Any current show better than Buffy?

[Ehkzu]

The contenders:

1. Battlestar Galactica --great but pretty much missing the sly humor throughout Buffy (even in The Body, its most serious episode)

2. Heroes --pretty good but constantly on the verge of wandering into sillyville. And too many characters to really develop their characters.

3. Terminator Sarah Conner Chronicles --like BG, pretty great (points for hiring a Whedon alum) but missing that sly Slayer humor (even moreso than T2).

4. Eureka --plenty of humor but no gravitas at all

5. Kyle XY --sweet but not in BVS's league

6. Painkiller Jane --please.

7. Lost --ball of spaghetti plot, humor deficient most of the time, though Evangeline Lilly is the best new answer to Eliza Dushku's Faith, isn't she?

8. Dr. Who new series --I liked the first guy and Billie Piper, but Tennant's a popeyed twerp with the sex appeal of a Q-tip and no gravitas. And it seems like the plotting has gone down lately.

9. Torchwood -- I'm fine with the hero being gay but he does way too much tongue-wrestling with guys for my tastethe . Gack. Points for the cast's tasty Welsh accents (apart from Cap'n Jack of course) though. Oh, and title credit's slo-mo walk towards the screen of all the main characters marching abreast looking all serious...that's been a cliche since the Texas Rangers program in the '60s. Overall Torchwood feels like a spinoff being done by the B team.

My conclusion: Buffy still rocks and nothing since has approached its mix of plot, character development, humor AND seriousness, people you really care about, and just about the best spinoff ever. I'm just sorry Eliza Dushku nixed a Faith sequel in order to star in a lame show that got mercifully cancelled.

[Highlander II]

If you mean in the same genre as Buffy? No, nothing's really come up. The Dresden Files had a shot until SciFi killed it w/ their bumbling moronic-ness.

The only show that I can get into the way I did w/ Buffy is House, MD.

[Marky Lazer]

I always thought Angel was a better show than Buffy.

[daisybee]

Originally Posted by Highlander II

The only show that I can get into the way I did w/ Buffy is House, MD.

I love House

I have never really loved a show as much as I did Buffy though; and I tried with Angel, I really did, but it all went way to odd and I just couldn't carry on. Although I liked Gunn.

I know a few who preffered it though.

[Highlander II]

I liked Angel - except S4 (ditto on BtVS - not loving S4 there either)...

come to think of it, I wasn't thrilled w/ House S4... (I think it's an S4 thing) -

I don't have the awesome episode debates and discussions about House like I did w/ BtVS, but I love that show.

[pyan]

How about Supernatural?

Rather like Buffy in parts, if not as decorative...

[daisybee]

I don't debate House with anyone tbh, I just watch it, love it, and recommend it to people I think would like it.

Buffy used to be my "gathering" show, all the mates around,chat about the last weeks then speculate on the next week-probably why I liked it so much. It was a shared experience.

I think Heroes has the potential for that kind of devoted following,(beyond the usual audience for sf that is); not sure on the rest though.

Pyan-my sis loves Supernatural, it hasn't really grabbed my attention. Its still going though so it must be doing something right.(right?)

[BookStop]

Supernatural can be rather Buffy like, but int he good ways, eh? I think, Daisybee, it's one of those shows that grows on you. I really couldn't hardly stand to watch it at first because it's just darned predictable soemtimes, and the Sam character - could he be more of a girl - geez - but ok, now I kind of like it, you could even say I'm hooked on the darned show....

[Highlander II]

I can't get into Supernatural b/c of all the fannish hype about it. Same with Heroes.

They're both shows that I'll probably toss onto the Netflix list to watch once the series have run their course.

[Ehkzu]

I agree with several posters who brought up House. Different genre but similar in having strong ensemble cast, lots of snarky humor, and an overall INTELLIGENCE that's so missing so often from most shows. You might compare Amber's storyline to Faith's arc in Buffy/Angel (how's that for a stretch?). The biggest different is that Buffy was so strongly arc'd (as was B5), while House has tended to be the disease of the week club (i.e. episodic). However, the firing of all the helpers and the Survivor show-within-a-show started producing arc. And now as of the recent season finale, I get a sense of some actual character evolution taking place--something Buffy excelled at.

Can't comment on Supernatural. Haven't watched a single episode. Maybe I'm not attracted to stuff that seems to stay firmly inside a genre.

I didn't bring up Angel because it's not a current show, but I liked it a lot. Hard to say whether I preferred it or Buffy--so different...I think it would have been really interesting if both shows had stayed in the same network, so they could have continued to do crossovers, some of which were a-ma-zing.

One of Buffy's least-imitated features was its taking morality up to the level of accepting horrors in order to avoid even greater horrors. Most shows take the easy way out and never kill Tara, so to speak, or let Willow descend into the darkness so far, or let the hero be so flawed/human as Buffy was.

The new Terminator TV series has a bit of that, as does Torchwood.