That wasn't naive, it's exactly what 99% of all shows would have done, actually. If two characters have even a bit of sexual tension, it has to be consummated. It's actually nice that both 1) Buffy never wavered on the fact that she didn't see Xander that way and 2) The show showed that you can still be friends with…

Yeah, although you just made me think of an old Onion article along the "I just read holy book X and was instantly converted" riff.
http://www.theonion.com/art…

Not saying that it *isn't* an intentional reference, but realize that bridge and park are real things — it's the Kenneth Hahn State Recreational Area in LA, hence easily accessible as a filming location.

What you don't think the Magnolia reference that Xander makes in "Once More With Feeling" is a timeless joke that in no way badly dates it? Although Xander seems to have a pretty diverse set of interests for a construction worker, I must admit.

Although the semi-public honoring of Buffy seemed a bit weird — I thought the normal world knew nothing about monsters and vampires and hence would have no idea that Buffy was anything other than a former cheerleader who seems to hang around the library a lot.

Not to mention the whole "using magic to bring Joyce back would be evil" thing. Why? Because it's "unnatural"? But using magic for other reasons and even bringing back Buffy herself from the dead (technically twice) is fine?

Almost every "conversion" is like that. Very few actual atheists (or even members of other religions) suddenly decide to become faithful Christians.

Maybe not in fiction, but the group involved in the Columbine shooting was at least presented by the media as being nerds that snapped. I figured that the Trio was kind of a reaction to that.

Of course in recent weeks we've learned that actual Nazis like the supremely punchable Richard Spencer are actually synthpop fans rather than metalheads

Of course watching it today, it's weird because seeing McGavin it's hard to see him as a cynical detective rather than somebody who is excited by tacky lamps and defending his food from the neighbors' dogs.

Dallas was a prime-time soap, and soaps, even the traditional daytime ones like General Hospital, have always had arcs.

Which in both cases makes you wonder why they exist, if presumably the only reason the universe hasn't been conquered by Daleks or demons is because Slayers and dissident Time Lords have been ignoring their bad advice.

Eh, it's fine if the skillet is seasoned properly.

Well, the fall of the Republic was a very chaotic time, followed by an increase in order under the Empire.

And its diffusion constant was greater, allowing it access to a significantly greater fraction of locales than today; one might even say colloquially that it could "get everywhere".

I've said this before, but the whole "1984 wasn't about the USSR" meme is bullshit. Yes, it is set in London, and parts of the imagery are inspired by the post-Blitz environment there, but it's as silly to ignore what is really about as it would be to think Animal Farm was about the evils of modern agriculture because…

I know the real theme of this piece is really "what sort of dystopia seems more plausible now than it did before last November", but really, depictions of the future that are basically like when they were made are probably more realistic than most "futuristic" settings. People sometimes rag on movies set in the future…

On the other hand, it sounds like you're friends with Elvis Costello, which could be cool, even if he (apparently) has a habit of playing music over and over again. What does he listen to?

And Howard Johnsons. And pre-breakup AT&T.

On the other hand, Fallout postulates that eating packaged food two centuries old will be fine, and that immortality (in the elf sense where you can still get killed but don't die of old age) will be possible for a mere loss of your complexion.