Of Margo Channing and Buffy Summers

My bookcases are an almost even split between books and DVDs. I love great writing—especially great dialogue—and that’s not something that’s always restricted to a few hundred bound pages. In fact (and I’m probably committing some sort of grievous offense by admitting this) I’d say one of the biggest influences on my own writing has been my love of well written, highly quotable movies and television series.

Hello, my name is Kath and I’m a dialogue junkie. (Blame my parents for letting me watch Neil Simon movies before I was old enough to speak in complete sentences.)

Because it’s 12:03 AM and my brain is feeling about as sharp as a hardboiled egg, I’m going to share a list of some of my favourite movies and television shows from a dialogue perspective. Please note that not all of these (heck, not most of these) are teen movies. I’m only pointing that out so that mobs with pitchforks don’t come after me when a teen rents Almost Famous, then leaves home to become a stewardess. Have you ever been chased by a mob with a pitchfork? It’s not a fun time.

Without further ado, the list (which is neither comprehensive nor complete – I did mention that it’s 12:03 AM, 12:11AM now):

The Classics:

The Apartment
All About Eve
The Goodbye Girl

The Comtemps:

Say Anything
Juno
When Harry Met Sally
Almost Famous
The Princess Bride

The Television Shows

WKRP in Cincinnati
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Firefly
Veronica Mars
Wonderfalls

* Alright, so there's no actual dialogue in the above YouTube clip but it's PUPPET LLOYD. How can you not love a puppet tribute to Say Anything? I had to post it somewhere.

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Alright guys, your turn. What shows and movies should be on the list. Battle it out in the comments!