Buffy the Vampire Slayer : Would the show have worked if the Scoobies were popular??

Would the show have worked if the Scoobies were popular??

Just as the title says. Would the show have still worked if the Scoobies weren't outcast? Buffy is still as well-liked as she was in L.A. Xander is a swim jock from the start and remains so all three High School seasons. Willow is still a nerd BUT a popular nerd who's the president of many clubs in SDH. Oz, Cordelia and Anya are....well, still Oz, Cordelia and Anya.

Is the show still work with popular Scoobies? Would it be as appealing to you?

Re: Would the show have worked if the Scoobies were popular??

Hmm... well, I think had they been popular students the increasingly frequent time spent investigating the latest demon problem away from their social lives and extracurricular activities would've had to be addressed, which would probably end up impacting their social status in some way... but then that simply would've created different story lines for them. I think it could've worked fine, without a doubt.

It wouldn't have affected my opinion of the show at all. I've never been one of those people who needs to feel a 'connection' or whatever to fictional characters to 'relate' to them, and so on, so the fact that the Scoobies were sort of outcasts did nothing for me, nor would it had they been popular kids. Frankly, I think a group of popular, successful protagonists in a show like this would've been quite refreshing, as those characters typically serve as antagonists - case in point: Cordelia.

- Another textbook sociopath -

Re: Would the show have worked if the Scoobies were popular??

Well it would basically be Buffy befriending Cordelia in the first episode as she almost did. I guess you could still have popular characters who dislike the scobbies popularity - e.g Harmony.

It reminds me of Vampire Diaries where Elena, Caroline, Matt, Bonnie, Tyler were all popular.



Re: Would the show have worked if the Scoobies were popular??


Well it would basically be Buffy befriending Cordelia in the first episode

Which would have taken away from Cordelia's journey from shunning them, to secretly working with them when she realises what is going on in Sunnydale but not wanting her friends to find out, to telling Harmony to FÛÇK OFF realising she doesn't care what anyone thinks. That's why OOSOOM is one of my favorite episodes, it starts her growth.


"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"

Re: Would the show have worked if the Scoobies were popular??

I got to agree with you on that. I loved Cordelia's growth and OOSOOM being the start of it. Perhaps they could basically still have a rivalry between Buffy and Cordelia over popularity instead - Cordelia thinking Buffy is stealing her spotlight even though Buffy is popular and beloved by a majority of people and trying to outdo her. I don't know. But you are right it takes away from her journey.

Cordelia telling off Harmony is my favorite moment and oh do I love that episode.

Re: Would the show have worked if the Scoobies were popular??

I mean... maybe? I'm trying to think of an instance where popular people successfully lead double lives saving the day from evil; and the best I'm coming up with are the Power Rangers. Even then, they concealed their identities, and the people at large outwardly knew the threat the heroes were protecting them from.
If you're maintaining the conceit that the world at large believes that magic and monsters are all bullocks and chicanery, that pretty much forces the heroes battling them into the same secluded world where no one notices them either. Those that do either get pulled into that world, or they run screaming into the night.


“Well, that's called tyranny; and its generally frowned upon."

Re: Would the show have worked if the Scoobies were popular??

The characters of The Vampire Diaries are all quite popular in their school and it doesn't keep them from getting involved in saving their town from the supernatural or leading double lives as supernatural beings. They are all kinda self absorbed *beep* when you get down to it though.

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Re: Would the show have worked if the Scoobies were popular??

Yes... I think although Buffy, Xander and Willow started off as outcast, that became less of the case as the season progressed. By season 2 they were pretty much normal students but of course, you always have to have the antagonistic Jocks and Cheerleaders in High School settings on TV.

Re: Would the show have worked if the Scoobies were popular??

Yes but it wouldn't have been so popular I think, the outsiders are always more interesting the in-crowd.

Re: Would the show have worked if the Scoobies were popular??

I don't actually think they were that unpopular anyway. I was like that in my sixth form, somewhere in the middle. I had my fun but I wasn't part of the vacuous in-crowd and I liked it there. Remember when Xander bullied a kid out his way at some point, I think season 1 or 2.

Also, remember when Buffy got the class protector award in season 3? It showed that they were noticed and appreciated but they just weren't on that fake pedestal that the "popular" kids are put on. As Cordelia says to harmony when she makes a stand for dating Xander in season 2, she says that she's not a sheep like her. And that's true. When you're in the middle, you have you're own brand of cool and popular where you dance to your own tune.

Re: Would the show have worked if the Scoobies were popular??

i never really understand the popularity thing. Since the 'popular' people in American Tv series always seem to be very unpleasant - why are they popular? What is it about them that makes them popular? Clearly it isn't niceness. Nor intelligence. Nor charm, of which they seem to have none. Why would intelligent nice people want to be friends with these unpleasant 'popular' people?

Re: Would the show have worked if the Scoobies were popular??

The outcast nerd thing isn't that believable in the first place given they are all fairly attractive and outgoing even Willow who is the shy one isn't that shy when she isn't being treated like *beep* I don't think it would have affected the story that much they could have still gotten into the same shenanigans regardless. I mean the supernatural still plagues the entire town so no matter what they were doing they would have had to investigate things to come to a resolution. Coredelia was the most popular girl in school and it didn't affect her likability as a character or mean she couldn't find time to participate in Scooby activities.

Re: Would the show have worked if the Scoobies were popular??

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