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. Others who auditioned for Buffy and got other roles include Julie Benz (Darla), Elizabeth Anne Allen (Amy Madison), Julia Lee (III) (Anne) and Mercedes McNab (Harmony Kendall). Bianca Lawson, who played Kendra the Vampire Slayer in season 2, originally auditioned for the role of Cordelia.
Nathan Fillion (Caleb) originally auditioned for the role of Angel when the show was first being cast in late 1996.
Other actresses considered for the lead role as Buffy also included Katie Holmes and Selma Blair.
SPOILER: The characters of Spike, Oz, Faith, Wesley and Drusilla 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.
Danny Strong (Jonathan) originally auditioned for the role of Xander.
Ryan Reynolds (I) was originally offered the role of Xander.
SPOILER: 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.
Seth Green played Oz, the werewolf boyfriend of Alyson Hannigan. He also played her boyfriend in My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988).
Seth Green 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.)
Joss Whedon supplies the voice of the Mutant Enemy mascot which says "Grrr ... Arrgh" heard at the end of almost every episode.
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.
The character Jenny Calendar was originally to have been called Nicki. This was changed to Jenny to avoid confusion on the set, Nicholas Brendon being generally called Nicky by his co-stars. (However, in season 7, the character Nikki Wood was added and appears in several episodes.)
"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.
Many of Andrew Wells's (Tom Lenk) lines include references to the online fan community (the male slayer discussion, his inability to understand Dawn and Buffy's link).
The 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.
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.
The first Sunnydale High School set is the same set used in Beverly Hills 90210 as West Beverly Hills High.
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.
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.
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.
Tom Lenk, who plays Andrew Wells, originally appeared in the 5th season's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) {Real Me (#5.2)} as Harmony's minion, Cyrus.
Kali Rocha, who showed up in the sixth season as vengeance demon Halfreck, 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 Halfreck, the writers knew the loyal fans would immediately recognize her, so as an inside joke between them, when Halfreck first saw Spike, she said, "William?"
The character of Dawn was originally intended to have the power to speak to the dead. She was also supposed to be able to move objects with her mind. These powers were later dropped.
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.
Ranked #3 in TV Guide's list of the "25 Top Cult Shows Ever!" (30 May 2004 issue).
In a number of scenes involving the club The Bronze, copies of books from The Destroyer series by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir can be seen on book racks in the background.
On Bravo's "100 Greatest TV Characters", Buffy came in at number 13.
Before he was turned into a vampire, Spike's name was William. Angel's real name was Liam, which is the Irish version of the English/British William.
After the series ended, Eliza Dushku was offered her own spin-off series as the character Faith. But then she turned it down to do "Tru Calling" (2003).
Buffy's birthday was celebrated in the episode first aired on or near 19 January each year. In the first-year episode "I Robot, You Jane", Malcolm brings up Buffy's school records on his computer. In the first view, we see that Buffy was born on 24 October 1980, and that she is a sophomore. The second time we see Buffy's records, her birthday is 6 May 1979, and she is a senior. Joss Whedon finally decreed Buffy's birthday to be 19 January 1981.
In April 2002, TV Guide named "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as one of "The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time".
In the Sunnydale cemetery, there is a frequently seen mausoleum with the family name Alpert. Alpert is the last name of one of the show's producers, Marc D. Alpert.
SPOILER: Many actors were able to reappear on the show, despite the fact that their characters were killed off. Among those who reprised their roles, once their characters were killed or murdered, were Mark Metcalf as The Master, Robia LaMorte who appeared several times after the character of Jenny was killed, Azura Skye, Danny Strong, Lindsay Crouse and Kristine Sutherland. Darla, played by Julie Benz, was killed during the first season, yet not only did the character appear in flashbacks, but she was also later resurrected from death on the sister-show _"Angel" _(1999).
Buffy, Xander and Willow each have at least one episode where their character is doubled. There are 2 Willows (regular Willow and Vamp Willow) in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) {Doppelgangland (#3.16)}; Buffy appears alongside the Buffy-Bot in several episodes and Xander is split into 2 Xanders in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) {The Replacement (#5.3)}. In the case of Buffy and Willow, this was accomplished with stunt doubles and optical effects. For Xander's doubling, Nicholas Brendon's identical twin brother Kelly Donovan played the Xander double.
In "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chosen (#7.22)" (2003), during the Dungeons and Dragons game between Andrew, Giles and Amanda (a Potential), the creature "Trogdor the Burninator" is a reference to a character in the Flash-animated Internet cartoon, "Homestar Runner".
The character of Angel was supposed to stay dead after the season finale of the second season, but the WB network came to Joss Whedon with the desire for a spin off series, so Angel was brought back during the third season to set up his spin-off series.
In the second season, David Boreanaz appears on the opening credits as opposed to being listed as a guest star.
Spike's trademark coat cost $2000 from a top fashion store. It was then run over repeatedly by a truck to give it that distressed look.
The headstones in Sunnydale Cemetery are actually made out of Styrofoam.
There are 43 churches in the town of Sunnydale (something to do with it being located on the Hellmouth).
The library is stocked with all real books.
It cost $5000 to "dust" a vamp using computer graphics
Nicholas Brendon was told by producers to stop working out, because they didn't want Xander "looking too buffed."
Originally another actress had been cast as Anya, but backed out after finding out it was only for two guest spots. The role wound up going to Emma Caulfield (I).
Joss Whedon toyed with the idea of making Xander gay instead of Willow.
The Oz-Veruca storyline in season four was supposed to last longer, but had to be cut short when Seth Green left the series.
During Angel and Buffy's first lovemaking scene, Joss Whedon and sound editor Cindy Rabideau provided the heavy breathing, because they were too embarrassed to ask Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz to do it.
According to Nicholas Brendon, he and Sarah Michelle Gellar proposed a storyline for season seven where Xander and Buffy get together romantically. Their idea was shot down, and they continued with the Buffy-Spike relationship.
Because of the feud with UPN and the WB over Buffy jumping networks, crossovers between ‘Buffy’ (which was on UPN), and "Angel" (1999) (which remained on the WB) were prohibited during season six (season three of ‘Angel’).
The even numbered seasons (2, 4, and 6) each feature a Halloween episode - 2.06 "Halloween", 4.04 "Fear Itself", and 6.06 "All the way" - while the odd numbered seasons do not.
SPOILER: Almost all of the main characters have been demons at one point in the show: Buffy was a vampire in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) {Nightmares (#1.10)}; Xander was a vampire in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) {The Wish (#3.9)} along with Willow whose vampire self also appeared in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) {Doppelgangland (#3.16)}. Angel and Spike have always been vampires. Oz is a werewolf. Anya was a demon when she first appeared on the show and Giles turned into a demon in season 4. Riley, Tara and Dawn are the only main characters who were never demons.
Anthony Head tutored James Marsters in his London accent for Spike. In reality, Head's accent is more like Spike's than the clipped English tones that he sports in the show.
James Marsters originally auditioned for Spike with a Texan accent. This was quickly jettisoned in favor of a London accent instead.
Oz was originally supposed to wear thick rimmed glasses, much like the lead singer of Weezer. This was dropped at the last minute as Joss Whedon felt that it looked tacky.
Series creator Joss Whedon wanted to do a musical episode as early as the first season, but the network wouldn't allow him to. When the show switched networks after the fifth season, he was finally able to get his wish, resulting in the episode "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) {Once More, with Feeling (#6.7)}.
Ranked #10 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the "100 Greatest Shows of All Time."
There are just eight episodes in which no vampire appears. The episodes in which there's no vampire are "Witch", "The Pack", "I, Robot... You, Jane", "The Puppet Show", "Inca Mummy Girl", "Living Condition", "Fear, Itself" and "Beer Bad".
Ranked #2 on Empire magazine's 50 Greatest TV Shows Of All Time (2008).
According to visual effects supervisor Loni Peristere, an average episode has 18 to 50 visual effects shots, about 10 percent of the total number of shots. The two most common are vampires morphing into game-face and vampires being dusted. For those, the effects team uses Maya V.4.5 with Stroika, a collection of plug-ins/software, which lets the artists take image maps or photographs and emit particles of the same color and lighting.
