Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The home of the chosen one

Genre	drama/comedy/fantasy
Running time	42 minutes
Creator(s)	Joss Whedon
Starring	Sarah Michelle Gellar Alyson Hannigan Nicholas Brendon Anthony Stewart Head James Marsters Emma Caulfield Amber Benson Michelle Trachtenberg Charisma Carpenter David Boreanaz Seth Green Marc Blucas
Country of origin	United States
Original network/channel	The WB (1997-2001), UPN (2001-2003)
Original run	March 10, 1997 – May 20, 2003
No. of episodes	144

Setting

The show is set in the fictional California town of Sunnydale (roughly analogous to Santa Barbara), whose suburban Sunnydale High School rests on the site of a "Hellmouth", a gateway between our world and the realm of demons. The Hellmouth serves as a nexus for a wide variety of evil creatures and supernatural phenomena, and lies directly beneath the school library (later, in a reconstructed school, beneath the Principal's office).

In addition to being an open-ended plot device, Joss Whedon has cited the Hellmouth as one of his primary metaphors in creating the series, suggesting that a large number of contemporary teenagers feel that their own high school is a sinister, threatening place.

The high school used in the first three seasons is actually Torrance High School, in Torrance, California. The school exterior is frequently used in other television shows and movies, most notably Beverly Hills 90210, Bring It On, and the spoof, Not Another Teen Movie.

In addition to the high school and its library, action frequently takes place in many of the town's cemeteries, local nightclub The Bronze, and Buffy and her mother's home, where many of the characters also live at various points in the series.

Format and themes

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The series tells the story of Buffy and her friends as they battle demons and other supernatural evils while negotiating their own complicated social and romantic lives. Buffy is told in a dual arc serialized format, with each episode both telling a single story and contibuting to a larger overall storyline, which on Buffy is broken down into distinct season-long narratives marked by the rise and defeat of a powerful antagonist (the "Big Bad"). Individual episodes usually contain one or more villains, monsters, or supernatural phenomena which are defeated (or driven away) by the episode's end. Though many elements and relationships are explored and many ongoing subplots are included, the show's primary focus throughout is on Buffy and her role as an archetypal hero.

The show is noteworthy in part for its blending of genres, including horror, martial arts, romance, melodrama, farce, screwball comedy, and even (in one memorable episode) musical comedy. Unlike the movie, which, for the most part, was poorly received and practically disowned by Whedon, the TV series achieved great popular and critical success, appreciated equally by mainstream TV critics and its target audience of young viewers. Fans of the show attribute its success to smart writing, a strong sense of ongoing story, and a sense of deeper meaning and metaphor lacking in most television products. Whedon has said "I designed Buffy to be an icon" and "the shows are intentionally designed to create cults" The show and characters inspire an unusually strong emotional connection with fans.

Buffy has also been noted for taking risks with both its format and content. The 1999 episode "Hush" included 26 minutes without any spoken dialog, and received an Emmy Award nomination for best teleplay. The 2001 episode "The Body" revolved around the death of Buffy's mother, and was filmed in a stark Dogme inspired style and with no musical score, only diegetic music; it was included in over 100 major critics' Ten Best lists that year. The fall 2001 musical episode "Once More, with Feeling", which was accidentally left off the Emmy ballots, also received many plaudits. [2] All three episodes were written and directed by Joss Whedon, and are frequently cited as fan favorites.