Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Unaired Pilot

Season 1, Episode 0

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Episode Summary

Perky, blonde Buffy Summers is like any other teenage girl... or she would be if it weren't for that pesky Slayer destiny thing. Because Buffy is anything but ordinary. She is the Chosen One: the one girl in all the world gifted with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires and stop the spread of their evil.
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''But every gift comes with a price. When Buffy's Slayer duties both destroy her social life and get her expelled from school, she decides it's high time to give Slaying a roundhouse kick to the proverbial curb. Her move from violent L.A. to picturesque Sunnydale seems the perfect way to start over. After all bright, shiny Sunnydale couldn't possibly mask a violent underbelly, could it?
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''Unfortunately for Buffy, that's exactly what Sunnydale does do... and, as the Slayer soon discovers, escaping one's destiny doesn't come so easily.moreless

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Cast & Crew

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Sarah Michelle Gellar

Buffy Anne Summers
Nicholas Brendon

Alexander 'Xander' Harris
Charisma Carpenter

Cordelia Chase

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- The vampire dusting effect is very different in this episode. Rather than the dynamic, rapid dusting that we see later on, these vampires fall down and then slowly dissolve into dust with a stop-motion effect. Edit
- Almost every scene in this episode appears in its final form in the episodes Welcome to the Hellmouth (1x01) and The Harvest (1x02); however many of the sets change drastically including the library, The Bronze, and the interior of Sunnydale High. Location shots, such as the school courtyard, remain the same, of course. Edit
- Harmony says that the band playing at The Bronze is Dingoes Ate My Baby. The same name is used later for Oz's band who are introduced in the episode Inca Mummy Girl (2x04). Edit
Notes
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- Joyce Summers (Buffy's mom) did not appear in this presentation pilot, as the character had not been created at the time of filming. Edit
- The actress Riff Regan plays the character of Willow in this presentation episode. In this version, Willow's outcast status was due, in large part, to being overweight, a concept which altered drastically when petite Alyson Hannigan was cast in the role. Edit
- For this episode, most of the major roles contain the same cast as they appear in the show, with the exceptions of Willow and Principal Flutie. Willow is played by Riff Regan here; she would be played by Alyson Hannigan for the entire run of the show. Principal Flutie is played here by Stephen Tobolowsky; he would later be played in the show by Ken Lerner. Edit
Quotes
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- Buffy: History isn't my best subject. I sort of lack a best subject. Edit
- Buffy: Principal Flutie? Principal Flutie: Bambi? (Buffy shakes her head) Barbie? Betty? Wilma? Buffy: Buffy. Edit
- Giles: Into every generation a Slayer is born. One girl in all the world. A Chosen One. Buffy: Wow, you're gonna do the speech and everything. Edit
Allusions
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- Buffy: I was Cindy Lou Who just coasting through my life... Cindy Lou Who is a character in the 1957 children's story How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss. She is a young, innocent girl that has no understanding or comprehension of the Grinch stealing all their Christmas festivities. Edit
- Cordelia: Willow! Good to know you've seen the softer side of Sears! The department store Sears was for years best known as a place to buy tools and appliances. In their make-over attempt to boost their clothing sales they introduced the "softer side of Sears" slogan. As Cordelia is quick to point out however, Sears has not become the first choice of the fashionably dressed. Edit