Classic Sci Fi TV: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)

Classic Sci Fi TV: Our ongoing look back at many of the classics of science fiction and fantasy television.

What Is It? When high school student Buffy Summers moves to Sunnydale California with her mother, she finds it to be Hell. Literally. The town sits on the opening to Hellmouth–the gateway to the demon realms–and she learns that she is the next in a long line of Slayers who are tasked with fighting vampires and other supernatural beings. She reluctantly accepts her destiny and takes up the cause against the demon world with the help of Watcher Rupert Giles as well as her friends Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris, and more

Aired: The WB / UPN, 1997-2003, 7 Seasons Totaling 144 Episodes

Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, Charisma Carpenter, Anthony Stewart Head, David Boreanaz

Created By: Joss Whedon

Is It Must-Watch Sci Fi? Yes. This is an important show that set the standard for epic supernatural dramas and that also introduced strong females leads to a typically male-centric genre.

The Skinny: Buffy the Vampire Slayer started as a horror movie with some comedy elements where Joss Whedon tried to turn around the female-as-a-victim stereotype and instead have the woman as the hero of the film. However, the final product delivered more of a broad genre parody and dispensed with much of the substance of Whedon’s script. He got a rare second chance with the property, though, when the fledgling WB network gave the greenlight to a television series adaptation. Whedon went back to his original take on the character and launched a series that would go on to be considered an all-time genre great.

The show still had some comedy elements, but it had a darker tone than the film and dramatic storylines that resonated with its audience (which skewed younger but also attracted older viewers). More importantly, Buffy had fully-realized characters brought to life by spot-on performances from Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Stewart Head, David Boreanaz, and more. The actors were perfectly paired with their characters and the chemistry they shared, along with the clever and intelligent scripts, helped elevate the series to the next level.

Buffy was also a show that was not afraid to take chances. Each season consisted of episodic tales that contributed to an ongoing story arc, but it took plenty of opportunities to diverge from its formula and expand into unexpected directions, including a musical episode. And the series never grew stale across is seven seasons as it managed to reinvent itself and actually improve with age. It is more of a supernatural series than science fiction, but it had plenty of sci fi elements, and it has broad appeal for all genre fans. This is definitely one to get on your watchlist if you have not seen it yet, and it is also worth revisiting if you have not seen it in a while.

Cancelled Too Soon? Maybe. Buffy moved from The WB to UPN after its fifth season even though it was still a top-rated show. Its production costs were high for one of the newer networks, but UPN was willing to pay what FOX Studios wanted for the per episode budget in order to pull off the coup of stealing the show away from their main competitor (UPN had been lagging behind The WB since its inception and both were considerably behind the Big Four networks). The show continued for two more seasons, but Sarah Michelle Gellar indicated that she was not interested in signing on for an eighth year. Joss Whedon still had story ideas for the show and considered doing a spin-off series that would have focused on the character Faith played by Eliza Dushku. That never materialized and Buffy wrapped up after its seventh season.

Should It Be Rebooted? The story of Buffy and her companions has been carried on in comics with Joss Whedon and other writers from the show penning the scripts. These have been well-received by fans and could provide the basis for a revival, though the age of the original actors would make that difficult. There is currently a reboot in the works, though I don’t know what it can add to what the original series accomplished. If it is a continuation with new characters and perhaps the return of some familiar faces, it might work. But if it goes the complete reboot route, that seems like a poor choice and is likely just a money-grab taking advantage of the show’s name-recognition.

Interesting Facts: Nathan Fillion auditioned for the role of Angel but did not get the part. He would go on to play the recurring character Caleb and of course later played Captain Malcolm Reynolds on Whedon’s sci fi series Firefly.

A musical episode had been planned as early as the show’s first season, but the network was against it. When Buffy moved to UPN, Whedon was finally allowed to proceed with it.

Joss Whedon has since become notorious for creating a toxic environment behind-the-scenes of Buffy (and other productions he worked on), and Sarah Michelle G has said “I’ll never tell my full story” of working with Whedon. This has marred the reputation of the many excellent shows and movies he has worked on and has made him a pariah in the entertainment industry.

Where Can You Watch It? The entire series is available on DVD, though it has never received the Blu-ray treatment. All seven seasons are available for streaming on Hulu.

Read More About the Show: Wikipedia | IMDb.com