An Obsession With a Vampire Slayer

May 19 -- A war will end on Tuesday night. Humanity will be saved, evil will be vanquished (again). Left standing will be a girl, the chosen one, who will go on fighting darkness — only we won't be around to watch.

Welcome to the closing chapter of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer saga. After seven years — a feared apocalypse averted at the end of each one — Buffy the Weekly Television Show will be no more.

I've been hooked on television shows before — Carol Burnett as a kid, Dynasty and Melrose Place in my soapy young adult moments, Friends now — but nothing hooked me like Buffy. The exploits of the Slayer and her gang of buddies, aka the Scoobies, became an obsession.

All around me is evidence of my Buffy fixation. The brilliant Buffy musical episode soundtrack is on the stereo, the Buffy videogame is in my X-Box, just waiting for me to complete the final level. There are assorted videotapes, the first three seasons of DVDs, a 12-inch Buffy doll with a crossbow perched on my refrigerator (at Christmas, she becomes the angel on my tree), assorted comic books, and a lunchbox a friend gave me this year for my birthday. My 39th birthday.

What is it about this stake-thrusting, butt-kicking, quip-making "supergirl" that has made me long for Tuesday nights?

The simple answer is that Buffy consistently was one of the best-written programs on network television. It mixed on-the-edge suspense, witty dialogue and heartbreaking drama in one show, often at the same time. Sometimes I've felt like a hostage to the show, but I'm actually more like a "guestage" (to quote from my new favorite character, Andrew).

From the Ashes

Buffy began life as a 1992 feature film that was critically drubbed. Her creator, Joss Whedon, also didn't like the final product and he succeeded in recrafting his vision for then-TV newcomer, The WB. The premise didn't change in the transition: One teenage girl in all the world is chosen by the "powers that be" to protect the world from vampires and demons.