Viv Burr

I am a secretary in "claims quality assurance" (read: internal affairs) at a huge insurance company. I had seen ads for Charmed, and tuned in early to have a look. I caught the last half of the Angel episode in which Doyle dies. Hooked, I have watched ever since. Knowing about my Angel habit, a friend was astounded that I had never seen Buffy. She kept after me until I finally relented, and picked it up in the middle of the Glory/Key arc. Thank goodness for that friend, and for two daily episodes on FX!! I caught up in time for the beginning of season 5. For the past three years, friends and family have known not to dream of calling or visiting on Tuesday evenings. Next week will be deeply weird...

--Kae Chapman 

I'm a Information Systems Professional. I enjoy hobbies like gaming (not gambling), reading, music, movies, shooting (guns) and half a dozen others I rarely I have time for anymore. I'm unmarried but have a long time significant other. As to demographics, I just turned 40, Southern WASP.

I liked the movie well enough, especially the infamous death of Paul Rubens' character. ("Oh Oh...") I discovered the movie because I sooner or later get around to watching just about every vampire movie made, even the bad ones, because some aren't. Bad that is. I have an inexplicable fondness for horror movies, especially vampire movies. I also like wierd wordy humor, such as Monty Python and Dennis Miller. So I guess was predisposed to like the show. Thing is I had no idea there WAS going to be a show.

At the time the Buffy TV show started I didn't have cable, and I really wasn't watching much TV. (I have cable now, and I mostly watch Discovery Channel and such, except for Buffy and Angel.) I turned on the TV one night and flipped through all seven channels of network-a-rific goodness looking for SOMETHING that wasn't completely without virtue, and found the second episode of Buffy in progress. I stopped, a bit puzzled and eventually figured out what I was seeing. I was pleasantly surprised such an off beat movie had become a TV show, and figured I was watching something that just wouldn't last long. I found myself laughing and enjoying the show quite a bit. So I tuned in next week, the week after I was telling all my friends about this great new show. A couple of years later, other folks are telling me. Hey, I already knew already. :-)

So that is how I discovered Buffy. I've been watching faithfully all these years and I'm going to miss it. I'm rather amazed at how much fuss it is getting here at the end of things, most folks I know wouldn't admit to watching it.

J. C. Atnight

This is a Multipart Email Message:

Having seen the movie, I had scoffed at the notion of a TV series, and so had duly ignored it.

Then one night, I was flipping through the channels and happened upon the third season premiere episode, "Anne".

The part I remember most clearly is where the demon has slaves lined up and asks who they are. The first guy says his name and the demon kills him. The next ones say, "nobody". Finally, he gets to Buffy. "Who are you?" he asks. She replies perkily, "I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer..... and you are?"

I knew I was hooked.

Stephen Foote

My name is Ann Beaulieu and I am a 39 year old mother of four who is an admitted, Buffyaholic!

I started watching towards the end of season 3, I was pregnant and on bedrest and looking for something to watch. I found Buffy and I have to admit my lust for David Boreanaz had a lot to do with my viewership!

I have watched since then and when the show started on FX I watched day and night to see what I had missed. My husband was thinking about an intervention!

I will miss the show very much but am very glad we still have Angel and James M on Angel to go on! I think there are many more stories to tell.

Ann Beaulieu

Klc712@aol.com To: dlavery Subject: RE: Discovering Buffy (An Invitation) Urgent New I am a senior in high school, born and raised in the suburbs of Washington, DC. I was introduced to Buffy by my parents during 7th grade. Dad had watched it from the beginning, and eventually my Mom joined him. One day she got me to sit down and watch a tape of it with her - it was "I Only Have Eyes for You" - and I've been hooked ever since. The show captures perfectly the feelings of growing up, and puts it in a context that makes all the drama seems less ridiculous than it often does in real life. Just as many fans look askance at what has become of Buffy and her friends in the past few years, I look at myself and all the kids I've grown up with and wonder how we've changed so much. But I'm glad I got to grow up with Buffy.

Kerry Casey

I am a U.S./women's/gender/peace historian who teaches history, women's studies, and peace & conflict studies courses at a small mainly undergraduate liberal arts university Mount Saint Vincent University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. My main research area concerns women/gender, war and peace in historical perspective, notably with regard to 20th-century North American society. I am originally from the United States; I moved to Canada in l969 and am a citizen of both Canada and the United States.

One evening in the fall of l997 when my daughter, Jasmine, was watching t.v. in the basement rec room, I came downstairs for something. I noticed a young attractive blond woman battling a kind of weird monster human on the small screen and thought: gee, this looks violent, maybe I'll check this out, and then, if warranted, discourage Jasmine from watching this show. (I have a specialty in peace history!) I settled onto the couch with my l3-year-old daughter, and within minutes I was drawn in. I soon realized that Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a very clever program, one that took teenagers seriously and dealt with gender and identity in empowering ways. I was captivated by the image of a young woman cast as a just warrior. Within a couple of weeks I had a pen and notebook in hand while watching Buffy. My daughter didn't like that, so I started to tape Buffy and to take notes on second viewings. Before I knew it, I was writing a paper on Buffy, one I presented to the l999 Pop Culture Association meeting in New Orleans. Then this essay was published in Journal of Popular Culture (2001), and a friend and colleague and I got working on an anthology about t.v. women warriors (Buffy, Xena, Nikita, and Seven of Nine) that became ATHENA'S DAUGHTERS: TELEVISION'S NEW WOMEN WARRIORS. I don't remember writing the initial Buffy essay. It seemed to write itself. I've never relished an academic project more.

Frances Early

My name is Melanie Adams, I am a Lab Technician at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. I happened upon Buffy the Vampire Slayer(BtVS) by accident. In October 1998, I was 21, in my apartment flipping channels. When I first came to BtVS, I kept right on going. I had seen the movie (well most of it, I couldn't bear to sit through the whole horrible thing) so I didn't think the TV show would be any better. As there was nothing else on, I switched back. I remember thinking how different it was from the movie. So I faithfully watched that third season and into the fourth (and arguably the best) season. A friend had the first season DVD's that he let me borrow. (I was genuinely shocked that a guy a few years older than I was, admitted to being a fan.)Watching the commentaries I understood why the movie and TV show differed so much. From the DVD's and reruns on cable I was caught up on the history of Sunnydale and the Scoobies. Now I have a small group of friends who are avid BtVS fans, just last night we watched the series finale *sob* together.

Melanie Adams

My name is Jennifer Bullock, an Advertising graduate from San Jose State University. I discovered Buffy during it's first season. I'm not sure which episode it was, but a few had already aired. I was sitting at the dining room table, working on a project for school. I turned on the tv, wanting some background noise. I flipped through several channels, finding nothing interesting to watch. My mother saw my frustration and mentioned that "That Buffy The Vampire Slayer show is on..why not try that?" She had read in the paper/seen some news clips regarding the new series and she thought it was good enough to try it out. So I did, and I was hooked. It took me a few more episodes but I feel into it .. and I've loved it ever since. Around the end of the second season, my mother took her own advice, and we're both huge fans of the show.

Jennifer Bullock

i'm 38 yrs old, i work at a university and study interior design.

i was recently separated from my husband in the fall of 2000, and had plenty of time on my hands. Also, my father died that fall. My friends had mentioned Buffy in the past, but i hadn't watched it. I didn't like TV and only watched one show religiously, Babylon 5, for its magnificent story. Now, with all this time on my hands, i decided to watch the rebroadcast episodes on FX, starting with the very first episode. i immediately connected with Giles, the father figure of the group. And i fell in love with the characters, and the story, and the hipness and reality of the entire endeavor.

Lena Davis

I am the leader of a manufacturing engineering group in Vancouver, Canada. My group consists of a half dozen engineers and we are collectively responsible for all technical aspects of $80m worth of product per year. I moved to Vancouver from the east coast right around the time BtVS started. I was alone and job hunting at the time and discovered Buffy one night while channel surfing. The Buffinator got my attention but the show kept me tuning in. The continuous struggle for freedom, interesting characters, and occasional fall from grace earned my respect but the there was always some reference, witty remark, or underlying meaning that made me laugh. I hope Angle (a surprisingly good spin-off) remains true to its roots and keeps up the Buffy tradition for at least another season.

Glen Farrell

I am a 51 year old female who has always favoured the science fiction/ fantasy genre, whether it be in the form of books, television or films. I had seen the original Buffy film and was less than impressed despite Donald Sutherland and Luke Perry. Around the same time I was watching "Forever Knight", a Canadian television show about a vampire cop with, not a soul, but a conscience, and Buffy didn’t compare favourably. A few years later when Buffy the television series premiered, I thought I would give it a go, as I do most science fiction/fantasy programmes. I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't resemble the film much beyond the premise - it was much better written and acted - but I also had a computer class the same night most weeks so my viewing wasn't consistent. Then the season 2 episode "School Hard" aired and that was it. I became a loyal fan and viewer, taping the shows when I couldn't be home to watch them. The characters of Spike and Drucilla really appealed to me. I continued watching even into season 3 when my favourite characters disappeared - I was an addicted to anything Joss Whedon by then, also watching "Angel" when that show appeared, as well as the late, lamented "Firefly".

- Janice Chan Toronto, Canada

I work in film and television development in Los Angeles and had heard rumblings from friends about "the greatness" of BtVS since season 1 -- but each time I dismissed the praise and thought to myself, "I can never trust THIS opinion again." Years later, my British friend Tom came to visit L.A. and insisted that we stay at home one evening instead of doing something touristy so that he could watch BtVS. It was a season 5 episode where Glory had Dawn, Tara's mind was all scrambled, and Joel Grey was.... wait a second, JOEL GREY??? O.K. so I didn't understand WHAT was going on in the story, but it was enough to get me watching. Then, at the end of the episode, the title character died. My first episode and the star dies. COOL!!! I caught up watching reruns on FX and entire seasons on DVD with Tom filling in all of my questions via internet Instant Messaging along the way. (Incidentally, it is Tom's theory that whichever season was the first that a fan watched is their favorite. Season 6 is most definitely the tops for me.) Now, if you'll excuse me, I just realized I have some grovelling to do with some friends I haven't spoken to in a VERY long time.

Kerry Bailey

Hi, My name is Bethany Cramer and I'm an 18 year old college student/librarian's assistant. I've watched Buffy since the day it premiered for a variety of reasons. My mom had been reading in the TV guide when we saw the little description about the show before it premiered. The movie, although pretty bad, is enjoyable and we had always liked watching it. Plus, my family has always loved the horror genre and in particular vampires. The premise was appealing, and we knew this show was for us. On the day it premiered I was one of the people watching, and we still have that first night on tape.

beth cramer

I am the Visual Communications Manager for a multinational customer research provider, specializing in the measurement of in-brand customer interactions. Although I can't remember the date my wife and I started watching Buffy I can remember that I was not at all enthralled by the idea. I had seen the movie in the theatres and felt that the best part was Paul Reubens death scene - the rest was passable entertainment, but certainly not worth any further investment of my time.

A friend of ours had taped every episode of seasons one and two, in order, and continued to try and foist this tripe upon my wife and I. I resisted; my wife caved in and brought home the tapes. Still I resisted. She had watched all of season one in a few weeks and was having the most interesting conversations with our mutual friend about "Buffy this," and "buffy that". I finally caved after one month of this.

I have never written anything about Buffy before this ... nor do I frequent fan sites. My wife and I did, however, purchase every book about Buffy and continue to convert those who sneer at our choice of entertainment. As a final note, about two years ago I gave up TV ... to this day Buffy is the only TV show I watch(ed).

Best regards,

Michael D. Dargie Visual Communications Manager

I am a professor of English at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts, where I , specialize in the teaching of writing. Although I had seen the movie (which I found mildly entertaining), I wasn't drawn to watch the series BtVS until a colleague of mine at Bridgewater State College began regaling me (during the third season) with infomation about the series, while we were traveling together on college business. At about the same time, a professor of English at Utica College in upstate New York told me that she and her two late-teens daughters were devoted to the series and made a point of watching it together. Both women spoke enthusiastically about BtVS's vision of powerful women (Buffy and Willow) and their capacity to form strong bonds with others in a just cause. So I began to watch the series, at first sporadically, then with increased devotion. I caught up in the plot with the help of the women who had alerted me to the show, and i followed it faithfully up ro the end. Given that I was led to the series by two empowered women, I am not surprised that the final episode involved the empowerment of all potential Slayers. It was an uplifting end to a great series.

--Anne E. Doyle

My name's Dave and I'm a professional photojournalist. I started seriously watching Angel during season 2, when the Fang Gang went to Pylea (something about the ad that showed Angel completely surprised he wasn't on fire in the Pylean sunshine really caught my attention, "Does anyone else see how not on fire I am!?"). I had caught a couple of episodes prior to that, but it was the Pylean mini-arc that hooked me but good. I never watched BtVS because I was one of the six people in America that actually liked the movie with Kristy Swanson, and generally never liked the treatment my favorite movies got when turned into television series(es). Little did I know that Joss Whedon was behind it and so it was in good hands. Anyhow, a friend convinced me to watch, starting in early S6, telling me that as much as I'd come to like Angel I was sure to enjoy Buffy, because all the elements that I loved about Angel were present in both shows. Anyhow, I started watching, and admittedly it took a couple of episodes (all that intricate back-story to comprehend), but by the time Once More With Feeling rolled around, I was tuning into FX for the back episodes and buying all the reference materials I could get my hands on (The Watchers Guides, The Monster Book, etc.) to fill in the holes, and then when the DVDs came out in the U.S., I was in heaven.

-- David W. Crenshaw

I have a B.A. in anthropology and I am currently working on my Master's in Library Science. I discovered Buffy back when I was in High School. A friend of mine had convinced me, against my better judgment, to watch the premiere of a new TV series called Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I had no desire to see it. At the time I was an avid reader of fantasy and horror novels but the thought of sitting through a show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer seemed painful. How good could it be if it was called that? I didn't like camp. I didn't like teen dramas. I wanted something that meant something; and that's found in books not on TV - right? However, I agreed to watch the first episode with her - and then the second, and third, and fourth, etc. I have watched the show devotedly since the very first episode. And while I have certainly found the show painful to watch at times, it has been the empathetic pain of a person watching her friends hurt, not the pain of sitting through a bad show .

--Danielle Boorman

I was about 27 and in law school when Buffy began. I started watching it because it one of my nearest and dearest friends had immediately glommed onto the Heroic Librarian. Alas, in my pre-cable days, all I could discern was movement on a screen.

In my second year of law school, we scraped together enough money to get cable in time for an encore performance of School Hard. I was transfixed. The metaphor was easy - I loved law school as much as anyone could, as much as anyone could love Sunnydale High. The undead stalk both halls. Dead heroes and (mostly) departed powers scattered traps and boons in both mythic landscapes. Foes and allies are clearly defined and constantly undermining their categories. Heroic librarians. It was more true to my life than my life usually was.

I kept watching Buffy through the bar examination and three clerkships at my state Supreme Court. Similar patterns beat in Sunnydale and in the Washington Temple of Justice -- getting the spells right; making hard choices with incomplete knowledge; the constant temptation of the dark; regret for the casualties wrecked by our best efforts.

Laura Anglin Judicial Clerk

I am a 22 year old student in Edinburgh, Great Britain, where I am about to graduate with an MA in History of Art and English Literature . I first caught Buffy on terrestrial TV in the first season (Out of Mind, Out of Sight) when I was about sixteen/seventeen (1997/1998). I didn't think that much of it, and never pursued it until I saw the second half of Band Candy in the summer of 2000 when I was nineteen. I found it really funny, and when Lover's Walk made me cry, I knew I was hooked, and spent most of that summer borrowing other people's videos of the show. I have been watching and writing about Buffy ever since, and will be sad to see it go.

Lizzie Barrett

My name is Rebecca and I'm simply an addict of the show. I have aspirations to go to graduate school in film and pop culture studies someday. I even have my thesis topic picked out...

However, that's not the point. The point is I have the Chicago Cubs to thank for my addiction to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The first episode I ever saw was the first airing of The Witch (Season 1, Episode 2). It had been pre-empted to midnight because of a Cubs game and I happened upon it as I was flipping channels. That was it, there was no great fanfare or announcement from on high, although there should have been, considering from that moment on Tuesdays at 7 became a sacred time. I've taped every episode, followed the mythology, read some of the books, and I've managed to drag others into the Buffy universe along with me, kicking and screaming. No other show has ever entered my consciousness like this one. I have my other addictions, but I wouldn't have those if it weren't for the extraordinary derring do and grace of our heroine and her friends. Sydney Bristow would not exist if it weren't for Buffy Summers. So, thank you to Joss, the writers, the cast and the crew for creating a world in which I could dwell for an hour or two every week.

Rebecca Burgess

I was a 36-year old accountant living in Atlanta when Buffy began. I've always been a fan on the horror and fantasy genres, especially vampires. As a kid my favorite show was Dark Shadows. Nevertheless I wasn't planning to try Buffy - to me it just sounded silly. Somebody told my partner that the premiere had been good so we watched the next episode, The Witch. I thought it was cute but didn't get hooked on the show until the first season closer, Prophecy Girl. Season 2 really began my obsession with the show and I have never missed an episode since that time. I'll always maintain that Buffy is one of the best things ever to appear on tv.

Abe Carter 

I am a Systems Librarian at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. I never intended to become a Buffy fan. In early 1997, I was finishing my double masters in English and Library and Information Science. One night, my roommate and I stumbled upon the series premiere of _Buffy_. We both rolled our eyes. Neither of us could imagine that this show could be anything other than teenage trash. But with nothing else worth watching we kept it on. Within minutes we were hooked. I was especially entranced by the fact that a librarian played a central role. Both of us had worked in the library in college, and we knew someday someone would figure out that all the weirdness that goes on in libraries would make perfect fodder for a TV show. From then on I took every opportunity to extol the quality of _Buffy_, and created many converts. One of my colleagues jokingly forwarded me the call for papers for _Fighting the Forces_. But I had the last laugh when my article (which wound up in the second issue of _Slayage_) wound up on my vita, earning me points towards tenure. Thank you Buffy!

Aimee Fifarek

I have been watching Buffy since I wasnine years old. Now at the age of 16 I am still as passionate about the show as ever. Im not the one to shed tears over a fiction tv sitcom but many tears have been shed on occasion while watching Buffy. It breaks my heart to hear about Buffy coming to an end although I am now also a dedicated Angel viewer nothing can surpass the reputation Buffy has created. No other show will match it. At times when my life has been strenous the only thing that I can find relief in is in Buffy. Im always watching it on UPN, FX, or reading the series books. I truely believe that the show has become a piece of my heart.

R. Farmer

As of two days ago, I'm a graduate of Dickinson College, where I majored in English and Women's Studies. I didn't watch a single episode of Buffy until the middle of season five. I'm a life-long fan of vampire stories, but I had thought that both movie and series sounded stupid. (So wrong!) I stumbled into Buffy through the 11th Hour Message Board, where I had been posting insulting comments about another show. I read the conversations there and was impressed with the intelligent discussion and rabid adoration the show inspired. The first episode I watched was "The Replacement." A few episodes later, I was hooked. I checked online summaries to get the backstory and devoted my weekday evenings to catching up on the previous seasons on FX. Less than two years after I watched that first episode, the show inspired my honors thesis, "'Because it's Superman's Book You Moron!': Geeks, Metafiction and Feminsim in Buffy the Vampire Slayer." As a young woman stumbling through her college years and the experience of having to support myself completely for the first time, what I get out of Buffy is the notion that we can all be heroes in our own lives. I find inspiration in Buffy every single day.

Rebecca Downey

I work at a philanthropic foundation, have a degree in library science, and have watched Buffy since the first show. I'd never seen the movie and had no preconception of what the show might be like. Early reviews said it would be one of the best shows of the year so I gave it a try. I've never missed an episode and over the years lots of my friends and family have come to love Buffy as well. 

Abby Dain

I am a 34 year-old musician and writer for the Knoxville News Sentinel in Knoxville, Tenn. I saw the movie "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" when it came out, and though I enjoyed it, I didn't pursue the series until season three, when a good friend told me I might enjoy it because it was "darker" than the movie ever got. So I did and was hooked pretty quickly.

Randall Brown The Knoxville News-Sentinel

I now oversee the Introduction to Psychology classes at the University of Minnesota. But when I first started watching BtVS, I was a graduate student in Psychology. I had seen the original movie and enjoyed it. The first episode of BtVS I saw was "Out of Sight, Out of mind' on May 19, 1997. My daughter, who was 13 at the time, was watching it. All her friends at school were watching. I routinely monitored what my children watched on TV, and would watch with them. (I would use this quality time to drive them crazy by instructing them in 'media literacy'.) At first I didn't have a clue what was happening, but I loved the episode--the whole 'Have a nice summer' curse in the yearbook and Cordelia made me laugh. The story idea was so fresh, clever and unexpected. And it was emotionally true, which was amazing, since most TV programs are not. So I went out of my way to see the season finale and the re-runs over the summer. My daughter and I have watched ever since.

Kate Briggs Saint Paul, Minnesota & University of Minnesota

I am a transgender activist, science fiction fan, and security guard in Ann Arbor, MI. When I discovered Buffy in the spring of 1998 I lived in Mason, OH worked as a personal care attendant for a disabled woman and lived as a male. My friend Jack had been raving for a while about this great TV show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." I had seen the movie and was not impressed. I didn't even own a TV having decided that television was a vast wasteland. Jack was persistant and eventually I agreed to watch a few episodes out of morbid curiosity. Jack started from the beginning and I had to admit it was moderately entertaining. I didn't get hooked on Buffy until the episode "Out of Sight, Out of Mind." With that episode I was blown away by how Joss took Cordelia, the snide two dimensional schoolgirl bully and made her a realistic and interesting three dimensional character without invalidating her previous behavior. Since then Buffy has been my companion through geographic relocation, coming out of the closet, and gender transition. I still don't own a television, but I have faithfully gathered with friends to watch the slayer.

--Lorraine Donaldson

I am an assistant editor at the Academy Spirit newspaper at the United States Air Force Academy.

When I graduated from college in 1998, I returned to my parents' house in North Dakota for three weeks before coming to Colorado to begin my job. I was bored out of my mind. There was nothing to do in that small town and I had already seen all the television episodes that interested me. While surfing for something, anything to watch, I stumbled upon the first half of the season 2 finale.

I immediately became intrigued with the complexity of the characters, particularly Xander and Willow. I couldn't wait to see the end of the finale a week later. When the finale ended with Buffy killing Angel and going off to California, I could identify with her sense of loss and displacement. I was hooked.

Over the summer, I moved to Colorado and didn't know anyone. I watched Buffy on Tuesday and Wednesday night reruns. All that angst and displacement mirrored how I felt living in a new environment. Since that time, those characters and this show have been like companions I could return to whenever I felt lost.

Jennifer Brugman

I am a graduate student in the film studies program at the University of East Anglia. On a Sunday evening in January 2002, I was home in front of the television, trying to find something to watch. The local UPN affililate had been rerunning older episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Sundays at 8PM, and I happened upon the episode "The Freshman" just as it was beginning. I had been vaguely aware of the program, but had never considered watching it; I had the impression that it was just another silly teen drama. I was drawn into the opening teaser, without realizing what I was watching. When the opening credits came on and I discovered that it was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I was quite surprised and yet continued to watch. That one episode turned me into a devoted Buffy fanatic, and I've never looked back.

Eric Brasure

My name is Danielle Arial and I graduated university over two years ago. It was just after Christmas of my second year, when my housemate Liz brought home the first boxed set of Buffy. I laughed out loud and continued to ridicule the show (that up to that point I had never seen). Liz chastized me for knocking something that I'd never seen, so we sat down and started watching. By the end of the premiere, we were both hooked. But we had a few problems: it was the middle of the third season, and we didn't have cable. For two and a half years we had Liz's mom or her boyfriend tape Buffy. When the tapes would arrive, we would sit and watch them all in one shot - approximately 4 hours of Buffy. When SPACE started airing reruns, we had people tape those also, so we could catch up. I've watched the tapes over and over again, all seven seasons. I've wrote several papers essays in university, attended Wilcox's lecture at the Pop Culture Conference in Toronto last year, and have converted dozens of people who, foolishly like me, ignored the show for so long.

Danielle Arial

I am a librarian, a tree-hugging, animal-loving, single parent, who sincerely wishes Buffy had been available as a role model for my daughters when they were growing up. When my 21-year old daughter and 50 year-old best friend raved so much about the show, I began watching Buffy in the middle of the first season. Since then, I have managed to record every episode.

There is more truth in Buffy, more life and love, than in almost any other TV show. (Too bad that Firefly was canceled....) OK, I'll say it: Whedon is to modern story-telling what Shakespeare is to literature.

I will miss Buffy as I would miss my daughters if they moved away.

Diane Brodson

I am an Industrial Trainer at a Technicolor site in Virginia. I first learned of Buffy from a fellow teacher at Computer Learning Center in Manassas back in 1997.

Len Cowherd

I am a theoretical nuclear physicist who was working on a university-based archive of science software when my mother had a serious head injury. After almost a year in hospital, she was well enough to come and live with my family, and I left full-time work to become her carer. Time was often heavy on my hands, so I rekindled my childhood interest in fantasy and science fiction in all media : books, films and tv. Genre television seemed pretty pathetic until I came across Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the Spring of 2000, Season 4 was being shown on Sky, and shortly after I watched Season 3 on the BBC. It was amazingly nerd friendly : clearly written and acted by nerds, but willing to take on the issues of deep emotion nerds usually avoid. Sarah Michelle Gellar absolutely nailed the clueless little heartbreaker who happened to be able to kill monsters. The only problem was her Government Issue boyfriend Riley, but when I saw "Something Blue" I was sure he was just a placeholder for the wry, dry, bleached vampire Spike. I still think Gellar/Marsters are the hottest couple on screen since Christie/Sharif, and I hope to see them together again soon, on the small screen or the big one. Buffy has certainly changed my life in one way: seeing SMG juggling in "Hell's Bells" inspired me to pick up my balls again, and I can now keep them up in the air longer than I could twenty years ago!

David F. Collinson, PhD

I can't remember exactly, but it was when I was living with my sister in Marmion, Western Australia. She mentioned Buffy was on and could I watch it with her because it freaked her out a bit. By the end of that episode (must have been season 2) that was it; the obsession had begun. Mind you, I don't know if I could call myself obsessed because other than having lots of the shows on tape and buying the lovely Buffy postcard set they were selling a couple of years ago, I haven't really got into the merchandising part of it, which would allow me to class myself as an Obsessive Buffy Fan. I am in London at the moment and BBC2 is currently playing with the viewers who don't have Sky One and showing what is, sadly, our final ever season of Buffy intermittently. It is most frustrating. Prolonging the agony. My hope for the end is that she is reunited with Angel, if only for a moment.

Lisa Elliott Historian, Tour Guide and UnderPaid and UnderWorked Secretary from Australia, living in London

My name is Tracy Campbell, I’m a female, 27 year old Theater director living in Anchorage, AK. When Buffy first got going. I heard about it on the internet, but didn't get WB so I ignored it. I tried watching some Buffy in syndication, but it never quite clicked. I brushed the show off as a "vampire/horror-thingy" and since that's not my cup of tea, I ignored BtVS some more. Then I heard about Buffy: The Musical and I felt this was a show I shouldn’t ignore. I knew my little sister was a big buffy fan, so I asked her if I could try watching a few episodes she had downloaded. An evening with my sister turned into an all-night marathon of Season 1. I was hooked and I wanted to catch up as fast as possible. I devoured episode guides, I borrowed snowy tapes of tapes from friends. When the DVD’s started coming out I gobbled them up, eager to fill in any blanks in my buffy-experience. The key to my Buffy-love was watching the first couple episodes in order. Buffy led me to Angel, Fray and my favorite television show ever, Firefly. I love joss whedon’s mind.

Tracy Campbell

My name is Amy Aguilar, and I am a co-owner of a handbag business, a consultant to a charitable foundation, and a new mom. Towards the end of Season 2, I started watching the show (mostly because my boyfriend thought SMG was hot), and I saw enough to be intrigued. What initially attracted me was the idea of a woman as a hero--and that the show took that concept seriously.

My boyfriend's roommate had all the episodes on tape, but because he loved the show so much he was afraid to let me borrow the tapes. As a result, I had to watch them at their apartment when no one was watching TV. With three guys and one TV, this usually meant in the early hours of the morning. Luckily I was in graduate school then and it was between semesters. Within two weeks I had watched all of Seasons 1 and 2 and was completely hooked. 

Amy Aguilar

I have often thought of writing to the Buffy folks to tell them of how I came to be a "Buffy-Head." - I am glad that you are asking for stories and that others are responding.

My tale is a long one, but I will give you the quickie version. I am more than happy to furnish you with details and write the tale in a more printable mode, if you like.

Since the days of Barnabas Collins, I have had a passion for vampires: so much so that when I bat flew through my window in Grad school all I could do was bare my neck and cry "Bite me!" while my roomate tried to shoo it out with a broom. Over a year ago, I began writing my own Vampire novel, because I felt that there was more to being Undead and Immortal than wandering around from party to party whining about how difficult it was to be rich and young forever. I also like a little more sex and violence in my stories. At any rate, I had seen BTVS a few times early in the morning on FX (exercising to the blond in sunny resorts got boring, and there isn’t much else on at that hour)…and found it mildly entertaining.

A year ago, I found myself in a wheelchair, confined to my Mother’s home. I spent a lot of time reading, a lot of time on the phone – and a lot of time with the T.V. Days and nights of pain and insomnia and drugs made me, perhaps, a little less lucid than I could have been, and I allowed my thoughts to wander to some scary, dark places best left unexplored. I managed to find shows to watch 23/7 (there is nothing on from 05-06:00), and wound up with 4 hours of Buffy FX repeats every day, plus the occasional episodes I found on other channels.

Originally, I looked to Buffy for ideas for my own novel, and I was saying as much to a close friend of mine at work…who has been watching the show since its onset, and has taped every episode. He began to send me 6-7 episodes at a time, commercial-free, twice a week. The next thing I knew, Mom and I were glued to the VCR. I watched the first 6 seasons in as many weeks – and was hooked. His wife even gave me the Board game for Hannukah...and I am feeling inspired to create a D&D-type roll-playing game based on the show.

I’d like to add that, although I’ve seen every M*A*S*H and (Classic) Star Trek ever made, and most of the "Law and Order" series, I have never in my life been addicted to a T.V. show. I stopped watching the “X-Files” when they got to be “soapy”. Never before have I altered plans, or made plans, around television (except, of course, the Super-Bowl).

I was so addicted to BTVS that I considered leaving my job at NASA and volunteering to work for Joss Wheedon – in any capacity – just to be a part of the Buffyverse. It is rare that movies can surprise me – and "Buffy" has never failed to do the unexpected. The witty dialogue, the music, the characters, the philosophy, the art…but, then, you already know all that.

For a time there I was Buffy dancing because there was nothing to sing about…I have laughed and cried…and I managed to live through a year of unbelievable misery – in part because there was always something in BTVS that I could relate to. I can walk and dance and dive and sail - and much of my strength came from that crazy Sunnydale crowd; who made me re-live nearly everything I've been through in my life, and made me feel things I had buried, and

People are quick to resist the idea that a T.V. show can be anything other than shallow nonsense, but I have discovered in the past months that there is a large group of closet Buffy fans amongst the NASA engineers at JSC. I have met fans everywhere: from people who make collection calls to folks in bars to wealthy Carribean merchants – from artists to computer geeks. From teenagers through 40-year-olds like me to my 78-year-old mother, who is nearly blind but catches more from the music and dialogue than I do from the visuals.

Although I have traveled and held many jobs and done much in my life, I was raised in a very sexist, Orthodox Jewish household, where “woman’s lib” and “female empowerment” were ideas to be scoffed at. Advanced degrees and a brain were merely assets to be used in making men’s lives happier.

Yet with BTVS I learned to say “Penis” without blushing (too much), and have come to realize that women can be strong as women, not just as people. I am so glad that my God-Daughter has a better roll-model than ‘Wonder-Woman’ or ‘Charlie’s Angels’ to grow up with.

There I’ve prattled on long enough, after saying I’d keep this short. It’s hard not to go and on about something that has meant so much to me. Even in the last episode, which I watched with trepidation, I discovered words of wisdom to live by: that I am cookie dough, and that I have strength I never realized. [Although I still say she loves Spike.]

Again, my apologies for the length of this discourse. And please feel free to contact me at any time. Although I have not yet figured out where I am going next, I have considered going back to teaching. And if I do, I will be inspired by Mrs. Saffioti-Hughes and others like her, and will add a “Buffy Appreciation Day” to my “Grateful Dead Appreciation Day” in all my future mathematics classes.

 Shirin Bar-Sela [Former NASA ISS Manifest Lead]

My name is Amber Elf, and i am a broadcasting student at SanFrancisco State Univerisity. I started watching Buffy during season three (with any regularity). I had seen a couple of repeats and enjoyed them previously, but was not able to fit it into my life at the time. Also, it was not a popular thing to like originally, and i am ashamed to say that it took a while for me to proudly claim viewership. I have been staying in the UK for the past year, and have snapped up all of the Buffy DVD's, and been loyaly watching till the end. Sure am going to miss it. If it helps, i was 16 when i started watching.

Amber Elf

I was hooked on the first episode, I do not have a real story, but Buffy represents strength, power, beauty with an innate sense of humor to me .... Wouldn't it be cool to slay evil?

Kathleen Cogswell paramedic

Diane Harris Berger

I was brought back to Buffy mid-season 5 by my boyfriend at the time. He had been going on and on about how great Buffy was, and I started watching again—part nostalgically, part curiously, part reluctantly.

Then I stopped watching again, mid-season 6. My boyfriend and I had broken up so I had no one to share Buffy with. And season 6 didn’t interest me much after “Tabula Rusa.”

Then I met Peter, classmate, co-worker, and now my roommate and best friend. I noticed one day that his away message on Instant Messenger contained song lyrics from “Once More with Feeling.” I mentioned it to him, and he was thrilled to have found another Buffyphile. Peter re-ignited my fascination for the show, and in the course of a day, I proceeded to watch the rest of season 6 and the first half of 7 that I had missed (thanks to USC’s broadband internet services and file-sharing programs). Since then, my interest in Buffy has never been greater, never been more obsessive.

Emma Cunningham

In the summer of 1998 I had just completed my MA in English and had moved to Kingston, Rhode Island, to begin my PhD program. Not knowing anyone, and not having the mental energy to do anything productive, my summer loomed long and dull, until, one Tuesday evening, still unpacking boxes and too poor to afford cable, I turned my television to some re-runs on a very fuzzy WB station.

I was familiar with the original movie and a fan of Anne Rice, but like many people over the age of twenty-one, I scorned the WB as the station of teen angst and sanitized family soaps. It took about thirty seconds of Buffy to convince me otherwise. The show was witty, stylish, well-acted and well-thought out, and I was hooked. But even more than production values, I found myself attracted to the show's overwhelming use of metaphor. Here I was, truly on my own for the first time, living alone in a strange part of the country, fighting my own set of demons - in my case, the phone company and the registrar's office. I felt powerless, and Buffy was inspiring, Buffy was empowering. Buffy helped me become my own version of a grad school slayer.

Now, as I wistfully watch the last episode, I reflect on how Buffy and I have grown and changed. I did slay grad school, and even made it on the job market. Now I'm an assistant professor of English at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, but I've hardly outgrown my all-time favorite television show. On the contrary, I use Buffy in class quite often. Teaching at a women's college, I have found that Buffy is the perfect character to connect with my young female charges. I learned that lesson during my teaching demonstration during my on-campus job interview. 

The topic? "Women and Power in Medieval Literature: Or, Why There Were No Slayers in the Middle Ages." I'm just relieved we have slayers in this day and age.

Dr. Michael G. Cornelius

Two members of my household were hooked from the very first show; I feared the whole monster/vampire business, so I demurred. However, at the beginning of the second season, when they assured me that it had a really yummy librarian, well, I had to try it.

I loved it, right away. Giles was stuffy, funny, smart, and wicked. He clearly loved the young people he worked with. He was the adult voice of reason, affection, and support, always.

I was a librarian for ten years, and a library journalist for twelve after that. Now I am a writer, editor and consultant for libraries. I wrote a cover article for _American Libraries_ about Giles, one of the most pleasurable pieces of professional writing I have ever done.

GraceAnne DeCandido

LaDonna Bernard

--Kristina Forsyth

--Lyndon Coppin

Kathryn J. Barnes
Dept. of Educational Technology
Arapahoe Community College

Kim Buehler

Annalisa Castaldo

Eve Blecher

My tale is a long one, but I will give you the quickie version.  I am more than happy to furnish you with details and write the tale in a more printable mode, if you like.

Since the days of Barnabas Collins, I have had a passion for vampires: so much so that when I bat flew through my window in Grad school all I could do was bare my neck and cry "Bite me!" while my roomate tried to shoo it out with a broom.

Over a year ago, I began writing my own Vampire novel, because I felt that there was more to being Undead and Immortal than wandering around from party to party whining about how difficult it was to be rich and young forever.  I also like a little more sex and violence in my stories.  At any rate, I had seen BTVS a few times early in the morning on FX (exercising to the blond in sunny resorts got boring, and there isn’t much else on at that hour)…and found it mildly entertaining.

A year ago, I found myself in a wheelchair, confined to my Mother’s home.  I spent a lot of time reading, a lot of time on the phone – and a lot of time with the T.V.  Days and nights of pain and insomnia and drugs made me, perhaps, a little less lucid than I could have been, and I allowed my thoughts to wander to some scary, dark places best left unexplored.  I managed to find shows to watch 23/7 (there is nothing on from 05-06:00), and wound up with 4 hours of Buffy FX repeats every day, plus the occasional episodes I found on other channels.

Originally, I looked to Buffy for ideas for my own novel, and I was saying as much to a close friend of mine at work…who has been watching the show since its onset, and has taped every episode.  He began to send me 6-7 episodes at a time, commercial-free, twice a week.  The next thing I knew, Mom and I were glued to the VCR.  I watched the first 6 seasons in as many weeks – and was hooked.

I’d like to add that, although I’ve seen every M*A*S*H and Star Trek ever made, I have never in my life been addicted to a T.V. show.  I stopped watching the “X-Files” when they got to be “soapy”.  Never before have I altered plans, or made plans, around television (except, of course, the Super-Bowl).

I was so addicted to BTVS that I considered leaving my job at NASA and volunteering to work for Joss Wheedon – in any capacity – just to be a part of the Buffyverse.  It is rare that movies can surprise me – and Buffy has never failed to do the unexpected.  The witty dialogue, the music, the characters, the philosophy, the art…but, then, you already know all that.

For a time there I was Buffy dancing because there was nothing to sing about…I have laughed and cried…and I managed to live through a year of unbelievable misery – in part because there was always something in BTVS that I could relate to. 

People are quick to resist the idea that a T.V. show can be anything other than shallow nonsense, but I have discovered in the past months that there is a large group of closet Buffy fans amongst the NASA engineers at JSC.  I have met fans everywhere:  from people who make collection calls to folks in bars to wealthy Carribean merchants – from artists to computer geeks.  From teenagers through 40-year-olds like me to my 78-year-old mother, who is nearly blind but catches more from the music and dialogue than I do from the visuals.

Although I have traveled and held many jobs and done much in my life, I was raised in a very sexist, Orthodox Jewish household, where “woman’s lib” and “female empowerment” were ideas to be scoffed at.  Advanced degrees and a brain were merely assets to be used in making men’s lives happier.

Yet with BTVS I learned to say “Penis” without blushing (too much), and have come to realize that women can be strong as women, not just as people.  I am so glad that my God-Daughter has a better roll-model than ‘Wonder-Woman’ or ‘Charlie’s Angels’ to grow up with.

There I’ve prattled on long enough, after saying I’d keep this short.  It’s hard not to go and on about something that has meant so much to me.  Even in the last episode, which I watched with trepidation, I discovered words of wisdom to live by:  that I am cookie dough, and that I have strength I never realized.  [Although I still say she loves Spike.]

Although I have not yet figured out where I am going next, I have considered going back to teaching.  And if I do, I will be inspired by Mrs. Saffioti-Hughes and others like her, and will add a “Buffy Appreciation Day” to my “Grateful Dead Appreciation Day” in all my future mathematics classes.

- Shirin B.

Laura F.

Over the years I heard many people talk about how clever this show was, telling me I should give it a chance. From season 3 to 6 I probably caught one or two episodes a year, and while I generally admired what I saw I didn't get hooked. My thinking was, "I watch enough TV as it is, and while this show may be clever it's been too long since I had any teen angst of my own to identify with the show". 

Needless to say, I finally did get hooked. I think it was when I caught the season six finale last year and was impressed with the complexity of the storyline. I knew I wanted to know more about those characters and how they got to that point in their lives. Since then I've caught up with the reruns on the Space channel and of course watched Season Seven. I've now seen most episodes in season 3 to 7 and am slowly catching up on the earlier ones. I am looking forward to seeing season five of Angel (and watching all the back episodes of that show once I'm caught up with Buffy).

I may even buy the Firefly DVD when that shows up...

Hans F. Cook

--Giada Da Ros

Hi there! I am a student at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. Around February of 1997, I started to see advertisements for Buffy on the WB. I was only 8-years-old at the time and it looked horrible. But as an avid watcher of the WB, I would continue to see these ads until the show finally aired. On March 10th, 1997, the show just happened to be on and I was unbelievably bored that night. My first show was in fact the series premiere, "Welcome to the Hellmouth." I have followed the series watching every episode since. Around when the 6th season began, I introduced all of my friends to Buffy and they instantly loved it. That’s when the Buffy parties started. Starting with “Entropy�, we had Buffy parties every single Tuesday after school. Our last Buffy party was this past May. We will pick up with parties in October when Angel begins its 5th season. I have come from being an 8-year-old incessantly watching this show to making Buffy part of my friends and my own life. Now as Buffy said in “Graduation Day part 2,� “If someone could just wake me when it’s time to go to college, that’d be great.�

Rachel Castlewitz

I am a 34-year-old retail clerk from Bakersfield, CA. I had heard from friends about a TV series based on the 1992 Buffy movie being planned. They felt it was something I might be interested in because of my interest in sci-fi (I am a big "Star Trek" fan) and the occult. Having already seen the movie, I was not expecting a show worth watching. I was channel-surfing the night the fourth episode, "Teacher's Pet" aired (3-25-97). I started watching it but was unimpressed so I didn't watch again until the seventh episode, "Angel" aired three weeks later. I was thoroughly impressed this time and never missed another episode in the series' seven-year run.

I took a lot of heat from co-workers and family for becoming emotionally attached to a show with such a corny title but over the years I was able to make a few converts, pointing out the series' great writing and acting. TJ Trujillo

am a student in a univeristy studing Drama. I had been hooked on sci-fi television shows for year which was mainly Star Trek. The first time I heard of Buffy was when I was glancing through one of my Star Trek magazines. It was just one page advertising Buffy which I did not pay any attention to. One night after watching Star Trek on BBC2, Buffy came on. Instead of switching channels, I decided to see what it was like. The episode was season five, "The Body". After watching the episode I was puzzled as I had believed Buffy to be a funny, martial arts show. However, this episode, standing out from the others was actually sad and dramatic. The story-line of Buffy finding her mother dead on the couch and how the whole episode played out made me realise what a great show this is. The following week I watched the next episode which followed on with Joyces funeral. Again, great acting and writing. I had just loved these to episodes and so, the following night, I went to Woolworths and bought season five part two and spent all night watching it. The episodes were so intense and actually related to struggles in actually life. The pain and turmoil of the cast brought out the beauty in the show. One year later I have every episode of Buffy and Angel on video. Some people say that I'm mad spending all that money, I just reply by saying Buffy is a great show, and is worth it. I have enjoyed watching the show and believe that the popularity of the show will spead through the shows demense and attract audiences young and old to enjoy the fanbase of the lengendery show.

Jamie Barker

I'm a student and an administrative assistant in The City University School Of Law. If it weren't for a close friend of mine I would have never watched BtVS because I thought the movie was kind of weird, not so bad but not impressive enough to watch a show. I knew a little about it because of my friend and he would always say how brilliant the show was. He actually was away at school at the time and asked if I would be able to tape the show for him and so on October 2, 2001, I watched the season six premiere of BtVS "Bargaining" which left me wanting more and more after. Seeing Buffy resurrected by her friends after sacrificing her life in for her younger sister in the previous season made me realize how deep and smart this show really is. Learning how to deal with our everyday life fighting demons which we do. Getting betrayed or losing a friend or a family member are the problems that Buffy and the gang had to deal with. The only difference is it's supernatural. The two good things that BtVS had that many shows didn't was well-written honest dialogue that fit each character wonderfully and of course a great cast to portray them. I have now caught up and know every episode since I started purchasing the DVD's (Which are great.) Any person of any age would enjoy a little BtVS fix. It's great entertainment and just simply amazing in every way. Thank You for the past 7 years.

Anonymous

I'm a 22 year old who just graduated with a degree in Psychology. I Became a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer the summer after the first season aired, but I knew about it when it first aired. I was a huge fan of the movie and had seen it numerous times. I definitely considered it to be something of a cult classic as I hadn't seen it in the theaters but later learned of it once it was on video along with a lot of my friends. My sister was the one that informed me of it being made into a TV show. Since I was one of the few people who actually liked the movie I was horrified that they were going to make a very awful, cheesy TV version of what I considered an awesome movie. It wasn't until the summer after the first season when the reruns started that I got to actually watch the show. My sister was watching them for the second time and I happened to sit in and watch "Welcome to the Hellmouth". I instantly loved it and never missed an episode since. It wasn't until later that I realized that the same person who wrote the movie also wrote, directed, and produced the show. The one and only Mr. Joss Whedon.

Gretchen Duschl

My name is Matthew. I live in Southeren California and am a student at Los Osos High School. I am 16 years old. When I was younger maybe 6 or 7 I walked into a video store and went straight to the Horror section. As a child I was always fascinated by vampires. So one day I picked up the Buffy The Vampire Slayer movie and fell in love with the concept, but was dissapointed by everything else. When I was 10 I saw the trailer for the Buffy series and was so excited, and on March 3, 1997 I became a Buffy fan. To this day I have remained a loyal and avid fan of all things Buffy. My Tuesday nights for the past seven years involved taking a shower, getting tons of snack foods, and watching my one hour of happieness. I don't know how long I will remain a fan, but everyday I am still watching the episodes that changed my life, and changed Tv.

Matthew Bowman

I owe my discovery of BtVS to my favorite author, the incomparable Terry Pratchett. Members of an internet news group that I used to frequent, Alt Fan Pratchett, would occasionally refer to Buffy with obvious interest and admiration. The show was never discussed in any depth, at least not that I saw, because the group is mostly British and they didn't want to be spoiled by the *Merkins* more up to date knowledge of the show. But it was clear that Buffy was held in high esteem by the group, and while I was skeptical I was also somewhat curious because I actually respected those people. So eventually I started checking it out, when I remembered to watch it, that is.

Up until then like so many others I had held the show in disdain because of its silly title and because of its focus on cute and perky high school students who I assumed I wouldn't be able to relate to (I am in my forties). Surely It was just some silly, stupid, inane show that wouldn't interest me in the least.

It wasn't love at first sight. It was more like mild, cautious interest at first sight. I can't even recall the first episode I ever saw although it must have been sometime during the first half of S5. But my current obsession was a long time growing. It was a while before I remembered with any reliability when it was even on. I think I had to follow the show for a while and get to know the characters and the dynamics between them before I started to get seriously drawn in.

The timing of "Intervention" and my love of this episode suggest that it may have been a turning point in my interest but I can't say with any certainty what episode, if any, finally did it for me; marked a boundary between a reasonable liking for the show and an all consuming passion. By the end of S5 I considered myself an enthusiastic fan but it wasn't until I saw the Musical that I realized just how brilliant this show was. It was the Musical that finally inspired me to seek out more information about the show on the Internet. And it was the overwhelming and mind boggeling volume and variety of sites I discovered and the opportunity to read reviews, analyses, and join in online discussions that really put me over the top and quite frankly, changed my life.

Deborah Coen

I am an intellectual property attorney in my mid-thirties and the mother of an 8-month old girl. I have always loved strong female role models; for example, I had a strong and positive response to Linda Hamilton's character in Terminator 2. Back in 1997 and 1998, my husband and I had to live apart for a while -- he was finishing his doctorate and I was working in another city. He had started watching Buffy and told me over the phone that it was a good show, that I should watch it. I remember attempting to watch it a couple of times. I saw the episodes "Ted" and "Band Candy," but without any context, the show didn't really do anything for me. Then some time later, Entertainment Weekly did a viewer's guide with an overview of the whole series, and I got interested. I started watching regularly at the beginning of Season Four, and was sucked in, way in, from that point on. I knew there was a lot of backstory missing for me, and it was to my great delight that FX started running the previous 3 seasons in syndication.

I am a regular viewer of Angel as well.

Deborah Davis, San Francisco, California

How I discovered Buffy? Hmm, good question. Well, considering I loathed the movie, and demanded my 6 bucks back, I wasn't very enthused about a tv show carrying the same name. To make matters worse, I'm not very much into the vampire gore and mythology. Never seen blade, nor the original Dracula. Saw Lost Boys, liked it, but hey, it had hot guys in it, so that's not saying much.

Anywho, I was flipping through the channels one night, and BAM... hot guy. That would be David Boreanaz by the way. The episode was title Angel, and well, David was very lickable and slurp worthy in that ep, hence I didn't change the channel, and to my surprise, I watched the entire ep, and I loved it. I kept tuning in for the remainder of the season, but it wasn't until mid season 2, that watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer every tuesday nights at 8pm, became a ritual for me. It was very wierd and strange, but my life seriously was planned around this show. I think I even blew off my Aunts wedding cause a new ep of Buffy was airing that same night.

Yes, I know. I have gross emotional problems, but hey, your the one who asked me the question so, you're more of a sicko than I am.

Lisa Bonita

My name is Adrianna Bast, I am 24, I have an Associates Degree of Arts and Sciences, a BA in Anthropology and a Certificate in Death Investigation. I am currently working as an office slave in Wisconsin, I have aspirations to either head off to Law school or grad school.

I think I am the only person on earth whose Buffy fandom started with the movie. I loved the movie. It was one of those cult movies that I got addicted to thanks to channels like USA and TNT which often played it, very late at night, perfect for my developing adolescent brain. Consequently this could have been blamed on my love of Luke Perry at the time, but I digress.

Then the series started. I watched the first season pretty religiously. The second season I watched occasionally, then the only Buffy I caught was on late night Fox reruns. I dropped out. I loved Buffy, but I just stopped watching. My best friend though, she never stopped, so I think I can blame her.

Eventually I misplaced my social life and started spending an increased amount of time with my TV. Thanks to FX, I caught pieces of season 5, then season 6 started and I was hooked! Season 6 was sort of how I felt my life was going at the time (lost, no direction, feeling very nihlist), so it connected with me. I could relate to Willow's magicks addiction, Xander's commitment fear, Spike's unrequited love, Buffy's self-imposed suffering, Anya's love of capitalism. Plus bonus: Musical!

 Then I started to backtrack.That darn best friend mentioned DVDs, and had coupons! So I went out and bought Seasons 1-3 and spent the next 2 months glued to my TV. Then I got 5 on VCD, and 6 on VHS, and half of Season 7 on VCD, then I taped every episode of season 7, then I started watching Angel, and got hooked to that too so I had to buy those DVDs as well. Now, well, now I have spent far too much time and money on Buffy and the Scoobies, Angel and the Fang Gang to ever give them up! Plus, who would want to? I'm a lifer, I've even gone to a convention, I read Slayage religiously, I have all the scholarly Buffy books, I read the paperbacks, even the ones for kids, I have comic books, trading cards, and I have even entered the world of fanfiction (as well as played around with a couple of scholarly papers of my own). I am proud to say that now I am spreading the gospel of Buffy and creating new addicts in all my unconverted friends. I can't wait to see what Joss does next, heck I might even buy the Firefly DVDs just cos I know they are gonna be good, if his hands have touched it, you know its gotta be good!

Adrianna Bast, Buffy junkie

Marilee Craig of Redford, Michigan. I am attorney and started watching Buffy from the first episode. I got hooked because it was well written and although it dealt with some rather extraordinary subjects, it did so in a straightforward manner. The type of problem or issue was irrelevant, it was discussed and handled and any consequences that resulted from the problem were made plain. The writers never took the easy way out and let a character off the hook when their actions caused the problem. They made sure the character faced the issue, problem or threat and then corrected it or made amends to the people affected by it.

 Honesty, justice, teamwork, hand work and trust were all a big part of the Scooby Gang. They proved time and time again that knowledge and friendship are not just words, but are the foundation for survival; be it high school or life in general. Although not everyone survived the final conflict, their actions showed that some things are worth dying for. I think Anya's death was the most telling, since her first reaction to the Mayors transformation was to run and hide. She could have done the same thing this time, but chose to take a stand and fight despite the impossible odds.

Marilee Craig

I am a horseback riding instructor and freelance history writer in Youngstown, Ohio. One of my best friends has been a Buffy fan since I first met her, and that's how I was first exposed to the show's wit and wisdom. My friend was raving about Eliza Dushku and the character of Faith, so eventually I started looking around for information on the backstory there. I was quickly an admirer of the great dialogue, which is what made me start watching the show. I soon got attatched to characters and the strong ongoing storylines, as well as the stand-alone episodes. My husband was wary, of course, because of the title and the theme of the show, but he soon got as hooked as I am, and became a huge Angel fan himself. After the last episode of the season, we cancel our cable, since Angel is now our only "good" reason to have it now that Buffy has ended. Tapes, DVD's and books keep us busy through the summers.

Elizabeth

My name is Aeri Amadis-Noel, and I am a writer, model and layabout. I'm also a cubicle monkey for a major newspaper by day. I discovered Buffy during its first season, and watched it quite often. I was a bit skeptical at first because I really didn't like the movie at all---but I'm one of those people who loves bad TV and will sit through Lifetime movies just to make fun of them. Buffy surprised me. It was good and only continued to get better. Buffy was the most character driven, well-rounded, witty and entrancing shows ever to grace the airwaves. Often times, it was one of the only things worth watching at all. There's a hole in my TV schedule that will never quite be filled.

Aeri Amadis-Noel