Zombie_Babies
First Post
I thought Firefly, BSG and even Charmed did a decent job. Thinking about it, though, none really were on the same plane as Buffy as far as this stuff is concerned.
Veronica Mars is pretty kick-ass, though. I mean, she doesn't have superpowers, but if you get on her bad side she will break you. Granted, that show ended several years ago...I thought Firefly, BSG and even Charmed did a decent job. Thinking about it, though, none really were on the same plane as Buffy as far as this stuff is concerned.
Veronica Mars is pretty kick-ass, though. I mean, she doesn't have superpowers, but if you get on her bad side she will break you. Granted, that show ended several years ago...
Veronica Mars is pretty kick-ass, though. I mean, she doesn't have superpowers, but if you get on her bad side she will break you. Granted, that show ended several years ago...
The author makes one pretty big mistake. Buffy wasn't the first tough, competent female protagonist in Prime Time TV.
The author makes one pretty big mistake. Buffy wasn't the first tough, competent female protagonist in Prime Time TV.
When the show started in the mid-90s that was the thing. It started with Xena and we say a slew of Xena clones of varying degrees of quality. Queen of Swords. Alias. Cleopatra 2525. Dark Angel. Charmed. La Femme Nikita.
Right.Here are the dates IMDB gives...
La Femme Nikita (movie) was in 1990
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (movie) was 1992
Xena: Warrior Princess started in 1995
Buffy the Vampire Slayer came on TV in 1997
La Femme Nikita (TV Series) started in 1997
Charmed started in 1998
Cleopatra 2525 started in 2000
Dark Angel came on in 2000
Queen of Swords started in 2000
Alias came on in 2001
The only one of the TV series you mention that predates Buffy is Xena.
Right.
Xena started things rolling.
And the Fox turned to the creator of a semi-popular vampire movie with a memorable name and asked if he'd be willing to turn it into a TV show. And it became the one we remember.
There was likely others I can't even think of. Buffy was one of the first out of the gate, but it still followed the trail blazed by Xena. And some of the ones that followed Buffy were likely in the works before Buffy really aired.Okay, I misunderstood. In your presentation, it sure looked like you were saying there was this slew of shows before Buffy, when in reality, there was just one.
Buffy was popular but it wasn't what it is now. It was a hit for the WB, but never their top show and was often overshadowed by Dawson's Creek and 7th Heaven (and, to a lesser extent, Charmed). It took a while before it really started getting mainstream attention. It was some time before there were "Buffy clones".There was Xena. A couple of execs then contemporaneously said, "Hey, that works! Let's take a movie as a basis (reliable IP!), and try to reproduce it." Both of those worked!
Then came a slew of others in the early 00s that didn't work so well. Which just goes to show that while badass female lead can be a good thing, it doesn't ensure a good thing.