Buffy The Vampire Slayer: 10 Funniest Episodes

It's easy to see why Buffy the Vampire Slayer has endured as long as it has. Its idiosyncratic blend of martial-arts action, rubber-suited monster madness and beautifully realised characters have allowed it to age far better than many other shows in its ilk.

So much so that even to this day, youngsters and oldies alike are discovering the show via streaming platforms and completely understanding why we all fell head over heels for Sunnydale and its inhabitants. The show was also something of a rarity within genre TV for pleasing both fans and critics alike, with many professional reviewers understanding the show's approach to action, horror and comedy.

However, the one thing that the critics were often quick to point out was that the show's biggest strength lay within its dialogue, which came thick and fast with heavy sprinklings of piffy one-liners, self-aware jabs and pop-culture references galore.

Even from its very first episode, the show's knack for humour was on full display, and much like The X-Files before it, the showrunners at Buffy headquarters would focus entire episodes around comedic adventures. A bold and advantageous decision that allows the character's natural charm and humour to shine through, as well as give us a much needed break from the show's increasingly dark content.

It would certainly be a shame to talk about the Scooby Gang's funniest outings without paying at least one modicum of lip service to its most objectively awful episode.

Beer Bad clearly has its heart in the right place by trying to tackle the murky world of freshman binge drinking in the show's signature snarky style, but everything about its execution is so completely over the top that you can't possibly take it seriously. The thrust of this episode is that an evil brewery is supplying the local college bar with a cursed beer that causes those who ingest it to revert to a lower state of being - i.e. they become cavemen.

A metaphor that's more content with punching you squarely in the nose than simply being on it.

As a result, your mileage with this one will vary between sheer bewildered at the offensively simple metaphor, or gleefully enjoying the campiest episode the show ever produced. If you're in the latter camp then Beer Bad is an absolute blast and its overt ridiculousness is its biggest strength.

For the rest of us though, it's simply funny for all the wrong reasons.