TVSquad

I would even hesitate to call Buffy The Vampire Slayer a superhero. Yeah, she has incredible fighting powers and goes up against various monsters and evildoers, but it's really odd to see her name next to superheroes such as Batman, The Flash, Superman, and Captain America.

But according to readers of Redeye, she's a better superhero than The Dark Knight. (Yup, it's another character showdown over at Redeye.)

Welcome to Subtle Subtitles. For those of you who are uninitiated to the purpose of this feature, we're asking you to come up with your funniest quote or description for what's going on in the screen grab we choose for the week. Winners are announced in the following Friday's contest.

Last contest's winner: Dorv

"You know, Dru was a 20th level dungeon master, but I could never get how the bloody game worked..."

This week, I couldn't resist using the image from my Ken Levine and Cheers post ...

All-in-all, Angel was a good series, even though it kept reinventing itself each season. The set changes (Angel's original digs, the hotel, Wolfram and Hart), the cast changes, and the character changes (Fred to Ilyria) threw off my equilibrium, sometimes leaving me longing for the security of the previous season.

One of the hardest changes for me to take was the death of Doyle, who added so much heart and humor to season one. Even sadder was that the actor who played Doyle, Glenn Quinn, went on to die a tragic death in 2002.

The greatness of the Scooby Gang on Buffy the Vampire Slayer was enhanced by the addition of Oz (Daniel Osbourne) in seasons two, three, and four. Sometimes a werewolf, mostly Willow's boyfriend, he added a new level of comedic relief to Buffy.

It wasn't the situations he was in, nor did he take the pratfall route. Oz was dry -- dry like a desert, dry like overcooked Thanksgiving turkey, dry like a leather shoe left out in the sun for several thousand years. Master of the understatement, man of few words, sarcasm blended with wit.

Arguably, Oz was the most quotable character on Buffy. For instance, when he found out vampires were real, he simply stated, "That explains a lot!" Another of my favorite Oz quotes was from season four, when Buffy was complaining about her college roommate and punching the air. Oz posits, "No one deserves mime, Buffy."

Revisit some of Oz's best quotable moments from each season he appears in and enjoy a giggle or two remembering the werewolf with a sense of humor.

Poor Buffy. You'd think that with a life-threatening job like Vampire Slayer, she'd at least get a break once a year, on her birthday. No such luck for Buffy, but great luck for the viewers; we get really meaningful episodes, with significance to both the story arc and insight to the characters' motivations. Buffy's birthday episodes have been some of the strongest of the series.

Season One
These is no birthday episode in season one, since the series began as a mid-season replacement.

Season Two, episode 13, "Surprise"
In this episode, the Scooby Gang throws a surprise party for Buffy, but that is only one minor surprise in an episode filled with significant surprises. We learn that Jenny Calendar is actually "Janna of the Kalderash Gypsies" and that her people were the ones who cursed Angel's soul. Oz gets his surprise when he finds out that vampires are real and that Buffy is the Slayer.

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.

Allow me to get in touch with my feminine side just for the sake of this article. Having my girlfriend as a sounding board also helped.

When Buffy the Vampire Slayer hit the airwaves in 1997 as a television adaptation of an unremarkable movie, no one ever expected the show to be a success let alone establish itself as a part of modern philosophy.

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.

When one of our favorite TV shows goes off the air, it can be devastating. However, many times, the cancellation is the birth of a spinoff. Sometimes it can be a great thing (Frasier) and sometimes not so much (AfterM*A*S*H). Here are some this month's spinoff ideas that I would love to see.

So you Think You're a Gentleman
Do you have the power to take away the ability of speech? Can you make it look like you're floating while walking? Are you one of the creepiest looking people in the world? Then you might be just what "The Gentlemen" are looking for. "The Gentlemen" from the Emmy winning Buffy episode 'Hush' are looking for a new member and you may be him. Please send in a videotape of yourself flashing your creepiest smile and detailing what makes you the only choice to be the next Gentleman. Hosted by Doug Jones

Our Monday morning roundup of a half dozen things TV Squad readers - and TV fans in general - will be talking about this week.

1. Wipeout and I Survived A Japanese Game Show: Next season the Japanese will come over here and star in I Survived The Jerry Springer Show. (Tuesday at 8pm on ABC.)
2. The strike: One more week to go before the deadline.
3. The Baby Borrowers: Stars Jamie Lynn Spears and these girls. (Wednesday at 9pm on NBC.)
4. Jimmy Kimmel on The View: He's dumped on them for years and now he's going to be on the show. Should be interesting. (This morning on ABC.)
5. Hey, it's Buffy/Angel Week!: Our retro summer continues with posts about Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel (and everything related to them).
6. Rescue Me minisodes: We really have to think of a better name for these things. (Starts Tuesday at 10pm.)

Another week, another list issue of Entertainment Weekly.

I'm not sure what to make of all of these lists. We do them here too, but it seems to me the more giant lists that are done the more meaningless they become. This EW issue is "The New Classics," the 1000 best TV shows, movies, books, and music of the past 25 years. Since this is a television blog, I won't get into their book, movie, and music picks (but if I can just say as a side note, they pick both Clueless and The Naked Gun before L.A. Confidential?!), but let's talk about their TV choices.

And argue about those choices in the comments, of course.

OK, Angel fans, you've got another reason to celebrate, especially the week of June 23rd. As if it weren't enough that it is Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel week here at TV Squad's Retro Squad, we've just learned the news that season one of Angel will premiere on Hulu beginning on Monday, June 23rd.

Personally, I think it was really classy of Hulu to debut Angel to coincide with our Retro Squad Angel week. What? You think it was a lucky coincidence? That simply cannot be ...

Many of the best things in life have been serendipitous: Post-It Notes, ice cream cones, the Slinky. So I guess I can happily accept the debut of Angel on Hulu coinciding with TV Squad's Angel week being another fortuitous moment that benefits all of mankind.

It looks like academia is going to study the Slayer. A three-day academic conference has been at Henderson State University in Little Rock, Arkansas to study the works of Joss Whedon, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The conference is to focus more on the philosophical themes of the series. Several books have been published on this particular subject matter (one of which sits on my own bookshelves).

"It has staying power," said Kevin Durand, an associate professor of philosophy at the school. "It's like I tell my students in philosophy a lot of times: We're not so much about necessarily finding all the answers as wanting to ask better questions. 'Buffy,' I think, does that. 'Buffy' never really leaves you with nice, pat answers. You have even more questions than when you started."

My only question is: where were the Buffy philosophy classes when I went to college? Oh yeah, Buffy wasn't around yet.

Lately when people discuss Joss Whedon, it's having to do with his comic book writing and, of course, the upcoming new series, Dollhouse. What seems to have slipped off the radar is any discussion about the made-for-BBC Rupert Giles-centric, Buffy spin-off, Ripper. We get bits and pieces and clues here and there regarding the show's current state, but nothing seems very concrete.

In a recent interview with Digital Spy, Anthony Stewart Head discusses his newest project on BBC One, The Invisibles, but he also drops an update on the state of Ripper and posts his thoughts on the Buffy Season Eight comic.

Reaper's back and I'm excited. If you are too, don't go looking for your fave show in its old time slot, Thursdays at 8:00 EST. It's got an all-new night and time, Tuesdays (tonight!) at 9:00 EST on The CW.

Now, why am I so excited about Reaper's return?

1. The Devil
He's suave, slick, sarcastic, and nasty -- I love him! Ray Wise couldn't have been a more perfect casting choice for this modern-day incarnation of Satan himself. From popping up at inopportune times to manipulating Sam's love life, The Devil wreaks havoc in such a subtle, funny way that you can't help but appreciate the underlying evil with the debonair facade.

I am a true whore for any Whedon universe. I thank the Powers That Be for DVD releases, so I don't have to mourn over the loss of Buffy, Angel and Firefly. Heck, I even watch Toy Story and salivate just a little.

So you can imagine how excited I am that Joss will have a new series, Dollhouse, and that glorious new details have been revealed about the series this week.

Earlier today Bob mentioned that Amy Acker (Fred / Ilyria on Angel) will join Eliza Dushku (Buffy's Faith) and Harry Lennix (24 and The Matrix). So far, an amazing lineup. The fact that I get to see some of my old Whedon universe friends back with Joss' work is very cool.

(S08I12) I never really cared for the Dracula episode of Buffy. It definitely had its funny moments, but having Dracula thrown into the Buffyverse lore was hard to stomach. Not to mention this ass had an easy time of wooing Buffy. Oh, and Xander too.

That said, this was a great issue. It marks the first of a series of issues written by TV Buffy writer Drew Goddard, and the feeling from the show is captured perfectly. For some reason I wasn't able to say that as much before, but here I feel right at home.