Whedonesque : Comments on 5431 : Letter from Joss Whedon in Complete Buffy DVD boxset (R2).

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November 25 2004

Letter from Joss Whedon in Complete Buffy DVD boxset (R2). Scroll down the forum and a post on there reveals what was written by Joss Whedon in the letter that accompanies the Region 2 Release of the complete collector's edition of the DVD.

Sorry it's technically a self-link as I wrote the original post, but I thought fans who didn't buy this boxset might be interested to see what was written. DVD Reviewer isn't my website though. Also, if anyone wants to know the list of Joss Whedon's favourite episodes (not penned by himself), then let me know. The descriptions of why he liked them are quite cool too.

brob1 | BtVS | 23:12 CET | 37 comments total | tags:

Sounds a cool boxset, but as I have all seven seasons already in their individual boxes, and the content is all the same, I'll not be buying this.

Wonder if they'll do a 'Collectors Edition' in a year or so, maybe on Blu-Ray, with more bloopers and actual interviews or new commentaries with SMG?

zz9 | November 25, 23:28 CET

I'm not going to buy this set as I too have all 7 seasons but it was wonderful to read the letter. God but I love the way that man writes.

Lioness | November 25, 23:32 CET

The top 10 not written by himself, Id love to hear that considering that he had a part in writing 9 of the top 10 that was on the season 7 DVD

rabid | November 25, 23:44 CET

YAY! A letter from Joss.. lovely gesture.

I only have the videos and DVD Boxset of Season 5 so it's been a great deal for me. I wonder if they'll do a Complete Angel DVD boxset ?

zz9 Region 2 Buffy boxset is sold out on Amazon.co.uk

pelinxf | November 25, 23:49 CET

Since it's just a repacaging of the discs with all the original disc art, they should sell the packaging without the DVDs (for way cheaper) so that those of us who have all seven seasons already can buy it and put our DVDs in it. I have mine in a DVD case right by my DVD player for easy access, but this would be way cooler.

I would like to see the list of the top 10 ep. Joss didn't write with the reasons why.

[ edited by Jinxieman on 2004-11-25 21:59 ]

Jinxieman | November 25, 23:58 CET

Despite the self linking to your own post, I'll let it stand. But don't do it in future.

And I gather that one of the 10,000 DVD sets contains the actual letter that Joss wrote.

Simon | November 26, 00:36 CET

DVD set #00,001 contained the actual letter, and it's being given away as a prize (closed yesterday) in SFX magazine.

Ghost Spike | November 26, 01:14 CET

pelinxf, not suprised it's sold out, but to me personally the actual episodes and extras are what matter, not the packaging, nice though it is. But that's just me, and I understand why many people want the shiny box.

And NOW you tell us about the SFX competition!!! Or did I miss it...?

zz9 | November 26, 02:42 CET

Erm, yer, read it, entered it, never thought to post it here. Sorry.

There were two copies of the set up for grabs numbers 1 & 2.

Ghost Spike | November 26, 03:07 CET

Damn, I subscribe to SFX but I never bother to look at the competitions because I never enter. However this I would've entered, oh well, too late now.

Paul_Rocks | November 26, 04:52 CET

I'm really hoping that they go back and remaster the S1 DVDs some day, because the ridiculously poor video quality is a real blemish on the series. I would buy the complete set, were it released in the US, should they improve S1. In Never Kill a Boy on the First Date, the worst case, for example, there are strange technical glitches and very distracting pixellated boxes that appear in the scene where the ultra-religious vamp rises in the morgue. S2 and S3 aren't great either, and remastered versions of those episodes would be appreciated, too, but aren't as necessary as S1. I would really only re-buy the episodes were the video quality improved. And some more commentaries wouldn't hurt!

Rob | November 26, 05:04 CET

Rob, I'm sure I have read somewhere that the early seasons were shot on a lower grade format than later seasons which would contribute greatly to the level of suckiness. They're still four episodes per disc so they haven't compressed them any more than later seasons.

Count yourself lucky, after watching the unaired pilot ("Buffy's hair is darker, oh, it's Xander...") S1 looks great!

zz9 | November 26, 05:33 CET

I'd like to know Joss' favorite episodes...

ShotgunWes | November 26, 05:38 CET

Rob, you never know, they might remaster all of the episodes in HD for Blu Ray. It'd take a bit of work, though...

*goes back off into his fantasy world*

The First Weevil | November 26, 06:56 CET

HD wouldn't improve Season 1's video quality by much, since I don't think it was shot on film. Was it?

eddy | November 26, 07:01 CET

16mm, I believe.

The First Weevil | November 26, 07:06 CET

Well, it wasn't just the quality overall. Certain scenes, like the one I mentioned in NKABOTFD are suckier than others. I'm sure they could try to at least make the level of poor video quality more consistent. In that one for example, the issue is not the video but I believe the compression, due to the pixellation.

Rob | November 26, 07:24 CET

The encoding, yeah. Unfortunately, DVD authoring houses weren't as masterful at encoding then as they are now. Encoding season one wouldn't exactly have been a picnic, either.

The First Weevil | November 26, 07:36 CET

Season 1 and 2 were shot on 16mm and for the amount of money they had it looks damn good.

herb | November 26, 08:03 CET

I actually like the "darker" film look of the 16mm S1 and S2 - call me strange. It makes me recall Twin Peaks.

cubiclesatan | November 26, 08:29 CET

I'd like you to post that list too, brob1.

dreamlogic | November 26, 08:32 CET

The episodes that he talks about are:

The Pack
Ted
Passion
I Only Have Eyes For You
The Wish
The Zeppo
Earshot
Pangs
Fool For Love
Tabula Rasa
Selfless
Conversations With Dead People

Simon | November 26, 11:19 CET

Well I'm one of those that has the entire show already on DVD but if I was filthy rich (hah haha...ha...) I would probably buy this thing too. It's a cool item.

Still not rich though.

EdDantes | November 26, 13:04 CET

Thanks for adding the list Simon. If I'm in a type-y mood later I might even add the comments he wrote for each episode :)

brob1 | November 26, 14:07 CET

Well that list greatly overlaps mine. So, whoohoo.

The Pack was the first episode I saw, channel hopping one night. 'What the HELL is this,' I thought and couldn't get over the genuine creepyness and, well, dog-ness of those kids. 'Must see more of THAT.' And a beautiful friendship was born. Over the years I've seen a lot of fans' dislike for The Pack, I'm glad its creator agrees with me on its greatness. Extrapolating... No Pack, No Whedonesque!

Caroline | November 26, 14:13 CET

edited because I should learn to read. Please disregard

[ edited by Son Of Shadow on 2004-11-26 13:50 ]

Son Of Shadow | November 26, 14:58 CET

He wrote Ted with Greenwalt didn't he? And part of Conversations

Mcb | November 26, 15:11 CET

Have to agree with that list, though Ted has never been one of my favourite episodes. John Ritter was great but having a nice, convenient, way to explain why her friends sided with Ted (drugged cookies) was a cheap shot for me. Usually the show is great about having real reasons for people to do stuff, with real conequences later. This was just "Oh drugged cookies, all better now!"

zz9 | November 26, 15:51 CET

Here's my list, in no particular order:

I Only Have Eyes for You
Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered
The Zeppo
Fool For Love
Conversations with Dead People
Intervention
Selfless
Dead Things
Helpless
Passion

ETA: I just realised that there were 12 episodes on the original list. I therefore add:
Wild at Heart
Lies My Parents Told Me

[ edited by Son Of Shadow on 2004-11-26 15:07 ]

Son Of Shadow | November 26, 16:43 CET

John Ritter was great but having a nice, convenient, way to explain why her friends sided with Ted (drugged cookies) was a cheap shot for me. Usually the show is great about having real reasons for people to do stuff, with real conequences later. This was just "Oh drugged cookies, all better now!"

I don't think it was so much to explain why they liked him but rather to give Xander and Willow something to lead them to the conclusion that Ted was not who he claimed to be. I can't remember but do they eat cookies the first time they meet Ted or are they nice to him before that?

Grounded | November 26, 16:54 CET

I always remembered the cookies as being a running thing. It just slightly bugged me as an 'easy' explanation. I even bought the fact that someone could make a functioning robot in the fifties with fifties technology!

Not saying it's a 'bad' episode, and I suspect Joss rates it for showing Buffy and others reacting to the death of a human. I have read someone else query why everyone stares at Buffy in school when they have all seen her do much weirder stuff without any reaction but I think that was more Buffy noticing their stares, wheras before she wouldn't care.

(What is it with Sunnydale and robots? Warren had all these cool plans to get stuff yet it never occured to him to sell his robot/AI technology! Bill Gates would have paid billions!)

zz9 | November 26, 18:57 CET

To be honest, robots never seemed like a particularly good idea to me. I didn't mind the premise of I Robot, You Jane since it was a demon possessing a robotic body rather than some insanely advanced, human-looking robot made by a college kid...

Grounded | November 26, 19:26 CET

Oh, I think Ted is a brilliant episode, although you may have had to have been in the situation to really understand it; in other words, be the child of a divorced mother who gets a new boyfriend that everyone absolutely loves but you think is a monster. I've been there, and so I completely identified with Buffy in this episode and understood what she was going through. Interestingly, it was also the first episode I ever saw. It is a strange episode to start watching this show on, but also really helped me get sucked in instantly, due to my instant identification with the protagonist.

Rob | November 26, 20:49 CET

I also think 'Ted' was a good episode. John Ritter (bless his soul) really pulled a good meaning in here. Buffy taking a human life would replay several times within the series.

For me, I've always thought 'Nightmares' was one of the better episodes of season one.

Madhatter | November 26, 21:25 CET

Rob, I understand the metaphor, though I haven't been there myself, but having a drug to conveiently explain the gangs attitude made it less 'real', if that makes sense.

It was one of the few times that BtVS has done the "Star Trek It's The End Of The Episode So Let's Excuse Everything And Get Everyone Best Friends Again" trick.

If the drugs were supposed to be a metaphor themselves then it was a metaphor inside a metaphor. I would have preferred everyone to have simply seen the best in Ted and suspect Buffy of overreacting.

In Living Conditions everyone thought Buffy was going crazy, so when they found out she was right all along they had their own little guilt of not trusting her to deal with. With the drug excuse in Ted they could all just forget about it.

No way am I saying Ted was a terrible episode or anything like it, just that for me there were so many others even better.

And John Ritter was great. His teeth makeup was fantastic and in an interview on the DVD he talks about how he liked to go through Buffys underwear drawer to help him "find the character"...

zz9 | November 26, 22:51 CET

There's no reason to believe the gang wouldn't have acted in roughly the same manner without the cookies, so why assume so? The cookies aren't a 'be best friends' thing, they're a plot device to lead Xander and Willow to the truth.

Grounded | November 27, 00:36 CET

I am right there with you Rob. I was in the exact position as you and Buffy, only my mom married the a**hole. I was nearly in tears watching the first half, up until Buffy pushed Ted down the stairs.

I also somewhat agree with the cheapness of the cookies, but I liked it because it got me out of the uncomfortableness of the ep, if that makes sence.

It is still hard for me to watch, I think I've only seen it 2 or 3 times.

Spikecam21 | November 29, 18:43 CET

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