papers, essays, and books devoted to the series. The Whedon Studies Association produces the online academic journal Slayage and sponsors a biennial academic conference on the works of Whedon. The sixth "Biennial Slayage Conference", titled "Much Ado About Whedon", was held at California State University-Sacramento in late June 2014. Fandom and fan films The popularity of Buffy has led to websites, online discussion forums, works of Buffy fan fiction and several unofficial fan-made productions. Since the end of the series, Whedon has stated that his intention was to produce a "cult" television series and has acknowledged a "rabid, almost insane fan base" that the show has created. In 2016, Jenny Owen Youngs and Kristin Russo began the Buffering the Vampire Slayer podcast, recognized as one of the top podcasts in production by Time and Esquire magazines. In 2017 the 20th anniversary of the show attracted even more writers to create their own adventures of the series' characters. Buffy in popular culture The series, which employed pop culture references as a frequent humorous device, has itself become a frequent pop culture reference in video games, comics and television shows. The series has also been parodied and spoofed. Sarah Michelle Gellar has participated in several parody sketches, including a Saturday Night Live sketch in which the Slayer is relocated to the Seinfeld universe, and adding her voice to an episode of Robot Chicken that parodied a would-be eighth season of Buffy. "Buffy" was the code-name used for an early HTC mobile phone which integrated the social networking website Facebook. In March 2017, in honor of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's 20th anniversary, Entertainment Weekly reunited Joss Whedon and the whole cast for their first joint interview and photo shoot in over a decade. U.S. television ratingsBuffy helped put The WB on the ratings map, but by the time the series landed on UPN in 2001, viewing figures had fallen. The series' high came during the third season, with 5.3 million viewers (including repeats). This was probably due to the fact that both Gellar and Hannigan had hit movies out during the season (Cruel Intentions and American Pie respectively). The series' low was in season one at 3.7 million. The show's series finale "Chosen" pulled in a season high of 4.9 million viewers on the UPN network.Buffy did not compete with shows on the main four networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox), but The