Let me strongly encourage you to check out Angel. I didn't watch Buffy at all, but I did watch some of Angel towards the end. I never saw enough to know exactly what was going on, but then this year on cable they started showing from Season 1 on. I decided to make use of the dvr, and have made my way into Season 2 so far. I'm pretty hooked.

I think DB puts a lot of himself into his characters, at least into Booth now and before with Angel. Maybe that's why they both seem so real.