Today marks the 20th anniversary (March 10, 1997) of the premiere of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER tv series!!!!!
TWENTY YEARS!!!! Great Krypton, how time flies!
A brilliant series (along with it's even better spin-off ANGEL) that still stands up today with it angst, allegory and action. While I love this series, I sometimes think it cursed future television creations. For one thing tv has always loved to do and continue to do, even in this new "golden age of scripted drama", is replicate what has worked in the past.
I call this curse "The Whedon Story Playbook".
At it's essence each tv season is designed as one long over arching, building serial climaxing in the defeat of the "BIG BAD" in the final episode of the season. Though some shows still use the tired cliche of the season cliffhanger to resolve the Big Bad plot in the next season opener.
And while Whedon may not have created this tv telling formula, he did fine tune it to such a successful point that almost every genre or drama uses Whedon's Playbook.
And I am sooooooooo tired of it. :dodgy:
Some shows use the Playbook better than others. But lets face it, most tv show runners are not as brilliant as Whedon and just can not pull it off. Even my beloved ARROWVERSE shows use the Whedon Playbook ad nauseam. It adds a layer of predictability to the storytelling that I think can and does hurt the narrative. I am not saying I want tv to go back to 80s episodic nature, but why does every season need to be treated as ONE CONNECTED EPIC? Why not be more creative, and break the season into a series of arcs or mini-movies. Instead of being so focussed on stretching out a mystery or threat, why not focus on the characters with tighter, more intense story lines?
That's my tv rant for today.
Don't get me started on The Straczynski Five Year Plan Playbook.... LOL
Anyway, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BUFFY!!!