<P> 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 . </P> <P> The Vampire Diaries follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) who lives in Mystic Falls, a fictional town heavily charged with supernatural history . She 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 city founders' descendants . However Damon quickly becomes their greatest ally in their fight against evil . </P> <P> During the course of the series 171 episodes of The Vampire Diaries aired over eight seasons . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Season </Th> <Th_colspan="2"> Episodes </Th> <Th_colspan="2"> Originally aired </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> First aired </Th> <Th> Last aired </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> 1 </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> 22 </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> September 10, 2009 (2009 - 09 - 10) </Td> <Td> May 13, 2010 (2010 - 05 - 13) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> 2 </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> 22 </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> September 9, 2010 (2010 - 09 - 09) </Td> <Td> May 12, 2011 (2011 - 05 - 12) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> 3 </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> 22 </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> September 15, 2011 (2011 - 09 - 15) </Td> <Td> May 10, 2012 (2012 - 05 - 10) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> 4 </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> 23 </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> October 11, 2012 (2012 - 10 - 11) </Td> <Td> May 16, 2013 (2013 - 05 - 16) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> 5 </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> 22 </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> October 3, 2013 (2013 - 10 - 03) </Td> <Td> May 15, 2014 (2014 - 05 - 15) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> 6 </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> 22 </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> October 2, 2014 (2014 - 10 - 02) </Td> <Td> May 14, 2015 (2015 - 05 - 14) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> 7 </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> 22 </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> October 8, 2015 (2015 - 10 - 08) </Td> <Td> May 13, 2016 (2016 - 05 - 13) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> 8 </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> 16 </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> October 21, 2016 (2016 - 10 - 21) </Td> <Td> March 10, 2017 (2017 - 03 - 10) </Td> </Tr> </Table>

How many episodes are there of the vampire diaries