The First Evil? Adam? (OK, Adam was part White. And part Black. And part Brown. And part Green. And part…) And by the end, the Mayoe wasn’t White anymore.
I loved watching Hercules and Xena. I’ve always been a fan of the Greek mythos. I even think the ancient Greeks would approve of the shows–the over-the-top characters and adventures is exactly the same sort of story you get from Homer.
I never have watched Buffy, the premise didn’t interest me at all. So I think my vote is clear. 
I chose Buffy, but a little explanation:
Xena is fun and has some pretty cool storylines (that long arc with the dark god I can’t remember the name of, the death of the gods and Xena’s adventures in hell/heaven), I love episodes dealing with the gods and goddesses (Aphrodite is a favourite, but Ares episodes were usually fun too), and Callisto is one of my favourite characters in all of television (I also really liked the Caesar episodes), but ultimately, Xena was a chore for me to watch. I can’t explain it, but in looking back on the show it seems cool and fun, but whenever I try to watch an episode I usually can’t get through it.
On the other hand, I rewatch Buffy all the time. There are certainly some episodes I break out the DVDs to see again, but even if I happen to catch a random rerun there’s a good chance I’ll watch it with enjoyment.
I’m a huge fan of both shows, and I’ve often given thought to this question, but I ultimately have always preferred Xena. A few of my own conclusions I’ve reached…
Buffy has the more consistent writing of the two shows and had a much larger regular cast than Xena ever did, so that’s no small feat. There were both greater and lesser episodes, but I can’t think of anything off the top of my head that stood out as being actively bad. As much as I love Xena the show had an annoying tendency to go off the rails for a couple of episodes each season.
Xena however, was just so much more fun to watch. To me it’s lows were lower, but it’s highs were much, much higher. The level of depth they portrayed in the Xena and Gabrielle relationship were incredible and when they hit, they hit very hard. From about the end of the first season till about the end of the fourth, it was one of the best shows on television. Season five was a complete clusterfuck, (old writers left, new staff brought in, it showed), in season six they managed to pick up the pieces somewhat and give the show a proper ending.
To reiterate a point others have made the dynamics in the two shows were completely different. Buffy was much more of an ensemble show, and if you weren’t particularly interested in what was going on with Buffy at a given time there was plenty of other stuff to keep your attention. On Xena the entire show revolved around the dynamic between the two main characters,and if that didn’t work for the viewer than the show wasn’t going to work at all. The easy, natural chemistry between Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor was probably the shows biggest strength.
Bitter Suite, was better than Once More, but just barely. It doesn’t hurt that Lucy really does have a serious set of pipes on her. The second Xena musical Lyre Lyre… was just bad, no excuses. I thought it was one the shows low points.
What I would like to see is a film set in the time of Xena, (after Xena’s death) starring Sarah Michelle Gellar as Gabrielle’s new lover.
Dozens of hotties on Buffy to choose from and you pick the ugly one? 
Nope, two skinny blondes wouldn’t have the same chemistry. Eliza Dushku would make a kick-ass heroine but, without the late Kevin Smith, it would never work.
There is absolutely* no* way that I could choose between Xena & Buffy. I love both shows.
Xena had a sense of humor and Gabrielle.
Buffy didn’t have a sense of humor?
Buffy: Hey Ken, wanna see my impression of Gandhi?
[beats him to death with a club]
Lily: Gandhi?
Buffy: Well, you know, he was really pissed-off.
Funny, the more I rewatch BtVS, the more I come to appreciate Gellar’s hotness and the less regard I have for that geek favourite, Hannigan.
Although Clare Kramer will always be the hottest thing on that show.
I voted for Buffy.
I really, really wanted to like Xena. It’s got hawt chicks in leather! It’s a fantasy piece, which are rare on TV! It’s got myths and legends! Further, the characters had more potential in that I think it’s more interesting to watch a character go for redemption than to watch a good character stay a good character, even with depth. But I usually found it tough to watch Xena episodes. The cheese that they have was the wrong kind of cheese for me and made it cringe worthy to watch. Not that Buffy didn’t have cheese but it was more consistent.
For example, the early first season Xena episode when they make it clear the fights will be over the top because Xena and her enemy are going around on people’s heads because they can’t touch the ground or lose. It didn’t work for me. And I found most fights to be like that.
Further, Xena had the Highlander show bad vibe which was that every fight was choreographed to look hard for Xena, even though she was supposed to be a very good warrior. It’s almost the Worf effect. In contrast, Buffy only had tough enemies on a season level, with most of the vampires being easily bested by her. Much more consistent to me and the big fight that was finally tough was the season ender.
Um, what? Buffy, the movie, pre-dated Xena’s appearance on Hercules by two years.
Also, to whoever said that Buffy wasn’t character driven, that’s what Joss is known for doing! Character driven pieces. I can’t argue that you might not like the characters but his shows are character driven.
Good question! Thanks! Too bad I can’t agree with the OPs own conclusion.
vislor
True, but the Buffy movie had almost nothing to do with what the show would eventually become, and it was five years between the movie and the show, so it’s not exactly like it was fast tracked.
Rightly or wrongly the producers of Hercules were seen as taking a big risk on basing a brand new action/fantasy show around two female leads in the late 90’s. (I know Xena was far from the first lead heroine on TV, ranging from Emma Peel, Wonder Woman and the Bionic Woman to Charlies Angels, but that was the perception at the time) And it succeeded better than anyone could have dared hope. After the success of Hercules and Xena there was an explosion of fantasy/action adventure shows between 1998 and roughly 2000/2001, and a lot of them had strong female leads or cast members. Buffy is generally seen as having capitalized on that renewed interest, and rightly so. It not only survived, but thrived and built a lasting fanbase, which is no small feat. Let’s not forget that for every Buffy, Angel or Charmed that prospered from this period there are a dozen shows that all died after a season or less. (There were shows based on Robin Hood, Sinbad, Conan, those Beastmaster movies from the 80’s, and original shows like Relic Hunter, Cleopatra 2525 and Jack of all Trades. Each and every one these shows sucked ass. Not one of them had the charm or quality of a Buffy/Angel, or Herc/Xena.)
So yeah, I think if Xena had failed, Buffy the TV show would never have happened.
No. Angel, Spike, & Anya were all of European descent before being transformed into demons or vampires, and they all look like European. We have no reason to believe that Mr. Sweet was ever human, and we know that Lorne was not. (Except that the latter’s soul is clearly more human-like than vampire-like, given his interactions with Jasmine.) And neither of them looks like a European.
I was going to say that Renee O’Connor was far hotter than Alyson Hannigan, but there’s no point; assessments of a person’s hotness are, by definition, idiosyncractic. But other than Willow, I never found any of the women on BtVS especially hot. No, I take that back: Joyce was hot, though her beauty was usually downplayed in favor of mommitude.
ETA:
As to the ambiguousness of the lesbians on Xena, I’m in the minority who thinks it was actually appropriate. Xena & Gabrielle’s relationship was passionate and primary, but it wasn’t basically about sex.
Relic Hunter did not suck ass. You take that back.
Wait, wait - I was thinking of Mr Trick. I see your point better now.
Dude, you are analyzing a snarky comment made in the poll answers WAY too much.
I have to give the nod to Buffy, although to be honest I’ve only seen bits of either show.
I voted for Buffy. I’ve never got into Xena as it always seemed a little too silly for me. Despite Sarah Michelle Gellar’s pretty bad acting, Buffy was always pretty good.
I love Buffy, but my heart will always belong to Xena.