Sarah Michelle Gellar left "All My Children" in 1995 and landed the lead in the 1997 TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, playing a teenager burdened with the responsibility of fighting a number of mystical foes. The show was well received by critics and audiences alike, spawning a spinoff series (Angel). Throughout its seven seasons and a total of 144 episodes, Buffy, and Sarah Michelle Gellar along with her, became cult icons in the United States, the UK and Australia, particularly as archetypes of "empowered" women.