Defending Buffy: How the Vampire Slayer changed my life

There are certain shows, from my back in high school years, that really cemented my fate as a Couch Potato.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is right at the top of that list.

It’s a show I watched from the very beginning, and my love for it never wavered. I wanted to be as quick-witted as Buffy. I was touched by the tight-knit bonds she shared with her "Scooby" gang of friends. I nursed a serious crush on David Boreanaz’s Angel.

When I went off to college and couldn’t get The CW in my dorm room, my mother actually taped episodes (on VHS, no less!) and mailed them to me.

When people scoffed at its silly title, I passionately defended it (and still do) for being so much more than a simple genre show. It had comedy and drama and fully realized characters. Even if they were vampires, werewolves and witches.

So to say that Sarah Michelle Gellar is one of my favorite actresses is an understatement. She simply was Buffy (sorry, Kristy Swanson).

We haven’t seen much of her since the show ended in 2003. But now she’s back, starring as a woman who takes over her estranged twin sister’s life in The CW’s "Ringer." It looks to be a twisty thriller, and we can only hope it gives her the chance to create a character as memorable as Buff.

I’ll be watching and reviewing the show for next week’s Burg; in the meantime, my excitement about SMG’s return to TV got me thinking about some other actors I can’t wait to see on a regular basis this fall.

Here are a few of them: 

— Christina Applegate and Will Arnett in NBC’s "Up All Night"
Applegate is, of course, best known as Kelly Bundy. But she proved her leading lady chops a few years back as an amnesiac bad girl on ABC’s "Samantha Who?" It was a funny show that should have lasted longer.

In "Up All Night," she and Arnett, who appears to be playing a more straight-comedic role than his typical absurdist fare (see: "Arrested Development," "30 Rock"), are new parents, and the previews look hysterical.

— Jason O’Mara on Fox’s "Terra Nova"
O’Mara is one of those actors who should be a star. He was great on ABC’s one-and-done "Life on Mars" and had a memorable guest stint on "The Closer," where he actually made a pyromaniac bad guy kind of charismatic.

"Terra Nova" is set in the year 2149, when the world is dying; O’Mara plays one of a group of settlers who are sent back to prehistoric times to rebuild civilization and, they hope, save the human race. I love this concept, and I love that he’s involved in it even more.

— Jeremy Sisto in ABC’s "Suburgatory"
I was shocked to find out that Sisto is playing a father here; to me, he’ll always be Elton from "Clueless," despite his good work on the final seasons of "Law & Order."

It should be fun to see him return to comedy in this sitcom, about a single dad who moves his teenage daughter from their New York City apartment to a house in the ‘burbs.

I’ve seen some pictures from the show, and he actually looks old enough to play a dad. Talk about disturbing. 

— And, coming a little later on, one of my other girl power idols, Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars, people!) on Showtime’s House of Lies, which debuts midseason.

Veronica was like the second coming of Buffy, a smart, funny and tough gal who always got the job done.

I’d watch Bell in anything, which explains the money I’ve doled out for a string of sub-par romantic comedies ("When in Rome," anyone?); I’m glad she’s returning to television, and in a Showtime series, no less.