101 Best Written TV Series

Aired: WB, 1997-2003

Part of the fun, and influence, of Buffy was in the way it mixed and matched genres while maintaining the integrity of its comedy and its heart. If high school was a peer-pressure fright night, it just might require the figurative jujitsu skills of a vampire slayer. "Buffy really changed the landscape," said Bryan Fuller, creator of the ABC series Pushing Daisies. "It demonstrated to networks and studios that you can meld genres in a unique way and create something that is altogether new yet very powerful and resonant. It's vampires, but it's emotionally honest, and that's what makes it work." Joss Whedon (who became the first third-generation Writers Guild member when he was hired on the sitcom Roseanne) adapted his Buffy the Vampire Slayer screenplay into the series, which became an integral piece in the WB network's brand as a youth-centered network.

Credited Writers

Dean Batali
Steven S. De Knight
Rob Des Hotel
Carl Ellsworth
Jane Espenson
Tracey Forbes
David Fury
Ashley Gable
Drew Goddard
Howard Gordon
Drew Z. Greenberg
David Greenwalt
Diego Gutierrez
Elin Hampton
Thania St. John
Matt Kiene
Ty King
Rebecca Rand Kirshner
Marti Noxon
Douglas Petrie
Joe Reinkemeyer
Dana Reston
Rebecca Sinclair
Thomas A. Swyden
Dan Vebber
Joss Whedon