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humour barriers
You know, it’s really quite hard to introduce people to a show by watching funny episodes.
Take BtVS. If you decide to show someone all the really great episodes, that they absolutely must watch, it’s fairly simple to come up with a list. (For the record – no matter who you ask, you’ll get at least five of the following suggestions: Hush, Once More With Feeling, Fool For Love, The Body, The Gift, Conversations With Dead People, Restless, Becoming, and Normal Again. Every time.)
Funny episodes, though?
I’ve seen people trying to get their friends into Buffy by saying “Hey, we should watch Something Blue! That episode’s hilarious!” And I sit there and think “Well, yeah, it is. But why?”
…because Something Blue is brilliant and very fun. Mostly because Buffy and Spike are together – which they’d never do, and it’s so funny watching them acting in such a silly, out-of-character way.
It’s extremely fun. If you’ve seen them being normal in other episodes.
The Zeppo? Really fun parody of the normal angsty-saving-the-world that the show does.
…which is hilarious, if you know what they’re making fun of.
And Superstar? Brilliant episode. Which completely loses its appeal if you don’t know how weird the situation actually is.
The same seems to be true of a lot of shows, actually. The best funny episodes are side-splittingly hilarious… and rely on the viewers knowing exactly what things are like in the not-so-funny episodes.
Which means the new viewers end up going “Meh. Can’t really see the appeal…” and waltzing off to watch more Days Of Our Lives instead…
Take BtVS. If you decide to show someone all the really great episodes, that they absolutely must watch, it’s fairly simple to come up with a list. (For the record – no matter who you ask, you’ll get at least five of the following suggestions: Hush, Once More With Feeling, Fool For Love, The Body, The Gift, Conversations With Dead People, Restless, Becoming, and Normal Again. Every time.)
Funny episodes, though?
I’ve seen people trying to get their friends into Buffy by saying “Hey, we should watch Something Blue! That episode’s hilarious!” And I sit there and think “Well, yeah, it is. But why?”
…because Something Blue is brilliant and very fun. Mostly because Buffy and Spike are together – which they’d never do, and it’s so funny watching them acting in such a silly, out-of-character way.
It’s extremely fun. If you’ve seen them being normal in other episodes.
The Zeppo? Really fun parody of the normal angsty-saving-the-world that the show does.
…which is hilarious, if you know what they’re making fun of.
And Superstar? Brilliant episode. Which completely loses its appeal if you don’t know how weird the situation actually is.
The same seems to be true of a lot of shows, actually. The best funny episodes are side-splittingly hilarious… and rely on the viewers knowing exactly what things are like in the not-so-funny episodes.
Which means the new viewers end up going “Meh. Can’t really see the appeal…” and waltzing off to watch more Days Of Our Lives instead…
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Gabrielle
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Even The Gift and Becoming are culminations of season-long arcs, and that previous momentum is part of what makes them great.
(I have no idea why anyone would recommend CWDP to a newcomer, but I've never been as enamored of it as most folks.)
Now that I've been all cranky about people's choices, I'm trying to think what good intro eps are.
It turns out The Initiative is a pretty good intro. It's funny but not so much in the in-joke sense you're talking about, it's action-oriented, it's the main intro to three major season elements: Riley/Buffy, the Initiative, and Spike's chip. (I actually discovered this by sheer fortuosity: it's what I felt like watching the day the housemate offered to watch an episode.)
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Agreed. Of the eps
What about "Halloween"? Or "Harsh Light of Day"? Otherwise, I am pretty stumped.
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In my opinion, really great humor is character-driven. It's funny if you know the characters and their relationships and their quirks and their situation. The more character-dependent humor is, the more I'm going to like it. Which is why the list of sitcoms I love is very, very short. Most sitcoms either A) go for the joke first, character second or B) don't have that great of characters to begin with, just stereotypes.
Character pwns all.
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1.Pangs
2.Tabula Rasa
3.Band Candy
4.Life Serial
5.Him
The Zeppo, Something Blue & Superstar might make honorable mention. Those three episode had some very amusing moments but nothing really laugh-out-loud funny to me.
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I had a lack of success getting someone started on OMWF, too, because she couldn't see what was so awesome about these people singing.
My pick for the best humorous episode to show a newbie is "Life Serial," and not just because it's one of my all-time favorites. There's enough situational humor -- Buffy's repeating time in the magic shop, anyone? -- that's funny even without much context.
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"Hey! ...I mean, heyyyy."
"Randy Giles!!?"
"Oh, Rupie."
And that look on Tara's face.
But it's the embodiment of everything you're saying. It's only funny when YOU know who they really are, even though they don't.
It's only sad when you know the true extent of Willow's betrayal.
"Goodbye to you" still makes me cry!
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I saw the musical ep long long before I watched the show start to finish, and thought I liked certain things and certain characters. Only to rewatch it a couple of years later and go "DAMN THIS IS DEPRESSING...also, that 'ship skeeves me out."
Context, baby. All the good writers use it to make the funnies.
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