I was first entranced by the character of Buffy Summers in the summer of 1992. It was my last summer living with Mom in Clovis. I knew a lot of the kids who worked at the movie theaters in town that summer. I saw almost every movie for free, many before they actually came out. Theaters run new movies the night before they debut to make sure they've been put together correctly. The "preview" for Buffy was packed. A hundred plus kids, many drunk--this was essentially a party--all sat waiting for the show to start. And then it did. For a couple of minutes, anyway. The copy of the print was screwed. The sound was messed up and there was no way to watch it without getting a really bad headache.

I eventually saw Buffy The Vampire Slayer (the movie), liked it and kept the poster (The body of a cheerleader holding a wooden stake. Kristy Swanson-- who played Buffy in the movie--was not shown in the poster, it was someone else's body.) on my wall for a few years.

In 1997, Buffy was resurrected as a TV show. I saw all the ads, thought about it and didn't watch the show. A TV show based on a movie? They mostly suck. I could tell you how much I hate "M*A*S*H" the TV show vs. the movie, but that's a whole different story. But a few weeks into Buffy's rebirth, I was bored. It was spring, and everything else was in reruns--why not see if this Buffy was any good? After just a couple of commercial breaks, I was hooked.

It's now seven years later. Buffy has died at least twice. She finally made it out of high school, although that took longer than usual. The showing of the final high school episode was delayed by almost four months because of Columbine--to save the world, you see, Buffy had to blow up the school. She's lost her virginity, killed her boyfriend and gained a little sister. She's had friends who were werewolves, vampires, demons, construction workers and lesbians.

And it's been suggested that Buffy's whole world is actually a fantasy. That the real Buffy Summers has actually been a coma for the last seven years. But, with just one episode left (airing on Tuesday, please don't call me between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. MST), this storyline has not been fully explained.

For better or worse, the Buffy chapter of my life will be over after Tuesday. No more need to see if it's a new episode (I stopped watching re-runs years ago), no more need to set the VCR. No more new Buffy.

After I stop watching Buffy, I'll only have cartoons left. When I first started with Buffy, I probably had shows to watch on 5 of the 7 days of the week. The TV's hold on my life has lessened in a big way since then. When I was in my early 20s, I lived with a friend we called Uncle Steve. He was about ten years older than me. I was watching "Friends" when he said, "It's all the same crap. This is fucking Three's Company." Basically, his point was TV just recycles itself. There is nothing new, it's just younger and prettier people saying the same lines. I've come to realize he's right.

I haven't added any new shows to my schedule in years. I do watch sports (which, while similar every time, at least don't always end the way you think they might) and movies, but TV shows...I just don't care anymore. I don't want the obvious morality. I hate commercials (ironic, I guess, considering my job is to evaluate TV commercials). Every sit-com has fat guys married to hot women. Shrieking women and clueless men. Kids with IQs of 160, which they use to recycle Home Alone jokes and pranks. Dramas center around doctors, lawyers and cops (obviously, these types are not my role models). And reality TV--I get enough "reality" from the people at work.

I will miss the slayer. I've always had a thing for vampires. The idea of ageless anachronisms is enchanting to me for some reason. In some ways, I'm like a vampire now. Over 30 and going to rock and roll shows (where anyone over 25 is suspect). If they don't look too close, they'll never notice my fangs.

And so Buffy will ride into the sunset--or maybe sunrise--in a couple of days. I'll lose the need to be at home between 7 and 8 on Tuesdays. I'll lose the antics of the ever growing scooby gang (there were 4 when it began and now, well, there are 20-30 because of an army of slayer wannabees). I'll lose the fantasy land where the best guys are dead and best girls are, well, the slayer--who's been dead before.

After Tuesday, the death will be permanent.

If Matt Worley lived in Buffy's world, he'd be one of those vampires she chased and dusted before the opening credits.