Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer have expressed shock that Jeopardy! contestants on a recent episode could not name the iconic TV show.
The teen drama, which ran from 1997 to 2003,was created by Joss Whedon and starred Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers. It gained a cult following beyond its seven seasons and spawned a spinoff, Angel, that ran for five seasons with David Boreanaz in the title role.
A clue about the show came up on Jeopardy!—but none of the three contestants got it right, sending Buffy fans on Reddit into a frenzy.
The clue was "Drusilla was one of the vampire antagonists on this TV series that debuted in 1997."
On June 23, a fan posted a screenshot of the clue on the Buffy subreddit, along with the caption: "Buffy was on Jeopardy again! None of the contestants knew this one."
Another user replied: "So easy. How many vampire shows that came out in the late 90s are popular enough to end up as a question on Jeopardy? Mind boggling."
There was enough information in the clue to have a stab at the answer, fans pointed out. One posted: "Come on, even if you're not that familiar with the show and the name Drusilla doesn't ring a bell... a vampire-related TV show starting in 1997 should be a given!"
Another fan wrote: "The question is easy! I would IMMEDIATELY be pressing the buzzer and answering very quickly."
The vampire Drusilla, played by Juliet Landau, appeared in 17 episodes of Buffy and seven episodes of Angel.
She was one of the main villains in Season 2 of Buffy, arriving in the town of Sunnydale with her lover Spike. The pair are looking for a cure for Drusilla, who has been left weakened after a mob's attack.
Flashbacks reveal that she had been a young woman with psychic powers, living in Victorian London, when she encountered Angel. He murdered her entire family in front of her and turned her into a vampire.
Drusilla was Spike's sire—the vampire who turned him into a bloodsucker—but eventually lost him to Buffy.
Despite the enthusiastic fanbase, some feel Buffy's legacy was tarnished after allegations of misconduct emerged against the showrunner Whedon.
In 2021 Buffy and Angel actress Charisma Carpenter said he had "abused his power on numerous occasions," accusing him of being "casually cruel" and creating "hostile and toxic work environments."
Whedon was also accused of misconduct on the set of Justice League by stars Gal Gadot and Ray Fisher.
Whedon has denied misconduct, but admitted he was not "civilized" early in his career as the showrunner on Buffy.
He told New York magazine in January 2022: "I yelled, and sometimes you had to yell. This was a very young cast [on Buffy], and it was easy for everything to turn into a cocktail party."
