Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a television series, based on the 1992 film of the same name, which ran from 1997 until 2003. It was created by Joss Whedon and starred Sarah Michelle Gellar. The series combined humor with horror in following the title character's battle against evil and the turmoil of young adulthood. Buffy and its spin-off series Angel have made several references to Muppet projects.
Muppet Mentions[]
- From the unaired pilot (Xander is pointing out which high school kids belong to what cliques)...
- Xander: And them?
- Buffy: Uh... film club.
- Xander: They spend their time deciding that every movie is an existential meditation on Freudian sexuality.
- Buffy: Even The Muppets Take Manhattan?
- Xander: Especially The Muppets Take Manhattan.
- From the episode "Get It Done" (The gang is trying to find their enemy's weakness)...
- Buffy: What's inside it?
- Robin: I don't know. Hasn't been opened since...
- [Buffy cracks open the case]
- Robin: Well, since now.
- Xander: [removing items and chuckling] Puppets... that's it! The First hates puppets. Now if we can just airlift Kermit, Fozzie the Bear [sic] and Miss Piggy into town, the First will be a-runnin'.
- Willow: Those are Muppets.
- From the episode "Buffy vs Dracula" (Xander doesn't believe a vampire is the real Dracula)...
- Dracula: I have no interest in you. Leave us.
- Xander: No, we're not going to [in Dracula's accent] "leave you." And where'd you get that accent, Sesame Street?
- Dracula: [annoyed]
- Xander: [as Count von Count]: Vun, two, three -- three victims. Mwa ha ha!
- From the episode "Bad Girls" (After the two slayers defeat some vampires)...
- Faith: Nicely diverted, B!
- Buffy: Diverted? That was me fighting for my life, Miss Attention Span.
- Faith: This isn't a Tupperware party. It's a little hard to plan.
- Buffy: "The count of three" isn't a plan. It's Sesame Street.
- The title of the episode "The Puppet Show" is a take on The Muppet Show and has been mistakenly listed as such on some fan websites.
- In the canonical comic book story written by Joss Whedon that follows the television series, Buffy makes reference to the term Jim Henson coined for his puppet act as an adjective for a Norse god in expressing her feelings about sexual intimacy.
- Issue #22 of the same comic book title features Kennedy wearing a shirt with Animal from The Muppet Show. On the series, Kennedy was played by Iyari Limon who has been photographed at fan conventions wearing an Oscar the Grouch t-shirt.
- In issue #28, Georges Jeanty depicts Buffy wearing a t-shirt of The Count. The illustration is that of an actual licensed shirt.
- In issue #40, Buffy and her sister Dawn converse in the kitchen on either side of a Cookie Monster cookie jar.
References[]
- In the Farscape episode "A Kiss Is But a Kiss," John Crichton complains to D'Argo about the ramifications of his being frozen for centuries: "Humans... do not live as long as Sebaceans or Hynerians, or Delvians. When I get back... everyone... my dad, DK, my sisters, Cameron Diaz, Buffy the Vampire Slayer... will be dead!"
- Episode 425 of Mopatop's Shop is titled, "Vampy the Buffet Slayer."
- Sesame Street Episode 4220 makes a subtle reference to the Buffy musical episode "Once More with Feeling" from 2001. Both stories are about the characters falling under a spell that makes them sing involuntarily. David Fury celebrates the removal of a mustard stain from his red shirt, while Chris requests that Leela help him get the mustard stain out of his red shirt. video
- A poster of "Once More with Feeling" decorates the wall of Sesame Street’s green room, as seen in a photo of Emmy Rossum published on Sesame Street’s Instagram account on April 8, 2014.
- While attempting to read poetry at The Muppets Take the O2 (the July 14 performance), Pepe tells Anthony Stewart Head that he's seen him before on that TV show "Bussy the Empire".
Connections[]
Joss Whedon's father Tom Whedon co-wrote the Muppet production Hey Cinderella! and worked for the Children's Television Workshop as head writer on The Electric Company. Other Buffy cast and crew have worked on Muppet/Creature Shop projects:
- Amy Adams played Beth in "Family"
- Ashanti played Lissa in "First Date"
- Reza Badiyi directed "Out of Mind, Out of Sight"
- Christophe Beck scored seasons two through four and some episodes in seasons five and six.
- Pat Crawford Brown played the wig lady in "Doublemeat Palace"
- Mark Caso played a stunt vampire in various episodes
- Alice Dinnean puppeteered a baby demon in "As You Were" and a mummy hand in "Life Serial"
- Jane Espenson was a staff writer
- Conchata Ferrell played Nurse Greenleigh in "Go Fish"
- Nathan Fillion played Caleb (5 episodes, 2003)
- Miriam Flynn played Mrs. Franks in "I Only Have Eyes for You"
- Sarah Michelle Gellar played Buffy Summers
- Mark Ginther played a horned demon in "Life Serial"
- Seth Green played Oz on the TV series, and had a role as a short red-haired vampire in a deleted scene from the movie.
- Joel Grey played Doc in "Forever," "The Weight of the World," and "The Gift"
- John Hawkes played George the janitor in "I Only Have Eyes for You"
- Anthony Stewart Head played Rupert Giles
- Ricki Lake played Charlotte in the 1992 film.
- Jarrett Lennon played Martin Wilder in "Help"
- Phill Lewis played Mr. Platt in "Beauty and the Beasts"
- Riki Lindhome played Cheryl in "Him"
- Pons Maar puppeteered demons in two episodes
- Kal Penn played Hunt in "Beer Bad"
- Paul Reubens played Amilyn in the 1992 film
- John Ritter played Ted Buchanan in "Ted"
- Brian Thompson played Luke in "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "The Harvest" and the Judge in "Surprise" and "Innocence"
- Michelle Trachtenberg played Dawn Summers (2000-2003)
- Harris Yulin played Quentin Travers (4 episodes, 1999-2002)
- Rick Zieff played Mr. Whitmore in "Bad Eggs"