The Vampire Diaries

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This article is about the television series. For the book series, see The Vampire Diaries (novel series). For the unrelated film, see Vampire Diary.

The Vampire Diaries
Genre	Supernatural drama Horror Fantasy
Based on	The Vampire Diaries by L. J. Smith
Developed by	Kevin Williamson Julie Plec
Starring	Nina Dobrev Paul Wesley Ian Somerhalder Steven R. McQueen Sara Canning Kat Graham Candice Accola Zach Roerig Kayla Ewell Michael Trevino Matt Davis Joseph Morgan Michael Malarkey
Composer(s)	Michael Suby
Country of origin	United States
Originallanguage(s)	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	133 (list of episodes)
Production
Executiveproducer(s)	Leslie Morgenstein Bob Levy Kevin Williamson Julie Plec
Editor(s)	Lance Anderson Tyler Cook Nathan Easterling
Location(s)	Atlanta, Georgia Covington, Georgia Chicago, Illinois Pilot: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Running time	44 minutes
Productioncompany(s)	Outerbanks Entertainment Alloy Entertainment CBS Television Studios Warner Bros. Television
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original channel	The CW
Picture format	1080i (16:9 HDTV)
Original release	September 10, 2009 – present
Chronology

The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the popular book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW on September 10, 2009.

The series takes place in Mystic Falls, Virginia, a fictional small town haunted and surrounded by supernatural beings. The series narrative follows theprotagonist Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) as she falls in love with vampire Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) and is drawn into the supernatural world as a result. As the series progresses, Elena finds herself drawn to Stefan's brother Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) resulting in a love triangle. As the narrative develops in the course of the series, the focal point shifts on the mysterious past of the town involving Elena's malevolent doppelgänger Katerina Petrova. Katerina was the love of both Damon and Stefan Salvatore many years ago. Her return, along with the family of Original Vampires, have all led to many plots against Elena and Mystic Falls.

The pilot episode attracted the largest audience for The CW of any series premiere since the network began in 2006.^[1] The first season averaged 3.60 million viewers and following seasons have maintained an audience of over 2 million viewers.^[2] It remains the most-watched series on the network. The series initially received mixed reviews, but critics agreed as the first season progressed that the show improved. Subsequent seasons have premiered to more positive critical reception. The show has received numerous award nominations, winning four People's Choice Award and many Teen Choice Awards.

On February 11, 2013, The CW renewed the series for a fifth season.^[3] On April 26, 2013, The CW has officially announced that the spin-off The Originals, which focuses on the Original family, has been ordered to series and began airing during the 2013–14 American television season.^[4] The fifth season premiered on October 3, 2013, followed by the series premiere of The Originals.^[5]

On January 11, 2015, the CW renewed the series for a seventh season.^[6] On April 6, 2015, lead actress Nina Dobrev confirmed via Instagram that she would be leaving the show after its sixth season.^[7]

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1 Series overview
• 2 Cast and characters
• 3 Episodes
• 4 Production
• 5 Reception
  • 5.1 Critical reception
  • 5.2 U.S. Nielsen ratings
  • 5.3 Awards and accolades
• 6 Home media releases
• 7 Spin-off
  • 7.1 Crossover
• 8 Tie-in material
• 9 See also
• 10 References
• 11 External links

Series overview[edit]

The series follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev), a teenage girl who falls deeply in love with a 163-year-old vampire named Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley). Their relationship becomes increasingly complicated as Stefan's vicious, malevolent and mysterious older brother Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) returns with a plan to wreak havoc on the town, seeking revenge against his younger brother for turning him into a vampire against his will. Because Elena resembles their past love Katherine Pierce, Damon also begins to fall in love with Elena. It is revealed that Elena is a descendant of Katherine, who eventually returns with plans against the trio. Elena undergoes many hardships and deaths of close family members and loved ones throughout her high school experience.

The series is set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, a town charged with supernatural history since its settlement of migrants from New England in the late 19th century. Additional story lines revolve around the other inhabitants of the town, most notably Elena's younger brother Jeremy Gilbert (Steven R. McQueen), her best friends Bonnie Bennett (Kat Graham) and Caroline Forbes (Candice Accola), and their mutual friends Tyler Lockwood (Michael Trevino) and Matt Donovan (Zach Roerig). The town's politics are orchestrated by descendants of the original founding families, all comprising a "Founders' Council." Some of the founding families of Mystic Falls includes the Salvatores, the Gilberts, the Fells, the Forbes, and the Lockwoods. They guard the town mainly from vampires, although there are many more supernatural threats such as werewolves, witches, and ghosts.