Buffy the Vampire Slayer's very first episode aired 25 years ago

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https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-r...e-slayer-at-25

“Nobody is likely to take this oddball camp exercise seriously …” the New York Times wrote of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s first season back in 1997, 25 long years ago. This attitude to the horror-comedy-romance-drama, about a teenage girl who is destined to save the world from the forces of darkness, was not uncommon 25 years ago. Most early critics tended to treat Buffy like either an oddity or a joke; Variety deemed it “an uneasy cross between The X-Files and Clueless”. But the show’s poppy, slangy, valley-girl dialogue soon became indicative of everything from low-brow trash to moral bankruptcy; US conservatives used Buffy as moral panic fodder, for apparently depicting witchcraft, occultism and satanism.

These days, Buffy is widely regarded as iconic, a cult favourite that has become a darling of streaming services. Its legacy is now confirmed, having spawned egregious “paranormal high school” type shows, inspired a snappier kind of teen speech (“If the apocalypse comes, beep me!”) and slang terms still used today. (“Wigging out” or “What’s the sitch?”) There’s even a much-anticipated reboot coming, rumoured for release this year.

But in retrospect, it shouldn’t be surprising that Buffy has lasted the distance for 25 years – it’s a show all about resilience.

The first episode opens with a classic horror scene: a tremulous schoolgirl exploring a high school with a boy at night. The nineties was the peak era of slasher horror, packed with gory teen deaths. Instead, in a typical Buffy inversion, the girl’s face ripples (badly – the early graphics are one thing which didn’t stand the test of time) and we discover that she’s the lurking monster. She’s the danger, but more importantly, she’s the one with the power.

Buffy is a show about strength: who has it, and who doesn’t. Buffy herself is a regular teen girl, concerned with boys and clothes and friends – who also has the superhuman strength to fight vampires. Her high school is literally hell – for the first three seasons, the school squats over a “hellmouth”, or portal to hell, with the majority of supernatural occurrences, vampire attacks, and other calamities happening on campus. It’s a metaphor that obviously appeals to anyone at school, or who can remember the torture of it.

Sarah Michelle Gellar celebrates Buffy the Vampire Slayer's 25th anniversary

"25 years ago today I had the honor to introduce the world to my version of Buffy Anne Summers," Gellar wrote on Instagram. "It was an uphill battle. A mid season replacement, on a new network based on a movie, that was by no means a giant success. But then there was you. The fans. You believed in us. You made this happen. You are the reason 25 years later we are still celebrating. So today we celebrate you as well." ALSO: Buffy finds a new cable home on Fuse, starting Oct. 1.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer turns 25: The teen drama's legacy endures despite Joss Whedon

Whedon's iconic teen drama starring Sarah Michelle Gellar premiered on The WB on March 10, 1997. A quarter-century later, it's hard to think about Buffy without considering Whedon's misconduct scandals. "Can one truly draw that distinction when Buffy was Whedon’s creation?" says Leila Latif. "It’s a conundrum many Harry Potter fans have faced in attempting to detach the books from JK Rowling. Following the transphobic comments that alienated large swathes of her fandom, many sought to disavow Rowling without abandoning Harry Potter, something that always felt to me like wishful thinking. After all, as Rowling pointed out, Harry existed, fully formed, for years within her mind before becoming a bestseller. But perhaps this is the key to continuing to love Buffy? The film version of Buffy that Whedon created was not the character I adored, and the first season of the show had sparks of brilliance but none of the depth that would resonate decades on. Buffy needed Gellar’s evolution as an actor; it needed writers like Marti Noxon, Drew Goddard and Jane Espenson to make the dialogue sing. The nuanced approaches of supporting cast members like (Charisma) Carpenter and (James) Marsters created hilarious, complicated anti-heroes despite an antagonistic creator." ALSO: In retrospect, it shouldn’t be surprising that Buffy has lasted the distance for 25 years – it’s a show all about resilience.