Lines where the delivery just sounds fake

[tkts]

Are there lines that just sound completely fake to you, either because the delivery was off or because the lines just don't seem to belong?

A lot of Ben's lines in Season 5 come off that way. Also some of Angel's lines in Season 1 (I know I've seen people make cracks about David Boreanaz taking acting lessons sometime between Season 1 of Buffy and Season 1 of Angel).

One line that really throws me is this line of Tara's from "Intervention" in Season 5:

"It's probably not as good as Willow could do. She's a natural with magic. In just the time I've known her, she's already blown right past me."

Somehow, the second and third sentences just seem incredibly forced. I can't really blame the actress, since Amber Benson did such a phenomenal job as Tara overall ... it's more like the lines just didn't belong there. Like they didn't flow naturally from the rest of the scene and were just inserted as a way to foreshadow Willow and Tara's fight in the next episode, and so there was no natural way for the lines to be delivered.

I know there are other lines where the delivery struck me as completely fake, but I can't think of them offhand. Anybody have others?

[kaan]

Xander's little speech from Passion.

Xander: I'm sorry, but let's not forget that I hated Angel long before you guys jumped on the bandwagon. So I think I deserve a little something for not saying 'I told you so' long before now. And if Giles wants to go after the, uh, fiend that murdered his girlfriend, I say, 'Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'

It's just really awkward. It doesn't flow well and the reference at the end felt totally forced.

But I did like the way Buffy said, "You're right", and Xander says, "Thank you", afterwards.

[midwesternwatcher]

The worst dialogue in Buffy, from start to finish, has to be in the scene between Buffy and Jonathan in the tower in "Earshot." Here it is:
"My life happens very occasionally to suck beyond the telling of it. More than I can stand sometimes. And not just me. Every single person down there is ignoring your pain because they're way too busy with their own. The beautiful ones, the popular ones, the guys that pick on you... everyone."
That phrase "beyond the telling of it," way too artificial and literary, it always make me gag. That's the only time I ever wanted to change the channel in the middle of Buffy.

[Inappropriate Starches]

I actually really liked the 'suck beyond the telling of it' line, though it might be too literary for Buffy. I suppose it's all opinion.

I didn't like the 'jack squat' thing by Faith in Enemies. I mean we all know it's usually 'jack shit' but they can't swear on T.V. but I wish they had changed the line because Faith would actually swear if she were real so it felt very forced to me especially simply reminding me it's a tv show.

[hitnrun017]

Dawn's "HOW COULD I NOT?!" at the end of Forever. Takes me out of the amazing scene for a moment.

[tkts]

"Angry Dawn" bugs me sometimes because of the way she sounds -- like she's trying to make her voice very low, and not succeeding -- but at the same time, I think the sound is probably not unrealistic for a 14-year-old girl.

[Randi Giles]

Don't get me wrong I like Joyce, but having your BIG @$$ 14 year old daughter sitting on your lap calling her "My little Pumpkin belly." Yeah, that is not cute.

[tkts]

May 6, 2010 21:42:35 GMT -5 Randi Giles said:

Don't get me wrong I like Joyce, but having your BIG @$$ 14 year old daughter sitting on your lap calling her "My little Pumpkin belly." Yeah, that is not cute.

Yeah, I think that was the period when the writers were still adjusting to Dawn being significantly older than she was originally imagined, and not quite making the transition perfectly. There were a number of moments early in Season 5 when it seemed like they were bouncing back and forth between writing her like she was 14 and writing her like she was 10.

[Randi Giles]

May 6, 2010 22:13:50 GMT -5 tkts said:

There were a number of moments early in Season 5 when it seemed like they were bouncing back and forth between writing her like she was 14 and writing her like she was 10.

I know it annoyed the crap out of me.

[El Diablo Robotico]

Xander: "Let me tell you something about Buffy. In fact, you should all listen to this."

Not sure if it's the line itself, the way Nick delivers it, or the way the director staged the scene, but as Kennedy (unnecessarily) points out, "Uh, we kinda were."

[DingOz]

The way Michelle delivers the line in Tabula Rasa:

"W-who are you people?..."

It just irks me...

Otherwise, I love Michelle.

[gumgnome]

Everything SMG attempts to say with an upper-class English accent in "Halloween". For all her talents, she really can't pull it off. Considering the number of English people around her at the time, I really feel that she could have done it much better than she did even with just a little practice. Instead, she alternates between sounding passable in one line, and simply sounding like a 20th Century American girl in the next, particularly when she softens her t's.

[Silver]

Whenerver Buffy said "Bite me", it always feels forced and false, perhaps the the line is too short.

[AngelFaith]

Buffy's entire speech in Bring On The Night, right after she's been thrashed by the Turok-Han.

It's supposed to be powerful and inspiring, but something about the way it's written or Sarah's delivery just makes me cringe.

In particular the "We will hunt out our fears and cut their hearts out one by one" or whatever it was. It just doesn't roll off the tongue easily.

[The Girl In Question]

May 7, 2010 5:48:05 GMT -5 gumgnome said:

Everything SMG attempts to say with an upper-class English accent in "Halloween". For all her talents, she really can't pull it off. Considering the number of English people around her at the time, I really feel that she could have done it much better than she did even with just a little practice. Instead, she alternates between sounding passable in one line, and simply sounding like a 20th Century American girl in the next, particularly when she softens her t's.

See, the thing is her accent wasn't supposed to be British English. I'm pretty certain the accent was supposed to be American English a la 17-1800 (or whatever time she was supposed to be from). If you've heard people from Massachusetts, a lot of people have uper-class accents that are so proper, they almost sound British. Her accent in "Halloween" is kind of like that.

I didn't like Willow's "This is gonna be good" in the newest issue of Buffy. It's not because of the delivery (because there is no actor to deliver), but it still bugs. Me no likey.

[Inappropriate Starches]

Yeah, the Halloween episode and her accent bugged me for a long time until it occured to me that she should be speaking in a Irish accent if she was just trying to be like Angel's old self, so I figured she must be American and just...upity, lol. It still sounds a little off to me, but it doesn't drive me crazy the way it used to.

And Spike's "What the bleeding hell is wrong with you bloody women!" it just sounded like a little to much.

Also his speech in Touched I love yet I hate the 'I make a lot of wrong bloody calls'. It's not a situation where I think he would use the word bloody, it's so calm and I think the delivery was a little off to make it believable. Always takes me out of the moment a little bit.

[Randi Giles]

I just thought of another one and I can't believe I didn't remember it until now. Just to let everybody know I absolutely love Spike, but this was the one time I really didn't. Towards the end of Sleeper when Buffy and Spike are in the basement. The part where Spike is sitting on the ground and he shouts to The First..."Can you make it so I forget again. I did what you wanted." I think that's the line. I cringe every time I watch that scene. And this was one of the reasons I was so disappointed in Spike during most of season seven and was so happy when he got back to his old self on Angel season five. Every single time I watch that scene I'm just like EWWW. If you don't get your punk@$$ up with all that crying and whining. Not that I'm completely insensitive but that part was just awful. And when JM delivered that line he sounded completely off and like a little BYOTCH. That was just so not Spike.

I'm sorry in advance for any insensitivity. I blame it on the rough environment I grew up in.

[The Girl In Question]

May 14, 2010 20:18:16 GMT -5 Randi Giles said:

Every single time I watch that scene I'm just like EWWW. If you don't get your punk@$$ up with all that crying and whining.
I'm sorry in advance for any insensitivity. I blame it on the rough environment I grew up in.

OMG! I love that scene but this post was hilarious.

[Xander-Shaped Friend]

A lot of the memory stuff in "Tabula Rasa". Especially with Dawn. She's a friggin' teenager, why's she acting like she's five. I mean look how the characters in Angel Season Four acted when they woke up and thought they were teenagers and even though the circumstances were a little different they still didn't act like babies. The worst line ever in that episode though is where Buffy and Dawn argue about names and they are like weee must be sistersss!!!xoxoxo and I'm like EW. Gag me.

[Randi Giles]

May 14, 2010 21:01:18 GMT -5 The Girl In Question said:

May 14, 2010 20:18:16 GMT -5 Randi Giles said:

Every single time I watch that scene I'm just like EWWW. If you don't get your punk@$$ up with all that crying and whining.
I'm sorry in advance for any insensitivity. I blame it on the rough environment I grew up in.

OMG! I love that scene but this post was hilarious.

I actually like that scene too. It's just that line that bugs the crap out of me. He sounded like my three year old when she gets mad.