The Vampire Diaries (season 1)
Encyclopedia
The Vampire Diaries
is an American supernatural–fantasy horror television series created by Kevin Williamson based on the novels of the same name by author L. J. Smith
. It was officially picked up for the 2009-10 season on May 19, 2009. It premiered on September 10, 2009 on The CW and received the highest ratings for a series premiere in the networks history scoring 4.91 million live viewers.
The series focuses on the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, that is charged with supernatural history. It follows Elena Gilbert portrayed by Nina Dobrev
as she begins to get over her parents' death and two vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore, portrayed by Paul Wesley
and Ian Somerhalder
, respectively. Kayla Ewell portrayed Vicki Donovan for the first seven episodes until her character was killed off, Matt Davis was later cast as a history teacher in a recurring role to fill the void. He was later upgraded to series regular status. The season concluded on May 13, 2010, comprising 22 episodes.
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The pilot was filmed in Vancouver
, but the rest of the episodes have been filmed in Covington, Georgia
(which doubles as the fictional small town of Mystic Falls, Virginia
) and various other communities around Greater Atlanta. The series was given a full, 22-episode order on October 21, 2009 after strong ratings for the first half of the season.
gave the pilot a B+, stating that the show "signals a welcome return to form for writer-producer Kevin Williamson". They end by saying that "Diaries promises us a season of sharp-tongued amusement." Metacritic
gave the show a score of 50/100 based on 22 critical reviews, indicating mixed to average response.
However, many critics felt that the series improved with each episode. Sarah Hughes of The Independent
says The Vampire Diaries turns into "a well-crafted, interestingly developed series" despite a poor opening episode. The New York Post
also praised the portrayal of Elena, finding the character to be a strong-minded woman who doesn't allow her feelings for her boyfriend to control her. The San Diego Union-Tribune
said: "The supernatural drama is a first-class production, featuring an insanely gorgeous cast, sharp scripts and a brooding vibe that is hard for even the most levelheaded adult to resist." Mike Hale of The New York Times
gave the series an honorable mention on his list of the top TV shows of 2009.
The Vampire Diaries premiered on September 10, 2009 and gave The CW its biggest series premiere ratings in its network history scoring 4.9 million viewers. Adding in DVR numbers, the ratings for the premiere increaed to 5.7 million viewers. Although ratings decreased as the season went on, it reached a series high in adults 18-34 (2.3/7) on October 29, with the broadcast of its Halloween episode. Including DVR ratings the second episode brought in 4.7 million viewers, the third 4.6 million, the fourth 4.3 million, the fifth 4.4 million, the sixth 4.6 million, the ninth 4.9 million, and 4.3 million viewers for the fifteenth episode.
The series was the #1 show on The CW for the 2009-10 season averaging 3.60 million viewers weekly, thus becoming the first show to overtake America's Next Top Model
which had been The CW's #1 show since the network began in 2006.
and one People's Choice Award.
and on Blu-ray in Regions A and B. Both United States versions include commentary by cast and crew members on selected episodes, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, webisodes, and a downloadable audiobook of L.J. Smith's The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening. It was released on DVD in Region 2 on August 23, 2010. Following that release, Region 1 began selling DVDs on August 31, 2010, and Region 3 on September 1, 2010. In Region A, it was released on Blu-ray on August 31, 2010. Region B's releases varied; United Kingdom on August 23, 2010, Brazil on August, 26, 2010 and Australia on September 1, 2010.
The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries is a young adult vampire horror series of novels written by L. J. Smith. The story centers around Elena Gilbert, a high school girl torn between two vampire brothers. The series was originally a trilogy published in 1991, but pressure from readers led Smith to write a fourth...
is an American supernatural–fantasy horror television series created by Kevin Williamson based on the novels of the same name by author L. J. Smith
L. J. Smith (author)
Lisa Jane Smith, known professionally as L.J. Smith, is an American author of young-adult literature. Her books, which combine elements of the genres of supernatural, horror, science fiction/fantasy, and romance, are populated with young and apparently young human and supernatural characters...
. It was officially picked up for the 2009-10 season on May 19, 2009. It premiered on September 10, 2009 on The CW and received the highest ratings for a series premiere in the networks history scoring 4.91 million live viewers.
The series focuses on the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, that is charged with supernatural history. It follows Elena Gilbert portrayed by Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev is a Bulgarian-Canadian actress. She played the role of Mia Jones, the single teenage mother, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, from the show's sixth to ninth season...
as she begins to get over her parents' death and two vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore, portrayed by Paul Wesley
Paul Wesley
Paul Thomas Wasilewski , known professionally as Paul Wesley, is an American actor, best known for his roles as Stefan Salvatore in The CW TV series The Vampire Diaries and as Aaron Corbett in the ABC Family miniseries Fallen....
and Ian Somerhalder
Ian Somerhalder
Ian Joseph Somerhalder is an American model, actor and producer, best known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and Damon Salvatore in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries.-Early life:...
, respectively. Kayla Ewell portrayed Vicki Donovan for the first seven episodes until her character was killed off, Matt Davis was later cast as a history teacher in a recurring role to fill the void. He was later upgraded to series regular status. The season concluded on May 13, 2010, comprising 22 episodes.
Starring
- Nina DobrevNina DobrevNina Dobrev is a Bulgarian-Canadian actress. She played the role of Mia Jones, the single teenage mother, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, from the show's sixth to ninth season...
as Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce - Paul WesleyPaul WesleyPaul Thomas Wasilewski , known professionally as Paul Wesley, is an American actor, best known for his roles as Stefan Salvatore in The CW TV series The Vampire Diaries and as Aaron Corbett in the ABC Family miniseries Fallen....
as Stefan Salvatore - Ian SomerhalderIan SomerhalderIan Joseph Somerhalder is an American model, actor and producer, best known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and Damon Salvatore in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries.-Early life:...
as Damon Salvatore - Steven R. McQueenSteven R. McQueenSteven R. McQueen - and also known as 'Steven Chadwick McQueen' - is an American actor, best known for his role as Jeremy Gilbert in The CW show The Vampire Diaries and his recurring role as Kyle Hunter in the drama series Everwood. McQueen uses the name 'Steven R...
as Jeremy Gilbert - Sara CanningSara CanningSara Canning is a Canadian actress. She co-starred on The CW television series The Vampire Diaries as Jenna Sommers, and starred in the 2009 feature film, Black Field.-Early life:...
as Jenna Sommers - Katerina GrahamKaterina GrahamKaterina Alexandre "Kat" Graham is an American actress, singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and model. She has appeared in numerous television shows and film productions, as well as music videos...
as Bonnie Bennett - Candice AccolaCandice AccolaCandice Accola is an American actress and singer, best known for her role as Caroline Forbes on The Vampire Diaries.-Life and career:...
as Caroline Forbes - Kayla EwellKayla EwellKayla Noelle Ewell is an American actress known for her roles on television as Caitlin Ramirez on CBS's long-running soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful, as Maureen Sampson on NBC's acclaimed Freaks and Geeks, and as Vicki Donovan on The CW's The Vampire Diaries.- Early life :Ewell was born in...
as Vicki Donovan - Zach RoerigZach RoerigZachary George "Zach" Roerig is an American actor who is best known for roles of Casey Hughes on As the World Turns, Hunter Atwood on One Life to Live and Matt Donovan on The Vampire Diaries.-Early life:...
as Matt Donovan - Michael TrevinoMichael TrevinoMichael Trevino is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Tyler Lockwood in the CW series The Vampire Diaries.-Early life:...
as Tyler Lockwood - Matt Davis as Alaric Saltzman
Episodes
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Production
On February 6, 2009, Variety announced that The CW had greenlit the pilot for The Vampire Diaries with Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec set as the head writers and executive producers. On May 19, 2009, the series was officially ordered for the 2009–2010 season.The pilot was filmed in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, but the rest of the episodes have been filmed in Covington, Georgia
Covington, Georgia
Covington is a city in Newton County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 13,118. The city is the county seat of Newton County...
(which doubles as the fictional small town of Mystic Falls, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
) and various other communities around Greater Atlanta. The series was given a full, 22-episode order on October 21, 2009 after strong ratings for the first half of the season.
Storylines
The first part of the season focuses on the introduction of the vampires, specifically the lives of the vampire brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore who return to their birth town after a long period of absence, Stefan wanting to be the first to conquer the heart of Elena, and Damon wanting to revive his long-lost love Katherine, Elena's doppelganger, trapped in a tomb. It also deals with Victoria "Vicki" Donovan's transformation into a vampire and her death. Later, Anna makes an appearance. She is a vampire who came to town around the Night of the Comet, and planned to open the tomb to save her mother Pearl, but accidentally also frees the other vampires in the tomb. The second part of the season introduces the released tomb vampires, although Katherine isn't among them. They end up meeting up with Pearl and Anna, who are housing all the tomb vampires to "take back" their town. John Gilbert is also introduced, who is Elena's biological father, and plans to use using the Gilbert device to destroy all the tomb vampires. The season concludes with the celebration of the town's founder's day, ending the battle of the tomb vampires and greets the final return of Katherine.Reception
The initial reception of the show was mixed, Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the pilot a B+, stating that the show "signals a welcome return to form for writer-producer Kevin Williamson". They end by saying that "Diaries promises us a season of sharp-tongued amusement." Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave the show a score of 50/100 based on 22 critical reviews, indicating mixed to average response.
However, many critics felt that the series improved with each episode. Sarah Hughes of The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
says The Vampire Diaries turns into "a well-crafted, interestingly developed series" despite a poor opening episode. The New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
also praised the portrayal of Elena, finding the character to be a strong-minded woman who doesn't allow her feelings for her boyfriend to control her. The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego Union-Tribune
-Predecessors:The predecessor newspapers of the Union-Tribune were:* San Diego Sun, founded 1861 and merged with the Evening Tribune in 1939.* San Diego Union, founded October 10, 1868.* Evening Tribune, founded December 2, 1895.-Ownership:...
said: "The supernatural drama is a first-class production, featuring an insanely gorgeous cast, sharp scripts and a brooding vibe that is hard for even the most levelheaded adult to resist." Mike Hale of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
gave the series an honorable mention on his list of the top TV shows of 2009.
The Vampire Diaries premiered on September 10, 2009 and gave The CW its biggest series premiere ratings in its network history scoring 4.9 million viewers. Adding in DVR numbers, the ratings for the premiere increaed to 5.7 million viewers. Although ratings decreased as the season went on, it reached a series high in adults 18-34 (2.3/7) on October 29, with the broadcast of its Halloween episode. Including DVR ratings the second episode brought in 4.7 million viewers, the third 4.6 million, the fourth 4.3 million, the fifth 4.4 million, the sixth 4.6 million, the ninth 4.9 million, and 4.3 million viewers for the fifteenth episode.
The series was the #1 show on The CW for the 2009-10 season averaging 3.60 million viewers weekly, thus becoming the first show to overtake America's Next Top Model
America's Next Top Model
America's Next Top Model is a reality television show in which a number of women compete for the title of America's Next Top Model and a chance to start their career in the modeling industry....
which had been The CW's #1 show since the network began in 2006.
Accolades
For its first season The Vampire Diaries won seven Teen Choice AwardsTeen Choice Awards
The Teen Choice Awards, are an annual awards show that air on the Fox cable channel, that honor the year's biggest biggest achievements in music, movies, sports, television, fashion and more, voted by teen viewers aged 14 through 17. Winners receive an authentic full size surfboard designed with...
and one People's Choice Award.
Home release
Season one was released on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
and on Blu-ray in Regions A and B. Both United States versions include commentary by cast and crew members on selected episodes, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, webisodes, and a downloadable audiobook of L.J. Smith's The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening. It was released on DVD in Region 2 on August 23, 2010. Following that release, Region 1 began selling DVDs on August 31, 2010, and Region 3 on September 1, 2010. In Region A, it was released on Blu-ray on August 31, 2010. Region B's releases varied; United Kingdom on August 23, 2010, Brazil on August, 26, 2010 and Australia on September 1, 2010.