Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Question: With the end of the WB era approaching and with Sunday night’s rebroadcast of the pilots of its biggest shows, I was just wondering what you think that network’s biggest or most influential show was. I know that Buffy was tops in quality and really brought about a renewed interest in vampires and horror/fantasy TV shows, but I think Dawson’s Creek is the seminal WB show. I mean, it’s a big part of our pop-culture lexicon, and how many imitators came out after that one? I was in college when these shows premiered, and, while no one I knew watched Buffy, pretty much everyone was at least familiar with Dawson’s Creek.- Kristi

Matt Roush: Purely in terms of the WB brand, Dawson’s is tops, no doubt about it. The show established the tone for a network that was still struggling for an identity, and became hugely influential in what followed. While 7th Heaven was more popular in terms of sheer numbers (because of its cross-generational appeal), it couldn’t match Dawson’s place in the zeitgeist. And Dawson’s gave us half of TomKat; who’d have seen that coming? In cult terms, Buffy and Angel weren’t merely WB’s best series of all time, they’re in the top tier of genre series ever. Right behind them I’d put Felicity, which had the sex appeal of Dawson’s Creek but also a much deeper emotional resonance. It went far beyond the realm of guilty pleasure.