The Vampire Diaries is a television series.
The Vampire Diaries is an American fantasy-drama television series picked up by The CW for their fall 2009 schedule . `` Pilot '' is the pilot episode of The CW television series , The Vampire Diaries , as well as the first episode of the series . The Vampire Diaries . The series premiered on The CW on September 10 , 2009 and concluded on March 10 , 2017 , airing 171 episodes over eight seasons . The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural horror romance television series created by Kevin Williamson based on the novels of the same name by author L. J. Smith .