What did you like about Btvs & Ats that seperated itself from other vampire shows?

[Joshua]

What did you love about Btvs & Ats that seperated itself from other vampire books, movies & shows?

 

[kittenpoker]

Honestly. Buffy. Buffy for me is a character like no other and she makes all the difference to me. I'm in love with Buffy and her whole world.

 

[Cast No Shadow]

The fact that it was actually well written.

 

[Ripper666]

Well the storyline is amazing. The hole film-camera-technique is great! And the relationships between the single characters is so epic! There are actors like Alysan Hannigan and SMG who make the TV-Show so super-mega-cool! Full of feelings and action, tragedy and humor going hand in hand! You can feel with the show and create your own oppinion to the show. That's why Buffy the vampire slayer and Angel are the best TV-Shows ever!!!

 

[WileyDairyGnome]

I like that it's not all about sex, drama, and romance. They don't present vampires as being perfect, beautiful people with fangs. They are cursed, evil, flawed, and ugly (for the most part).

It's also of course well written, and not only about vampires so people who don't even like vampires could probably enjoy it.

 

[Aloverssoulz]

The writing and characters. No other Vampire show or movie has such good writing. I tried watching True Blood...Twilight...Moonlight or whatever it was called and they all failed me.

Also, the Vampires in Buffy & ANGEL were by far the most badass.

 

[Icarium]

There are other vampires shows?!? Seriously, when I hear a show has vampires this pretty much means I won't watch it because I am not interested in vampires, especially the cuddly, boyfriend-y variety that is all the rage these days.

 

[Living Dead Boy]

I was never into horror like that. My mom was a big horror freak, but vampires, demons, blood and gore never appealed to me. So I was shocked to find out that I liked Buffy. But that's the thing that sets Buffy from virtually every other show, is that it appeals to EVERYONE. Every season, it reinvents itself, it's never stale, and it finds new ways to engage the audience on ALL fronts, visually, emotionally, mentally. No other vampire show or movies has dug that deep. It's amazing that for a show about vampires and witches, that has very little to do with what the show is about. It's a story about being human, and how we survive this life, and in fact, its supernatural elements actually ENHANCE and DEEPEN that meaning. It told the story about getting through the day better than those "realistic dramas" out there, and it took a genius writer to pull that off. That's why Buffy stays high on television's all time best' lists, and why it still has a rabid fanbase to this very day. And quite frankly, I don't even like to call Buffy/Angel vampire shows, because whenever I think of those shows, I think of Buffy Summers, and Xander Harris, and Willow Rosenberg, and Cordelia Chase, and Wesley Wyndam Price......not the "nasty pointy bitey ones".

(sighs....)

I wish colleges around my area took Buffy classes. I would have an A plus plus plus plus. 😀

 

[OhWow]

Maybe because I can't define it in one single genre, which probably sets it apart from many shows other than vampire flicks.

With Buffy or really anything Whedon, I get a lil bit of this and a lil bit of that. I just think it's really important for shows to be funny or the characters in the show to be funny regardless of the genre. It just seems dull if I don't laugh.

Oh right, and the good writing and whatnot. 🙂

 

[orpheusxi]

I always felt like the writers were really invested in the show & it really showed through small nuances like references to older episodes & recurring jokes throughout the dialogue. The parallels they tried to make to regular life through a world of demons, monsters and warriors through metaphors is amazing to me.

Aside from this I always felt that even though there might have been instances of an out of character moment, bad episodes or a season that wasn't all that great they had a vision for the show and statement that they wanted to make and challenge the audience. More importantly these statements often times make you think as opposed to wanting to teach you which makes the experience more engaging.

On top of all of this it mixed a lot of genres together so you couldn't really put it in a box. There were elements of horror in Hush/Rm w/a Vu, elements of comedy in Him/Smile Time drama in The Body/Sleep Tight. Sometimes aspects of all of these could be within one episode as well.

 

[Summerlilly]

Or how do other vampire shows seperate themselves from BtVS and Ats? To me, it feels like Buffy was a catalyst in pushing the love for vampires (and werewolves) towards mainstream long before Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, Tru Blood or any of those other vamp shows got so popular. It was just too cool to be that mainstream, which is why it has a cult following.... and always will. 😛

 

[VisionGirl]

I agree with [MENTION=11220]OhWow[/MENTION] about mixing genres. Really the writing & the characters are what get me. I think using this world as a metaphor for high school (in the 1st 3 seasons of course) was done so well. I am older than a lot of members here and it's been a long time since high school, but Buffy is so relatable to me. The metaphor works really well, but it's about more than that. And I'm not someone who likes teen/high school TV, except for Glee.

 

[WWGD]

Like other have already mentioned - the writing is far superior to other vamp shows/movies. The characters have more depth and more development. The actors are perfect and amazing! The directing is great, the long shots are my favorite. They didn't have to rely heavily on CGI or sex to make the show good (True Blood), that stuff was just added in here and there to make it better.

Now for the love story... I thought it was amazing how this age old idea of a forbidden love between a vampire and a non vampire was dealt with on this show. Buffy, the slayer, meant to KILL all vampires falls in love with one who is cursed with a soul. They can never happily be together though so the relationship fails. It's so tragic. At the same time Angelus was one of the fiercest and most twisted vampires of all time, legendary for his cruelty and Buffy was a strong responsible smart woman. None of this lame Twilight nonsense.

All the factors came together perfectly in the making of this show which makes it damn hard to top, and so far nothing has come close.

 

[Skytteflickan88]

A deal breaker is often for me if one of the main characters is a vampire who rapes people by using thralls, or actual physical force, yet is the "hero" of the book. Or if that hero is okay with other vampires doing the same.

And of the heroin seems okay (I always seem to end up reading about straight human/vampire couples) with the rape-y stuff, or simply accepts that the vampires acts like a douce in another way, I either stop watch/reading or I force myself to keep going to see if the heroin gets a backbone/better self-respect/a conscience.

That's what I love about Buffy. We get the hot vampires, who yes, sometimes acts like douches in the rape-y way, but since they're not painted out to be the hero, and our heroin, Buffy, doesn't take any crap (except when she's suicidal/depressed) I can enjoy the vampires without feeling unfeministic. Because I want want vampires bad. But I don't want them accepted. Unless I'm reading fanfics/books with little or no plot, just sex. Then it's very easy to ignore that the heroin/victim has no self-respect. But that's another thread...

 

[The Scourge]

What set the Buffyverse apart from vampire shows and non-vampire shows was the character development. Angel, in particular, had the best character development I've ever seen.