How Buffy the Vampire Slayer changed TV and no one noticed

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Sometimes a show is so singular in its approach and leaves such a unique imprint on the culture's collective memory that despite its success, appeal, and influence, it proves difficult to see exactly how it's changed things. It proves so distinct that even years after its conclusion, it's a challenge to hear its echoes in other productions. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was such a show.

With Sarah Michelle Gellar starring as the titular high school student fated to battle supernatural forces, Alyson Hanigan as her socially awkward friend Willow, Nicholas Brendon as the clownish Xander Harris (who started off carrying a torch for the unattainable Buffy), and Anthony Stewart Head as the bookish mentor Rupert Giles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer began its seven-season run in the suburb of Sunnydale in 1997 and ended in 2003 with the monster-besieged town sinking into Hell.

Those six years of vampire hunting, angsty romance, and geeky snark changed the face of television. Buffy inspired women with a relatable female hero tougher than just about every man she met. With longtime comic book geek Joss Whedon running the show, Buffy was one of the pop culture landmarks to usher in the era of Geek Chic. It featured a long, continuous storyline at a time when most TV was defined by episodic series, and it opened the door for a fusion of teen romance with supernatural horror.

In these ways and more, here's how Buffy the Vampire Slayer changed TV and no one noticed.

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