By FIONA RAE
There's no more fun way to spend an afternoon than taking the Demon Quiz on the bbc.co.uk's Buffy Trivia Database.
Or maybe the personality test that will identify your dream date from the show. (Mine was Giles, of course - a girl can't really hide her age. Although I tried again for vampire Spike and ended up with werewolf Oz).
The BBC? Yes, the venerable broadcaster has a truly excellent site, which includes recent video clips of several of the cast on a promotional visit to the UK.
Then there's the queen of the US websites, buffyguide.com, on which you could while away far too many internet hours perusing some of the 943 links to other websites.
That's Buffy the Vampire Slayer for you. The loyalty of its fanbase, its brand recognition (for want of a better term) and its critical acclaim seem to far outweigh the numbers watching it.
The fans are so keen that in the US after a particularly popular episode in season five, which has just started here, a grassroots internet campaign was launched to try to drum up industry support for an Emmy.
It seems that the grown-ups are beginning to catch on, too. In Britain, the Sunday Times arts critic (yes!) Brian Appleyard devoted two pages to a breathless tribute to the show.
We mustn't laugh, I suppose. He's just realising what fans have known all along: that the show, created and largely written by Joss Whedon, is one of the smartest things stalking television at the moment.
Sure, there's the babelicious Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy, a Valley girl with unnaturally strong thighs, kicking those vampires and other assorted demons straight out of the graveyard.
Sure, the cast are cute. Some are even cute and moody at the same time.
And if you're looking for metaphors for teenage life, or even life in general, they're here in spades.
Every now and then, though - usually at the beginning of the season - it can seem that the Buffster is losing her bite.
This season's opener, Buffy v Dracula, was a lot of tongue-in-cheek fun, especially as Dracula looked alarmingly like Laurence Llewelyn Bowen from the UK Changing Rooms (certainly had the same dress sense). But I was left slightly unsatisfied, just like Drac.
The first few episodes have had the nervous air of something that hasn't quite settled in yet. The Scooby gang are searching for their roles, and a new hang-out, and the inclusion of a new character, Buffy's 14-year-old sister, Dawn, (Michelle Trachtenberg), looks calculated to keep the pre-teen audience interested.
In particular, boyfriend Riley (Marc Blucas), is a spare part.
But you can bet your life that Whedon is working up to bigger things: trouble for Buffy's mum, a secret about Dawn, Spike falling in love with Buffy ... not to mention a robot girl out to destroy the city, some trolls, some knights and, as ever, the weight of the world on Buffy's shoulders. Can't wait.
* Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV4, 8.30 pm
Links
BBC's Buffy Trivia Database
BuffyGuide
Even the grown-ups get their teeth into 'Buffy'
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