--- description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73b5fc3ba72ca67f/69869f0de53abab4f94d3f2b/t100_tv_buffy-the-vampire-slayer1.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 14, 2014 # _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Everett Who says there are no second chances in Hollywood? Joss Whedon saw his script for the 1992 movie _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ made into a one-joke travesty of a teen comedy. Five years later, like a mystic being resurrected within a pentagram, it came back to life as a magical dramedy, a ripping thriller and the smartest work of girls-kick-ass feminism ever crafted by a pudgy guy who’s into comic books. Sarah Michelle Gellar nimbly handled the show’s undead allegories for coming-of-age conflicts (her stunt double nimbly handled the rest). And the show unspooled a rich mythology, realistic family and relationship stories and the best Sondheimian musical episode ever written for hour long television. The demons and ghouls were comically rubber-faced, but Buffy’s spirit was achingly real. [Get This TV Series](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00005221I/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3101301/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3101301/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/"},"headline":"Buffy the Vampire Slayer","datePublished":"2014-08-14T19:10:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:02:11.915Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3101301/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/","keywords":["drama","Action","Fantasy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73b5fc3ba72ca67f/69869f0de53abab4f94d3f2b/t100_tv_buffy-the-vampire-slayer1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73b5fc3ba72ca67f/69869f0de53abab4f94d3f2b/t100_tv_buffy-the-vampire-slayer1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3101301/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/","name":"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Buffy the Vampire Slayer","description":"The demons and ghouls were comically rubber-faced, but Buffy's spirit was achingly real.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jlMHdyZP/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2007-09-04T15:55:27.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jlMHdyZP.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3101301/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/","duration":"PT32S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3101301/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```