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Buffy Episode 1x01 Full Length Reaction

*Please note, this is the full length reaction, and due to copyright restrictions, requires you to sync your own copy of the episode. Enjoy!

Buffy Episode 1x01 Full Length Reaction

Comments

It's been a long time since I watched anything where I needed to fix the sync, but that's what I used to do as well. Another option I've used a lot in the past is simply open up the browser console (ctrl+shift+J) and type in `document.getElementsByTagName('video')[0].playbackRate = 0.96;` or 1.04167 if it was the opposite direction. One can go through the last few commands with up arrow, so you don't have to remember it each time. Sometimes it's easier to adjust the reactor to fit your copy, than to adjust your copy. There are browser extensions that can do the same thing, unfortunately most don't provide an exact input-box, I never bothered sifting through them, but I'm sure one works nicely...

Asmo0

So this inspired me to actually find a solution: VLC player you can set to 96% playback speed. You can permanently set this by going Tools -> Preferences -> Toggle to 'All' under 'Show settings' at the bottom -> Input / Codecs -> Playback Speed -> Manually type in '0.96' -> save -> close and reopen. You can check this by enabling the status bar: right click -> View -> tick Status Bar. You can also temporarily change the exact playback speed on the status bar. This will work nicely for me because I always use Gomplayer so I can just use VLC for Patreon sync.

James Fleischman

Jacqui will definitely appreciate the unaired pilot.

James Fleischman

Having to adjust sync all the time is to much work. I think I'll wait for the version with partial sound and blurred video. That worked perfectly for Firefly since I already watched everything multiple times.

Jonas Liljegren

Didn't recognize Julie Benz? Guess you never watched Dexter. Anthony Head was good in the BBC series Merlin, too.

David Bresson

I’m so glad you’re reacting to this! It’s one of my favorite TV shows of all time. The comedy in this is just perfect! Also, I think the pilot does a good job covering what happened in the movie, but if you ever do want to go back and watch the movie it covers why Buffy got kicked out of school in LA. It stars Kristy Swanson, who was good, but definitely can’t compare to how good Sarah Michelle Gellar is in this role.

mrchill_77

Well this should be fun. I forgot if you said if you had watched Babylon 5 or not. If not please do, it is well worth it. Don't know if anybody else has mentioned this Buffy was a mid season replacement which is why it is only 12 episodes long.

Garrick Smalley

Jacqui has watched Babylon 5?!?

Michael Kemmet

Since I’ve started following show reactions I seem to be destined to never not be watching Buffy and I’m not mad about it. Right now I’m jumping back from season 5 to the beginning—oh, they’re all so young again! There’s little I can say that hasn’t been said already; it’s one of the best shows ever with season 1 being the weakest one but that’s totally excusable, and it’s still good. It always makes me happy seeing new people going on this journey for the first time.

Bernhard

After syncing to quite a few watch-along reactions I can say that having enough of the picture to always be able to find the correct place in the stream is the best option for the viewers, either a clear partial picture like 20 % of the height or a blurred one. Having audio on the other hand (some reactors let it play for a few seconds after commercial breaks) is bad because you’ll never be so perfectly synced to not get a delayed echo.

Bernhard

I think it’s fair to say that’s a minority opinion but Angel is worth watching, especially the crossover episodes.

Bernhard

The upscaled DVD rips are good. I think I’m using the same ones as my DVD box sets have gone missing some time ago.

Bernhard

At least in parts the “remastered” version is atrocious and as far as I understand they just skipped the color correction completely so that many scenes are far too bright and it sometimes actually looks like stage lighting.

Bernhard

Very fun reaction. I don't want to go too much into the different versions, but being a very old show, suffice to say there are *a lot* of different legitimate versions of this show, DvDs or available on various streaming services. And they don't all sync perfectly. - Versions with/without the "In every generation..." intro - Versions where the screen is black 1-2 seconds longer during the old ad-breaks - Versions with/without "Previously on..." at the start - Versions that run ~4% faster due to the whole 24 vs 25 fps issue of Europe vs US In short, I was hoping for this show you could reduce the size of the big black box a little to help visually sync, because the clock is going to be irrelevant for a lot of people. If it's not too much trouble to shrink it a little vertically.

Asmo0

One of my top 5 shows, which I've seen many times. Loved your reaction. It's always fun watching your reaction and seeing you catch things that I've missed or never noticed.

Eli

The very first academic conference I had a paper accepted to was Slayage, the Buffy Studies conference. Words and phrases have been added to the lexicon because of this show and its impact on popular culture even if you didn't watch it -- and as a rhetorician that is (on a surface level) what I'm all about. I'm so excited to see your reactions. I always love it when someone starts watching Buffy for the first time.

Shelley Lloyd

This was literally the first tv show i ever binge watched back when i was a nerdy teen in high school, after i watched a season i'd be so hooked i'd have to get to town to buy the next box set on vhs even tho i couldn't afford it but that was only way to do it in those days :p as hooked as i was on this show i strangely have never seen the last season!

Stuart Biegala

Don't worry, that gets significantly better. It's definitely one of the things that make s1 stand out compared to the rest of the seasons.

Asmo0

Came here to mention the 1992 movie. Even if it doesn't sync up properly, it's a good watch.

Barry

Yeah HULU doesn't exist in my country. All their content is supposedly on Disney+ here, but, unfortunately, Disney+ only has the horrid 16:9 HD Remaster version.

Onno Smits

Also.....I have watched a few episodes of this in the past, and the one critique I have now (and I remember it irked me when I watched a long time ago) is that they put absolutely ZERO effort into making Sarah look like she could really fight. I mean, I know it was low budget, but she is a SLAYER! I havent watched many episodes, so I am hoping that they work on that!

Chris LaLonde

I am watching along on HULU. Syncs perfect. It is also the 4:3 version.

Chris LaLonde

OK. I just noticed that Sarah's face and Morena Baccarin's face are very similar! Or maybe it is just that their mannerisms when they talk are so similar. Not that it is a bad thing. DEFINITELY not a bad thing!! 😂

Chris LaLonde

You definitely will want to add the 'Angel' series when the time comes. Lots of overlapping tie-ins at the beginning, and IMO it's the better series of the two.

EricG

Actually in the movie Buffy was a senior. Joss dropped Buffy age and grade for the series so they could have multiple seasons.

Eli

I did some testing, and: [Bitsearch.to] Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1080p AI Upscale DVD x265 HEVC 10bit AC3 Vertag) seems to be syncing perfectly. For anyone else with the same issue.

Onno Smits

Yeah, it was aired as a single episode for me. But that was a long time ago. I was in high school. I use to stay up and watch it on my square TV. Sitting on my blow up chair. 🤣 man I am old.

Adam

If someone knows, can you share what source she's watching from? I watched this first episode with the (terrible) widescreen version on Disney+ and it's not syncing properly with her version. The ad breaks are much longer. If you're watching a 4:3 source that syncs properly, just mention the torrent name, I can find it from there. 🏴‍☠️

Onno Smits

Buffy is the best network TV show ever. Season 1 is a little rough since it was a mid season replacement with a small budget and only 12 episodes. It really begins hitting it's stride in season 2. Sarah Michelle Gellar originally tried out for the part of Cordilia while Charisma Carpenter ( Cordilia) tried out for the role of Buffy. Sarah had just won a daytime Emmy for her role as Kendall Heart on All My Children.

Stephen Knueppel

I AM SO EXCITED! I can't wait to get off work today so I can watch this. You're in for such a ride with this show.

Dude Longcouch

Ooh awesome. Joined yesterday for Firefly, and 12 hours later my favorite show of all time pops up :D Great surprise.

Asmo0

Okay, need to ask a question up front: If you keep with this, do you plan to watch the spin-off in-time with Buffy after it starts? The spin-off and Buffy run in time, and in a few places, the episodes of each run into particular episodes of the others. Obviously, the lists of what to watch in what order are out there... I only ask since I know this show is already a big commitment for you...but it's worth thinking about. At least it'll be a long time from now. There's also the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie...but that predates the series by several years (1992). They aren't explicitly connected, but it's implied. It also means a 22-year old Kristy Swanson was playing a freshman-aged Buffy, which is so early 90's high school movies. It's not necessary viewing, and you could do it as a bonus some time down the line. The timing isn't really important, there's no spoilers to worry about or anything. It's just another bit of fun lore. Rupert! Anthony Head is so good in this, but good in Ted Lasso, too! He does a great villain...one day you should check out "Neverwhere". To answer your question, yes, this originally aired as a 2-hour pilot, but got broken up for the DVD release. The era was the start of "The WB" network, and you caught 7th Heaven and Dawson's Creek, the latter of which got lumped into this with Kevin Williamson's "smart teen" writing. But you also had other teen shows right in this era like "My So-Called Life", "Party of Five", and "Sweet Valley High". But it was also a perfect time for the sci-fi/fantasy blend. Star Trek DS9 was hitting its stride, the X-Files was huge, Babylon 5 was on, Sabrina the Teenage Witch was on ABC (more teen than fantasy, but you get it), and this show set the stage for Charmed, which debuted the following year. This was also not long after the revival of the vampire genre by "Interview with the Vampire" (1994). This is a show that is so much fun...but it's also shaped by so much behind-the-screen stuff. Not just the Joss Whedon toxicity (especially later), but also network details that shaped several things in both shows. You like making the "This is network TV" comment often on Firefly...as we reach certain parts, I hope you'll let us fill you in on some stuff that affected interesting choices and gives some interesting reasons for stuff. (Sorry for the long comment! Really looking forward to this with you!) (edited because I wrote this mid-episode and you caught up with things at the end of the episode)

Kevin C

The unaired pilot is pretty good but let's just say you can see why they recast.

LatePaul

Loved the reaction. Love this show. The thing I really admire about this episode is how well it does exposition/world-building/back-story. It has a problem to solve, which is that there was a movie, that was erm different in tone (that's another story), but which many would not have seen. So this has to be a stepping on point for people who saw the movie and those that are new. And I think it solves this really well. A movie that does it even better is Serenity as you probably found out by now! The budget is low, especially S1, but that doesn't really matter because the writing is so good. Plus they are very creative at working around limitations. There's a scene in the next episode where they demonstrate a feat of Slayer strength with a simple camera cut. I think you're going to love this, a) because it's just a great show, but b) for you specifically because it's a rich source of metaphor and symbolism. If you see something that looks like it might mean something and you wonder if it was intentional, it probably was.

LatePaul

I'm so glad you're watching this in the original aspect ratio! The widescreen HD edit of Buffy is famously bad - it breaks a lot of the framing and wasn't colour graded the same as the original.

Paul Barker

I watched this off and on during its first 1.5 seasons in initial broadcast, but I stopped until season 3 was in summer reruns, then I stayed with it through the rest of its run. I was on a discussion board that was prominent enough to have Joss and a few other writers stop by occasionally and add some comments. Tim Minear, who was the co-showrunner with Joss for both Angel and Firefly, was a much more frequent poster on the board.

Kathy A

There is a 25 minute unaired pilot, that was expanded and reshot with some cast changes that became this episode.

Sample-Text

His brother, Murray Head, sang "One Night in Bangkok."

Tom Grassia

Out of my top 5 series of all time this is #1.

Sample-Text

Oh boy, excited to start this journey with you! Going to really enjoy watching your takes on this classic.

Allison Macrae


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