As Amanda and I work on understanding what makes a text “marathonable” (or “thonetic,” as I prefer), we have a LOT of viewing and reading to do. After taking notes on the Lord of the Rings books, the Back to the Future Movies, and the (real) Star Wars movies this summer, I’m now turning to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Arrested Development. Josh and I are watching Arrested Development at night after our toddler goes to bed, but Josh has given up on Buffy after watching the first three seasons with me. This is now a journey I must make alone (as almost all heroes try to claim–before their friends insist on tagging along).
Well, no friends are tagging along and Buffy takes a long time to watch. With 185 episodes at 44 minutes each, I’ve calculated that there are 136 hours of Buffy in existence. I hope to interview someone who has marathoned the entire Buffy canon twice. I wonder if she knows how many hours of her life were spent with Buffy?
If I only had 5.5 days completely free, I could watch them all in an ultramarathon. Instead, I’ve crafted a “Buffy lunch” plan to watch half an episode each work day while I eat my lunch. The tough decision I need to make next is to shut my office door and hide during Buffy lunch or leave my door open and subject my colleagues and students to the sounds of demon whacking and Buffy non sequiturs such as, “So I told him that I loved him… and I kissed him… and I killed him.” Door open, door closed. It’s a tough decision…although not as tough as choosing between Spike and Angel.
