The final days of the meme have arrived, and one of the last topics of the day is:
first TV show obsession. Sorry to use this show repeatedly, but that would most definitely have to be Joss Whedon's
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. At a young age - 11, I believe - I was watching the show as it aired on The WB and then UPN. Concurrently, the early season DVD box sets were being released, and I quickly snatched those up [or, as I should more accurately say, my mum bought 'em with her hard-earned money] and watched and/or rewatched episodes. There definitely were points where I'd say it fell into a obsession.
By the time the fou
rth season DVD set came about, I knew all about aspect ratios, commentaries, special features, video quality, etc. And I was among the many disappointed with a lack of widescreen presentation, until the Season 4 set came with a note by Joss that basically said, "Look, they were shot in 4:3 fullscreen, and I want them preserved in their original aspect ratio." It was sort of a 'duh' moment for me, but helped me realize exactly how obsessed I was with the program (and DVDs in general). When the sixth season was released, I was a hound rushing through the set watching every bonus feature, reading every facet of information, listening to commentaries, rent
ing analytical books on the series from the library (mostly by Nikki Stafford). And as
Buffy ended with its seventh season, my attention was turned towards
Angel for its final season, and I retroactively rewatched all the prior season episodes.
Buffy was a great show, and definitely worthy of being my first show obsession. I have multiple friends who, once they've watched a season or two, become hooked to the point they splurge on a Complete Series box set or buy them individually from Half Price Books or some other retailer. It's a highly addicting show, and I can't help but give Whedon, Marti Noxon, David Fury, David Greenwalt, Jane Espenson, and Jeffrey Bell (amongst others) their duo kudos.
rth season DVD set came about, I knew all about aspect ratios, commentaries, special features, video quality, etc. And I was among the many disappointed with a lack of widescreen presentation, until the Season 4 set came with a note by Joss that basically said, "Look, they were shot in 4:3 fullscreen, and I want them preserved in their original aspect ratio." It was sort of a 'duh' moment for me, but helped me realize exactly how obsessed I was with the program (and DVDs in general). When the sixth season was released, I was a hound rushing through the set watching every bonus feature, reading every facet of information, listening to commentaries, rent
ing analytical books on the series from the library (mostly by Nikki Stafford). And as Buffy ended with its seventh season, my attention was turned towards Angel for its final season, and I retroactively rewatched all the prior season episodes.
3 comments:
Yep, this is definitely my current t.v. obsession. Just finished Season 4 this afternoon. Wasn't a huge fan of the overall Initiative/Adam story arc, but this season had some fantastic moments and character development. I can't wait for Season 5.
I know you'll write it on your Wednesday column, but what did you think of the finale, RESTLESS?
I understand about the whole not liking the Initiative thing, and after my first time watching the season I probably would agree that it was lackluster, but the more I've watched it, and the more I've read interviews and listened to commentaries pertaining to these episodes, the more I think Season 4 is possibly one of the strongest, creative, and funnest seasons of the bunch.
Hallelujah with the 'character development'. It seemed like nearly episode featured SOME sort of character progression!
I'm still trying to wrap my head around Restless. I was stunned when the Adam/Initiative storyline ended with one episode left in my Netflix queue. In a way I almost feel Restless was a way for Joss to go totally, balls out insane, but justify it in the context of magic and dreams. Loved the idea of seeing the First Slayer.
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