Season 8 "episodes"

[Neil]

Hey folks!

What do you think how many episodes Buffy Season 8 would take, if it would have been made as a tv series?

So what do you think?

[Joe]

I say Season 8 would make up about 13 episode season... it would, however, be an epic season.

If Season 8 was on TV, I think the episode list would go something like this:

Episode 1: The Long Way Home
Episode 2: No Future For You
Episode 3: The Chain
Episode 4: Wolves at the Gate
Episode 5: Anywhere But Here
Episode 6: A Beautiful Sunset
Episode 7: Time of Your Life
Episode 8: After These Messages.. We'll Be Right Back
Episode 9: Predators and Prey
Episode 10: Retreat
Episode 11: Joss Standalone
Episode 12: Unknown Episode
Episode 13: Finale

I think they could easily make the standalone issues into full-length episodes, and the episodes based on arcs could also fit into a 40-min slot.

Wow, I spent way to much time on this.

[Hallow Thorn]

Jul 29, 2009 16:24:38 GMT -5 Joe said:

I say Season 8 would make up about 13 episode season... it would, however, be an epic season.

If Season 8 was on TV, I think the episode list would go something like this:

Episode 1: The Long Way Home
Episode 2: No Future For You
Episode 3: The Chain
Episode 4: Wolves at the Gate
Episode 5: Anywhere But Here
Episode 6: A Beautiful Sunset
Episode 7: Time of Your Life
Episode 8: After These Messages.. We'll Be Right Back
Episode 9: Predators and Prey
Episode 10: Retreat
Episode 11: Joss Standalone
Episode 12: Unknown Episode
Episode 13: Finale

I think they could easily make the standalone issues into full-length episodes, and the episodes based on arcs could also fit into a 40-min slot.

Wow, I spent way to much time on this.

I can't see how a one-shot and a 4 issues arc can both be one classified as an episode.

[Wyndam]

I think it would come out to around a 22 episode season. Each arc =2 episodes and each stand alone = 1 episode. "Predators and Prey" will count as 5 stand alones.

The Long Way Home - Episodes 1-2
The Chain - Episode 3
No Future For You - Episodes 4-5
Anywhere But Here - Episode 6
Wolves at the Gate - Episodes 7-8
Time of Your Life - Episodes 9-10
After These Messages - Episode 11
Predators and Prey - Episodes 12-16
Retreat - Episodes 17-18
Issues 31-35 - Episodes 19-20
Issues 36-40 - Episodes 21-22

Works out rather well, but Comics =/= TV series, so shoehorning the issues into an episode count isn't a precise or necessary science anyway.

[Hallow Thorn]

Jul 29, 2009 16:43:11 GMT -5 Wyndam said:

I think it would come out to around a 22 episode season. Each arc =2 episodes and each stand alone = 1 episode. "Predators and Prey" will count as 5 stand alones.

The Long Way Home - Episodes 1-2
The Chain - Episode 3
No Future For You - Episodes 4-5
Anywhere But Here - Episode 6
Wolves at the Gate - Episodes 7-8
Time of Your Life - Episodes 9-10
After These Messages - Episode 11
Predators and Prey - Episodes 12-16
Retreat - Episodes 17-18
Issues 31-35 - Episodes 19-20
Issues 36-40 - Episodes 21-22

Works out rather well, but Comics =/= TV series, so shoehorning the issues into an episode count isn't a precise or necessary science anyway.

Yeah, I like how each arc =2 episodes .

[Joe]

Yea, ok, I guess my list wasn't the best. Wyndam's looks really good but he forgot A Beautiful Sunset and that Joss is supposed to right a standalone as #31.

I think this would be better:
Episodes 1 & 2: The Long Way Home
Episode 3: The Chain
Episode 4 & 5: No Future For You
Episode 6: Anywhere But Here
Episode 7: A Beautiful Sunset
Episode 8 & 9: Wolves at the Gate
Episodes 10 & 11: Time of Your Life
Episode 12: After These Messages...
Episode 13-17: Predators and Prey
Episode 18-19: Retreat
Episode 20: Issue 31
Episodes 21-22: Issues 32-35
Episodes 23-24: Issues 36-40

Ok well that gives us 24 episodes which is slightly over the regular episode count.

[wenxina]

#31 may not be a standalone per se, but rather Joss just writing the first part of the arc. We'll see soon enough.

[Malsad]

I Like Wyns with the exception of P&P ep I think that the Harm plot could be dispersed across the other eps therefor giveing space for said forgoten issue, that + assumeing that the Joss issue is the setup of the next arc then that would give the season an even 22 eps

[Wyndam]

Oops, can't believe I forgot A Beautiful Sunset. So the Season would be ~23 eps.

With TOTV and Willow, really ~25.

[Skeptic]

This is how I feel like the "episodes" naturally break (copied this off a list I've been keeping):

8x01 - The Long Way Home, Part 1 & 2
8x02 - The Long Way Home, Part 3 & 4
8x03 - The Chain
8x04 - No Future for You, Part 1, 2, 3 & 4
8x05 - Anywhere But Here
8x06 - A Beautiful Sunset
8x07 - Wolves at the Gate, Part 1 & 2
8x08 - Wolves at the Gate, Part 3 & 4
8x09 - Time of Your Life, Part 1 & 2
8x10 - Time of Your Life, Part 3 & 4
8x11 - After These Messages… We'll Be Right Back
8x12 - Predators & Prey 1: Harmonic Divergence
8x13 - Predators & Prey 2: Swell
8x14 - Predators & Prey 3: Predators and Prey
8x15 - Predators & Prey 4: Safe
8x16 - Predators & Prey 5: Living Doll
8x17 - Retreat (the whole arc, possibly broken into 8x17 and 8x18)
8x19 - Brad Meltzer arc (possibly broken into 8x19 and 8x20)
8x21 - Joss Whedon arc, season finale (possibly broken into 8x21 and 8x22)

[Joe]

I'm not sure I understand your system. TLH, WATG, and TOYL each get 2 episodes for it, but NFFY gets only one.

[Hallow Thorn]

The Chain as an episode? That would be an episode without Buffy right? lol I always thought of the one shots as part of an episode, as in the start or the end of one.

[Joe]

Jul 30, 2009 4:18:52 GMT -5 Hallow Thorn said:

The Chain as an episode? That would be an episode without Buffy right? lol I always thought of the one shots as part of an episode, as in the start or the end of one.

Well "The Chain" would just be one of those creative episodes that follow on a different cast and featuring small bits of the main along the way. Similar to "Epitaph One" from Dollhouse. I'm sure Buffy, Xander, Willow and the rest could be squeezed in somehow. It is, afterall, a 22 page comic that would be made a 40 minute episode.

[AndrewCrossett]

If season 8 were being written as a TV series rather than a comics series, there would have been a different rhythm to the story... some parts of the story would have been truncated or simplified, some eliminated altogether. Something like "The Chain" would either be integrated into another episode... possibly one consisting of intercut scenes moving back and forth between real!Buffy and decoy!Buffy in a parallel story. Or it might have been cut from the season completely.

You wouldn't see completely Buffy-less episodes like "The Chain" or "Safe."

They would probably take the same approach if they were going to adapt the existing comics as an animated series or something like that.

Despite the popular belief that comics can basically function as film storyboards, that's not really the case. They're two different media with different requirements.

[D'Hoffryn]

I see it as
1 - The Long Way Home, Part 1 & 2 (+ the glittering world)
2 - The Long Way Home, Part 3 & 4 (+ the glittering world)
3 - The Chain
4 - No Future for You
5 - Anywhere But Here
6 - A Beautiful Sunset
7 - Wolves at the Gate, Part 1 & 2
8 - Wolves at the Gate, Part 3 & 4
9 - Time of Your Life, Part 1 & 2
10 - Time of Your Life, Part 3 & 4
11 - After These Messages… We'll Be Right Back
12 - Harmonic Divergence (inc Swell) as harmoney is in both
13 - Predators & Prey
14 - Safe (inc Living Doll)
15- Retreat part 1 &2
16- Retreat part 3&4
17- Retreat part 5 (big shocker episode)
18-
19-
20-
21- Finale part 1
22- Finale part 2

I would also include the story ' the glittering world' into the long way home, we saw the death on sunnydale in chosen, now lets see how it was born. I love it when they do that

[buffyfan21]

I've always assumed that each 4 part arc = 1 episode, and each standalone = 1 episode...

[Joe]

Jul 30, 2009 12:24:39 GMT -5 buffyfan21 said:

I've always assumed that each 4 part arc = 1 episode, and each standalone = 1 episode...

That's how I originally saw it. (See above). But I've recently changed my mind after seeing everyone elses arguments.

Now I see the episodes as:

1. Long Way Home, Parts 1 & 2
2. Long Way Home, Parts 3 & 4
3. No Future For You, Parts 1-4*
4. Anywhere But Here
5. A Beautiful Sunset
6. Wolves at the Gate, Parts 1 & 2
7. Wolves at the Gate, Parts 3 & 4
8. Time of Your Life, Parts 1 & 2
9. Time of Your Life, Parts 3 & 4
10. After These Messages.. We'll Be Right Back
11. Harmonic Divergence
12. Swell & Safe**
13. Predators and Prey
14. Living Doll
15. Retreat, Parts 1-3
16. Retreat, Parts 4 & 5
17. Issues 31-33
18. Issues 34-35
19. Issues 36-37
20. Issues 38-39
22. Issue 40. Finale

*No Future For You is a Faith-centric arc. If this was TV, they wouldn't have two whole episodes take you away from the lead character. They would, however, allow one episode for Faith.

**Swell & Safe don't focus on Buffy and tell two stories about the effect of Harmony's show. They would work together well as two separate stories happening at the same time in the same episode.

[patxshand]

For me, different title = new episode.

[Paul]

Jul 30, 2009 16:43:51 GMT -5 patxshand said:

For me, different title = new episode.

Agreed. I always thought a four-issue story roughly parallelled a four-act episode. The one-shots are just mini episodes. The whole comparison is a pointless exercise anyway, like forcing a square peg in a round hole.

[Neil]

Well, if it´s pointless, why do you contribute?

joe: Probably they would have made a double episode for NFFY, like the double episode of Buffy season 4 Thirs year´s girl/who are you. (and you forget "The Chain", no offense)

i like your first one with 24 episodes. I guess that´s how it would have played out.