Is Supernatural the next Buffy?

[prydain]

I've been wondering this ever since the show premiered last year. One can't help but think that The WB was so gung-ho about this show because they wanted it to be the next big fantasy thing for them. And obviously fans of the Buffyverse recognized something in it that was similar to "Buffy" and "Angel" because I recall many of them felt like they shouldn't watch it because it was betraying "Angel" in some fashion.

Although the show is much more similar to "The X-Files" than it is to "Buffy", I think it also has a specific "cult show" feel that Buffy had, while to me The X-Files always felt like a more mainstream show.

Supernatural's fanbase is small but pretty vocal. I can't help but think that that fanbase will only grow with time.

Hopefully beginning next season, with Smallville coming to a close sometime in the next couple of seasons, The CW will start heavily promoting this and using it as an anchor show. With the show improving all the time I think if it finds more fans it could be much more prominent.

Do you guys think this show has any sort of chance at becoming as popular as Buffy was, or gaining a fanbase that is as loyal and outspoken?

[goldenboy]

I don't think Supernatural is enough of a true hybrid show to be like Buffy. Buffy was a true comedy/satire, mixed with heavy drama, action and horror.

Supernatural just doesn't have all the ingredients in its formula. I like that it's getting deeper into a mythology. And the pop culture references, in jokes are getting fun. I dunno...

[Angel's vision]

The mythology is different to that of Buffy, the vamps are different the monsters are too.It is like the X-files but not too much.

[prydain]

Well of course I wasn't saying that Supernatural should be just like Buffy...sometimes the show reminds me of Angel but truthfully I'm glad it takes itself more seriously, I wouldn't like this show NEARLY as much if it was as comedic as Buffy.

But anyway...for me, personally, this show has become for me what I imagine Buffy was for a lot of people. I never got into Buffy or Angel until well after they had gone off the air, so I wasn't able to experience the joy of watching them week after week, looking forward to every episode, etc. In fact I've never really had a show that excited me and that killed me between the waits, or something I could see myself sticking with faithfully for five to seven or even more seasons. Lost was probably the closest thing to that.

But now, it's Supernatural. I can honestly see myself watching this show every week for five more years, especially if it stays on the track it's on now. Unlike Lost the mysteries aren't completely frustrating and headache inducing. The cast is pretty good, it's a very fun show, and the mix of standalone episodes with the serial arc is done just right. And the show has a virtually inexhaustible source of stories...they have countless urban legends and folktales to adapt. And Kripke seems very confident that this show can last seven seasons (creatively).

And the best part is that it's on a low-rated network and therefore isn't in constant danger of being canceled, because 3.3 million viewers is successful for The CW.

The mythology is different to that of Buffy, the vamps are different the monsters are too.It is like the X-files but not too much.

I don't think you understand what I mean by my use of the phrase "the next Buffy". I mean in the sense of shows like "Threshold", "Invasion", "Night Stalker", etc. being called the next X-Files. Those shows didn't have the same mythology and weren't using the exact same aspects of The X-Files.

[Bored of the Dead]

Is Supernatural the next Buffy?

Short Answer No.
Long Answer Nope.

prydain17 agrees: yes yes we all know how much you hate it
Its why I didn't go on a rant.

[N4H]

I have this theory that goes the WB jumped all over Supernatural when they saw it up for grabs, because they finally realized how bad they screwed up when they cancelled Angel.

BTW the way I think they should use more Mutant Enemy people. I think the show has improved with the addition of Angel's Ben Edlund.

[prydain]

I would love it if Tim Minear and Marti Noxon got on the show too. ;)

[goldenboy]

I...agree. The show needs more self-awareness, more humor. It's getting a little better that way.

[Vilandra]

It's just not the same show as Buffy - it's too episodic, it doesn't carry through episode to episode and season to season like Buffy. It just doesn't have the time and effort put into creating the "fantasy world" like Buffy had. I can't see ten years from now us still discussing season one of Supernatural.

[prydain]

But most of the time wasn't Buffy episodic until halfway through the season? That's when the arc really came into play, with episodes before touching on the arc here and there. Season one of SN sorta did that, although the heavy arc stuff was the last three episodes. But so far this season they've seemed to touch on the arc at least a little in every single episode. :) (Except maybe Bloodlust, I can't remember)

But still I get what you mean.

[Black Eye Guy]

It's just not the same show as Buffy - it's too episodic, it doesn't carry through episode to episode and season to season like Buffy. It just doesn't have the time and effort put into creating the "fantasy world" like Buffy had. I can't see ten years from now us still discussing season one of Supernatural.

Exactly what I think.

But most of the time wasn't Buffy episodic until halfway through the season? That's when the arc really came into play, with episodes before touching on the arc here and there. Season one of SN sorta did that, although the heavy arc stuff was the last three episodes. But so far this season they've seemed to touch on the arc at least a little in every single episode. :) (Except maybe Bloodlust, I can't remember)

But still I get what you mean.

There's this feeling I get with Buffy, even when watching a stand alone ep that your watching something from a big picture like the arc is always there, I just don't get that with Supernatural.

I think if it continues with the mythology of the kids and keeps the 2 new female characters, or at least Jo, it will get allot better.

But I just don't get that feeling that I'm watching something great while I watch, I'd like to because there are elements I love about the show but it's like it's almost there but not quite!

[Angel's vision]

I don't think you understand what I mean by my use of the phrase "the next Buffy". I mean in the sense of shows like "Threshold", "Invasion", "Night Stalker", etc. being called the next X-Files. Those shows didn't have the same mythology and weren't using the exact same aspects of The X-Files.
Sorry i get what you mean now my bad!
I think it needs an arc to it but i think they are getting to that in season two.

[Velvet Sky]

I think the show has plenty of 'arc'. I'm actually really sick of these shows with so much arc you never get any satisfaction. And with the arc they have, if it was central all the time, I think it could be too angsty. Which is another thing that's turned me off to the majority of this new TV season's shows. I think Supernatural does have a kind of X-Files vibe, which was a show I LOVED, even post Mulder. (Doggett kicked ass, imo, but that's another story) *L* But basically I like the design of the show, I don't feel it lacking a bunch. It's fun, spooky, and with the little arc of their family and the demon it bonds it all together. Yet, you get enough little monster of the weeks, yet without completely forgetting what these guys are really out there for, that you get some little satisfactions in the show.