Buffy Trivia

Think you know everything about Sunnydale? Here are some of our favourite Buffy facts, from behind-the-scenes stories to the episodes that broke all the rules. Some of them might even help you in your next quiz.

  1. The band Nerf Herder, who composed and performed the theme music, got the gig partly because Alyson Hannigan had made Joss Whedon listen to their music.

    Behind the scenes

  2. The woman protesting her parking ticket in the musical is executive producer Marti Noxon, and the man leading the song about dry-cleaning mustard stains is writer David Fury.

    Season 6, Episode 7: "Once More, with Feeling"

  3. Seth Green played an uncredited vampire in the original 1992 film with Kristy Swanson, years before becoming series regular Oz in the TV show.

    The 1992 film

  4. Joss Whedon drew and voiced the grr, argh monster in the end credits himself.

    All seasons

  5. The monster changes in a few episodes: it wears a Santa hat in "Amends", a graduation cap in "Graduation Day, Part Two", and sings in falsetto in "Once More, with Feeling". In the series finale, it turns and pulls a face at the viewer.

    The end credits

  6. The Gentlemen's look was partly based on Nosferatu, Pinhead from Hellraiser and Mr Burns from The Simpsons. Four actors played them, including Doug Jones, later famous as Abe Sapien in Hellboy.

    Season 4, Episode 10: "Hush"

  7. In the episode where Xander is split in two, Nicholas Brendon played both Xanders except in shots where they appear together. There, the confident Xander was played by his identical twin brother, Kelly Donovan.

    Season 5, Episode 3: "The Replacement"

  8. When "Graduation Day, Part Two" was postponed in the US after Columbine, it still aired on schedule in Canada, and bootleg copies spread online. Joss Whedon's reaction to fans was "Bootleg the puppy."

    Season 3, Episode 22: "Graduation Day, Part Two"

  9. The film was produced by Sandollar Productions, co-owned by Dolly Parton and her former manager Sandy Gallin. Sandollar also produced the TV series and Angel.

    The 1992 film

  10. Joss Whedon wrote the screenplay but walked away during production. The studio cut many of his jokes and turned his darker story into a light-hearted B-movie comedy.

    The 1992 film

  11. The film was made for about $7 million and took around $16.6 million at the box office, opening at No. 5 in North America on 31 July 1992.

    The 1992 film

  12. Ben Affleck appears as a basketball player with one line, "Take it". When he went to see the film he found the director had dubbed it with another actor's voice.

    The 1992 film

  13. In the episode "Anne", Buffy goes by her middle name, which makes her Anne Summers, very close to Ann Summers, the well-known UK lingerie and adult store chain.

    Season 3, Episode 1: "Anne"

  14. Sunnydale High's exterior is Torrance High School in California, which also played West Beverly Hills High in Beverly Hills, 90210. Opened in 1917, it's one of California's oldest high schools still in use, and Architectural Digest named it the state's most beautiful high school in 2018.

    Seasons 1–3

  15. Faith was going to get her own spin-off series after Buffy ended, but Eliza Dushku turned it down.

    Faith

  16. Oz was meant to be a temporary character, to be killed by a vampire early in Season 2. The werewolf storyline saved him.

    Season 2, Episode 4: "Inca Mummy Girl"

  17. Anya was written to appear in a single episode. Emma Caulfield was asked back a month later, and by July 1999 she'd been signed for an "indefinite" number of episodes.

    Season 3, Episode 9: "The Wish"

  18. Sarah Michelle Gellar holds a black belt in taekwondo.

    Sarah Michelle Gellar