Interesting. I know quite a few people who would disagree that all the best Buffy seasons were in the 90's. YMMV.

Emmie | November 19, 02:52 CET

I was about to scream Passion before seeing "of the Decade." Carry on.

sumogrip | November 19, 02:56 CET

My favourite Buffy seasons are probably 5 & 6, so I'm one of those people Emmie refers to (not the Emmie knowing me part :) ).

I'm not sure which is the best, objectively.

WilliamTheB | November 19, 03:28 CET

I agree. It's hard to be truly objective about a show that means so much to you. For me, Once More With Feeling will always be the greatest Buffy episode of all time, but I think that has less to do with it being amazing (which it is) and more with it having such an emotional impact. It was the first episode of Buffy I ever saw, and I have a musical theater background that the episode spoke to. Not to mention that it's the episode that opened the world of Whedon to me. So objective? I think not.

The Irish Cowgirl | November 19, 03:44 CET

I too disagree that Buffy's best seasons were in the '90s. Most of them are, but season 5 is my favourite. If you ask me, "The Body" is the greatest hour of television ever made.

Racoon Boy | November 19, 05:15 CET

My favourite season is s3 followed very closely by s2, so I would consider Buffy's best seasons to be in the '90s. However, I enjoyed the other stuff as well.

vampmogs | November 19, 05:42 CET

I hope Firefly is a contender for best one season wonder.

Kon4MItY | November 19, 06:08 CET

I would more love it to be a contender for best show. :)

As I understood it, best one season wonder is probably meant for shows like "Heroes", which don't warrant a mention as a whole, but really had one year where it was kinda awesome.

It is interesting to me how seasons of a popular show can vary in their popularity. A while back I looked at the imdb-user-ratings for "Six Feet Under"-episodes, and I noticed that except for the season opener and the season finale, all the bottom episodes were from Season 4. All ten of them. I somehow fail to explain it, maybe there is gigantic George-backlash out there that I'm not aware of, but it really seemed like that season didn't click with the audience like the others did. Season 3, imo, was the far more controversial one (in terms of possible alienation of the audience), but yet it seemed to do fine.

(Checked it again right now: While the season opener and the season finale an "That's My Dog" (brilliant ep!) do fine, 7 of the bottom 9 are from Season 4.)

wiesengrund | November 19, 10:27 CET

It's hard to tell what people aren't going to like about a season I guess, the obvious candidates often glide by and conversely what to me seem to be innocuous changes can suddenly have a fandom in uproar.

As I understood it, best one season wonder is probably meant for shows like "Heroes", which don't warrant a mention as a whole, but really had one year where it was kinda awesome.

Hmm, I assumed it meant shows that only ran for one season but were brilliant while they lasted ('Firefly', 'Wonderfalls', 'The Inside' etc.) though since it's seemingly an analogy to "One-hit Wonder" I guess it sort of makes sense both ways (many one-hit wonder bands actually carry on as bands for years afterwards, they just never have another hit).

Best episode is virtually impossible, even just restricting it to the 00s (and harder still since he asks us to "leave out the obvious contenders listed above" including Buffy and BSG) but given those restrictions, i'd probably plump for old faithful, 'Three Stories' from 'House'. Amazing character moments, emotionally resonant reveals and a couple of "big ideas" thrown in. Brilliant TV (one of the best things being, it works textually as well i.e. it's actually an amazing bit of teaching, one of those lectures you'd remember for the rest of your life).

Best season (again, avoiding those "obvious contenders") ? 'Veronica Mars' S1 narrowly edges 'Dexter' S1 and 'Flight of the Conchords' S1 for me. Couldn't in all conscience suggest 'Heroes' S1 (though I really enjoyed it for the most part, especially the excellent 'Company Man') just because they fumbled the finale so very badly IMO.

Best import (from an American perspective), 'Spaced' I guess would narrowly edge out 'The Office' (though technically 'Spaced' series 1 is from 1999).

Saje | November 19, 11:44 CET

The article says that Hush was the final Buffy ep of 1999 so I'll take his word for it - I didn't discover BtS until it was in reruns.
So my favorite seasons are all in this decade, with the exception of season 4. My favorites being 6,4,5,2,7,3 and 1.
The absolute statement that "Buffy's best seasons were all in the 90's" is annoying as hell, without so much as an IMO - IMO. ;)

For an individual season of a show that might not make the best series list, I'd go with Dexter season 1.
Also The West Wing either season 2 or 7 (since season 1 was 1999).

Shey | November 19, 14:44 CET

Hah, "Hush" being the final Buffy-ep of '99 reminds of that dream I once had, about my dad giving me a birthday or christmas present: A DVD with the Top Ten Angel Episodes of the 90s. (Angel, of course, aired exactly it's first ten episodes in the fall of '99.)

wiesengrund | November 19, 15:09 CET

Interesting allusion to Dollhouse in this blog cited in comments to article above... comparing to new The Prisoner...

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2008-12-6-the-fien-print/posts/thoughts-on-the-finale-of-amc-s-the-prisoner

And back on topic, loved all of BtVS but Season 6 was least fav and Season 7 was the hardest to watch. The episodes where Buffy is rejected by the Slayerettes/Faith/family? Gut wrenching for me.... great TV!

ebeep99 | November 19, 15:14 CET

Heck, I picked In Treatment, Sophie episode 9 as the best episode of anything.

Dana5140 | November 19, 16:43 CET

I loved season 6 but aside from omwf, my favourite episodes are from the 90s (Innocence, Passion, Becoming.. s2 was incredible).

Nominated "A Hole in the World" and "Epitaph One" for best episode. Both are amazing.

emmy | November 19, 19:04 CET

Anyway, continuing:

Best show: Mad Men, Deadwood, The Office (both US and UK), and defiantly Buffy and Angel.

I also like South Park. (Season eight would be my pick for its best season, incidentally.)

BSG is very good, though I think it's a tad overrated in all honesty. But I think its quality is approximately constant across seasons, which is probably not something everyone agrees with. (As an example, though, season three starts off with the best material of any season of the show, and the second half is some of the show's weakest, besides the finale.) But I wouldn't mind seeing it on the list.

Maybe 30 Rock, but I don't think I like it as much.

I have very mixed feelings about Lost.

Best 1-season wonder: both Dexter and Veronica Mars have strong second seasons but very strong first seasons (well, once Dexter got its groove on around episode 5 or 6). (I liked season three of Dexter as well, but not as much.) Flight of the Conchords season 1.

Best single-season shows: Firefly, natch.

Best single episodes:
House, "Three Stories." (I do like this show generally, but it doesn't hit me hard like the others.)
Heroes: I suppose "Company Man." A few other season one episodes are quite good, nothing absolutely top-drawer.

And my Whedon choices are:

Angel, "Five By Five," "Darla," "Lullaby," or "Not Fade Away."
Dollhouse, "A Spy in the House of Love" or "Man on the Street," though I have high hopes for the next few episodes.
Firefly: Either "Objects in Space" or "Out of Gas."
Buffy, "OMWF," "The Body," "The Gift," "Fool for Love," "Restless," "Dead Things," or "Selfless."

[ edited by WilliamTheB on 2009-11-20 04:37 ]

WilliamTheB | November 20, 04:33 CET