Saying something is “shit” is saying it is bad. Saying something is “the shit” is saying it is good.
The language changes when you aren’t looking. This just proves you aren’t hup. 
Let me modify the question in the OP a little bit, if I may. I remember watching Buffy and her friends on television and enjoying their struggles against evil, but I only watched it occasionally and would like to have a sample of episodes that tell me the whole Buffy story. However I’m not really interested in having each episode of each season. At the iTunes store I can buy individual episodes of the show. Right now they have seasons 1 and 2, and I am hoping they will add more.
Suppose I could buy individual episodes, which ones should I buy (let’s say up to 4 or 5 for each season) to get good shows AND a fair idea of the story?
Even when I was hip I wasn’t hup 
I still say “cool.”
Season 2:
*What’s My Line, Parts 1 and 2
Surprise/Innocence
Passion
Becoming, Parts 1 and 2*
Season 3:
*Faith, Hope and Trick
Band Candy
Lover’s Walk
Enemies
The Prom
Graduation Day, Parts 1 and 2*
All good choices, although I’d also add the Season 1 episode “Prophecy Girl” since it’s the pivotal season finale (and IMO where the series first really finds its footing) and the Season 2 episode “School Hard,” since it introduces Spike and Drusilla.
Do not skip “I Only Have Eyes For You.” It’s on my Top 10 list of series favorites. Oh, and I’d skip s. 6 and 7 entirely except possibly the musical, just because it’s new and different.
They changed what hup was, and what I am isn’t hup anymore. Now it’s weird and scary.
Heh, I know what you mean. I started asking myself how I would epxlain that to someone who had never seen the show. About fifteen minutes later I took an asprin and moved on with my day.
Enjoy,
Steven
“There’s nothing we can’t face… except for bunnies.”
Thank you silenus. Nothing from season 1? I’m going to watch the first episode tonight, I figure I should at least see the very first episode.
If you could give similar recommendations for other seasons, I would be eternally grateful.
PunditLisa, was the mention of “I Only Have Eyes For You.” meant for me?
The first episode is a 2-parter. If you watch both parts, “Welcome To the Hellmouth” and “The Harvest,” and then the season 1 finale “Prophecy Girl,” you’ll hit all the high points of the very uneven and short first season.
I’d suggest also watching the episode “Angel,” if you’re not going to see all of season 1. It’s right in the middle of the season and is fairly important to the story arc. But those four episodes are an adequate Cliffnotes version of season one.
I’d seen two or three episodes of Buffy at friends’ houses and never cared for it much. But I kept hearing how great it was, so I put the first season in my Netflix queue and gave it a second chance, starting with the first episode. Six months later, I’d seen all seven seasons, in order. When I came to the few random episodes I’d seen before, it was amazing how much better they were seen in context. It’s basically one long story, watching how these characters grow and change. Picking random episodes to get a flavor for the series will be sort of like reading just the first, last, and five or six randomly selected chapters from the middle of The Lord of the Rings, i.e. you’ll get the basic gist of the story, but it won’t be the same experience.
Yes, and for anyone else who only wants to hit the highlights. It doesn’t really move the story arc along much, but it’s a great episode nonetheless. Of course, I loved the character of Angel so I’m biased.
What BBVL and MS said for Season 1. Hit the beginning, see Angel in the middle, then watch the two-parter ending and you have it.
Season 5 It gets harder here, as there is a lot going on that carries from episode to episode. The arc is very important, and I would recommend watching the whole season if possible. There are seemingly throw-away bits that prove to be very important later on.
*Buffy vs Dracula
No Place Like Home
Fool For Love
Triangle
The Body
Intervention
The Gift*
Season 6
*Bargaining
Flooded*
A three episode trifecta: All The Way, Once More, With Feeling, and Tabula Rasa
*Smashed
Normal Again
Seeing Red*
Season 7
*Lessons
Selfless
Conversations With Dead People
First Date
Storyteller
Lies My Parents Told Me
End of Days
Chosen*
Too late with the edit button, I discover the stupid mistake in the above. It’s the start of Season 1 that’s the 2-parter, of course. Not the end. Although Out of Mind, Out of Sight is an excellent episode, if a little heavy-handed. But Prophecy Girl stands alone.
Another addendum to the above: When you watch Fool For Love in Season 5, also watch the episode Darla from Season 2 of Angel. They are meant to be seen back-to-back in sort of a Rashomon-lite fashion.
I agree you should watch both parts of the first episode, but feel free to skip the movie. The only thing they really kept from the movie is that she burned down her old high school. Other than that, it plays no part in the story arc, and doesn’t do a thing for building the characters.
It’s also a pretty bad movie.
The movie SUCKS, and I say this as a colossal fan of Buffy and all things Whedon. It is horrible, and I’m just glad I watched it after seeing the entire series. If I had seen that execrable movie first, I might not have ever given the show a chance.
I saw the movie first, which was why I didn’t pay much attention to the show when it debuted. I watched the first two episodes, thought “Interesting dialogue, but not much else” and caught the odd episode for the rest of the season. Then Season 2 started, and I was home that night of the week, and here we are, so many years later.
I saw the movie (we have it on DVD, hey, it was five bucks!), and we’re holding off because 1. We’re in the middle of watching Firefly (which we got after buying Serentiy), and 2. We’ll spring either for the box set or Netflix and we haven’t got the money.
However, we did score the book version of “Once More With Feeling” at the Goodwill yesterday for a buck.
I say this not just to brag, but because in my time here y’all have turned me on to Pratchett, Futurama, Firefly and (eventually) Buffy. You’ve cost me a lot of money, and I thank you for it.
You are welcome!