The first season of the American supernatural drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer originally aired between March 10 and June 2, 1997, on The WB.

Conceived as a mid-season replacement, the season consists of twelve episodes, each running approximately 45 minutes in length, and originally aired on Mondays at 9:00 pm ET.

Unbeknownst to Buffy, Sunnydale is built atop the Hellmouth, a portal to demon dimensions that attracts supernatural phenomena to the area.

Giles comes to genuinely care for the other Scoobies and realizes that he must take an active presence in fighting demons and cannot simply rely on books and theoretical knowledge.

Over the season, Cordelia becomes aware of the supernatural world around her and becomes a reluctant ally to the Scoobies, revealing a more intelligent side to her seemingly vapid personality.

Although the season contains several standalone episodes, there is a season-long story arc that focuses on the Master, an ancient vampire who recognizes Angel as having been a great evil prior to being cursed with a soul.

Series creator Joss Whedon served as executive producer and showrunner and wrote three episodes: the two-part premiere and the finale, the latter of which he also directed.

Two pairs of story editors, Rob Des Hotel & Dean Batali and Matt Kiene & Joe Reinkemeyer, wrote three episodes between them.

Whedon says that "Rhonda the Immortal Waitress was really the first incarnation of the Buffy concept, just the idea of some woman who seems to be completely insignificant who turns out to be extraordinary.

"[2] This early, unproduced idea evolved into Buffy, which Whedon developed to invert the Hollywood formula of "the little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed in every horror movie.

"[4] The season was shot throughout 1996, with the idea first visiting through Whedon's script for the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which featured Kristy Swanson in the title role.

Special features on the DVD include a commentary track by creator Joss Whedon on "Welcome to Hellmouth" and "The Harvest", along with the original script for the episode.