A reader writes:

I’m fascinated that you’re watching Buffy for the first time. I’d be delighted to read as much commentary as you could possibly feel like generating . . . .

Part of it is envy that you’re coming to it new, part of it is wondering how it comes across All At Once, part of it is always wondering what it looks like to someone else, and part of it is wondering what it looks like to you.

All At Once is only part of the novelty; I rarely get to follow a series at all, vs catching random episodes.

Some impressions of the first season:

A show with such a theme normally has a tiresome character whose job is to say, once per episode, “I’m the relatively stupid character but am I the only one who thinks this is a really bad idea?” . . . . But Xander is so darn likable!

Sunnydale is not a ghost town, and that makes WSoD creak a bit. Is there something about the Hellmouth that makes most residents forget that grue is always happening? (Oct 3: Such a hoodoo is in the Mayor’s interest. It need not be strong enough to keep everyone in permanent denial.)

I loved the novelty of the demon brought to life by a scanner. (I also loved the series Weird Science and Northern Exposure until they jumped their respective sharks. And the dialogue in Buffy is miles ahead of NX.)

Speaking of shark-jumping, in the season closer not only is the principal threat removed but the Shallow Character shows concern for others, a sense of duty and a bit of ingenuity. Ominous!

Angel’s early behavior (“Hi, be on guard against something about which I won’t tell you anything useful, have a jacket, bye”) is one of the few seriously wrong notes. It’s arbitrary, and not really explained by the revelation of his nature.

Thanks to a borrowed set of discs I get to see Buffy, woo hoo! only about a decade after everyone else.

Noticed a funny blunder in “Teacher’s Pet”, an early episode: the bio teacher talks about ants while displaying a slide of a beetle. Perhaps this illustrates an absence of mind which contributes to his being eaten a few minutes later.

Alas, “The Complete Beavis and Butt-Head” (six DVDs) apparently includes none of the boys’ commentary on music videos. One understands the copyright problem, but gee whiz, that’s some of the best bits gone.

QOTD:

I’ve seen a lot of science-fiction movies. Before now I never knew what a couple hundred thousand flying metal squid fighting a couple thousand heavily armed steel apes in a concrete hemisphere about a quarter mile across while occasional giant drill bits fall from the ceiling like deadly stalactites (pause for breath) looked like.

John & Belle Have A Blog: Matrix Revolutions

Incidentally, I wonder how many of you who write raw HTML take a secret pleasure in re-wrapping the lines to emphasize the phrasing, using EOL as an invisible demi-comma. (2004 Oct 26: That habit came back to bite me, when I converted my archives to WordPress which may be considered to have a bug when it comes to newlines.)

The cutting-room floor:

Houses of Healing: . . . . It’ll be on the DVD.

Saruman: Jackson filmed [Saruman’s death] – and then cut it because it felt like old business, which slowed the new movie. A shame. Again, that’s what DVDs are for.

The Scouring of the Shire: . . . . Jackson never liked this section of the book, and never even shot it, so don’t look for it on the DVD.

I saw that coming, or not coming. Did you too?

What if The Matrix was guarded by Homeland Security? (Linked by Paul Hsieh, whom I don’t read nearly often enough.)

Northcote Parkinson wrote (“Parkinson’s Second Law”):

In 1957 Mr John Applebey remarked that those responsible for the [British] public accounts seem to confuse themselves as well as everyone else.

Presumably the creators of Yes Minister, and thus of Sir Humphrey Appleby who speaks in riddles, had read this.