The Vampire Diaries – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 the protagonist 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 doppelgnger 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 201314 American television season.[4] The fifth season premiered on October 3, 2013, followed by the series premiere of The Originals.[5] On February 13, 2014, The CW renewed the series for a sixth season.

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]

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.

Initially, Kevin Williamson had little interest in developing the series, finding the premise too similar to other vampire tales. However, at the urging of Julie Plec, he began to read the novels and started to become intrigued by the story: "I began to realize that it was a story about a small town, about that town's underbelly and about what lurks under the surface."[22] Williamson has stated the town's story will be the main focus of the series rather than high school.[23]

On February 6, 2009, Variety announced that The CW had green-lit the pilot for The Vampire Diaries with Williamson and Julie Plec set as the head writers and executive producers.[24] On May 19, 2009, the series was officially ordered for the 20092010 season.[25]

The pilot episode was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, but the rest of the episodes have been filmed in Covington, Georgia (which doubles as the show's fictional small town of Mystic Falls, Virginia) and various other communities around Greater Atlanta[26] to take advantage of local tax incentives. On the morning of May 10, 2012, a fire broke out in the building on Clark Street in Covington that was used as the setting for Mystic Grill on the show.[27]

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The Vampire Diaries - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia