Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) looks like your typical perky high-schooler, and like most, she has her secret fears and anxieties. However, while most teens are worrying about their next date, their next zit, or their next term paper, Buffy's angsting over the next vampire she has to slay. See, Buffy, a young woman with superhuman strength, is the "chosen one," and she must help rid the world of evil, namely by staking demons. The exceptional first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer introduces us to the treacherous world of Sunnydale High School (where Buffy moved after torching her previous high school's gym). The characters there include "watcher" Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) and the original "Scooby Gang" members--friendly geek Xander (Nicholas Brendon), computer whiz Willow (Alyson Hannigan), and snobbish popular girl Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter)--who aid Buffy in her quest. Those used to the darker tone that Buffy took in its later seasons will be surprised by the lighter feeling these first 12 episodes have--it's kind of like Buffy 90210 as the cast grapples with regular teen problems in addition to saving the world from demonic darkness. Fans of the show will enjoy the crisp writing, the phenomenal chemistry of the cast (already well-established within the first few episodes), and the introduction to characters that would stay for many seasons, including moody vampire Angel (David Boreanaz). Through it all, Gellar carries the series with amazing confidence, whether conveying the despair of high school or dispatching various demons--she's one of TV's most distinctive and strongest heroines. --Mark Englehart

this is where Sarah Michelle Gellar became a star,Joss Whedon was welded onto the map,and television would never be the same again.
Buffy Summers was made an international icon in the sci-fi/horror genre,and not only was the lead appealing for viewers it was a strong supporting cast that made it the entertaining show we all know and love,including the fabulous Anthony Stewart Head as Giles,Alyson Hannigan as Willow,Nicholas Brendon as Xander,and Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia.
this made television fun again and well basically it bacame one of the most successful television series ever made!!!!
and is by far my favourite series to come out of the States and my favourite show EVER!!!
Welcome to the Hellmouth/Harvest-5/5-it all started here,and my god the pace and script for these episode are amazing and very dark/comical...whats not to love.

Witch-4/5-here began monsters as metaphors for life,a fun epsiode that adds more to the 'Scooby Gang' as characters and set foundations for the future episodes.

Teacher's Pet-4/5-a Xander themed episode and...well...its loadsa fun.

...First Date-3/5-the only dud of the season but it is a very good episode that draws more on this seasons plotline.

The Pack-5/5-a classic episode...need i say more?and the first principal of Sunnydale High to bite the dust.

You Robot...-3.5/5-Decent enough,more focus on Willow and a silly beast to face...but character driven.

Angel-5/5-another classic episode,that adds depth to Angel and Buffy's relationship,and sees the return of the psycho Darla,secrets are unleashed...and the buffyverse is changed forever...and for the better.

Puppet Show-4.5/5-very good and focuses on humour as well as horror.

Nightmares-4.5/5-another classy episode that focuses on the main characters fears as a whole and it is very,very good.

Sight Unseen-5/5-a revenge themed episode...think of a tamer spit on your grave only...better and oosing with coolness.

Prophecy Girl-5/5-a great round off and showdown,great all round entetainment...and Buffy's first death?!?

it great so GET IT!!!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of my favourite shows. I gave the first series 3 stars, and the reason for this is that I feel there are several weak episodes, and some that are pretty much not worth watching. Actingwise it's fine, but it gets better along the course of the show, when the actors have learned more about their characters and become more comfortable. So even though this first series is perhaps a bit weak, I definitely reccommend it - it gets *a lot* better in the future series.

I imagine that this series seemed a lot better to me when I first saw it, not because it's bad now or anything, but because it was so completely eclipsed by some of the seasons that followed it (especially the third season).

For a start, at only 12 episodes (the show was originally a mid-season replacement), it just doesn't feel like a proper season of Buffy, without enough room for the engaging arcs of seasons 2, 3, etc - the season's Big Bad basically shows up in the first and last episodes, and doesn't really do much in between.

On top of that, the stand-alone, "monster of the week" episodes in this series aren't much to shout about either - it's nice to have seen them so as to get all the references and stuff later on (Amy's origins are useful to know, and they make loads of references to Xander's encounter with a giant preying mantis in later seasons when discussing his questionable choice in women), but they do look incredibly dated now (also, I got quite a shock the first time Angel showed up, he looks so freakishly young), and there's nothing to rival legendary stand-alones like Hush or Once More With Feeling etc.

That said, if you're going to watch Buffy at all it's very useful to have seen it from the beginning, as minor plot points and characters do become more important later on in Buffy (and Angel), and the trademark sharp writing is very much in evidence, so I certainly wouldn't advise against this, I would merely offer a word of warning: if you're getting into the show on reputation alone, maybe having been too young to see the early years first time around, then don't judge the show solely on these episodes, good as some of them are - use this as an introduction to the characters and themes, and hold out for the far superior 2nd and 3rd seasons.

I have been a big Buffy fan since it was shown on TV.
I live in Norway and decided to buy them from amazon, as custom taxes are huge here I decided to buy them seperatly and these cheap seasons were so appealing.
I bought them all seperatly and I can say the same thing for each: they are of such poor quality. They look like a bad copies from an other DVD. Nothing is cristal clear. The image even sometimes looks like it is in slow motion... I tried them on my 2 dvd players and they are the same (if not worst on my older dvd player).
I guess this is the price to pay if we want to buy them cheaper?
I think it is a shame.

The first season of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer". Its a good introduction to all of the core characters(Buffy, Xander, Willow and Giles), but unfortuanetly a lot of the episodes are quite weak in comparision to the episodes in the later seasons.

The best episode of this season would be episode 12: Phrophecy Girl. Its the best because its a good conclusion to the seasons story arc. But to be honest, there isn't much competition for the "best episode of season 1 award".

This season is better when you RE-watch it because its good to see all of the characters in there early days, before all the bad dark stuff happens. But buy this because its still entertaining TV!!