Sarah Michelle Gellar Honors ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Anniversary

Nineteen years ago, producer Joss Whedon introduced vampires, the Sunnydale High School Hellmouth, the “Scoobies,” and the “Slayer” in a TV series called Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Star Sarah Michelle Gellar paid a small tribute through her social media feed on the series’ anniversary, bringing nostalgic feelings for Buffy fans everywhere.

On March 10, Gellar, who played the title character, posted a throwback image of herself dressed as Buffy Summers, complete with a wooden stake. Gellar used the caption “19 years ago tonight, I got to introduce you to #buffyannesummers (and #mrpointy too) thank you for the incredible journey with me and continuing still. I am and forever will be #grateful”

Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired for seven seasons on The WB, and it finished its run on UPN on May 20, 2003. The cast of Buffy were relatively unknown actors, although many of them, including Alyson Hannigan, Eliza Dushku, Seth Green, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Gellar would move on to achieve some success post-Buffy.

Joss Whedon first made the film Buffy the Vampire Slayer back in 1992, with Kristy Swanson starring as Buffy. Critics gave the film mixed reviews, and it was a moderate success, but Whedon wasn’t happy with the way the movie turned out. It would be another five years before Whedon could shape the Buffy universe the way he had originally intended, this time with Sarah Michelle Gellar as “the Slayer,” and the TV series took on a darker tone than the film.

The TV series ended up achieving greater success than the movie. Buffy the Vampire Slayer still makes Top 100 lists when the media compiles best TV series listings. The vampire-slaying series had one spin-off show, titled Angel, which starred David Boreanaz, who played the vampire Angel in both series. Angel aired for five seasons from October 1999 to May 2004.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer featured Buffy Summers during her high school and college years. Sarah Michelle Gellar played Buffy as a teenage girl with big responsibilities, but she also tried to maintain some normalcy, despite having to battle supernatural causes throughout the series.

Buffy didn’t have to battle vampires and other creatures alone; she had a small group of friends, dubbed the “Scooby Gang” or “Scoobies,” to help her out. Occasionally, Gellar and other cast members would cross over to make special appearances on its sister show, Angel.

While the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series aired, Sarah Michelle Gellar starred in memorable teen movies such as I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2, and Cruel Intentions. Gellar starred with her now-husband Freddie Prinze Jr. in the Scooby-Doo movies, where the actress played Daphne Blake.

In 2011, Gellar returned to television, starring in the drama Ringer, but that show only lasted one season on The WB. Two years later, Gellar would co-star with Robin Williams in The Crazy Ones on CBS, but that show also lasted only one season before cancellation.

On February 24, Gellar posted on her Instagram account an image that announced her return as Kathryn Merteuil, the popular character that she played in the film Cruel Intentions. NBC decided to shoot a pilot of a reboot of the 1999 film, with Gellar reprising her role for the upcoming show.

While many fans would love to have a reboot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, unfortunately as of March 2016, there are no plans to revitalize the series. Dark Horse Comics did produce a comic book series that continued from where the TV series ended. Joss Whedon also produced the comic book series, which debuted with Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight in 2007. The Season Nine comic series came out in 2011, and the Season Ten storyline came out in 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6lW1tNH3UM

[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]