me getting used to it by now. 😉 I don´t watch that many horror/scary movies/shows.

 

[LorneyTunes]

It bored me to tears, its like ghost whisper or charmed boring and all hype.

I miss Eerie Indiana and The Twilight Zone x

Also if you haven't seen Vampire High and want to laugh at really bad plots and acting watch this .

YouTube - Vampire High - Episode 1, Part 1 of 3

 

[Kali]

Watched the first two seasons and really enjoyed it. Even managed to get him indoors to watch it too. Then they started stacking up on the Sky box and something had to give. It was that or Smallville, and Ackles or Welling? Well, as fit as Jensen is (plus, great music and a cool car) I have too much time invested in Smallville, so I will return to Supernatural when I have more time.

Not sure I compare it to Buffy. I can see they are similar, but the feel of it is different, and you are right, it does do scary better.

 

[Joyce Summers]

Okay let me get this out there: I love this show. Literally love. I have all the available DVDs already. It's an amazing show and despite what many of you have said- you cannot compare it to Buffy. Like our Buffy Summers said the only thing the two shows have in common is the genre, everything else is done in an entirely different way and I can't believe some of you are saying it's lame. Admittedly, I've been watching it since day one (when Jensen and Jared drew me RIGHT in) and so I've grown with the characters and shared the same journey with them and I think it is a show where if you hop on the Impala somewhere in the middle of the years then you might not see the brilliance of it in the same way someone from the beginning might.

I do notice some Buffy comparisons- heck I notice some Charmed comparisons- in the area of the demons they fight, but that's impossible not too. There are only so many myths and creatures a writer can use in a genre show and so they are going to get used across the board, but Supernatural comes across them, deals with them and explores them in a completely different way to Buffy. I think it constantly makes sure to because it doesn't want to mimic Buffy- as I do believe it as mentioned in an interview a while back that Eric Kripke (or someone in the inner circle) is a Whedon fan.

Which would explain the way they shot the scene of Dean being dragged from hell. I myself, when I saw that scene, thought 'it's very similar to baragaining' despite the fact Dean did not burst through strongly in the night but rather poked a meager finger through the ground in the middle of the day, but I believe that wasn't stealing from Buffy but rather was a homage to it. They know a lot of Supernatural fans are Buffy fans too and so I think this might have been a wink or call-out to us all. Just like in the episode with the Ghost Hunters who were written to be remarkably like Jonathon and Andrew said "We only have to think one thing: what would Buffy do?"

But I think the two shows are two different in their stylistics to be comparable except in their brilliance. Being a Buffy fan does not immediately make you a Supernatural fan because the shows are so different. Supernatural as a prime example is so much more explicit that I find myself scared behind a cushion or turning away with a grimace at some of the things they show. They do have one thing in common though- comedic timing. Comedy is so undertoned and brilliant in Supernatural. I always love when the situation is a bad as it can possibly get (such as when Dean had killed two infected parents when their son came in and asked where were his Mom and Dad were) and all Dean says is "Awkward...."

I understand some people on here disliking the show- just like anything else the show is not for everyone. But whoever said they deemed the show Fluffy did obviously not see the episode with the little girl slitting people's throats. Seriously. I'm nearly 30 and I had nightmares about that one for weeks!

 

[Skanky Vamp]

everything else is done in an entirely different way

It seems more 'adult' to me; not saying that Buffy is a kids show, for the underlying themes and depth in which Joss takes them is anything but childish, yet it does have a certain 'feel' which is more sophomoric when compared to Supernatural.

 

[PurplePoof]

I find Supernatural to be extremely childish and VERY all-ages friendly...it honestly has the look and feel of a Nickelodeon show to me.