Buffy the Vampire Slayer began with Joss Whedon's vision of female empowerment. Wouldn't it be cool, he thought, if the blonde cheerleader in the dark alley wasn't a victim, but a hero? Yes, Buffy was a genre show, one that was very much immersed in a mystical supernatural world, but it's also one of the greatest explorations of teenage issues on modern television. If Joss Whedon had a natural talent for anything, it was his ability to craft stories about witches and vampires and demons that somehow managed to speak to the things that teenagers were going through. Buffy had engaging characters that evolved organically over the course of seven years, and was wonderfully experimental for a major network show. Can you think of another teen drama that could have created episodes like Hush, Restless, The Body, or Once More With Feeling? No. You can't. Buffy was one of the most consistent shows of the 90s, and even at its very worst (we're looking at you, Beer Bad) it was still immensely entertaining.