But where to begin?

The Chosen One

It all started with a joke. Joss Whedon, a moderately successful TV and film writer, had seen a number of horror movies in which a beautiful blonde goes walking down an alley and gets attacked by the monster du jour. Having some feminist sensibilities, Joss thought it would be a hoot if the pretty and petite little cheerleader would turn around and kick it's ass.

This idea lead to the movie, 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'. Joss wrote a script that was an action/horror with strong comedic overtones. During rewrites and shooting, this was changed to a campy, silly comedy.

Whedon was not pleased with the final result but it's worth seeing, at least in the interest of completeness. Also, it has some genuinely funny moments, and you can still see Joss's genius shining through the yucks.

Flash forward to 1997. Whedon decided that he would try Buffy again, with less outside interference. This time he pitched the idea as a weekly series to the fledgling WB network. The lead was given to Emmy winner Sarah Michelle Gellar, and the rest was television history. 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete First Season' was a midseason replacement, so there are only 12 episodes in this collection. The DVD is great, though the special features leave something to be desired. Do not judge the whole series by the first season's monster-of-the-week format, however. Starting with 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Second Season' there is a much clearer story-arc. This season focuses on the relationship between Buffy and her mystery man Angel, and is one of the strongest seasons of any show I have seen.

'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Third Season' tells the story of the Scoobies's senior year of High School. A great season with alot of growth by the characters and some classic episodes.

In 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Fourth Season', the gang goes to college and tries to find life after High School. This season flounders a bit at times, as the show deals with new directions and new cast members, but it also contains some of the best episodes of the series including 'Hush', a mostly silent epsiode with some of the scariest monsters ever shown on television.

Touched By an Angel

Season Four is also a point to make a decision. You can continue watching Buffy alone, or you can incorporate 'Angel - Season One' into your viewing schedule. After Season Three, Buffy's buff beau got his own spin-off that takes place in the demon-infested streets of Los Angeles. The seasons 4,5-Buffy/1,2-Angel run parallel with a number of cool crossovers. If you want everything to run correctly, simply watch Buffy/Angel/Buffy/Angel through both seasons of both shows (i.e., Buffy episode 1 then Angel episode 1 then Buffy 2 then Angel 2 etc.).

After 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Fifth Season' and 'Angel - Season Two' Buffy the Vampire Slayer left the WB network for the UPN, but Angel stayed behind. This effectively meant the end of crossovers starting with 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Sixth Season' and 'Angel - Season Three'. You can feel free to watch buffy 6 and Angel 3 in whatever order you wish. I won't give anything away about 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Seventh Season' (the final season) and 'Angel - Season Four', but it might be a good time to watch them sequentially again. ;)

As for the future. The WB decided, surprisingly, to make 'Angel - Season Five' the end for Angel. However, the network has said that they will be willing to discuss future specials and/or movies to wrap up the Buffyverse storylines. Also, you can count on Joss to come up with ideas for further spin-off series.

Buffy lives...

(NOTE: The entire run of Buffy is now available as a 40 disc collection called 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Chosen Collection (40 Disc DVD Set) (Seasons 1-7)'. It's worth checking out for newbies because it's quite a bit cheaper than buying each season separately.)

Research Mode: and now for the books

There are already a lot of books about Buffy and more on the way all the time. Below are some of my favorites.

'The Watchers Guide Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)' is a reasonably well-done reference guide to the first two seasons with some effort put into gathering quotes, pictures, and other trivia.

'The Watcher's Guide, Volume 2 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)' continues into seasons three and four with much the same flavor.

'The Monster Book' will give you the lowdown on the first four seasons worth of things that go 'bump' in the Sunnydale night. Lots of information for the monster-geeks out there. :)

Having trouble with Joss-speak? (The dialog in the show is largely derived from Joss Whedon's singularly wonderful mangling of the English language). 'Slayer Slang: A Buffy The Vampire Slayer Lexicon' to the rescue! This book is an analysis of the ways that words are used on the show, and how that usage filters out into the online fanbase, with a dictionary of many examples. Uber-fun! How much do I like this book? Lots of much! :)

There are a number of unofficial guides to the show, each with their own focus. I can't comment because I haven't read them all, but if you're interested here is a sampling: 'Slayer: An Expanded and Updated Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer', 'Slayer: The Next Generation', 'Bite Me! An Unofficial Guide to the World of Buffy the Vampire Slayer', 'Meet the Stars of Buffy the Vampire Slayer' (a little impulse purchasy kinda thing, but well reviewed), and 'The Girl's Got Bite: The Original Unauthorized Guide to Buffy's World, Completely Revised and Updated'.

If you want to know more about the shows creator, 'Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy' is a wonderful and warm tribute to the man whose characters have inhabited our dreams, nightmares, and (let's face it) fantasies for over seven years.

Buffy... the Musical???

In season 6, Joss produced one of the best episodes of the series, 'Once More, With Feeling' in which the residents of Sunnydale find themselves bursting into song a'la 'West Side Story'. All is explained and resolved by the episode's end, but not before we are treated to some really great songs performed by surprisingly talented cast members.

This episode was so well received (and so unique) that it has spawned a soundtrack cd, 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Once More, with Feeling', and a book, '"Once More, With Feeling": The Script Book', which contains the full shooting script (including some cut dialogue), the sheet music, and lots of behind the scenes information.

One warning about viewing this episode: The original airing ran 8 minutes over the scheduled timeslot. Later airings have been cut drastically to fit it into the standard one hour (plus extra commercials in syndication). If you can, find someone with an original airing copy or watch the DVD. The 60-minute version is dreadful in comparison.

The Pen is Mightier than the Stake

There are far too many Buffy and Angel novels for me to cover them here. Look for a new guide at some point in the future. But if you're still hungry for words then you can chew on these:

'Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Script Book Season One Vol. 1', 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Script Book Season One Vol. 2', 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book Season Two, Vol. 1', 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book: Season Two, Vol. 2', 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Script Book Season 2, Vol. 3', 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Script Book, Season Two, Volume 4', 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Vol. 1', 'Buffy, The Vampire Slayer: The Script Book - Season Three, Volume 2', and 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book : Season Three, Volume 3 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)'.

If I have to tell you anything more than the titles of these, then you probably shouldn't be allowed out in public unescorted, so we'll just leave it at that.

I hope this has been of some help. Let me know if there are any errors or glaring omissions. Happy slayage!