Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Welcome to IGN TV’s Idiot Box, a weekly column where IGN editors talk about the week in TV. This week, as Spider-Man 3 releases in theaters, we’re talking about our favorite television superheroes.

Send us a note and let us know your thoughts — we’ll include your response in a future edition of the IGN TV Mailbag.

BRIAN ZOROMSKI - Editor-in-Chief, IGN TV

I’ve enjoyed many great superhero series over they years, including Batman: The Animated Series (my favorite comic-to-TV adaptation to date), Greatest American Hero (one of the best theme songs ever and a show that still holds up over time), The Flash (very under-rated and woefully short-lived early ’90s live-action series), and Lois & Clark: The Adventures of Superman (wonderfully cheesy, I still like it more than Smallville). But my favorite TV superhero is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy was able to juggle schoolwork, boyfriend troubles and the slaying of vampires and demons effortlessly, along with witty comments, a sarcastic attitude and a gang of helpful friends. I got into Buffy late in the game, about four seasons in, and caught up with a series of marathons that FX was running at the time, but it didn’t seem to matter — as soon as I saw the first few episodes, I was hooked. I’d love to see another superhero series one day that’s able to balance drama, action and humor as well as Buffy.

TRAVIS FICKETT - Writer, IGN TV

"In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer."

Those are the words that introduced what would quickly become an iconic character. They were first uttered in a thoroughly unremarkable movie and then again in the pilot of what would become one of the best loved television series of all time. Buffy Summers is the popular girl who lived a blessed life before finding out that she had the burden of destiny. She is the archetypal victim of every horror movie who turns the tables on the "creatures of the night." While hero stories have been told countless times, for my money this is the best it’s ever been on television.

Buffy faced seemingly insurmountable challenges not only on a weekly basis, but the "big bad" of each season tended to deliver painful personal challenges as well. She faced the horror of her first real love turning into a brutal killer, and coming after her friends. She faced the terribly mundane death of her mother and the simple fact that there was no way to rescue her and no villain to defeat in vengeance. Over the course of the series Buffy grew from reluctant school girl hero to an accomplished leader in her own right, even as the sacrifices she had made "saving the day" began to take their toll. It’s tough to be the life of the party when you’ve died twice. Buffy’s true strength lay in her friends - the "Scooby gang" that surrounded her. We loved them as much as Buffy herself, and through them we saw her for the hero she was. When people like Xander, Willow and Giles will follow you to the ends of the Earth - and back again - you’re someone worth following.

Buffy was a unique hero in a one-of-kind series and fans can still feel the gaping hole that exists on television - and in their hearts - ever since the show left the air.

ERIC GOLDMAN - Editor, IGN TV

When it comes to my favorite TV superheroes, it’s hard to narrow it down, since I’m a huge fan of these kind of characters, and when you think about television, you have to consider a ton of cartoons and live-action series. Still, my first choice was easier than I expected, once I thought about the fact that Angel is one of my very favorite TV series of all time, and while he might be a lot of other things too, Angel is also a superhero. On Buffy it was harder to make that correlation, as the character was often more passive (or more evil, when things went bad), but on his own series, Angel was reinvented as a Batman-like "dark avenger," to use Cordelia and Doyle’s commercial. Rescuing damsels in distress, jousting, and using a lot of axes and swords on a whole lot of demons, Angel saved a lot of people over the five years of his show. And he had super powers! Okay, his strength and heightened senses (and the fact that he was awfully difficult to kill) came from being a vampire, but he was a vampire with a soul, so it was all good. More than that, Angel was one self-sacrificing dude, giving up the love of his life and the chance to be in his own son’s life in order to make things better for others.

As a runner-up, I have to mention the Bill Bixby/ Lou Ferrigno version of the Hulk, from the late ’70s Incredible Hulk TV show. This is more of a nostalgic favorite, but as a kid, I absolutely loved this show. Sure, the Hulk usually only got to beat up on some random thugs - though he did have that fight with that weird old man Hulk - but my five-year-old self loved the green guy, and his wonderfully downbeat theme music.

DAN IVERSON - Database Editor/Writer, IGN TV

From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Wolverine, I have watched most every superhero TV program that has aired over the past two decades; so finding one particular hero will be quite difficult. Currently there are a couple of shows with great superheroes on them (Heroes in particular), but for my "favorite superhero" I would have to go back in time and look at shows that have ended.

It is tough to find true live-action superheroes that don’t look cheesy, so most of my favorite TV heroes come from cartoons. The Tick, Batman, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Superman and other comic book related characters have been faithfully ripped from the comics and translated to the small screen. While I would state that some of these characters would be my favorite TV superheroes, I find that to be unfair as they were created in a different medium and only translated to animated form.

With that in mind, if I had to find one true television superhero to call my favorite, I would have to say Angel from Buffy and Angel. While many of my favorite TV superheroes have roots in comic books and other such stories, Angel is the only real television hero that has fully captured my attention. While Buffy was great and all, she just seemed like the most important member of a superhero team (like Wolverine to the X-Men), while Angel (much like Batman) rode solo and only occasionally relied on help from his friends. By taking on the vampires and demons by himself on Angel he was able to shed any idea that his brooding and sulking was out of self-pity - leaving a bad ass demon killer to clean the streets of Los Angeles. So if I had to state who my favorite TV superhero was, I think that it would have to be the dark vampire with a soul, Angel.

CHRIS CARABOTT - Writer, IGN TV

We’ve seen quite a few conventional superheroes come and go on the small screen. The Amazing Spider-Man, Batman, The Flash, The Incredible Hulk and a laundry list more including everyone in the animated Justice League cartoon. However, my personal favorite televised superhero has never graced the pages of DC or Marvel Comics... I’m talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. When it comes to characters, scripting, presentation and storyline; Buffy is still the best superhero television show.

When Buffy first hit the small screen I shunned the show because I hated the movie and thought that the TV version would be more of the same. Little did I know that Joss Whedon’s true vision would be realized and that Buffy would become one of my favorite shows of all time. There really is nothing I could say that hasn’t already been said about Buffy. Buffy Summers’ perseverance when faced with insurmountable odds made for great drama and the dynamic with her "Scooby" gang was second to none. Even though it was subtle, this was the first live-action show to really nail the concept of a superhero without all that excess cheese associated with the genre.

COLIN MORIARTY - Writer, IGN TV

This is an easy question to answer for me. Though I feel like there were other good superhero television shows that transcend television history (like Superman, for instance), the 1960s Batman is by far my favorite. Running from 1966 until 1968, Batman supplies me with some fond memories of my childhood, even if I was born 18 years after the show stopped airing.

POW! ZAP! POP! Sure, it’s corny now (and according to my parents, it was corny then as well), but it’s entertaining. What else can you ask for in the mystical world of superheroes, where anything goes? Adam West’s rendition of Batman will go down in history. George Clooney, watch out! We all know who the real Batman is.

JASON VAN HORN - Writer, IGN TV

Though I’m absolutely in love with Heroes right now, up until this moment most of all my superhero TV love has gone to the animated efforts. I remember the acclaimed Spider-Man animated series, which I followed relentlessly. I’ve enjoyed the various X-Men series to come out as well. And heck, I even fondly recall the caped crusader with a beak and purple cloak - Darkwing Duck. But when it comes to television there is only one superhero - Batman!

I remember back in elementary school, waking up to get ready in the morning, and sitting on the couch eating breakfast and watching the live action goodness of Adam West in the live action Batman series. It was campy looking back on it now, but boy was it fun. All those sound effects balloons popping up on the screen; Adam West’s signature voice; and villains that were really well done and pulled off, even better than the movies in most all cases. From there Batman had the animated series, which was poetry and perfection in motion, featuring even more quality voice acting, sophisticated storylines for a children’s program, and the best villain gallery of all time. Then it moved on to Batman Beyond, and though you wouldn’t think a futuristic Batman series would work, sure enough the guy from Boy Meets World was a natural fit for the new Batman voice, and it was amazingly cool to see this new world and old villains reimagined for it.

So greatest TV superhero? Batman without a doubt. Period. End sentence.