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A show like that has a lot of episodes and there was at least always something worth tuning in for. I think people measure by what they felt every week. People complain today even about the top hyped shows having too much filler, and with added frustration for now normally being short seasons. I think Buffy is still rated fairly.

Back then it wasn't because there wasn't nearly as many options. Compared to now it might feel just ok. Also consider how many episodes they had to do per year. 22 (probably didn't check) hour long episodes every year is a lot, so you definitely get some stinkers in there. Nowadays they do around 10 episodes per year for most things.

I don't think it's overrated. It brought a lot to the table even if some of it is dated now. I do think it went on too long. The last two seasons were nowhere near as good as the previous ones and I could also say it peaked at Season 2 and 3 but that doesn't mean it's overrated. When it was good it was great.

Does Buffy deserve the praise it gets? I honestly don't know.

This show is another victim of time. In its time there was nothing quite like it. Sort of a proto-feminist show with both elements of high school drama and well written female characters (who honestly are 90% of the time the front line fighters, with the men acting as support). To this day it still manages to feel more "subtle" in its femininity.

However, all of the things that are ground breaking have been used to death. Buffy herself is an excellent character, and I would argue one of the greats. She feels like a real person, with real aspirations and real dreams constantly thwarted by her own destiny. But in the modern age how often do you see that? Walter White is someone we understand at that level, Jessie Pinkman, and heck even Jimmy McGill are all characters at least as well written as Buffy, and that's just one show.

Looking for a supernatural high school drama often about the end of the world? Supernatural, Teen Wolf, Stranger Things, and the entire arrowverse hear your call (to different degrees of success). Heck take out a dart board and you'll hit some Monster of the Week type show.

I do think Buffy is at least the middle of the pack as far as it goes, but there have been so many imitators, both more and less successful that it feels tropey, cheesy and sometimes a bit overdone. I think it was still a triumph of television of the time, but the whole Joss Whedon bit really doesn't help...

It’s dated. And tainted by the behind the scenes dramas at this point.

No idea how it would hold up on a second rewatch but I didn't get around to watching it till in the 2010's and it held up pretty well then.

It's got some pretty compelling story arcs and character development that hold up well. And the campiness is leaned into enough that it feels good as part of the show. There's some filler episodes but that's kind of expected with a show with that much run time(the concept of shorter seasons that just focused on the story arc was still pretty foreign)

It definitely went beyond just kill random villain of the week and had some themes that are still relevant today and it dealt with them pretty well for a show ostensibly aimed at teenagers.

It was pretty unique at the time it came out and I believe still holds up today. It’s best seasons and episodes stand with the best shows around. Being seven full seasons it certainly has its ups and downs, but seasons 2 and 3 are gold and the show just has so many good episodes and moments.

Pretty much all films and tv shows age very rapidly. Some of the things that made the show very progressive at the time, seem out of step with how things are looked at today. What keeps the show fresh in my opinion is how much they played with the horror genre, the humor, the character archs. I think the show holds up fairly well, even though more things stand out now as odd choices than they did at the time. Xander, for example, is a highly toxic individual and I enjoy his presence less every time I rewatch the show. Seeing the shift from the asshole nerd as sympathetically portrayed when Joss was the showrunner to the nerd being portrayed as the villain when Marti Noxon became showsrunner is… interesting to see in retrospect though.

Its an old show. It broke a lot of ground. But its not really fair to compare it to modern blockbuster netflix style television. You gotta consider it in the context of what existed at the time to understand its significance.

The 1st 3 seasons is where it peaked. Season 4 was mostly boring and predictable. 5 went into overkill with the key story and it all became too arty and pretentious in seasons 5 and 6. I stopped watching it after season 6 as I'd lost interest.

It's dated, but was ahead of its time. Although Wire and Sopranos gets most of the credit for bringing us serialized television, Buffy was one of the firsts to tow the line between freak of the week procedural to serialized, imo.

It was an action/horror that used the horror genre as a metaphor for the struggles of teenage angst and obstacles faced primarily through the lens of a teenaged girl, something that would be criticized by many today as "woke". It dealt with loss, grief, suicide, grooming, sexual assault and more in a very real way and despite the horror setting, it was always effective imo. We got our first on-screen lesbian kiss that wasn't focused through the lense of the male gaze but genuine love and affection. I think the younger generation can watch it and now see it as not a big deal, but as someone raised in the nineties, I promise you a lot of stuff that was shown was quite taboo.

It had wit and the characters felt real. The actors were all in their 20s, but i bought them as teenagers. The show had a great knack for giving each and every one of their characters an arc. No one was wasted. I'm still gonna say it; Dark Willow is still by far the best character heel turn in tv history

The action is dated as h***. Very cringe worthy. I could understand why some people did not like season 6, although I did. Knowing the behind the scenes of the show definitely does taint a rewatch. But that aside, I can't sit here and say that Joss and his show did not have a profound effect on me when I was a kid

It's not for everyone. But for simple episodes like "the body", amd "once more with feeling," the social risks that the show took, and the fan community it produced. I wouldn say yeah it deserves GOAT for it's time

Its very overrated. I liked it a lot when i was 16 but after trying to rewatch it i wouldnt even put it on my top 100 list. Its really childish and corny. Buffy is not that old either. Only 2 years older than sopranos and the same as Oz.

No way it’s top 20 all time

Did a rewatch of Buffy/Angel a few years ago. I thought both were great and still hold up well. I can't say where I would rank it all time but I think it still holds up fine. Not many serialized type one hour dramas in the 90s from what I remember.

No.

Nope.

Is it a little funky in spots now? Sure, especially with what’s come to light about Whedon. But you can’t deny just how important it was when it was on air, both to the people who watched it (inspiring a lot of people to get into acting or pursue filmmaking) and to other shows getting produced (the Doctor Who revival likely would not have happened if not for Buffy).

Wire and Sopranos get credit for serialized television?

Lost was clearly the show that made serialized television a big thing. It was hugely popular and spawned a ton of imitators.

For its time its pretty great. But its more for its time, plus its always felt like a show for teenagers/young adults. So I feel like a lot of its older fans have aged out of it.

Wire and Sopranos were 1999/2002. Lost started in 04. They were the first and widely popular

It still holds up if you want to watch a show that basically spells out in metaphor all the different ways in which humanity has been/is being preyed upon by the “powers that be.” It is an especially good telling of how vulnerable young girls, single parents, outcasts and runaways are in our society. It’s an excellent extended play high budget after school special!!! I love it and watch it regularly with the family, discussing the various themes.

100%

Babylon 5 is the godfather of them all

How dare you!

It’s a classic. Especially with 90s fashion coming back I feel it aged super well minus the bad CGI mayor snake graphics.

It’s a time before cellphones so maybe you youngin’s can’t comprehend it. It has that Seinfeld quality where, if all characters have smartphones like we do now, quite a few storylines would be cut short- but it was the 90s in the time before cellphones.

It’s a period piece. It looks modern but it’s not. The 90s might as well be 70s or 80s when considering smartphones. It reflects the misogyny that was prevalent at its time and a bunch of other issues (Willow wasn’t allowed to kiss her gf till much later seasons).

If you can’t appreciate Buffy the vampire slayer for all it’s glory and art, that’s a YOU problem. Buffy defined a generation. Overrated? Absolutely not. It accomplished so much and is still rewatched to this day.

As much as I love this show and have watched it many times over, I do find I “need” it less and identify with it less as I get older. I just don’t have as much in common with the characters’ minor themes and quirks like I did when I was a teen and young adult watching these. I still love the big moving episodes and the cathartic moments but I honestly can’t get through a full rewatch anymore

I would say it’s underrated nowadays.

I have been feeling like that about a few shows I have tried rewatching lately as I get older, mostly shows with younger characters revolving around younger people concerns….unfortunately I think Buffy is one of those I can’t rewatch now. But..after Babylon 5, it was one of the most influential shows for serialized tv but it is definitely of its time when viewed now I think.

Man, B5 does NOT get enough recognition.

Yes. Even for it's time it was rather schloky.

man... I remember a co-worker explaining what an "arc" was to me in like 2000. I was watching the shows, but didn't really know the lingo.

Part of the problem may be the way it has been "upscaled" to look better.

An actual quote from The Wire's David Simon:

"We thought some prolonged arguments about what kind of country we’ve
built might be a good thing, and if such arguments and discussions ever
happen, we will feel more vindicated in purpose than if someone makes an
argument for why The Wire is the best show in years. ('Buffy,' by the
way, was the correct answer to that particular bracketfest.)"

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a great show, and someone who likes that sort of show, should give it a try. That's about as far as I can go with a recommendation.

A TV show can never be rewatched for the first time. A good story has character growth, so Dawn doesn't remain a pain-in-the-ass little sister and Tara can do more than sheepishly mumble. They both eventually pay off. The viewer doesn't know that the first time through. Last summer, I watched Lost for the first time. Rewatching would be a different experience.

Also, you are in a different point in life. I tried watching Breaking Bad when it came out, but it didn't take because it was too intense. A few years later, I got into it.

GOAT lists are all flawed. When I see a GOAT list, if I've seen five of the shows on the list and really enjoyed them, then I might try the other fifteen shows on the list.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer certainly deserves a place on many people's list.

No

The first season is borderline unwatchable. The shows are badly paced and directed.

The next few seasons are good to great, but after Joyce dies and Angel leaves, it slides back downhill. Honestly too many interesting characters are killed off, for nothing but shock value

I hated Xander. Firstly, he irritated me. Then I picked up on his toxic qualities. Finally, he just became set dressing to me once they minimised his role and focused on more interesting characters.

No, how dare you!

It's the Sopranos effect. Broke so much ground it feels retroactively shallow and derivative upon rewatch.

Yeah, exactly. It was borderline movie quality weekly. It wasn't something you got from action shows and it certainly wasn't something you got aimed at young audiences. It was proof of concept that HBO quality was doable in prime time as technology improved. I think shows like this made HBO step up their game, honestly, and we got some incredible shows following.

I would actually say the same about Freaks and Geeks. It was a comedy with a movie quality writing and cast every episode. It was insanely well done. I think these failed because they were close but didn't hit the mark. The first show I saw where I think they achieved cinema at home was Lost.

24 was fully serialised years before Lost.

Wednesday is what you called overrated and something like Squid Games.

Buffy? Not even close to being overrated. The charm is in the acting and their interactions. Also the fights were good for tv back in the day. It deserves it praises and flowers.

Loved Angel too. Had one of the best last season of any series I ever seen. And the finale was great!

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That's exactly what he was doing, participating in the early forums. I asked him once where he was hearing this stuff.

I still had dial up, and two kids, so no forums for me!