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Buffy is notable for attracting the interest of scholars of popular culture as a subset of popular culture studies. Academic settings increasingly include the show as a topic of literary study and analysis.[93][94] National Public Radio describes Buffy as having a "special following among academics, some of whom have staked a claim in what they call 'Buffy Studies.'"[95] Though not widely recognized as a distinct discipline, the term "Buffy studies" is commonly used amongst the peer-reviewed academic Buffy-related writings.[96] The response to this attention has had its critics. For example, Jes Battis, who authored Blood Relations in Buffy and Angel, admits that study of the Buffyverse "invokes an uneasy combination of enthusiasm and ire", and meets "a certain amount of disdain from within the halls of the academy".[97] Nonetheless Buffy (1997–2003) eventually led to the publication of around twenty books and hundreds of articles examining the themes of the show from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives including sociology, Speech Communication, psychology, philosophy, and women's studies.[98]
Season |
Timeslot |
U.S. ratings |
Network |
Rank |
Network rank |
|
1 |
1997 |
Monday 9:00 p.m. EST |
3.7 million |
The WB |
#144 |
#6 |
2 |
1997–1998 |
Monday 9:00 p.m. EST (15 September 1997-19 January 1998) |
5.2 million |
The WB |
#133 |
#3 |
3 |
1998–1999 |
Tuesday 9:00 p.m. EST |
5.3 million[101] |
The WB |
#133 |
#2 (tied) |
4 |
1999–2000 |
Tuesday 9:00 p.m. EST |
5.1 million[102] |
The WB |
#122 |
#2 (tied) |
5 |
2000–2001 |
Tuesday 9:00 p.m. EST |
4.5 million[103] |
The WB |
#120 |
#3 |
6 |
2001–2002 |
Tuesday 9:00 p.m. EST |
4.6 million[104] |
UPN |
#124 |
#3 |
7 |
2002–2003 |
Tuesday 9:00 p.m. EST |
4.1 million[105] |
UPN |
#140 |
#4 |
1-7 |
1997–2003 |
Monday 9:00 p.m. EST (September 1997-19 January 1998) |
4.64 million[106] |
UPN & The WB |
N/A |
N/A |
Buffy helped put The WB on the ratings map, but by the time the series landed at UPN in 2001, viewing figures had fallen. Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a series high during the third season with 5.3 million viewers, this probably due to the fact that both Gellar and Hannigan had hit movies out during the season (Cruel Intentions and American Pie respectively), and a series low with 3.7 million during the first season. During Season Seven, the show rarely reached above 4 million viewers. The show's series final "Chosen" pulled in a season high of 4.9 million viewers on the UPN network.
Buffy did not compete with shows on the big four networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX), but The WB was impressed with the young audience that the show was bringing in. Because of this, The WB ordered a full season of 22 episodes for the series' second season. After the episode "Surprise", Buffy was moved from Monday at 9 p.m. to launch The WB's new night of programming on Tuesday. The first episode aired, "Innocence", became the highest rated episode of the entire series, attracting over 8.2 million viewers[citation needed]. Due to its large success in that time slot, it remained on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. for the remainder of its original run. With its new timeslot on The WB, the show quickly climbed to the top of The WB ratings and became one of their highest-rated shows for the remainder of its time on the network. The show always placed in the top 3, usually only coming in behind 7th Heaven. Between Seasons Three and Five, Buffy flip-flopped with Dawson's Creek and Charmed as the network's second highest-rated show.
In the 2001-2002 season, the show had moved to the UPN Network after a negotiation dispute with The WB. While it was still one of their highest rated shows on their network, the WB felt that the show had already peaked and was not worth giving a salary increase to the cast and crew. UPN on the other hand, had strong faith in the series and quickly grabbed it along with "Roswell". The UPN Network dedicated a 2 hour premiere to the series to help re-launch it. The premiere episode on UPN, "Bargaining, Part One", attracted over 7.7 million viewers, making it the 2nd highest rated ratings of the entire series run. The remainder of the series' run on the network saw the show actually outperform its old sister shows Dawson's Creek and Charmed, which were still on the WB.
Commentators of the entertainment industry including Allmovie, The Hollywood Reporter and The Washington Post have cited Buffy as "influential".[107] Autumn 2003 saw several new shows going into production in the U.S. that featured strong females who are forced to come to terms with supernatural power or destiny while trying to maintain a normal life.[108] These post-Buffy shows include Dead Like Me and Joan of Arcadia. Bryan Fuller, the creator of Dead Like Me, said that "[[Buffy]] showed that young women could be in situations that were both fantastic and relatable, and instead of shunting women off to the side, it put them at the center."[108] Buffy, while itself taking certain elements from the classic series of Doctor Who (1963–1989) (even referencing it in one episode), became a blueprint for the revived series (2005-),[109] and executive producer Russell T Davies has said
“ |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer showed the whole world, and an entire sprawling industry, that writing monsters and demons and end-of-the world is not hack-work, it can challenge the best. Joss Whedon raised the bar for every writer—not just genre/niche writers, but every single one of us.[110] |
” |
As well as influencing Doctor Who, Buffy influenced its spinoff series Torchwood.[111]
In addition, Buffy alumni have gone on to write for or create other shows, some of which bear a notable resemblance to the style and concepts of Buffy. Such endeavors include Tru Calling (Douglas Petrie, Jane Espenson and even lead actress Eliza Dushku), Wonderfalls (Tim Minear), Point Pleasant (Marti Noxon), Jake 2.0 (David Greenwalt), The Inside (Tim Minear), Smallville (Steven S. DeKnight) and Lost (Drew Goddard, David Fury)
Meanwhile, the Parents Television Council complained of efforts to "deluge their young viewing audiences with adult themes."[112] The FCC, however, rejected the Council's indecency complaint concerning the violent sex scene between Buffy and Spike in "Smashed"[113] The BBC, however, chose to censor some of the more controversial sexual content.[114]
The first season was introduced as a mid-season replacement for the short-lived night-time soap opera Savannah, and therefore was made up of only 12 episodes. Each subsequent season was built up of 22 episodes. Discounting the unaired Buffy pilot, the seven seasons make up a total of 144 Buffy episodes aired between 1997 and 2003.
Buffy has gathered a number of awards and nominations which include an Emmy Award nomination for the 2000 episode "Hush", which featured an extended sequence with no character dialogue.[115] The 2001 episode "The Body" revolved around the death of Buffy's mother. It was filmed with no musical score, only diegetic music; it was nominated for a Nebula Award in 2002.[115] The fall 2001 musical episode "Once More, with Feeling" received plaudits, but was omitted from Emmy nomination ballots by "accident". It has since been featured on Channel 4's "100 Greatest Musicals".[116] In 2001, Sarah Michelle Gellar received a Golden Globe-nomination for Best Actress in a TV Series-Drama. Recently, the series was both nominated and won in the Drama Category for Television's Most Memorable Moment at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards for 'The Gift' beating The X Files, Grey's Anatomy, Brian's Song and Dallas although the sequence for this award was not aired.
1-62 ^ a b Wahoske, Matthew J., "Nielsen Ratings For Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, And Firefly", Insightbb.com (2004). |
63-115 ^ a b Various authors, "Titles with locations including Torrance High School", Internet Movie Database (updated 2006). |
All links retrieved and checked as of March 9, 2007according to Wikipedia
