Vampire Diaries is an American television series developed

The Vampire Diaries is an American television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW Television Network on September 10, 2009, and is currently in its second season The series follows the events in the town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, a fictional small town haunted by supernatural beings. The main focus of the series is the love triangle between the female protagonist Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) and Stefan and Damon with dark pasts. Later the light is thrown on the mysterious past of the town involving Elena's malevolent doppelgänger Katherine who seeks revenge against the town, Stefan, Damon, and Elena.

The pilot episode attracted the largest audience of any series premiere since the network began in 2006. The first season averaged 3.60 million viewers.The show initially received average reviews, but critics agreed that the series improved over the course of the season; the second season premiered to generally favorable reviews. The show has received numerous award nominations, winning a People's Choice Award and seven Teen Choice Awards. Dawn Ostroff has mentioned a spin-off that could possibly happen in a few years

On April 26th, 2011, The CW renewed the series for a third season, set to begin in the fall,
1 Series overview
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Broadcast
4.1 Reception
4.2 Ratings
4.3 Accolades
5 Home release
6 References
7 External links
The series follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) a 17 year old girl, who falls for a 162-year-old vampire named Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley). Their relationship becomes more and more complicated as Stefan's vicious and malevolent elder brother Damon (Ian Somerhalder) returns to Mystic Falls with a plan to wreak havoc on the town and also to plan a vendetta against his younger brother. Both brothers begin to show affection towards Elena, mainly because of her resemblance to their past love Katherine. It is revealed that Elena, a distant relative of Katherine, is Katherine's doppelganger, who eventually returns with plans against the trio.

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 17th century. Other story lines revolve around the other inhabitants of the town, most notably Elena's younger brother Jeremy Gilbert (Steven R. McQueen), Elena's best friend Bonnie Bennett (Katerina Graham), Elena's close friend, Caroline Forbes (Candice Accola), Elena's childhood friend, Tyler Lockwood (Michael Trevino) and Elena's childhood friend and ex-boyfriend, 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 include the Salvatores, the Gilberts, the Fells, the Forbes and the Lockwoods. They guard the town mainly from vampires although they seem to be oblivious on other supernatural threats, but creatures such as werewolves and witches are themselves members of the Founders' Council.

On April 26th 2011, TV news site, TV By The Numbers revealed that the show had been picked up for a 3th season for the 2011-2012 season.