WK10 - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer series is one of my many favourite TV series I watched when I grew up. At first I started off with watching random episodes but eventually I got to watch the whole 7 seasons along with watching Angel series, the spin off from Buffy. I’ve always admired the qualities the qualities of Buffy; she’s strong, beautiful and brave. Buffy first aired in 1997-2003 and has won and been nominated for many awards. As seen in Wilcox and Lavery (2000) Buffy the Vampire Slayer had won the Viewers for Quality Television “Founders Award” in the year 2000.

 

Wilcox and Lavery (2002) identify and define 9 characteristics of ‘quality TV’ which are:

1.      “Usually has a quality pedigree”
2.      “Desirable demographics notwithstanding, quality shows most often undergo a noble struggle against profit-mongering networks and non-appreciative audiences.”
3.      “Tends to have a large ensemble cast.”
4.      “Has a memory”
5.      “Creates a new genre by mixing old ones”
6.      “Tends to be literary and writer based”
7.      “Self-conscious”
8.       “The subject matter of quality TV tends toward the controversial”
9.      “Aspires toward realism”

I can apply some of these 9 characteristics to other television series I watch, The Vampire Diaries, Once Upon a Time and Teen Wolf.

Characteristic 3 “Tends to have a large ensemble cast” I can apply to the Vampire Diaries and Once Upon A Time. The picture of the Vampire Diaries cast shows about 10 people but only 8 out of the 10 in the photo still remain alive in the series so far. Once Upon A Time has a lot of cast (more than what the photo shows) because it introduces so many new characters in almost every episode. The main cast though is 6 who are in the picture, the same goes for Teen Wolf. The 6 cast on the picture are the main cast but there are more people included in the cast that it doesn’t show. Out of these shows I would have to say the Vampire Diaries cast compared to Buffy’s cast is quite similar because it involves vampires, werewolves, magic and ghosts but the difference is no demons.

Cast Comparison – Buffy Cast & Vampire Diaries Cast

·         Buffy (Supernatural Slayer)                              - Elena (Doppelganger)                                  

·         Willow (Witch)                                                - Bonnie (Witch)

·         Xander (Loyal friend)                                       - Matt (Loyal friend)

·         Rupert Giles (Buffy’s Watcher)                        - Alaric (Vampire Hunter)

·         Joyce (Buffy’s Mother)                                    - Jenna (Elena’s Guardian, Auntie)

·         Angel (Vampire with a soul)                             - Stefan (Vampire)

·         Cordelia (Popular)                                           - Caroline (Popular, Vampire )

·         Oz (werewolf)                                                 - Tyler (Hybrid)

·         Spike (Vampire)                                              - Damon (Vampire)

I know there are a lot more cast from both of the series but I just wanted to do a short one because the list would be too long.

Characteristic 5 “creates a new genre by mixing old ones” I can apply to Vampire Diaries. IMDb (n.d.) shows that Vampire Diaries is a mix of many genres such as drama, fantasy, horror and romance. I would also like to add that the drama is like a teen drama and Vampire Diaries definitely has supernatural drama because of ghosts and magic. Although, Joss Whedon does mix so many different genres into Buffy and it’ll still be a great episode, for example with the musical episode in the sixth season, I don’t think Vampire Diaries would be able to do something like that and pull it off. 

Characteristic 6 “Tends to be literary and writer based” I can apply to both the Vampire Diaries and Once Upon A Time. The Vampire Diaries is originally based off a book series by L.J Smith who is an American author who writes for young adults. Once Upon A Time is based on fairy tales, a lot that people know like Snow White, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty and many more. 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer has also been influenced by other popular texts. According to Rose (2002, p.133) the cast of Buffy emody a modern reimagining of Romantic ideology” Rose compares Buffy to the romantic gothic novel of Frankenstein written by Mary Shelly. John Polidori’s “The Vampyre” has also influenced Buffy. In season one Giles (Buffy’s watcher) shows Buffy a book titled “VAMPYR” which could be making a reference to John Polidori.

The comparison of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein could be seen in season 4 when Buffy meets Adam who is a modern day take of a Frankenstein because he is part human, part demon and part machine. Another character is Dracula, who appears in the first episode of season 5. This definitely could have been influenced by Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.”

I never actually realised the comparisons and what had influences Buffy, but I see it now. Buffy will always be considered one of my favourite shows. 

Reference

IMDb. (n.d.). L.J. Smith. Retrieved 5 October, 2012 from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3468606/

IMDb. (n.d.). The Vampire Diaries. Retrieved 5 October, 2012 from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1405406/

Rose, A (2002) Of creatures and creators: Buffy does Frankenstein, in R.

Wilcox & D. Lavery (eds) Fighting the forces: what’s at stake in Buffy the vampire slayer. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.

Wilcox, R. & Lavery, D. (2002).Introduction, in R. Wilcox & D. Lavery (eds) Fighting the forces: what’s at stake in Buffy the vampire slayer. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.