Cult TV Genre: Buffy

Wilcox and Lavery (2002) identify 9 defining characteristics of ‘quality TV’ – can you apply any of these to other television series that you have viewed recently? Are there any other characteristics that you could add to their list?

Writer, Producer and Director Joss Whedon is considered 'the most popular film makers of his generation'. Born into a family of successful screen writers, Whedon created Buffy with the intent to manoeuvre generic stereotypes of the horror film genre, to create something memorable.

In a documentary conducted by The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (2013) Joss Whedon explained '..if I can make something in a genre thats all terrible, that's even remotely good, then I'm going to be a king of a tiny piece of media.'

According to Hills (2004) Cult television is defined through the 1) Primary text  2) Intertext and 3) fan practices. Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv series is considered a classic cult television show due to the spectacular increase of followers of the show through out airing from 1997-2003. A near five years prior to the airing of the television show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer the movie was released in 1992 written by Joss Whedon and directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui. The action, comedy, fantasy movie was not highly regarded and was subjectively unsuccessful, however this created the opportunity for an intertext that inevitably created the cult television series.

The films downfall could be explained by the writers own theory in which he explains during the documentary, A life in Pictures: Joss Whedon. In the interview, the writer explains the intrinsic link between director, writer and actor.
'Writing means you have an understanding of the intent''...directors need to see the intent through' 'Directors have to work with the actors, to know what you want and to be able to explain it and that seems to go alright.' The relationships between the director, writer and actors may have been the downfall of Buffy the horror film.

In the Wilcox and Lavery (2002) text, quality television is defined by Robert J. Thompson in nine tendencies/characteristics.

1) "Quality TV usually has a a high pedigree" It is here that the 1992 horror film plays an intrinsic role in the level of quality and recognition of followers. Within the five years between the horror film and the television series, a following of viewers would have been established and the quality of writing and directing would have developed from film to tv series as Whedon created the series and only wrote the film.

2) "Desirable demographics notwithstanding, quality shows must often undergo a noble struggle against profit-mongering networks and non-appreciative audiences."

3) "Quality TV tends to have a large ensemble cast." This is a defining characteristic of Joss Whedon's works, his love for ensemble casts and continuing creative energy developed the series into a cult classic.

4) "Quality TV has a memory." In the documentary Whedon explains "..Part of making a television show is that you figure out where you're going and let the narrative lead you, you cant try and lock it in before you've spent that time in it with the actors..." He goes on to say"the narrative is the closest thing I have to a higher power." In which he uses the former storylines to create and develop further, evolving the series. 

5) "Quality TV creates a new genre by mixing old ones."

6) "Quality TV tends to be literary and writer-based." The intertext television series produced in 1997 was something Joss Whedon "really got obsessed with" writing. Joss Whedon took full creative control over the television series as the creator, writer and director.

7) "Quality TV is self-conscious." Whedon explains in the interview that to create a good television series there are several integral elements. A television show needs real meaning to dig in to for a while and structure that you can sustain for years, this sparked the idea of the "monstrous metaphor of high school" which is a structural storyline theme that Joss Whedon deconstructs during the series. 

8) "The subject matter of quality TV tends towards the controversial" Themes that viewers can relate to personally such as teenage drama, creates an empathetic relationship between viewer and characters. This evokes cult following, where viewers become obsessed with the characters and the relationships and will watch the television series each week. 

9) "Quality TV aspires toward 'realisim'." The empathetic relationship between viewer and characters also creates a window, especially in fantasy and horror genres, where impossible, nonsensical plots can be explored and the viewers will accept it as being the norm. In this sense, an alternate world is created differing from the viewers reality but seemingly easy to follow, accept and understand. 

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, horror film 1992.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, TV Series Season One 1997.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer TV Series Season Seven 2003.

Reference List: 
1) Hills (2004) Defining Cult TV; Texts, Inter- texts and Fan Audiences 
2) Wilcox and Lavery (2002)Fighting the forces: what’s at stake in Buffy the vampire slayer. (Introduction) 

3) The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (14 June 2013) A life in pictures: Joss Whedon (Television Documentary) Recorded at BAFTA in London.