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Buffy sings! Once more, with feeling…

Any committed Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans on your holiday shopping list? Then this is what I would recommend, something they might not already have in their possession:

This album, with music from a “very special episode” of the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is dramatic, often corny, and features lots of superhumanly good-looking people (double entendre intended) singing their under-coached lungs out. So perfect for the holidays. And certainly more reasonably priced than the Wii Fit. You can buy the MP3 download ($8.99) or the physical CD (remember those?) for $14.99 on Amazon. It doesn’t seem to be available on iTunes yet (for some reason…), but you can buy the MP3 download listed above on Amazon and directly import the songs to iTunes.

Okay, that’s all well and good, you might ask, but what exactly is this?

In season six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (an otherwise terribly grim season), the cult hit put together an episode called Once More, with Feeling, commonly known as the “musical episode,” to lighten the mood, further the plot, but mostly to just have fun. Almost all of the show is told in song, with lyrics and music written by show creator (and cult god) Joss Whedon and others. And the cast (and crew!) themselves sing all of the songs.

That potential landmine aside, most actually do a good job (sorry, Xander - you tried your best) and the tunes themselves are catchy fun. Picture an old Hollywood movie musical, replicated in a satiric but also sincere homage sort of way, with its dramatic flourishes, dance numbers and soaring songs (see The Mustard), but mixed with PG-13 dramatic fantasy and Whedon’s now trademark quips. For example, in the song Walk Through the Fire, best friend Willow sings:

I think this line’s mostly filler…

Of course (and as usual), one of the best lines comes from another member of Buffy’s gang, leporiphobic Anya, who, in between songs, has the following exchange with Dawn (If you don’t know Buffy, I can’t really explain all these characters now, or the plot of the episode for that matter; too many spoilers anyway, but your gift recipient can fill you in):

Dawn: You will never believe what happened at school today.

Buffy: Everybody started singing and dancing?

Dawn: [pauses, annoyed that everyone else knows already] I gave birth to a pterodactyl.

Anya: [sincerely] Oh my god, did it sing?

Personal favorite songs include vampire Spike’s “tough guy lament” Rest in Peace, Tara’s love song Under Your Spell, and lone adult (and real Brit) Giles’s Standing.

Unfortunately, you can’t currently watch or buy any individual season six episodes on iTunes, hulu, Amazon, thewb.com, etc. (what gives, guys?), so you’d have to purchase the entire season on DVD in order to watch the episode. But fortunately, as noted at the beginning of this post, you can buy and enjoy the music! And that’s much of the fun of the episode anyway. Listen to free previews of the songs by clicking on the Amazon MP3 player above, or watch this clip via YouTube (the show itself doesn’t have those karaoke-style lyrics):

And no, David Boreanaz sadly does not make a guest appearance. His hilarious dancing moment with Wesley on Buffy spin-off Angel will just have to suffice for now (although it’s sad when you think what could have been…).

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• string theories

  What line of work you in, Bob?
  
  - Ryan the Temp to "Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration" at The Office's Christmas party
  
  

• featured brown paper packaging

  What is it with accessories and DVD sets these days? Are knick knack companies going through some rough times? Or are studios just really desperate to sell DVDs? (Probably the latter.) First there was A Christmas Story (Ultimate Collector's Edition), with its cookie cutters, recipe book, apron, commemorative Christmas tin... (Whoa, I know.)
  
  And now there's The Notebook (Limited Edition Gift Set), which comes with a scrapbook album (with stickers!), notecards, envelopes, and "themed" bookmarks. But... wait for it... no new DVD extras or features! So totally worth it. Check out Entertainment Weekly for the lackluster DVD set review (a grade of D - harsh). Or, even better, Amazon's video montage of the contents, set to the soothing, Jane Austen movie-esque sounds of The Notebook's theme music. Hey, they know their audience.