I remember back in the mid-90s when I was looking at what movie to rent, and I saw one with the title, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” I shook my head and thought, “You gotta be kidding me.”

I figured it was a new low in cinematic slop. Valley Girl Meets Fright Night? Yeesh. Then I saw that Rutger Hauer had a role in it, as the vampire no less. As a fan of Rutger (after seeing Ladyhawke, how could you not be?) I plucked it off the shelf and forgave its evident disappointment.

What I discovered was one of the funniest movies I had ever seen. I watched it alone, as I was too embarrassed to invite (and thus have to admit to renting it) any friends over. In a conversation with another friend a couple years later, I suggested that he watch it too. It turned out that this other friend of mine was a Rutger Hauer fan, and so I convinced him to watch. He did. He loved it. The two of us repeated lines of dialogue for months after.

Then the TV series came on. Again, this was a show that I watched in secret as I was too embarrassed to admit to anyone that I was a fan. Well, anyone except the aforementioned pal. He and I, even after I moved several provinces away, kept in touch and reminisced over episodes of Buffy. He was convinced that Oz was modelled after me in high school.

It was soon after that I put a name to the show. As a writer myself, I’m always interested in what else someone has done – and this was no exception. What I discovered was a long list of Whedon shows, and every one of them was brilliant.

This fall Whedon returns to the small screen, with a show that looks just as brilliant. It has some familiar faces, and a familiar theme. (Strong female lead with crazy powers.) I can’t wait to see how this one turns out!