Thirteen differences in the unaired Buffy pilot and the official pilot.
1. Darla kills boy in the auditorium on a stage set, rather than in the hallway (could be a different boy too). 2. The Buffy font is rounder and not drizzly. 3. Berryman High rather then Sunnydale High. 4. Different actor playing Principal Flutie who can’t remember Buffy’s name (she gets called Bunny, Betty, and Wilma). He also doesn’t get flustered over her previous records. 5. Willow is a chubby brunette, not Alison Hannigan who has red hair. 6. Cordelia’s comment about Willow’s dress, “Good to know you’ve seen the softer side of Sears.” happens before they meet Buffy and in the yard not in front of the water fountain. After that Buffy walks into Xander in the yard, not in the hallway. She’s on the way to the library before class. 7. The library set is quite different. It’s bigger with stacks on the bottom floor as well as top. 8. Willow asks Buffy if she needs help catching up instead of the other way around. 9. Xander shows Buffy around the different groups in the yard – Housers (wannabe gansters), surfies, theatre club, film club, Dirty Girls who have “views on hygiene”. 10. Mr Flutie is concerned about Buffy and the dead body (scary thing on her first day). He asks her if there’s anything she needs and she asks if she can look at the body – and he lets her! 11. Instead of Willow and Jessie being seduced out of the Bronze by the vampires they never made it into the Bronze, Willow stayed at school with a random guy (vampire). 12. Willow burns Darla with a cross to stop her from biting Xander, there’s also some bubbling noises that seem to indicate that Darla melted. They also had a different effect for the vampires to turn into dust. Thank goodness they changed both of those things (well the dust one wasn’t that bad but the exploding one is better). 13. No Joyce Summers (her mum was the heart of the operation without even knowing it), no Jessie, no Angel (I wonder who they were going to use as the main love interest), no Luke (who is the Master’s vessel for the harvest). Overall the unaired pilot is okay, there were some good one-liners, but the official one is better. What would we have done without Joyce, Angel and Alison Hannigan as Willow?! Put your Thursday Thirteen link here. |
Di says
Hey…I really wish I “got” this…my BFF begged me to be a Buffy fan and I never did it…I know I missed out on a true pop culture icon!
armywife says
you are clearly after my heart. i’ve been a buffy fan from way back and very few people out there have seen the original pilot. that other willow was just awful, eh?
happy TT!
elementaryhistoryteacher says
Wow! I never watched too much Buffy….just a snippet here and there.
Now, if you wanted to know about the original pilot for Andy Griffith, The Flintstones, Gilligan’s Island, or Happy Days then I’m your go-to girl. 🙂
Christine says
I used to watch Buffy faithfully until the last season. Somehow, after Willow turned into a witch & Buffy’s mom died – I didn’t have the same enthusiasm. But reading your list makes me want to revisit the series again. Happy TT.
Janet says
I could never get into Buffy 🙁
Raggedy says
Interesting Thursday Thirteen!
My TT is posted.
Have a wonderful day!
Happy TT’ing!
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Raggedy
carmen says
I’m so glad that Alyson Hannigan ended up as Willow. I didn’t like that first chick. They kept the line “someone’s mom saw the softer side of sears.” Gotta love Cordelia. 😉
JHS says
I’m lost! Never watched it.
My list is posted, too! Stop by. I hope you’ll enjoy what I offered.