A Buffy/Angel fan who needs help with next purchase!

Well, all 3 titles you mentioned I love.
I own both seasons of Dark Angel, IMHO should have run much longer. I have the first season of ALias and have seen every episode first run, excellent show, one of my favorites on tv today. Smallville another excellent show, but I haven't picked up the DVD yet.
And if you like sci-fi: FARSCAPE! one of the best shows ever made and ended too soon.
Firefly is pretty good too (from the creator of Buffy/Angel)

 

Well, Firefly seems obvious.

And while Smallville and Alias are fitting and good shows, do yourself a favor and pick up The Tick. It's like Seinfeld, only funny and with superheroes.

 

Alan,
i'm a big Buffy fan as well.
i finally got around to watching the first season set and it renewed my love for the show.
i'm waiting to pick up S2 and watch that before i hit S3 and S5 (which i already bought).

in the mean time i finally decided to start watching Alias.
i bought S1 in Sept blind, figuring it had good word of mouth and Jennifer Garner looked like some decent eye candy.
i dipped into a coupe of the first episodes and it looked like a fairly amusing show, but i wasn't hooked.
it took me to get to the second disc before something clicked and in the matter of a couple of weeks i tore thru both seasons.
i just finished S2 last night.
the show flat out rocks!
i hate to make a comparison, but i loved Buffy.
i loved that Whedon found a tone to make a weekly monster/superhero show work and i will always give him credit for that- however, looking back on Alias, i am just in awe.
the episodes just zip by, dazzling with production value, humour, and plot twists.
it's insane how good this show is for a weekly series.
i lost count of the number of times i laughed or gasped out loud.

i've heard the 3rd season is disappointing a lot of people, but i won't be catching up with it until its released on dvd in Sept.
all i know is S1 & 2 were a helluva ride, and this show was one of the absolute best blind buys i ever made.

as good as Alias is, Dark Angel seemed tired and disappointing.
a few mildly good eps here and there, but the contrast in entertainment value and imagination between the shows is startling.

Smallville is a fine show (i would rank it a just a notch below Alias) but it really started to come into its own in the second season.
the first season is primarily formula- the same thing/different character week after week.

this is the area where Alias trumps a lot of other shows and reminds me more of Buffy (and Dallas, believe it or not).
it excels in continuity and most of the eps end on a plot twist/complication or cliffhanger- that makes for very addictive viewing.

 

Any Joss Whedon fan should pick up Firefly! That would be my #1 suggestion...

I also like:
Angel
Buffy
Alias
24
CSI
Dark Angel (season 1 is best, but 2 was okay, too - this show is not to all tastes)
Any Trek (which isn't on your list because of price)
Stargate SG-1

 

Definitely pick up the first two seasons of Alias. Just be patient with it. Season 1 starts out slowly, but once "The Box Parts I & II" roll around, the show never lets up.

 

I agree with the Firefly recommendations -- Costco had it for only $31.99, so you should be able to find it online for a price in that range.

Alias Season 1 & 2 are terrific. I've been watching the series on tv since the beginning, and while Season 3 is indeed a crushing disappointment so far, that doesn't diminish much I loved the first 2 years, and I don't feel that my money was wasted on the dvd sets.

Roswell Season 1 has just come out. The series only lasted 3 seasons, and it's got the usual Fox pricing, so it's not going to be a huge financial commitment. It's a little more soap opera-y than Buffy, but I thought it had good characterization and a nice visual style.

The Dead Zone series is another good buy. Not too expensive, and audio commentary on every single episode, so it will keep you busy for a while. Anthony Michael Hall does a great job carrying the show.

I agree that The Tick live-action is worth getting--hilarious little show. (And, if enough people buy the dvd, maybe Sonnenfeld can get the financing together for a Tick live-action feature film, so buy it for my sake, ok?

Farscape is terrific, but it's in the Trek price range.

I watch Smallvillle regularly on tv, but I haven't bought the season 1 dvd yet because it seems a little expensive for something with next-to-no bonus materials. If the season 2 dvd gets better reviews, I may get them both at once, but I'm not sure.

alan do you use Netflix? You could rent the first disc of a set you're curious about before spending too much money on it.

 

I will mention Babylon 5 - Buffy and B5 are similiar in that they both have rabidly adoring fanbase (me being one of those people after watching it again on DVD).

I'm not a Buffy guy, but B5 is very much character & story driven. As well as almost pioneering story-arc based TV in the US.
As I understand it, Buffy's big strength was character driven storytelling and story arcs as well (albeit in a different way).

Thus, I will suggest giving it a shot if you like Sci-fi, give it a shot. You can get B5 seasons for about $65 or so if you hunt around a bit (DDD, etc)

 

Be prepared to be disappointed.

There are lots of good shows, but if you really like Buffy & Angel, everything else just feels like a bit of a step down. It's like the store is sold out of your favorite pop, so you have to settle for the diet version.

Of the shows mentioned, I'd put Alias at the top of the list. It's a very high quality show, although it can get kind of soap opera-ish (especially season 2).

-Dave

 

From your comments I suggest Farscape or Deep Space Nine. I know you will think them too expensive but go with netflix and rent them. You won't regret it.

 

Also with FARSCAPE, the disks are available individually for S1 and in 2 disk sets for seasons 2+. So you could get the single disk vol 1 of S1 and if for some insane reason don't like it, you're not out the price of a full season, and you can also get them at a slower space to save money in between.
I never bought the season sets, I've been getting the indivisual releases as they come out....

 

I'll definitely second Babylon 5. I never paid attention to it when it was on TV, but after reading some of the praise here about it I decided to give it a chance. Season One was good, I could see a lot of seeds being planted. And Season 2 is just awesome, only about one third the way through. I hear the best it yet to come!

 

I would also suggest Alias as the most likely to be enjoyed of the shows you listed, though I haven't watched Smallville since the first part of season one and I've heard it got better. I found the first season to be a bit of a mix of Dawson's Creek and the monster-of-the-week X-Files episodes. One thing that may be a bit frustrating with Alias, as a Whedon fan, is that Alias is prone to letting its storylines drag on a lot longer than the Whedon shows did. I always enjoyed the fairly self-contained nature of the Buffy seasons.

Another vote for the Tick as well. Plus, it was created by Ben Edlund wo has since been working on both Firefly and Angel.

 

Get Stargate SG-1. Amazon.ca has each of seasons 1-3 for $26. An excellent deal for an awesome show.

Stargate is another show where each episode could be watched individually, but taken as a whole, paints a much bigger picture.

I picked up season 1 when it came out and loved it so much that I spent the next month and a half finding seasons 2-4 so that I could catch up with season 5 on Showtime. Season 8 is going to start on Sci-fi in July. It will be paired with the new spinoff series.

 

I'll 3rd Babylon 5: It is definately dark and edgy as well as story and character driven.
I'll also 3rd Stargate.

 

Babylon 5 is also excellent. It's a bit more expensive, which is why I didn't recommend it. You also have to get beyond the first season, which is difficult for the uninitiated. The first season is incredibly important, but it's very bumpy. It works much better when you watch it AFTER having seen the whole series. Season 2 is great. Season 3 is absolutely incredible... but you must watch it all if you watch any.

 

Other than an occasional viewing when this was broadcast, I had never really paid attention to this show... which I guess you kind of have to.

I recently borrowed B5: The Gathering and the first season. I've watched Gathering, and I'm about two-thirds of the way through season one and I'm lovin it. I'm told from several sources that it gets much better from there...

-Scott

 

I was in the same place as you, Alan, last fall. I had just finished with Angel S2 and needed something to tide me over while awaiting Buffy S5 and Firefly in December. I had heard a lot about Smallville and about Alias, so I basically flipped a coin and went with Alias. Enjoyed it tremendously, ended up buying S2 (though I haven't watched S2 yet).

 

It gets much, much better from there. As John pointed out the 1st Season is usually a bit of a struggle for 1st time viewers. The series continues to get better and better up through Season 4. Season 5 although not as good as Seasons 2-4 is still worthwhile.