Buffy Isn't The Best Vampire TV Series Of All Time (It Isn't Even 2nd)

Published Aug 22, 2026, 2:00 PM EDT Zach Moser has been writing for ScreenRant since 2022, covering movies, classic TV, and streaming TV. His areas of expertise cover a wide range of genres with a particular interest in horror and drama, and the conversations around the TV and film industry. When he's not covering the latest film releases or chronicling the latest season of a new show, he's writing humor pieces for McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Slackjaw, and Points In Case or working on short stories and his second novel. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is held up as one of the great vampire TV shows, but when it comes down to it, it's not the very best; in fact, it's not even second best. Like zombies, it appears that vampires will never go out of style. There's been almost no lull in the genre, with Abigail, Renfield, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, and Nosferatu all coming out in the last five years. On TV, Interview with the Vampire and Let the Right One In are still ongoing. Since Bram Stoker wrote Dracula, and probably before then, tales of sharp-fanged, blood drinkers have been a constant source of entertainment or titillation. Vampires on TV did not start with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but Sarah Michelle Gellar's monster hunter certainly stoked a lot of interest. Created by Joss Whedon, Buffy the Vampire Slayer still holds up as a fantastic fantasy, action-drama series. It inspired an entirely new tone of fantasy and science fiction action, one where the characters and the story are unafraid to wink at the audience. It's not completely hyperbolic to say there would be no MCU without Buffy. Despite its importance, it's still not the best vampire TV show ever. That honor belongs to What We Do in the Shadows. A TV adaptation of Taika Waititi's 2014 vampire mockumentary. The TV show changes the location from Wellington to Staten Island and introduces new characters, but shares the mockumentary aesthetic and sense of humor. Buffy the Vampire Slayer carefully balances the humor, horror, and the emotion that comes from a young, superpowered girl forced into a life of constant battle, and there's a reason the name "Buffy" can only mean one thing when someone says it. As great a series as it is, What We Do in the Shadows takes the vampire gold medal, and another series takes silver. What We Do In The Shadows Is TV's Greatest Vampire Series Image via Hulu What We Do in the Shadows has to be ranked as the best vampire show of all time. The series premiered in 2019, created by Jemaine Clement, who co-wrote and co-directed the 2014 film with Waititi. While Waititi serves as a producer and occasional director, the show explores the lore of the film in greater depth than the movie ever did. Like the film, the series follows a group of vampires who live together in a large apartment and whose old-world sensibilities and magical powers clash with the modern society they live in. There's Nandor the Relentless (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo Cravensworth (Matt Berry), Nadja of Antipaxos (Natasia Demetriou), and their human familiar, Guillermo (Harvey Guillén). Throughout the six seasons and counting of the show, more aspects of the fantastical world are introduced, including energy vampires, genies, necromancers, witches, and more. What We Do in the Shadows has a sharp eye when it comes to satirizing and poking fun at the classic tropes of horror icons. The comedy comes first in What We Do in the Shadows, but the series never forgets that it's about vampires. They are the center of the show, and the audience is constantly reminded of the tension between the often strange societal customs of the modern world and the ancient ones that the vampires come from. The UK's Being Human Ranks Second If you think What We Do in the Shadows is the best Vampire TV show, and that Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the second-best vampire show, then you haven't seen Being Human, a UK comedy-drama that ran for five seasons from 2008 to 2013. Don't bother with the American remake, which ran from 2011 to 2014. Like What We Do in the Shadows, Being Human follows a group of fantasy creatures who live together and have to do their best to blend in with the modern world. The show's cast changed over the years, but it primarily focused on a ghost named Annie Sawyer (Lenora Crichlow), two werewolves named George Sands (Russell Tovey) and Nina Pickering (Sinead Keenan), and a vampire named John Mitchell (Aidan Turner). In season 4, Hal Yorke (Damien Molony), a vampire; Tom McNair (Michael Socha), a werewolf; and a ghost, Alex Millar (Kate Bracken), join and replace members of the cast. This was What We Do in the Shadows before Waititi's film. Though primarily a comedy, there's a surprising amount of emotion in the series. It's a very layered show, with much more going on than the goofy conceit may suggest. Being Human explores the themes of the afterlife more so than either What We Do in the Shadows or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and considers the stories and folktales that inspired these frightening characters. Buffy Remains An All-Time Great TV Series Nearly 30 Years Later Just because Buffy the Vampire Slayer isn't one of the top two vampire TV shows of all time doesn't mean it's not a fantastic show still. It has been 33 years since the seven-season show ended, and the vast franchise of tie-in novels, comics, spin-off shows, and more proves there is more than a little continued interest in the show. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is almost the blueprint for how to do a fantasy TV show. There are so many tropes created, or at least popularized, with the series that you probably don't even recognize them as tropes. The season-long arcs following a big bad, with monsters-of-the-week to fill in the gaps, are strictly adhered to here. Buffy changes and grows throughout the series. She's not a superhero, she's someone who has a life they want to live outside the duty that's been thrust upon them. It's a relatable conflict, one just tinged with fantasy storytelling tropes and more violent, monstrous deaths. Buffy the Vampire Slayer doesn't have quite as whip-smart writing as What We Do in the Shadows, nor does it have the same deep dives into philosophy and the nature of death as Being Human, but what it does have is a sense of adventure, and a kinetic story that is constantly building into some fascinating and thrilling seasons of TV. Release Date 1997 - 2003-00-00 Network The WB Showrunner Joss Whedon