Unknown or never aired
4V79
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.
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?
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.
After the disappointment of the feature film, Joss created this pilot to bring back interest to a character he had a specific vision for. hide show
Watching this pilot I was impressed with how similar it was to what eventually became the two part pilot of the series.
Sarah, Nick, Charisma, Anthony and even Mercedes had their characters down cold. I saw no real difference in their portrayal in this than the series.
The writing already had the vibe and grasp of the Sunnydale vernacular. There were even several great quips and banters between the characters that I wish had made it to the series. More than once I laughed out loud, enjoying the old-school Buffy feeling I haven't known since the last millenium.
I loved the library set! The series set was no doubt more economical and easier to shoot on but the visual of the pilot library is much more impressive. With the circular stairway and second floor there was alot of lost potential there (but it looks similar to the factory in season 2 so the idea apparently wasn't completely forgotten). The Buffy and Giles scene after discovery of the dead guy just felt more real. They weren't confined to just a few feet. They were allowed to walk around and interact more with the environment, making it more believable. Xander's hiding in the book stacks is also more believable with the extra space.
The final fight between Buffy and the vamps was rather impressive (and humerous). Parts of it were similar to later confrontations in terms of her physical prowess and using the surroundings as an advantage. The vampire dusting itself looked more like something out of a bad horror movie, with the gaping hole in the vamp's chest as it layed there waiting to dissolve into nothingness.
The weakest link for the pilot was unfortuenately Riff Regan as Willow. It isn't because of her performance either, she was able to convey the quiet outcast rather well. But with Buffy as both the star and our entry point for this new environment and set of characters there had to be a connection between these two future best friends. Buffy and Xander made an immediate bonding, and she got along well with both Giles and Cordy. The interaction between Buffy and Willow felt more like the one Buffy had with the guy in line at the Bronze: awkward and impersonal.
This pilot definately shows the great potential that was lost from the movie. As a fan it is intersting to see this "what if" scenario of what could have been. But the changes that were made were necessary and we got a much better show for it.
Buffy is "the best show ever" (in caps)!!! This episode sort of skiped the story line a little too fast, like, a new student! Oh, a slayer! And the "chosen" form of a vampire "decaying" was much better graphics. It was a good story line with a good ending, though. I downloaded it from buffyworld.com, after I had finished the complete series. So, I was used to Allyson Hannigon as Willow. And that kind of threw of my review. But all in all, it was a good episode. Between "Awesome" and "Poor" is where it falls on my rating chart. :-) ---
Yikes. Well, it wasn't meant for TV so we will let them off the hook on this one. hide show
This is the unaired pilot that was used to market the series to the studios. Buffy is one of my favorite shows of all time, but I don't think I would have discerned the coming greatness by watching this. Predictably, the special effects were bad, and I don't remember a musical score, so it was a bit awkward to watch. What I remember most is how great a decision it was to replace the first actress that played Willow with Alyson Hannigan. The original actress delivered her lines like she didn't understand Joss Whedon's (writer, creator) sense of humor.
could it be "Buffy" without Alyson Hannigan??? hide show
well, it has many moments from the original pilot. it has everyone from the original cast... except for the girl who portrays Willow! and there's the question, guys: could "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" become that popular if instead Alyson Hannigan Riff Regan played Willow for all seven (not sure they would shoot seven, though) seasons. I mean, it's so hard to imagine her playing those awesome Willow's scenes and so on... just can't explain in the words how glad and happy I am that they re-casted :) it's not "Buffy" without Aly the same way it couldn't be "Buffy" without Sarah, Nicky, Tony and others...
though I give 8 to this epi just 'coz it actually represents the very beginning of the whole Buffyverse that all of us partly live in... plus, Sarah and Nick are so cute and young in it!
FAVE SCENE: the end of the episode.
FAVE QUOTE: Buffy: You can never watch too many movies.
This is Buffy on a budget. hide show
Everyone who's giving this episode bad reviews (in the "terrible" range) needs to realize it was never meant to be aired as an actual episode! Enjoy it for what's it's worth; a rough draft of what was to come!
Like many others, I didn't like the former actress meant to play the role of Willow (she was more spunky than shy, you could tell the character was just made for Alyson), but I would have still liked her to play another supporting character of her own. Riff Regan also looks a little older, but then again, most high school students during that time were played by people in their 20s.
Still, it was an entertaining preview of a great show and an enjoyable 20-30 minutes of an intro to one of tv's fave heroes.
The Good
-Campy, funny, not too serious
The Bad
-No Joyce or the Master (couldn't care much for Angel)
-Riff Regan playing Willow (though like I said, I still would have liked Riff Regan to be in some other role)
The Cheap
-The vampire dusting was so cheaply done it's hilarious...lmao. Like I said, enjoy the episode for what it's worth...a rough draft!
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