10 Funniest Buffy The Vampire Slayer Episodes

Throughout its run, Buffy the Vampire Slayer got gradually more serious, charting a path for the Slayer that took her from unsuspecting schoolgirl to death-defying world saver, simultaneously transforming the series from a monster of the week format into a long-arced, much more adult drama.

But, even in the most serious of times, Buffy has always had room for a touch of humour, going so far as to often dedicate entire episodes to a spot of low-consequence fun, or just playing up the comic sensibilities of what was a varied and quite accomplished cast.

Magic has often been used to effectively insert some levity in standalone episodes that cut up the drama of the larger (and often awfully hard-hitting) storylines.

And it is magic that has most frequently guided the Scoobies into status quo-shifting situations that let them loosen up, go against type and play a different side of their character - or a different character altogether.

Willow has been a vampire, Giles has been a demon, Buffy has been Faith and Jonathan... well, he will always be our superstar.

Capitalising on the free reign the show had at the beginning of season five - before things got heavy (like, Riley-leaving, Mother-dying, Buffy-dying heavy) - the opening episode pitted Buffy against that most fabled of vampires, Dracula, in a one-and-done that nobody saw coming.

Rather than set the tone or villain for the whole series, this unexpected showdown allowed for a bit of camp, tongue-in-cheek fun and shenanigans before getting down to business.

And what's not to love? Xander is the first to become enthralled, praising His Excellent Spookiness and eating bugs; Giles falls (figuratively and literally) for the Dark Lord's harem of sexy vampire sisters; and even Buffy herself flirts with the darkness.

Shenanigans unfold as the gang venture to the large European castle that they've somehow never noticed in Sunnydale before, and the laughs keep coming right until Dracula's final(-ish) defeat, returning from the dead a couple of times in misty form, while Buffy is "standing right here!"