Buffy the Vampire Slayer
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Trivia

  • In the original movie Kristy Swanson played the part of Buffy, and Donald Sutherland as her watcher.

  • The series is based not on the feature film "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1992), but Joss Whedon's original screenplay, which had been heavily rewritten to be more comedic. The Buffy comic book series adapted the screenplay, bringing the events of the movie in line with the TV show's continuity.

  • Series Creator Joss Whedon has said that the idea for Buffy came from all the horror movies he had seen featuring a helpless young blonde who would almost always be the first to die. He felt she needed a better image.

  • Series star Sarah Michelle Gellar initially auditioned for the role of Cordelia Chase, and Charisma Carpenter, who plays Cordelia, auditioned for the role of Buffy.

  • Julie Benz tried out for the part of Buffy and ended up in the part of Darla.

  • Elizabeth Anne Allen, who had a semi-recurring role as the witch Amy Madison, originally auditioned for the role of Buffy.

  • Other actresses considered for the lead role as Buffy also included Katie Holmes and Selma Blair.

  • Both James Marsters (Spike) and Nathan Fillion (Caleb) originally auditioned for the role of Angel when the show was first being cast in late 1996.

  • Nicholas Brendon was 25 years old when he was first cast as the 16 year old Xander Harris. Being older then most of the cast including David Boreanaz.

  • Seth Green (Oz) is the only cast member to have acted in both the TV series and the 1992 movie "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1992). (Green was cut from the feature film, but still appeared on the videotape box)

  • Seth Green played Oz, the werewolf boyfriend of Alyson Hannigan. He also played her boyfriend in "My Stepmother Is an Alien" (1988).

  • Bianca Lawson, who played Kendra the Vampire Slayer in season 2, originally auditioned for the role of Cordelia.

  • Joss Whedon gave the character Riley the last name "Finn" after hearing executive producer Marti Noxon talking about taking her dog, Finn, to the vet.

  • Danny Strong (Jonathan) originally auditioned for the role of Xander.

  • Originally, Joss Whedon didn't want either of Buffy's parents to appear as characters on the show. Accepting that that could get complicated, he settled on just having her mother, Joyce, appear. Joyce ended up staying on the show for five seasons.

  • Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy), Nicholas Brendon (Xander), Alyson Hannigan (Willow), Anthony Head (Giles), and Kristine Sutherland (Joyce) are the only actors to have appeared in all seven seasons.

  • The characters of Spike, Oz, Faith, and Wesley were all supposed to be killed off, but have ended up living long past their initial storylines. Also, the characters of Jenny and Joyce were supposed to be killed off sooner than they were.

  • The character of Dawn was intended to have the power to speak to the dead. She was also suppose to move objects with her mind. These were later dropped.

  • Originally, the third member of the sixth season's nerdly Trio was to be Tucker, who appeared in the third season as a student who wanted to kill everyone at the prom. Plans fell through with that, so the writers replaced him with Andrew, Tucker's younger brother.

  • Britney Spears was originally supposed to play April the Robot in the fifth season episode, "I Was Made to Love You", but scheduling conflicts caused her to back out. Rumors of Spears' return to the show ran rampant for the rest of the series' run.

  • Amber Benson was added to the opening credits of the show for one episode, "Seeing Red," in which she was killed and never seen again. Series creator Joss Whedon has said that he's always wanted to do this, and was planning on doing it in the series premiere with the character Jesse, to show that the show was full of surprises, but at the time he didn't have the money to make another set of credits.

  • The character Jenny Calendar was originally to have been called Nicki. This was changed to Jenny to avoid confusion on set, Nicholas Brendon is generally called Nicky by his co-stars. Though in season 7, the character Nikki Wood was added and appears in several episodes.

  • When the writers first came up with the character of Robin Wood, they weren't definite on whether it would be a man or a woman, so they picked a name that could apply to either gender.

  • Joss Whedon is known to plan his season storylines years in advance. Clues to Dawn's arrival can be found as early as the third season, but she doesn't actually show up until the fifth.

  • "Mutant Enemy", Joss Whedon's production company, was the name he gave to his first typewriter when he was 15. The logo was created in 20 minutes when he was told he had to have one.

  • Joss Whedon supplies the voice of the Mutant Enemy mascot which says "Errg... Arrgh" heard at the end of almost every episode.

  • The sequence with the Mutant Enemy mascot, the little monster that goes "Grr Argh" at the end of all episodes, was changed for a total of six episodes: in Becoming Part Two (2.22) it said, 'Oh, I need a hug."; in Amends (3.10) it wore a Santa hat and bells were jingling; in Graduation Day Part Two (3.22) it wore a graduation cap; in Once More With Feeling (6.07) it sang its "Grr Argh"; in Storyteller (7.16) it sang, "We are as gods"; in Chosen (7.22) it looked out at the viewers instead of looking straight-forward.

  • In the season premiere for Season Six entitled "Bargaining - Part 1", when Giles is at the airport ready to catch his plane for England, Tara gives him (as a goodbye gift) a little plastic finger monster which she puts on her finger and says "Grrr... argh". This is the same monster and sound that is made at the end of each episode, just prior to the credits, by the production company mascot "Mutant Enemy".

  • Buffy's birthday occurred in the episode first aired on or near 19 January each year.

  • Buffy and Dawn Summers' Sunnydale address is 1630 Revello Drive.

  • The names of buildings and places at fictional U.C. Sunnydale are actual locations and buildings at real-life U.C. Santa Cruz.

  • When we fleetingly see the pages of books, magazines or newspapers on screen, the actual text is often deliberate gibberish. In "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" (episode 1.11), the final scene is of Marcy reading a text book chapter titled "Assassination and Infiltration" with a subtitle referring to targeting the leader of a cult as an example. However, the actual text begins with the date August 2, 19XX and this is followed by the lyrics of the Beatles song, "Happiness is a Warm Gun" only they are written as prose.

  • In a number of scenes involving the club The Bronze, copies of books from The Destroyer series by Murphy, Warren and Sapir, Richard can be seen on book racks in the background.

  • In "Grave" (episode 6.22), there is a hardcover copy of a William Shatner novel in the pile of books on the floor of the Magic Box after Giles shoots Willow through the wall (DVD, chapter 7, 12:49).

  • There was a pilot directed by Joss Whedon and financed out of his own pocket to sell the show to the networks. The plot is fairly similar to "Welcome to the Hellmouth", though Angel, Jesse and the Master don't appear. Also, it's only half an hour long. The main differences from the show as aired are the sets and casting. While most of the principals are in place, Riff Regan plays Willow and Stephen Tobolowsky plays Principal Flutie. They were replaced by Alyson Hannigan and Ken Lerner, respectively in the actual show. The library that appears is not the set from the show, rather it is the actual library from Torrance High School where much of the Sunnydale High material was filmed.

  • The entire first season was filmed before the first episode went to air, giving them the opportunity to go back and re-shoot various scenes. The scene in the library where Buffy states "it's my first day..." was actually filmed on the last day of shooting after they decided her original performance was too forceful and aggressive. Another scene added to the pilot (to fill in time as it was shorter than expected) was the infamous "you have something in your eye" scene where The Master blinds a vampire who had failed him.

  • The prologue ("In every generation there is a chosen one....") is not used consistently. Two of the first twelve episodes don't use it. During the second season, use of the prologue becomes even more spotty. Anthony Head intones it only during the second season.

  • During the dream sequence of episode 1.4 "Teachers Pet" we see Xander playing a guitar, the significance being that this happens to be a "Warlock" model guitar made by B.C. Rich guitars.

  • Spike, who was introduced in "School Hard" (episode 2.3), was originally intended to last for a few episodes into the Second Season. However, his character was immediately embraced and loved by Buffy fans, which resulted in Joss Whedon's decision to keep him in the series.

  • In episode 2.8 "The Dark Age" there is a photo of a young Rupert Giles holding a bass guitar. The production crew faked the photo by superimposing his head onto a photo of Sid Vicious.

  • The Gorches in episode 2.12 "Bad Eggs" have the same first names, Lyle and Tector, as the Gorches from Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch" (1969). Giles refers to them slaughtering a Mexican village in 1886, similar to the event that ends the movie, but the movie is set in 1913.

  • The episode "Earshot" in season 3 was about a student planning to kill himself on the school campus. It was scheduled to air a week after the Columbine shooting and was delayed until the next season. Due to the weapon he would have used, an assault rifle, and being in a clock tower, many people are under the misimpression that he was planning mass murder. This was also contributed to by the fact that Buffy WAS telepathically hearing thoughts of somebody planning to kill all the students, but it wasn't Jonathon.

  • Many of Andrew Wells' (Thomas Lenk) lines include references to the online fan community (the male slayer discussion, his inability to understand Dawn and Buffy's link).

  • In the third season finale, Faith appears to Buffy in a dream, and tells her she's "counting down from 7-3-0". Joss Whedon planted that as a clue as to what would happen two years later in the fifth season finale, in which Buffy was killed. 730 days equals two years.

  • The season three finale "Graduation Day Part II" was delayed for three months after a rash of school violence. The episode (which included a scene in which the graduating class defended themselves with medieval weapons) was pulled reportedly because producers feared that if an incident occurred during a graduation ceremony, a clip would run in "violence in media" clips. The death of recurring character Larry in this episode, hotly denied by fans, was not confirmed until season six.

  • In "The Body" (episode 5.16), in the scene where Xander (Nicholas Brendon) punched his hand through the wall, only a shot of Willow's left eye is shown. This is because actress Alyson Hannigan had experienced an allergic reaction to the dust from the plaster on the wall - a reaction that resulted in her right eye swelling badly. Because of this, she had to go to the hospital the next day to get her eye treated.

  • In the 2-hour premier of Season 6, "Bargaining" Parts 1 and 2, we see Willow wearing a shirt with a number on it. We then see Xander come in wearing what looks like a football jersey with a number on it. Later when they gang is saying goodbye to Giles, Dawn is wearing a shirt with 07 on it. The crew got many letters asking what the numbers were supposed to mean, but there was no connection. Executive Producer Marti Noxon said that this was completely unintentional and was just a wardrobe coincidence.

  • Kali Rocha, who showed up in the sixth season as vengeance demon Hallie, first appeared in a flashback episode in the fifth season as Cecily, the woman who spurned William, causing him to become the vampire known as Spike. Having already cast Rocha as Hallie, the writers knew the loyal fans would immediately recognize her, so as an inside joke between them, when Hallie first saw Spike, she said, "William?"

  • In the musical episode "Once More with Feeling" (episode 6.7), Buffy comments, "So... Dawn's in trouble... must be Tuesday." This, of course, refers to the timeslot in which UPN broadcasts the show.

  • In the episode "Once More With Feeling", Two of the show's writers, David Fury and Marti Noxon, have small singing parts. David Fury can be seen singing "They Got the Mustard Out" outside the magic shop when Buffy checks to see if other people are singing and Marti Noxon sings about a parking ticket whilst Giles, Xander and Anya are walking on the street after Xander and Anya's song.

  • Alyson Hannigan hated her singing voice and asked not to have a song, or any major lines, of her own. In "Nightmares", we see that Willow herself is terrified of singing in public.

  • Willow sings "some kid is dreaming and we're all stuck inside his wacky Broadway nightmare" which is a reference to a Season One episode "Nightmares", where Sunnydale started to really live their nightmares because of some kid in a coma.

  • Xander and Anya fall down on the sofa laughing at the end of their song. This is an homage to the song "Good Morning" from "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) where Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor do the same thing.

  • In the episode "Hell's Bells" in Season 6 there is a scene where Buffy is playing Charades with the crowd at Xander and Anya's wedding. She puts her fingers up to her head like horns and you can hear someone in the background guess "Dethwok Clan!". This is a reference to Lorne from "Angel" (1999), who is a demon with horns and a member of the Dethwok clan.

  • Joss Whedon says in his season six commentary that the two vampires, the demon, the street cleaners and Sweet's henchmen are all played by the same people.

  • The guys who are sweeping streets and dancing are doing a similar dance to the chimney sweeps' dance in "Mary Poppins" (1964).

  • In the seventh season, the song that "The First" uses to trigger Spike to become evil again is well known to millions of Canadians - it was used as the theme song of the long running children's TV show, "The Friendly Giant" (1958).

  • In "Conversations With Dead People" (episode 7.7), Amber Benson was supposed to return as The First Evil impersonating Tara, but she didn't want to come back just as a villain, so Cassie Newton from a recent episode was put in her place.

  • The seventh season episode, "Storyteller" (episode 7.16), which focused on the character Andrew, was an experiment to see how the audience would respond to a show centered around Andrew, since the series was ending and they were trying to find a character upon whom they could build another spin-off show.

  • In "Lies My Parents Told Me" (episode 7.17) Spike makes mention of his mother's personal physician - a Dr. Gull. This is Dr. William Gull, Physician-in-extraordinary to the royal family, and who some believe was Jack The Ripper.

  • In the series finale, "Chosen", there's a brief scene with Buffy, Willow, and Xander talking about typical "teen" stuff. Giles mutters to himself, "the earth is definitely doomed" as they walk away. This is a reference to the very end of the Buffy pilot episode, "Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest", although here Giles adds the word "definitely".

  • In the series finale, Giles says that there is a Hellmouth "in Cleveland". This is a reference to another throwaway line, in the Season 3 episode "The Wish"; in an alternate reality where Buffy never came to Sunnydale, Giles phones her watcher, and then says, "Yes, I know there is a lot of demonic activity in Cleveland... There happens to be a Hellmouth in Sunnydale..."

  • While speaking at the Wizard World Chicago Convention in August, 2004, Joss Whedon revealed that he had planned to bring the character of Tara back from the dead at the end of Season 7. The episode would have centered around Buffy being granted one "life-altering" wish. Buffy would have struggled the whole episode trying to decide what she wanted to do with the wish (including, possibly, restoring Angel's humanity). The episode would have ended with Buffy telling Willow that she'd just gotten a great new pair of shoes, and when Willow asked her if she used up her wish on new shoes, Buffy would have said, "No, silly!" and stepped aside to reveal Tara. This plan was abandoned when Amber Benson, who played Tara, was unavailable for filming.

  • The series finale had two different major-character death scenes written, one in which Anya was killed, and the other in which Andrew was.

  • In April 2002, TV Guide named Buffy, the Vampire Slayer as one of "The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time".

  • The episode "Once More, With Feeling" was voted #1 on TV Guide's viewer's poll for the 50 Top Musical Moments on Television from 1990-2002 in 2002.

  • Ranked #3 in TV Guide's list of the "25 Top Cult Shows Ever!" (30 May 2004 issue).