The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series had 7 seasons. It ran from 1997 to 2003, following Buffy Summers as she fought vampires, demons and other supernatural threats while growing from a reluctant teenager into a powerful leader.
The series premiered on The WB on March 10, 1997, and concluded on May 20, 2003. Its seven seasons contain 144 broadcast episodes. The first five seasons aired on The WB, while the final two seasons moved to UPN. The change of network did not create a new series or an additional season; it simply continued the same show.
Season 7 is the final television season and centers on the First Evil, the Potential Slayers and the battle beneath Sunnydale. Its finale, “Chosen,” closes the television story by changing the Slayer succession and destroying Sunnydale’s Hellmouth.
The number 8 can cause confusion because the story continued in the licensed comic series Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, beginning in 2007. That comic continuation is not an eighth television season. Similarly, the spin-off Angel is a separate five-season series, not part of Buffy’s season count.