Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Have you been wondering why anyone would buy a Buffy DVD when the reruns are airing every day? Or have you bought one, and are wondering what’s on the others?

You have questions, I have answers. Below is a detailed run-down on the first four seasons of Buffy on DVD. (And as soon as the second season of Angel comes out, I’ll do him, too.) (Yeah, I wish.)

Put simply, series DVDs are too wonderful for words. They’re the greatest thing since sliced bread; they give more support to a fan girl like me than a Wonder bra. I love them deeply, and I want every single one of them. The sci-fi fantasy ones, I mean; forget the sitcoms and the crime shows.

Like most of us during the reign of Bush the second, I have money issues, so I have to budget myself. Which means I have all four of the Buffy DVDs and season one of Angel, because they were my first priority. But I’m saving for the first season of The Dead Zone and the first two seasons of Highlander. I am also deeply tempted by Babylon 5. Go check out Amazon.com and see what’s coming your way. Are you into Smallville? Due South? Trek? I’m talking U.S. here; I know the European ones come out sooner. (What’s with that, anyway?)

For you DVD virgins

Just in case you don’t have a DVD player yet, let me tell you what you get. Crisp, visually sharp, commercial-free episodes in stereo without logo bugs and without those new and incredibly annoying pop-up ads. Short features, interviews, and commentaries, scripts, biographies of the cast and crew, blueprints, still photos, and trailers. A virtual cornucopia of Buffy-related goodness.

If you’re like me, you have series episodes taped on VHS. These tapes don’t age well. Mine are developing tracking problems; in a few years, they could be unwatchable. DVDs are a more stable technology; they don’t degrade the way tapes do. Plus, when I have all seven seasons, I will finally be able retire my four shelves of tapes and free up some much needed space.

I love commentaries. Unsurprisingly, the best Buffy commentaries are by Joss Whedon. Doug Petrie and Jane Espenson are also favorites of mine. Some commentaries really aren’t worth the time, but a lot of the tidbits you hear are just manna to a major Buffy fan such as myself.

Many moons ago, Fox released VHS tapes for the first three seasons — but only six episodes per season. Each episode on tape (yes, I bought them all) contained a five-minute interview with Joss Whedon. All of these interviews are included on the DVDs.

So here’s the rundown. I hope this helps you fence-sitters decide whether or not the investment is worth it.

Season One

Unless you’re deeply into Buffy, analyzing its themes for your dissertation, or hung up on the completeness thing, season one is a maybe. I’m glad I have it, but then I probably fall under at least two of those categories. Or maybe I just like being able to watch "Prophecy Girl" dubbed in French when I’m in the mood. (It’s really cool, you know. "Buffy" sounds more like "Boofeee." And hearing "You have fruit punch mouth" in French? Yes, I’m easily amused.)

You get all twelve episodes, and that’s about it. There are only a few teeny tiny little features:

Two commentaries: "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "The Harvest" by Joss Whedon. This is the highlight of the DVD set, as far as I’m concerned. Previously released VHS tape interviews as mentioned above with Joss Whedon, for "Welcome to the Hellmouth," "The Harvest," "Witch," "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date," "Angel," and "The Puppet Show." Scripts for "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "The Harvest," and a photo gallery, all of which don’t work on my copy. Cast and crew biographies, and a season one trailer, all of which do work on my copy.

There is a short featurette with Joss Whedon talking about how he thought of Buffy in the first place, and an equally short interview with David Boreanaz, who is sporting some interesting facial hair.

The graphics are almost nonexistent. There is a single audio quote as you start each episode. (Like for "Prophecy Girl," you click on the episode and Buffy says, "I may be dead, but I’m still pretty... which is more than I can say for you.")

There’s even a movie ad on the third disk. Get thee behind me, commercials.

Season Two

Season two is special, and some consider it the very best Buffy season of all. We get Willow and Oz sparkage, we get Spike and Drusilla coming to town, and we get Angel going bad in leather pants.

On the DVD, you get:

Four commentaries: "Reptile Boy," by David Greenwalt; "What’s My Line," both parts, both by Marti Noxon; "Innocence" by Joss Whedon. Scripts for all four of these episodes. Previously released VHS interviews with Joss Whedon for "Surprise," "Innocence," "Passion," "I Only Have Eyes for You," "Becoming I," "Becoming II." Art gallery (still photos), trailers, TV spots, and biographies.

And the good part, which is three pretty good featurettes. They include comments by Nicholas Brendon, James Marsters, Anthony Stewart Head, Charisma Carpenter, Kristine Sutherland, Danny Strong, Juliet Landau, Julie Benz, Elizabeth Anne Allen, Robin Sachs, John Ritter, Brian Thompson, and Kelly Connell. (If you’re one of those fans who doesn’t know all the names of the actors by heart, that’s Xander, Spike, Giles, Cordelia, Joyce, Jonathan, Drusilla, Darla, Amy, Ethan Rayne, Ted, the Judge, and Worm Guy.) And let’s not forget producers/writers/crew members Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon, David Greenwalt, Carey Meyer, John Vulich, and Tod McIntosh.

"Designing Buffy," featurette number one, is only about ten minutes long and is about the set designs and locations for the library, the factory, the mansion, the high school, and the Bronze. The highlight is Carey Meyer giving us a tour of Buffy’s house and Giles’ apartment. We see the infamous parking lot that doubles as any number of cemeteries, street scenes, and the playground. (When you know it’s there, the parking lot is wicked obvious. One thing they do often is start with a long shot of the huge and impressive Rosedale Cemetery, and then cut to the parking lot dressed as a cemetery for the actual scene.)

"A Buffy Bestiary," featurette number two, is the best of the three. Nearly half an hour long, and the first ten minutes are all about the vampires. Yay!

It starts with James Marsters saying, "I’m not a vampire, but I play one on TV." Julie Benz is featured; she was the first vampire character on the show and talks about how they established the makeup on her. It includes interview bits with James and Juliet Landau, both together and alone; the American accents are jarring because we’re not used to them, but it’s very cool seeing them together, and out of costume/character. James and Kristine Sutherland talk about the interesting relationship between Spike and Joyce, which is also great fun.

The rest of the "Bestiary" is about the various villains and monsters, including the actors who played Ethan Rayne, Ted, and the Judge, and the appliances and actors who played the other monsters throughout the season. Joss says at one point about the monsters, "Make ’em dark, make ’em wet. Wet is always scarier than dry."

"Beauty and the Beasts," about twenty minutes long, is the least exciting unless you’re into makeup and creature appliances, which I’m not, but it’s still cool. The highlight for me here as a Spike fan is James Marsters talking about loving makeup when he was a kid, and how he prefers to nap in the makeup chair, along with Tod McIntosh’s story of how he decided to emphasize the scar on James’ eyebrow instead of hiding it. Another highlight is Brian Thompson talking tongue in cheek about how people just love to glue stuff to his face.

The loading graphics are not unbearable, but the music quickly becomes annoying.

Season Three

Many consider season three to be the best arc season. The Mayor and Faith, Angel biting Buffy, big snake, what’s not to love?

Here, you get:

Four commentaries: "Helpless," by David Fury; "Bad Girls" by Doug Petrie, "Consequences by Michael Gershman, "Earshot" by Jane Espenson. Scripts for "Faith, Hope & Trick," "Band Candy," "Lovers Walk," and "The Wish." Art gallery. Previously released Joss interviews on "Bad Girls," "Consequences," "Enemies," "Earshot," "Graduation Day I and II," and previously released interview with monster maker John Vulich.

None of the commentaries are by Joss Whedon, which is a disappointment. The highlights are the featurettes.

"Buffy Speak" is a very watchable bit on the writers (here, it’s Joss Whedon, Jane Espenson, Doug Petrie, Marti Noxon, and David Fury) and how they use language. My favorite part is when Doug Petrie talks about how great it would have been in high school to have a staff of thirty-five year old comedy writers writing your dialogue for you.

"Season Three Overview" is the longest and best featurette. It includes the writers mentioned above, along with Eliza Dushku (looking not at all like Faith), Harry Groener, Alexis Denisof with an American accent, Charisma Carpenter on an "Angel" set with streaky blond hair; Nicholas Brendon, Kristine Sutherland, James Marsters, and Danny Strong.

There are three brief featurettes: "Wardrobe," "Weapons," and "Special Effects," and they’re exactly as the titles suggest. Here I learned that the Mayor was dressed as a used car saleman, that there actually are such things as retractable stakes, and how vampires are dusted using computer graphics.

The loading graphics are the Buffy/Faith dance music, which is great until it gets into the annoying just-sitting-there music. But season three is a must-buy.

Season Four

Season four is a lot better in retrospect than it was when it first aired. The arc story was not popular, but many of the stand-alone episodes are huge favorites with the fans. I am thrilled with the season four DVD; it’s fabulous.

You get:

Seven, count ’em, SEVEN commentaries: "Wild at Heart," by Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon, and Seth Green; "The Initiative" by Doug Petrie; "Hush," by Joss Whedon; "This Year’s Girl," by Doug Petrie, "Superstar," by Jane Espenson; "Primeval" by David Fury and James A. Contner; "Restless" by Joss Whedon.

Original scripts for: "Fear, Itself;" "Hush," "Who Are You?," "Restless." Biographies, Still Gallery.

Five featurettes, and a season four overview that is thirty minutes long. The featurettes and the season four overview include comments by pretty much the same list of actors, producers, and writers as in the previous season DVDs, with the notable additions of Seth Green and Amber Benson.

Featurette 1: "Hush." This one is about "Hush." Duh.

Featurette 2: "The Sets of Sunnydale." This is mostly about the season four sets, i.e., UC Sunnydale, the Initiative, etc.

Featurette 3: "Spike, Me." Yes, a ten-minute feature on Spike, and a lot of it is James Marsters talking about what the writers have done with his character.

Featurette 4: "Buffy, Inside the Music." Music is very important on Buffy; this feature focuses mostly on music in season four and includes comments by Chris Beck, who scores the show.

Featurette 5: "Oz Revelations." Another great character feature, with Seth Green talking in-depth about his character. About ten minutes long.

The highlight of this DVD (other than the character pieces on Spike and Oz, which I loved) is the commentary for "Wild at Heart." This is the episode where Oz leaves Willow because Seth Green had too many movie roles and couldn’t do a series at the same time. Three people doing a commentary can get silly, and this one does; even though there is still serious commentary about the episode, most of it is just hilarious. Joss rags on Seth about making Willow gay; in a scene where Sarah is wearing a kerchief, Marti calls her "house-cleaning commando Buffy;" at one point, they even MSTy the dialogue. Seth talks about the sex scenes and his many nude scenes, and how mild they are compared to Buffy and Spike in season six. They’re having so much fun talking that they actually keep going for a minute after the episode ends and the screen is black.

This is not to pooh-pooh the other commentaries; they’re all good. Doug Petrie, in particular, does two of them, and I have a pretty high opinion of Doug Petrie, who is very witty. Best of all, Joss Whedon does the commentary for two of his most fascinating episodes: the silent episode, "Hush," and the dream sequence episode, "Restless."

(By the way, I wrote a long and crazy analysis of "Restless" back in February of 2003. If you’re interested, take a look: www.geocities.com/billiecats/restless.html)

Seasons Five, Six, and Seven

Most of the Buffy cast members and recurring guest stars are interviewed for the DVDs. The most glaring absences are Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan. Maybe they’ll be interviewed for season five. And maybe not.

Series DVDs are selling like hotcakes, and the Buffy DVDs are doing extremely well, from what I’ve heard. Season five is due out in December; I know what I want for Christmas. The final two seasons will be coming out in six-month increments after that.

And that’s all, folks. I don’t get kickbacks, by the way; I’m just a fan.