Academics really loved “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”

What TV show or movie spawned the most academic papers? Slate ran some numbers (numbers that the story acknowledges are “are by no means exact”) and the results might surprise you, assuming you didn’t read the headline on this post. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” comes out way ahead of the other properties Slate checked, with more than double the amount of papers, essays and books written about the postmodern series than written about “The Simpsons,” “The Wire,” “The Matrix” films or the “Alien” series.

It’s not scientific, but at least it’s a nice reminder that “Buffy” — despite its shaky final seasons — was a terrific series packed with wit, wisdom, ideas and remarkable depth. Though I do wonder how “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” will rate with academia when compared to “Buffy” and “The Wire” a decade from now.

[Slate]