True Blood vs. Buffy, First Scenes
OK, I understand that the 20 or so people who read this and the 5 or so who actively comment aren’t all in to vampire shows… but let’s do a quick comparison and you can tell me if I’m crazy.
First, here is the entire first episode of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. Watch until the first break (about 2 minutes) via the awesome Hulu.com. At the very least, you’ll get Julie Benz in a schoolgirl outfit.
And compare it to this, this is the first scene of True Blood. The credits finish at about 1:40 which makes it about a 3 minute video. The first 20 seconds are kinda/sorta NSFW. No nudity but fully clothed simulated, uh, shenanigans. Being HBO, the language is more colorful.
I understand that True Blood isn’t going for the evil, killer vampire — but someone watched the first four minutes of this television show and said: “yeah… this is perfect” instead of “jeez, this looks fake and terrible.” I mean, these are the two scenes that are supposed to hook people in to thinking this show is worth watching, right?
That does look fake and ridiculous. Redneck vampire with switchblade >snikt< teeth? Dumb. Drawn-face hellspawn doing the turnaround Reveal? It works.
Verdict: You’re not crazy.
eh i liked the first episode of true blood. im willing to give it a shot. its more of a sotry then a fast paced action show which i digged. there are plenty of those types of shows. id like to see the interactions of being a vampire and trying to fit into a normal world.
True Blood resembles Heroes at first glance (just rented the first episode from Blockbuster), though it still feels mostly original… for some reason this show makes me want to eat Cajun food and drink cheap beer
Well I love BOTH shows, but its so hard to compare Buffy (made in 1997) to True Blood (2008) *BUT* I think that Buffy takes the cake… Sarah Michelle Gellar’s acting ability is better to me than Anna Paquin’s (who I think is great)..And I like how in Buffy vampires are much more darker and mysterious and not fighting for human rights like in True Blood..
I agree with Jaal, I love BOTH! And I agree that Buffy is the BEST! However, I am currently having this debate every Sunday after watching TB with my fiance. He was never into Buffy, but loves TB. He argues that over time TB will gain more popularity and a higher rating in ‘cult classics’. I think he is wrong. I am a true Buffy fan, and think its cult standing will last forever. Especially because Buffy was the show that broke so many barriers, that lets other shows, ie TB, be the shows they are today. There are a lot of similarities between the two…. Vamps being just the intro to more demons, shapeshifters etc, and the duality of good and bad vamps, hello Angel,Spike(my love)? Among others. My God, I could write a dissertation on this stuff! I love them both, but will always hold Buffy in higher standing!!
Nell, at first I had just thought there was going to be vampires in TB but now with all these other ‘creature’s popping up I’m finding more similarities (Oz-Sam?).. And I love bringing that up to my friends who say Buffy was stupid (!?) because there were too many mythical creatures in the show..But you are right with the countless boundaries Buffy broke, and how many shows take the concept of a strong female lead with a supernatural power. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a SMG appearance in TB (I know, I know) Until then, I’ll be waiting for the next episode
while watching my Buffy dvds on the side!