Any current show better than Buffy?

[Ehkzu]

The contenders:

1. Battlestar Galactica --great but pretty much missing the sly humor throughout Buffy (even in The Body, its most serious episode)

2. Heroes --pretty good but constantly on the verge of wandering into sillyville. And too many characters to really develop their characters.

3. Terminator Sarah Conner Chronicles --like BG, pretty great (points for hiring a Whedon alum) but missing that sly Slayer humor (even moreso than T2).

4. Eureka --plenty of humor but no gravitas at all

5. Kyle XY --sweet but not in BVS's league

6. Painkiller Jane --please.

7. Lost --ball of spaghetti plot, humor deficient most of the time, though Evangeline Lilly is the best new answer to Eliza Dushku's Faith, isn't she?

8. Dr. Who new series --I liked the first guy and Billie Piper, but Tennant's a popeyed twerp with the sex appeal of a Q-tip and no gravitas. And it seems like the plotting has gone down lately.

9. Torchwood -- I'm fine with the hero being gay but he does way too much tongue-wrestling with guys for my tastethe . Gack. Points for the cast's tasty Welsh accents (apart from Cap'n Jack of course) though. Oh, and title credit's slo-mo walk towards the screen of all the main characters marching abreast looking all serious...that's been a cliche since the Texas Rangers program in the '60s. Overall Torchwood feels like a spinoff being done by the B team.

My conclusion: Buffy still rocks and nothing since has approached its mix of plot, character development, humor AND seriousness, people you really care about, and just about the best spinoff ever. I'm just sorry Eliza Dushku nixed a Faith sequel in order to star in a lame show that got mercifully cancelled.

 

[Highlander II]

If you mean in the same genre as Buffy? No, nothing's really come up. The Dresden Files had a shot until SciFi killed it w/ their bumbling moronic-ness.

The only show that I can get into the way I did w/ Buffy is House, MD.

 

[Marky Lazer]

I always thought Angel was a better show than Buffy.

 

[daisybee]

The only show that I can get into the way I did w/ Buffy is House, MD.

I love House

I have never really loved a show as much as I did Buffy though; and I tried with Angel, I really did, but it all went way to odd and I just couldn't carry on. Although I liked Gunn.

I know a few who preffered it though.

 

[Highlander II]

I liked Angel - except S4 (ditto on BtVS - not loving S4 there either)...

come to think of it, I wasn't thrilled w/ House S4... (I think it's an S4 thing) -

I don't have the awesome episode debates and discussions about House like I did w/ BtVS, but I love that show.

 

[Pyan]

How about Supernatural?

Rather like Buffy in parts, if not as decorative...

 

[daisybee]

I don't debate House with anyone tbh, I just watch it, love it, and recommend it to people I think would like it.

Buffy used to be my "gathering" show, all the mates around,chat about the last weeks then speculate on the next week-probably why I liked it so much. It was a shared experience.

I think Heroes has the potential for that kind of devoted following,(beyond the usual audience for sf that is); not sure on the rest though.

Pyan-my sis loves Supernatural, it hasn't really grabbed my attention. Its still going though so it must be doing something right.(right?)

 

[BookStop]

Supernatural can be rather Buffy like, but int he good ways, eh? I think, Daisybee, it's one of those shows that grows on you. I really couldn't hardly stand to watch it at first because it's just darned predictable soemtimes, and the Sam character - could he be more of a girl - geez - but ok, now I kind of like it, you could even say I'm hooked on the darned show....

 

[Highlander II]

I can't get into Supernatural b/c of all the fannish hype about it. Same with Heroes.

They're both shows that I'll probably toss onto the Netflix list to watch once the series have run their course.

 

[Ehkzu]

I agree with several posters who brought up House. Different genre but similar in having strong ensemble cast, lots of snarky humor, and an overall INTELLIGENCE that's so missing so often from most shows. You might compare Amber's storyline to Faith's arc in Buffy/Angel (how's that for a stretch?). The biggest different is that Buffy was so strongly arc'd (as was B5), while House has tended to be the disease of the week club (i.e. episodic). However, the firing of all the helpers and the Survivor show-within-a-show started producing arc. And now as of the recent season finale, I get a sense of some actual character evolution taking place--something Buffy excelled at.

Can't comment on Supernatural. Haven't watched a single episode. Maybe I'm not attracted to stuff that seems to stay firmly inside a genre.

I didn't bring up Angel because it's not a current show, but I liked it a lot. Hard to say whether I preferred it or Buffy--so different...I think it would have been really interesting if both shows had stayed in the same network, so they could have continued to do crossovers, some of which were a-ma-zing.

One of Buffy's least-imitated features was its taking morality up to the level of accepting horrors in order to avoid even greater horrors. Most shows take the easy way out and never kill Tara, so to speak, or let Willow descend into the darkness so far, or let the hero be so flawed/human as Buffy was.

The new Terminator TV series has a bit of that, as does Torchwood.

 

[btvsatsbones]

Hey im nu here but i just had 2 mention Bones. Its a great show and its even like a more adult version of Buffy....I love Buffy and nothing will ever even come close but bones almost does it 4 me

 

[nebsmith]

No. Lost was pretty good but it's just finished, though I haven't seen season 6 yet.

The only shows I'm watching now are Dr Who and Burned. Dr Who Because, well it's Dr Who and Burned because it's funny and intelligent. I'm not sure about character development in Burned, only one season so far. anyway neither is as good as Buffy.

 

[Axiom]

I recently re-watched most of the Buffy series. Every time I think a TV show is as good as (or come close to) Buffy, I see an episode again and I am reminded how good Buffy was as a TV show. The only thing that came close was Dollhouse (go Joss), but even then it wasn't as funny and the characters weren't as likable (still, it was an awesome show).

I am constantly picking up cool techniques in the show that I've never seen before - techniques in both the content of the show and how it was filmed.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Any current show better than Buffy?


Hmm.....let me think....

Oh yes. Any show on Earth. I never liked Buffy. Sarah Michelle Geller is an annoying bimbo and the show was just so cliche from the get-go I refused to watch it after a couple episodes. I've seen a couple in between and have retained my disgusted opinion about it.





But that's just my own views on the show.

 

[Axiom]

While I agree that SMG is a bad actress (most of the time), I think that if you let that distract you from the rest of the show you're doing yourself a disservice.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Oh, there was other stuff to distract me from enjoying that show. Romance with a vampire, vampires, no other creatures except vampires......


Vampires as a whole have become far too cliche and generalized for me to enjoy them. I really wish that weren't so. Are they even considered undead anymore?

 

[Axiom]

Yeah I agree - I think most people do. Buffy was before teen obsession with vampires though. So that doesn't count.

There's so many variations to what a 'vampire' is these days it hard to keep track. For instance, vampire skin turns to diamonds when exposed to light? Who knew...

 

[FeedMeTV]

I long for a show with the credentials of Buffy to show up. I feel we are really lacking in a good quality sff program at the moment that can offer the viewer as much as Buffy did - characters we cared about and who were well developed, action, humour, relationships.

And I do feel Buffy had plenty of bad guys to fight who weren't vampires (and even if there weren't the title of 'Vampire Slayer' might excuse this) with whole season arcs based on other species/types of Big Bads. I really hope something will come along to fill the space Buffy has left.

 

[Tinsel]

The stories in Buffy were decent, and the acting was better than average. It was not hard core in terms of horror, but it contained emotion as well as some dependable atmosphere, but I mean it could now be done on a grander scale, as well as having more serious plot(s). The acting was good and that made the show alright. I'm slightly surprised but nobody really knows how to do these things these days, it is a thing of the past and even then hardly realized. There are a few good vampire shows out there such as Salem's Lot (including the newest version...spectacular acting), and Bram Stoker's
Dracula. There was a bit of feeling in Fright Night, but the rest I will not mention except that I know there is much more mystery to be found in a number of sources including unrealized material, but yeah, Buffy was sort of okay although largely held up by the acting talents.

 

[Doctor Crankenstein]

I like Buffy for the characters other than SMG, she is one of my least favourite characters in the show. Oz and Spike take the cake for me

Oz's perfectly straight-faced subtle humour and sarcasm is brilliant. I really like characters like that, Agent Chao from the mentalist is another good one.

And Spike, what is there to not like about Spike? He's the biggest, brutalest teddy-bear this side of hell. William The Bloody Terrible Poetry =D

I also like the shows ability to carry humour across seasons let alone episodes. Like when they mention that the magic shop mostly sells the orbs as paper weights and then EPISODES later Giles says something along the lines of: "Oh yes, I have one of those around here somewhere, I was using it as a paperweight".

As for Eliza Dushku, I hear that Dollhouse is pretty Good?

The only series that I have enjoyed as much as Buffy is Stargate SG1. There is nothing on TV at the moment that comes close to either of these in my opinion. But I come from Australia, the land of 5 channels.