Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon spoke to USA Today in May 2003 (after the final episode had aired) about his favourite Buffy episodes. They are as follows:
- Innocence: “It’s a mission-statement show, and one of the ones where I first found out what we could do.”
- Once More, With Feeling: “What am I going to say?”
- Hush
- The Body
- Doppelgängland: “Because one Willow is certainly not enough.”
- The Wish: “Very bleak, very fun. It went to a dark place, and that’s really exciting to me. That’s where I live.”
- Becoming (Part 2): “Buffy loses everything. Also, it had a sword fight. I love sword fighting.”
- Restless: “Most people sort of shake their heads at it. It was different, but not pointless.”
- Conversations with Dead People: “I’m very fond of ‘Conversations with Dead People.’ I just thought structurally and tonally it was very interesting and had a lot to say. And I got to write another song.”
- Prophecy Girl: “Because that was my first time, besides telling directors what to do, that I actually got to direct. And it was the first time I got to kill Buffy, and the first season ender, and it was the first time I realized I could take everything we did in the season and tie it in a bow.”
November 4th, 2005 at 5:46 am
It is sort of interesting that of the ten episodes of Buffy that Whedon listed as his favourites, only one (”The Wish”) he didn’t write and/or direct. (Although not listed as a writer of “Conversations with Dead People”, it is revealed on the DVD commentary to that episode that Whedon wrote the segment involving Buffy’s confrontation with Holden Webster, the vampire allegedly sired by Spike.) If it was anyone else, I would be inclined to say he was vain. However, the unassailable truth is, the Whedon written/directed episodes happen to be among the very finest in the series.
November 4th, 2005 at 5:01 pm
There is nothing vain about having confidence in and love your work. If you consider how emotionally invested he was in the show generally and his episodes in particular, it makes perfect sense that the shows he loves the most are the ones he did. I would say the same for any other artist/creative person.
November 4th, 2005 at 5:16 pm
did that sound too contrarian? i’m getting a complex here. Let it be known that 90% of the time, my critical comments aren’t generally intended to be argumentative to the person I’m replying to, but just express my feelings in general about a particular subject (in this case, Joss’s vanity)
November 4th, 2005 at 10:51 pm
mairceriden — I’m an attorney…I like debate and when people take a contrary position to mine. And I never take it personally. Besides, if you read my posting a little closer, I defend Whedon’s love for his own episodes. That said, I also think, if I was in his position, I could appreciate how others have embraced my creative vision, and helped me to develop it and give it the kind of organic life that those who worked with him through the run of the series did with his creation. It’s true, though, 9 times out of 10, when I watch an episode, and really enjoy it, it’s one of his.
You shouldn’t have a “complex” about what you say here and how you react to the posts of other…that is, of course, unless you are simply taking a contrary position for the sake of being…well, contrary. From what I’ve read here, your posts are routinely well thought out, articulate and persuasive. Perhaps you might be an attorney, too….I hope, for your sake, I’m wrong though. Friends don’t let friends become lawyers.
November 6th, 2005 at 7:24 pm
Yeah, I saw that you defended him, I just wanted others to be sure that I was speaking out on the whole vanity issue.
I’m not an attorney, but in graduate school working toward becoming a professor, another occupation where it helps to be thoughtful and articulate.
Buffy writers often express their own admiration regarding Joss’s creativity and writing ability. I guess, when they get complimented on parts of episiodes they wrote, it’s more often than not a part that Joss rewrote.
November 6th, 2005 at 9:02 pm
I have heard on countless occasions, the Buffy writers singing Whedon’s praises. If it wasn’t so obvious that the guy is a genius, I’d think the whole lot of them were a bunch of shameless suck-ups.
November 6th, 2005 at 9:05 pm
And, mair…continued success with your studies. Academia is a far better venue for the persuasive arts than a courtroom. The world needs more dedicated academics than it does lawyers. I wish you all the luck and good fortune in the world.
November 7th, 2005 at 6:11 pm
thanks