Buffy began as a script written by Joss Whedon, in which a high school cheerleader discovers that she has become The Chosen One, the lone girl of her generation called to fight vampires and demons and the forces of darkness. Unfortunately, the resulting film, 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' was not a success. For a clearer idea of Whedon’s conception, check out the graphic novel 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Origin', which conforms to his original script.

Whedon went on to become one of the top script doctors in Hollywood, but in 1997 got the opportunity to bring BUFFY to television. The result was one of the most stunning series in the history of the medium. The wit, extreme intelligence, and humor were obvious from the first season, available in 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete First Season'. As good as that season was, it was a pale imitation of what we would see in 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Second Season', which told the season-long story of the love of Buffy and Angel, a centuries-old vampire with a soul and hunky good looks (and a curious addiction to hair gel). 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Third Season' continued the adventures of Buffy and her watcher Giles, her companions Willow, Zander, Cordelia, and Oz, and picked back up on the story of Angel. The third season also introduces the rogue Slayer Faith. The season ends with the Scooby Gang (the self-designation of those who assist Buffy in her battles) graduating high school (under trying circumstances, of course), with new directions for all of them.

'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Fourth Season' sees Buffy, Willow, and Oz going off to UC-Sunnydale, Giles in a state of limbo because no longer a watcher or a librarian (the school was destroyed), Xander is struggling to find something to do for a living, and former vengeance demon Anya strives with the challenge of being mortal. The vampire Spike is defanged by a secret government agency and becomes a regular for the remainder of the show’s run. Angel and Cordelia have moved to Los Angeles, where they team up to form Angel Investigations (their motto: “We help the hopeless”). 'Angel - Season One', 'Angel - Season Two', 'Angel - Season Three', 'Angel - Season Four', and 'Angel - Season Five' contain the five seasons of their adventures in Los Angeles.

'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Fifth Season' may be my favorite of all. Anyone who watched the show the first four seasons knows beyond any doubt that Buffy does not have a sister, we suddenly learn that she has a younger sister named Dawn. The show resolves this mystery in absolutely brilliant manner. Season Five also introduces the most charismatic of all Buffy’s villains, the remarkable Glory and ends with the most shocking image in the entire history of Buffy.

'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Sixth Season' is without question the most controversial in the history of the show, but I believe that adults will find it to be one of the most moving. Buffy struggles with the repercussions of the events of Season Five (an understatement if ever there was one, but I’m trying not to issue any huge spoilers here), and engages in a great deal of unheroic behavior. She is a very unhappy, troubled soul, and she isn’t the only one. 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Seventh Season' is overall BUFFY's weakest season, but contains some great individual episodes and the finale brings the series to a satisfying close. All seven seasons are available in 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Chosen Collection (40 Disc DVD Set) (Seasons 1-7)'.

Although BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER never racked up huge ratings (its highest rated episode ever attracted only a bit over 5 million viewers), it has a dedicated fan base that rivals that of STAR TREK. Indeed, BUFFY is the new STAR TREK. There are literally a hundred or so books connected to Buffy already in print, and many, many more on the way. Of the wealth of viewing guides, I think two series stand out. First, the Official guides: 'The Watchers Guide Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)', 'The Watcher's Guide, Volume 2 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)', 'The Watcher's Guide, Volume 3 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)', and 'The Monster Book' for Buffy, and 'Angel: The Casefiles, Volume 1' and 'The Casefiles : Volume 2 (Angel)' for Angel. I also strongly recommend the guide by Keith Topping, all seven seasons now available in 'The Complete Slayer: An Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to Every Episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer'. Two studies of ANGEL are: 'Five Seasons of Angel : Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Discuss Their Favorite Vampire (Smart Pop series)' and 'Reading Angel : The TV Spin-off With a Soul'.

There are a host of current and planned volumes on Buffy by hardcore academics and intellectuals. The three principle scholarly anthologies are 'Reading the Vampire Slayer : The Complete, Unofficial Guide to 'Buffy' and 'Angel'', 'Fighting The Forces: What's At Stake In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?', and 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale (Popular Culture and Philosophy Series)'. I recommend the first two a bit more strongly than the third. 'Seven Seasons of Buffy: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Discuss Their Favorite Television Show' is my personal favorite, a collection of appreciative essays by fantasy and Sci-fi writers.Hopefully they will rethink things and publish a paperback simultaneously. There are few book length studies by single authors at the moment, but one superb one, 'Slayer Slang: A Buffy The Vampire Slayer Lexicon', published by Oxford University Press, is a semi-scholarly appreciation of the show’s remarkable use of language. Recent books on Buffy include the 'What Would Buffy Do : The Vampire Slayer as Spiritual Guide' by Jana Reiss, 'Sex And The Slayer: A Gender Studies Primer For The Buffy Fan' by Lorna Jewett, 'Why Buffy Matters : The Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer' by Rhonda Wilcox, 'Televised Morality: The Case of Buffy the Vampire Slayer : The Case of Buffy the Vampire Slayer' by Gregory Stevenson, 'Blood Relations: Chosen Families In Buffy The Vampire Slayer And Angel' by Jes Battis, 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' by Ann Bilson, and 'The Aesthetics of Culture in Buffy the Vampire Slayer' by Matthew Pateman.

I also recommend the semi-officially sanctioned Dark Horse comics. 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Origin', mentioned above, is one in this series, and another essential volume by Dark Horse is 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Slayers', written by Whedon himself. Even better is Whedon's 'Fray', a riveting story of a slayer in the far future, with fascinating variations on slayer mythology. I also recommend the scripts of the shows. If one wanted to seek the single most important reason that Buffy and Angel have been such phenomenal artistic successes (even if they haven’t acquired the viewership that they deserve), it is the writing. The scripts are subtle, clever, witty, and enormously intelligent. This project is a couple of years from completion. It commenced with 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Script Book Season One Vol. 1' and is currently into Season Three, with one exception. The spectacular musical episode, '"Once More, With Feeling": The Script Book', has been released separately.

Joss Whedon went on to create one of the most brilliant television shows of recent seasons, FIREFLY, only to have FOX kill it at midseason. The existing episodes were released as 'Firefly - The Complete Series'. FIREFLY also has its own study: 'Finding Serenity : Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly (Smart Pop series)'. The series has been resurrected as an absolutely marvelous film, 'Serenity (Widescreen Edition)' and there is now the graphic novel 'Serenity'.

Both BUFFY and ANGEL have both now ended, but there is still hope for made for TV movies featuring Spike and other Buffyverse characters.