Buffy, la cazavampiros

If I'm having a bad day I can always count on Buffy to cheer me up (or, even if it's one of those cases were I just need a good cry I can always count on Buffy for that as well). It's the perfect blend of so many different qualities...it's humour, action, romance and just incredibly well written, believably flawed characters. I'm not exactly sure where all the haters came from, it's honestly seems to me that this is a case of judging a show by it's title.

There's little I can say about Buffy that won't become redundant, there is not much to find fault with. Sure it's got it's bad episodes, bad story arcs just like any show. But what kept me coming back with the razor sharp wit and characters that became like a family to me.

This is a beautifully written show and if you can make it past the goofy title, fantastic premise and (for many people) the campy first season (You'll grow to love the camp upon re-visiting it) you'll discover one of the best show's in recent memory.

Does anyone else have to defend their love of this show?

I'm a 50 year old British straight man, married with a kid ....and apparently I'm not supposed to like this. According to my 18 year old son anyway.

Maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe the title of the show puts people off.

This is a stand out show.

This show has some of the most creative episodes, characters and moral dilemmas I've ever seen. The show is terrific entertainment but the craftsmanship and the way it is structured is still so very strong... and often imitated.

This show deserves to be held in much higher regard.

There hasn't been anything like Buffy since it aired, and so it lives on, and so it should.

Truly wonderful experience... although no-one believes me.... in my house anyway.

Their loss :-)

I absolutely loved this show! I first watched this years ago and every few years rewatch the show and each time it's such a treat. While not everything holds up, a lot of the basic themes of the show are timeless. Sarah Michelle Geller is such a talented actress.

It is so hard to believe it's been so long since this wonderful program first graced our television sets. Even harder to believe that I didn't get hooked until the fifth season.

I knew of it's existence, of course, but I thought what a lot of people did. "Buffy? C'mon... Buffy?!? The...VAMPIRE slayer??". So I discounted it until I was flipping around many, many channels of garbage and stopped on either Spike (the channel) or FX and paused because it was the most interesting thing on.

The episode was Listening to Fear, and although I thought it was a bit hokey, I was intrigued and began to watch regularly. The series was still airing new episodes at the time and even though I wanted to watch those, I wanted to have the entire experience before the finale. As I moved through season five, they aired the final episode and it took all my will not to watch.

Cable television did what cable television does, so at the end of the fifth season, they wrapped and began airing from episode one. I was hooked. No... that's not quite right. You get hooked on "things". Buffy was not... is not "a thing". This "mere" television show and it's wondrous cast of constantly developing characters were real. Honest. They were family, as many have said before.

I miss them all terribly, even though I still see or hear them it's not the same. I watched Repo: The Genetic Opera and I saw Giles. I watched Scooby Doo and saw Buffy. How I Met Your Mother? Willow.

Honestly, this wasn't just a good or even great show. It was an important show. The genius flowed down from Joss and permeated the beings of everyone who worked on the program. As much as I would love to see them all in character once more, I hope it never happens, because magic only happens once and even Joss could not top what he's already gifted the world with.

All I can say is, to Joss all the way down to "Best Boy" or the catering service, thank you for the best years television has ever seen. You should all be proud.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, its misguided title put aside, is what I consider, and millions of other devoted fans believe to be a genuine and purely astonishing work of achievement in television history. With creative and daring story lines and terrific character development, the show that began its run on the WB as a mid-season replacement, became a dazzling cult hit resulting in a secure fan base and merchandising for as far as the eye can see.

The show follows a young girl endowed with the ancient powers of the slayer, one girl who fights the forces of darkness, battling alone, relieving the world of vampires and demons. In Buffy Summers' case, after moving to Sunnydale with her single mother, she befriends two loving, but out of place peers, Willow and Xander, who bravely march along side of her. Together, along with her watcher, Giles, they encounter creatures of darkness and strange mystical occurrences, which as a result, draw them closer together and occasionally, set them apart.

On occasion, Buffy is mistaken as a foolish, sci-fi television show which should probably be aired during the depressing Saturday afternoon time slot. But actually, nothing could be farther from the truth. A surprising element to Buffy is that the monsters and demons are a relatively small part of what the show actually stands for. From first love, life, death, sexual experimentation, and self identity crises – Buffy chronicles what it is like to be young person growing up in an overly mature world – with monsters! Between a slayer, a lesbian witch, a carpenter, and a werewolf – anything is possible and welcomed in the Buffy world. With the imaginative and extremely innovative writing of the show's creator Joss Whedon, along with the most intelligent and skillful writing staff that the biz has ever encountered, they were able to produce many groundbreaking episodes including "Hush", "The Body", "The Gift", "Becoming part 2", "Seeing Red", "Conversations with Dead People", "Grave", and "Chosen" – sadly I cannot continue this list for there is not enough space.

Without further ado, Buffy The Vampire Slayer is and will always be an incredible show. If you haven't had the privilege of watching this show, check your local listings for reruns or rent or even buy the entire series on DVD. Without a doubt, you will fall in love with the characters and stories, and by the time you finish the first season you will have welcomed a new family into your lives – sweet and sometimes muddled Buffy, clever and endearing Willow, faithful Xander, perceptive and paternal Giles. This show will linger in our hearts for eternity, and will go on to influence generations of intellectual and audacious writing in television.