The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural-fantasy horror television series. The series is based on a book series of the same name by L.J. Smith, and was developed for television by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec. The series ran from September 10, 2009 to March 10, 2017 on The CW. The first season was released on both DVD and Blu-ray formats in the United States and Canada on August 31, 2010.
The Vampire Diaries follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev), who falls for a handsome century-old vampire named Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley). Their lives grow more and more complicated as Stefan's vicious older vampire brother Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) also returns to town with a vendetta against his brother and the Founding Families' descendants. However Damon quickly becomes their greatest ally in their fight against evil. The series is set in a fictional town heavily charged with supernatural history, known as Mystic Falls, Virginia. The series was renewed for an eighth and final season which premiered on October 21, 2016.
During the course of the series, 171 episodes of The Vampire Diaries aired over eight seasons.