Buffy the Vampire Slayer Premiered 24 Years Ago Today

On March 10th 1997, Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on the WB network, and became a cult hit with a rabid fan base that sustained the show for its six-year run.

Based on the 1992 movie of the same name, Sarah Michelle Gellar starred as the titular killer of bloodsuckers, although she was extremely reluctant to be in this world of mystical responsibility when she was just trying to survive high school in Sunnydale. In this clip from the first episode, the slayer's appointed watcher Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) tries his best to convince her of the importance of her birthright. 

Eventually she forms a tight-knit group of magical crime-fighting friends who dub themselves the "Scoobies" — this show was a big pioneer of ironic pop culture references in TV — including Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), Willow (Alyson Hannigan), Xander (Nicholas Brendon), and her little sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg). She even got romantically involved with a vampire with a heart of gold named Angel (David Boreanaz), who eventually got his own spin-off series, and later with another Billy Idol-inspired vamp named Spike (James Marsters), which was a much darker and more twisted relationship. 

The success of the show also made a nerd hero out of creator Joss Whedon, culiminating in his direction of the first two Avengers films, and his sharply-written female heroes of power gave him a reputation as a champion of feminism. This persona has completely crumbled in recent years after a host of accusations of hostile work environments, exploitation, abuse and mistreatment of those in his employ, including Carpenter and Trachtenberg, whose claims have been supported by their castmates. 

Despite that, the show remains a cultural touchstone for a generation and there are strong arguments that important contributions from cast, crew, and writers should not be dismissed due to Whedon's actions. Gellar herself recently wrote “While I am proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don’t want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon."  Perhaps the same sentiment can be applied to the entire Buffyverse.

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Andy Hunsaker has a head full of sitcom gags and nerd-genre lore, and can be followed @AndyHunsaker if you're into that sort of thing.