- 09.19.02
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It's a Small world after all
Clark Kent may have X-ray vision, but I've got double vision. Smallville quite simply is Buffy the Vampire Slayer circa season one.
When the WB lost the very public and very bitter bidding war over Buffy to rival netlet UPN last year, it was faced with a daunting task. How do you replace the signature show that helped define the fledgling network? Why, by replacing it with the exact same show, of course! Joss Whedon must feel, like, totally flattered! Let us count the ways.
Buffy |
Smallville |
Buffy Summers: Obnoxiously attractive Vampire Slayer struggles with the horrors of fast food restaurants while using super powers to save the world from baddies, yet she longs to be normal. |
Clark Kent: Obnoxiously attractive future Man of Steel struggles with the horrors of high school while using super powers to save the world from baddies, yet he longs to be normal. |
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Rupert Giles: Instills good, old-fashioned British Watcher values in his daughter figure. |
Pa Kent: Instills good, old-fashioned midwestern farm values in his adopted son. |
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Joyce: Naïve and clueless mom of our heroine who offers chicken and stars soup when her daughter has a problem. |
Ma Kent: Naïve and clueless mom of our hero who offers useless advice when her son has a problem. |
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Willow: Intelligent, tech-savvy friend of heroine who often uses Nancy Drew-like sleuth skills to solve crime. |
Chloe: Intelligent, tech-savvy friend of hero who often uses Nancy Drew-like sleuth skills to solve crime. |
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Xander: Best guy friend who is often overlooked by his peers. |
Pete: Best guy friend who is often overlooked by his peers. |
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Riley: Personality-deficient object of heroine's affection, though clearly not the person she is meant to be with. |
Lana: Personality-deficient object of hero's affection, though clearly not the person he is meant to be with. |
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Angel: Older guy with shadowy past who befriends the heroine despite the mistrust of others; later became heroine's arch-nemesis. |
Lex: Older guy with shadowy past who befriends the hero despite the mistrust of others; will one day be hero's arch-nemesis. |
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If Smallville continues to mimic Buffy as closely as it has, we can look forward to a torrid, gothic romance between Clark and Lex. |
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Hellmouth: All-purpose reason for all of the wacky occurences in Sunnydale. |
Kryptonite rocks: All-purpose reason for all of the wacky occurences in Smallville. |
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Amy/Amy the Rat: Magically inclined student who turned herself into a rat to avoid danger. |
Peter Pettigrew/Scabbers: Magically inclined student who turned himself into a rat to avoid danger. |
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OK, so technically this has nothing to do with Smallville, but it's pretty freaky, huh? |
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Déjà�-view
It's not just characters, whole episode plots have been "borrowed" as well.
Buffy |
Smallville |
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Teacher's Pet: A biology teacher is a bug who tries to mate with Xander. |
Metamorphosis: An entomolgy-loving student goes buggy and tries to mate with Lana. |
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Band Candy: Sunnydale's adults act like teenagers after eating tainted band candy. |
Hourglass: An old man regains his youthful vigor after falling in a pond full of Kryptonite. |
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Actually, this is more of a rip off of Cocoon than Buffy. Stet that. |
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Invisible Girl: Cordelia is harrassed by a student who was so ignored she became invisible. |
Shimmer: Lex is harrassed by a servant who was so ignored he became invisible. |
I look forward to future episodes where Clark blows up the high
school at graduation and comes home to a bratty kid sister he never
knew he had. I guess if you're going to copy a show, you might as
well copy the best. 
Comments
Hi, I just want to say you missed two points…
1.-The Bronze/The Talon
-Ok, maybe you can’t compare a coffee shop with a night club, but, this is the place where the good guys usually hang out to have fun… hell, they even bring their homework there… it’s also a place where problems can come from time to time…
2.-Sunnydale’s Razorbacks/Smallville’s Crows
-Has NO ONE noticed this one??? The team uniforms, including cheerleaders are almost identical, and the colors used on both uniform and team logos are the same! Dark red and yellow…