"ANGEL" made me a "Buffy" fan.
In 1999 I started seeing some commercials for this new show on The WB called "ANGEL", and it featured this guy in a black coat, kicking a bit of ass and he had really cool hair. Didn't know a thing about it, or him, but the commercials were enough to get me to watch the October 5, 1999 premiere. After the teaser and opening credit sequence, I was stunned at what I had seen because I never saw things like that action sequence in the alley before, except for in movies. Never on television.
It was just great. I knew so little about this that I didn't know the man was a vampire until his face transformed and even then it wasn't until Doyle explained things that I started to grasp the concept.
As season 4 of "Buffy" was airing back-to-back with this, I glanced at it but didn't pay much attention since I had no idea what was going on, but watched the crossover episodes (announced as "The WB Buffy/Angel Crossover Event") and often found myself confused about things. Elements that came from Buffy - vampire concepts and rules, events and most importantly characters - who was this Wesley guy? Who is the blond Sid Vicious wannabe? Darla? Cordelia was rich at one point? Why is Seth Green suddenly making an appearance? Harmony is a vampire but wasn't before? Who is Drusilla?
You get the idea.
Cut to 2001, and season 3 is on the horizon, but before that "Buffy" is about to hit TV 5 days a week here in Canada on a channel called "Space", and I finally had the chance to catch up on who Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Darla and others were, in addition to their history. I can finally understand all the details.
As I watched the broadcast reruns, season 1 of "Buffy" on DVD hit store shelves and I picked it up for the sake of it. To sum this up now, let me just say that waiting for the season 2 DVD set and eventually season 3 DVD set to arrive in stores was hell, and then some because I couldn't wait to see them again, this time whenever I wanted and with extras.
My biggest regret in all of this, is that I didn't watch it from its 1997 premiere and follow it like I did "ANGEL". One thing DVD and syndication can never replicate is the sense of anticipation, the shock of revelations and cliffhangers all of which are only truly felt when watching the original first-run broadcasts. The trailers (WB's trailers for both shows were spectacular), the agony of waiting for mid-season reruns and holiday breaks to finish...all of that.
Each show appeals to different sides of me:
"Buffy" is sort of what I wish my life could've been - that close-knit group of friends hanging out and living life's ups and downs together. Seasons 1 to 3 are my favorites because they best represent that ideal I had always wanted but never had in high school. When I watch those seasons, moreso than the latter ones I am in my room, door closed, lights out just sitting there....no one else in the room with me but I don't feel alone with those four misfits of Buffy, Giles, Xander and Willow on screen, with Cordelia and others popping by.
With Buffy representing the ideal, "ANGEL" is what my life was - isolated, cut off from people, from the world. You see him sit in the dark alone, no TV, no lamp on, just sit. I'd done that when suddenly there's a character on television who does the same thing. Sometimes I still do. Angel and his journey on his series became my new ideal, watching him grow and surround himself with a small family unit that kept changing, sometimes it fragmented, sometimes it just shattered and the pieces never fit anymore but it was more true to life (for me, anyway) and more of who I wanted to be, and still do.
So each show is very different to me, and each show appeals to different parts of me more than any other shows I've ever seen.
