Line #104 WhatCouldHaveBeen/BuffyTheVampireSlayer


1	!! Pre-show concepts, main characters, and long-term arcs
2
3	* Creator/JossWhedon's original concept that eventually evolved into Buffy was ''Rhonda the Immortal Waitress''.
4	* Whedon was interested in a film continuation in 1998.
5	* One actress who was originally offered the role as the heroine was Creator/NatashaLyonne, but she turned it down, and Whedon went with Gellar. Amongst those who auditioned were Creator/KatieHolmes and Creator/SelmaBlair.
6	* Creator/RyanReynolds was originally offered the role of Xander. He passed on it because of his own awful high school experiences. "I love that show and I loved Creator/JossWhedon," Reynolds told 'The Toronto Star' in 2008. "But my biggest concern was that I didn't want to play a guy in high school."
7	* Angel was originally conceived as nothing more than a weird guy who occasionally showed up to give Buffy vague advice. There were several ideas for his true identity tossed around, including that he was an actual angel who needed to complete a certain number of good deeds before being allowed back into Heaven, before his being a vampire was decided on literally while writing the episode with the reveal. This explains the severe EarlyInstallmentWeirdness with him until that point, as he had to be written very vaguely to fit whatever the writers came up with.
8	* When the show was being pitched and the WB were interested, they considered giving it a timeslot for the 1996-97 season (which would likely have resulted in a full 22-episode season 1); it lost this battle to ''Series/SeventhHeaven'', becoming a MidSeasonReplacement when ''Series/{{Savannah}}'' was cancelled in early 1997. In hindsight, had the WB execs. chosen differently both shows would likely have turned out different - among other things, Creator/AlysonHannigan had not yet been cast; the Master arc would also have been effected, with an extra 10 episodes and the possibility of the Annointed One not being pre-emptively killed off; etc.
9	* Originally, Whedon didn't want either of Buffy's parents to appear as characters on the show. Accepting that that could get complicated, he settled on just having her mother, Joyce, appear in a nearly regular role, while Buffy's father Hank appeared in very few episodes.
10	* Many characters stayed on longer than anticipated. Both Jenny Calendar and Joyce Summers (Buffy's mom) were supposed to die in the ''first season'', but Jenny survived until Season 2, and Joyce until Season 5. Jenny only died because the fan response to Oz was so positive, otherwise ''he'' would have been the one killed by Angelus. And had he not left, Oz would have died instead of Tara, triggering her Dark Willow phase. Mayor Wilkins was only set for 2 episodes. Anya was to only appear in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E9TheWish The Wish]]", and after that was only supposed to appear once again in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E16Doppelgangland Doppelgangland]]". Faith was originally signed on for only 5 episodes. Spike was to die at the end of "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E10WhatsMyLinePart2 What's My Line?]]" but it was decided against. Spike was thus planned to exit the show after his one Season 3 appearance, but was [[BreakoutCharacter brought on as a regular]] in Season 4 instead.
11	** Another contributing factor in Jenny dying was that Robia [=LaMorte=] became a Christian and was no longer comfortable playing the part.
12	** Angel was supposed to stay dead after the second season, but the WB network came to Whedon with the desire for a spin-off series, so Angel was brought back during the third season to set up his spin-off.
13	* Search "Buffy Unaired Pilot" on Website/YouTube to see a whole episode of ''What Could Have Beens''.
14	* When given their characters, Creator/JamesMarsters and Creator/JulietLandau were told they could use either a British or American accent. Marsters actually considered giving Spike a [[UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents Southern accent]], but Landau says that, given the "Sid and Nancy" vibe of their characters, Drusilla needed to be a Cockney. She admits that a Southern accent would have added interesting [[Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire Blanche DuBois]] comparisons, though. Marsters originally auditioned for the role of Spike using a Texan accent. He and the writers eventually decided that this was not a good fit, and so instead of a cowboy, Spike became a limey. Spike actually uses this Texan accent in Season #4 when he's attempting to convince people that he's an old friend of Xander's. It's hilarious.
15	* Oz was originally supposed to wear thick rimmed glasses, much like the lead singer of Music/{{Weezer}}. This was dropped at the last minute as Whedon felt that it looked tacky.
16	* Anya had a different origin. In the original script for "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E9TheWish The Wish]]":
17	-->Anyanka raised a demon to ruin her unfaithful lover. The demon did her bidding – but then cursed her and turned her into a sort of patron saint for scorned women. Apparently the cry of a wronged woman is like a siren’s call to Anyanka.
18	* Wesley was originally going to be an American Watcher. Funnily enough, he was still played by [[Creator/AlexisDenisof an American]].
19	** Speaking of Wesley, Creator/AlexisDenisof claimed that the character was originally supposed to "annoy Buffy for three episodes and die". Whedon noticed that he had potential and moved him over to ''Series/{{Angel}}''.
20	* From the very beginning, Joss Whedon planned to reveal that one of the main characters was gay. However, until Season 4 he had not decided as to whether this would be Willow or Xander, and subtle clues (''extremely'' subtle) were placed for both characters in case his plans were able to see light. Ultimately, he decided to pick Willow instead of Xander. The apparent {{Foreshadowing}} with vampire Willow being a DepravedBisexual was not one of these - as Joss was leaning more towards Xander being the gay one until Creator/AmberBenson's chemistry with Creator/AlysonHannigan proved so good.
21	* Despite some popular belief, Tara was not necessarily introduced just as a {{Love Interest\|s}}[=/=]ClosetKey for Willow (though the timing is impeccable) - she was created because Willow was getting too powerful as a witch and outgrowing her initial "cuteness", so the writers realised that using her to make the villains sinister (and get captured/kidnapped) was no longer plausible. Thus, Tara was created to replace her in this role as TheWoobie, as well as to explore Willow's "addiction storyline" that led to Dark Willow in Season 6 - Tara became Willow's {{Love Interest\|s}} because Creator/AlysonHannigan and Creator/AmberBenson had wonderful on-screen chemistry and the writers seized the opportunity presented to them. This leads into another WCHB - if Oz hadn't been written out of the show, would Willow and Tara have been written as lovers (before or after Oz's death led to the Dark Willow arc), or would they have been straight and Xander turned out gay/bi? Some combination of the aforementioned? Who can say for certain?
22	* Creator/AnneHathaway, Creator/KateeSackhoff and Creator/MaryElizabethWinstead were considered for Dawn.
23	* Dawn was originally intended to have the power to speak to the dead. She was also supposed to be able to move objects with her mind. These powers were later dropped.
24	* At one point Joss toyed with the idea of putting vampires in out-of-style clothing, to show they were mentally still stuck in the time they died in. This would have been an interesting contrast to a fashion-conscious teenage hero, but Whedon soon realized it would be impractical in the long run. Buffy still picks a single vampire out in a crowd due to his outdated fashion sense in one early episode.
25	* ''Creator/GailSimone'' was invited to write a season for the series, but was under exclusive contract with Creator/DCComics, and declined.
26
27	!! Season One
28
29	* The entire first season was shot before the pilot had even aired, so some of the scenes were re-shot. Buffy's "it's my first day" speech to Giles was actually the ''last'' scene filmed, as they decided that Creator/SarahMichelleGellar's original performance was too aggressive.
30	* Angel was originally supposed to only appear in the pilot. In fact, the original unaired pilot doesn't feature him at all.
31	* Whedon wanted to put Creator/EricBalfour [[DeadStarWalking in the opening credits]] for the first two episodes so that his death would be a surprise, but literally didn't have the money for two sets of credits.
32	* The Master was originally supposed to have a beard and long hair before Creator/MarkMetcalf suggested the bald look as a homage to ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}''.
33	* Ms. Calendar was originally written as 'Nikki' instead, but they changed it to Jenny to avoid confusion with Creator/NicholasBrendon (who was called Nicky by everyone on set). This was apparently no longer an issue by the time they wrote in the character of Nikki Wood.
34	* Darla was originally supposed to be killed in the end of "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E2TheHarvest The Harvest]]" when Willow hurled holy water at her, but a more interesting plot for "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E7Angel Angel]]" was needed so they kept her in the show.
35
36	!!Season Two
37
38	* When Season One was being produced, the Anointed One was planned as Season Two's BigBad. However, Andrew J. Ferchland's growth spurt made him portraying a theoretically ageless vampire unrealistic. If this had happened, however, we might not have met Spike and Drusilla, and [[GrowingTheBeard the beard wouldn't have been grown.]]
39	* Darla was supposed to return and become key character, but Whedon instead decided to make her have a larger role in ''Angel''. She only appears in a flashback in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E21BecomingPart1 Becoming Part One]]".
40	* The demon Machida was originally supposed to be in at least two episodes, but the makeup was too difficult to put on, and there were some technical problems (such as one of the stuntmen fainting), he was killed off in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E5ReptileBoy Reptile Boy]]".
41	* The original concept for Willy the Snitch had him able to turn into a literal weasel.
42	* According to Creator/JamesMarsters, the original idea was that Angel would become Angelus and kill Spike to have Drusilla to himself. However, Spike had become so popular with the cast, crew and fans he was instead preserved to serve as Angelus's "jealous little brother".
43	* In the original script for "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E14Innocence Innocence]]" Buffy didn't have a bazooka. She had a [[TankGoodness tank]]!.
44	* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E18KilledByDeath Killed By Death]]" was originally rather different: it involved some sort of hybrid senior home/orphanage, and it would seem like the kids were evil, except actually the seniors were, worshiping some kind of panther god or something.
45
46	!!Season Three
47
48	* The Glove of Myhnegon from "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E7Revelations Revelations]]" was originally supposed to be a falconer's glove that summoned some sort of demonic bird; Gwendolyn Post would try to control it, but it would kill her instead. Apparently the budget would have only allowed the bird to appear for about 30 seconds, and it became a joke around the studio that this particular script was unfilmable. Hence the change to a simpler ShockAndAwe power.
49	* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E8LoversWalk Lover's Walk]]" was supposed to end with Spike singing along to Music/SidVicious' cover of "My Way" but the crew couldn't get permission to use that version, so they used Creator/GaryOldman's soundalike recording from ''Film/SidAndNancy'' instead.
50	* One storyline idea was that Buffy would have found Faith had hanged herself, unable to live with killing an innocent man. What the writers came up with instead was much more interesting.
51	* Initially Wishverse Buffy was going to be decked out in more military style clothing, with a larger cross. The writers must have thought it would look silly so they went with a grittier, harder version of Buffy's normal dress sense.
52	* A more well known WCHB deals with Faith kissing Buffy on the forehead in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E17Enemies Enemies]]". [[http://www.buffyworld.com/buffy/scripts/051_scri.html The original script had Faith kissing her full on the lips.]]
53	* Whedon intended for a while to kill Joyce at the end of Season 3, and by the time he changed his mind Creator/KristineSutherland had booked several other jobs for the following year, which is why she appears so little in Season 4.
54
55	!!Season Four
56
57	* Creator/KristineSutherland revealed Joss' initial plans for the Summers family, at the beginning of season four:
58	-->I knew that Joyce was going to die suddenly. Initially when we talked, before I went to Italy, Joss’ idea was that Joyce adopted a five or six year old girl. It was interesting how that idea of adoption actually became The Key, and this whole other thing.
59	* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E1TheFreshman The Freshman]]", antagonist Sunday was originally going to be a Slayer who had been turned into a vampire, explaining how she was able to nearly effortlessly defeat Buffy the first time they fought. Instead, she simply became an unusually savvy and powerful vampire. After huge amounts of fan speculation on the idea, a vampirised Slayer finally did appear in the "Season Nine" comics.
60	* The Oz-Veruca storyline was supposed to last longer, but had to be cut short. Creator/SethGreen had been cast in a film whose production was suddenly pushed forward, requiring him to be written out sooner.
61	* The MusicalEpisode was supposed to be in this season, but ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' had recently shown a musical episode so the idea was put on hold and we got "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E10Hush Hush]]".
62	* Originally, Professor Maggie Walsh was supposed to be the season's BigBad, Lindsay Crouse proved unavailable, so she was promptly killed off and Adam was introduced.
63	* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E22Restless Restless]]" was to guest star many past recurring characters. Willow's classroom dream was to feature Larry, Cordelia and Amy. Jenny was to be pushing the baby carriage instead of Olivia, followed by having Olivia crying in Spike's crypt. Faith was going to appear in Buffy's bedroom telling her to "be back before Dawn," while Angel was to have appeared in the desert as the voice of the First Slayer. Unfortunately, Whedon was only able to recruit Creator/SethGreen, Mercedes [=McNab=] and Creator/ArminShimerman to return.
64	** Angel and Cordelia were supposed to appear, but were written out when scheduling conflicted with ''Angel''. Initially, Angel was written as the dream guide for the gang (a role which was eventually given to Tara) and Cordelia was one of the students insulting Willow in the classroom. As a result, this is the first Season Finale in which they do not appear.
65
66
67	!!Season Five
68
69	* According to Creator/ClareKramer, Glory was originally named Cherie.
70	* The writers considered revealing that Xander and not Ben was actually Glory's alter ego -- presumably that would have involved Glory's memory glitch spell affecting the ''audience'' all this time -- and having him killed off at the end of the season.
71	* It was rumored that "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E22TheGift The Gift]]" was going to be a two-hour television event called "Centenary" and to feature almost every single character from previous seasons including the entire ''Angel'' cast.
72	** The Dark Willow storyline of Season 6 was going to play out here, with Willow joining forces with Glory and being the one to bleed Dawn and open the portal.
73	** Joss also wanted Sunnydale to be swallowed up by the Hellmouth. This was later used for the series finale.
74
75
76	!!Season Six
77
78	* Tucker Wells (from "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E20TheProm The Prom]]") was going to be the leader of the Trio and the interim BigBad until he killed Tara and Dark Willow then killed him. This would have made particular sense, since in his one appearance he was rather callous about killing people and even darker than Warren (who was originally a weak-willed, somewhat amoral nerd with some HiddenDepths). Jonathan would've been the same pretty much, but Warren was going to be the passive follower (this suggests that Andrew's arc in Season 7 might have ended up being his). Since Brad Kane, Tucker's actor was unavailable to reprise the role, Warren was upped to BigBad via JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope & WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity, and Andrew was created to serve the weak-willed-follower role (as Tucker's brother who caused a chaotic incident absolutely nobody seems to remember).
79	* Originally, Amy was going to be trapped as a rat indefinitely, but then Joss Whedon got a letter from a fan who pointed out rats only live for three years, and Amy had been in rat form for roughly three years. Amused, Joss arranged for Amy to return to human form. Creator/ElizabethAnneAllen later thanked that fan for helping her return to the show.
80	* There was a plan for Creator/AndyHallett to make a cameo in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E7OnceMoreWithFeeling Once More, With Feeling]]".
81	* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E9Smashed Smashed]]", Willow and Amy get harassed by two homophobic men, and punish them by using magic to strip them to their underwear and make them dance in cages. In the original plans, they would have used magic to force the two men to kiss each other. Joss Whedon vetoed the idea because he did not want to portray people's sexual orientation as changing in an instant and he did not want to portray same-sex kissing as a punishment.
82	* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E17NormalAgain Normal Again]]" was originally more of a RageAgainstTheAuthor episode, with the world of Sunnydale crumbling due to Joss Whedon suffering writers block.
83	* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E22Grave Grave]]", Buffy would have fought the dragon that escaped in "The Gift". It was changed to earth monsters because of the budget.
84
85	!!Season Seven
86
87	* There was talk about bringing Tara BackFromTheDead. At some point in the season, Buffy would get access to one wish from The Powers That Be that could alter reality. She would consider a number of options, including restoring Angel's humanity, destroying the First, or bringing her mother back. Eventually she would return to Casa de Scooby to show her cute new shoes off to Willow...
88	-->'''Willow:''' You used the wish on shoes?\
89	'''Buffy:''' Of course not.\
90	''(Buffy leaves, and Tara's standing right behind Willow...)''
91	** They could not get Creator/AmberBenson's schedule to work with the plot, though, so it was scrapped. There was also talk of bringing Amber Benson back as one of the manifestations of the First Evil, but she refused because it would be too cruel to Willow's character and the fans. (There is, in fact, [[http://slayalive.com/showthread.php/2942-Conversations-With-Dead-People-original-script a script]] for "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E7ConversationsWithDeadPeople}} Conversations With Dead People]]" that has Tara in place of Cassie talking to Willow, and it's exactly as cruel as you would expect.) The echoes of that plot could be felt in "Conversations With Dead People", which had Cassie appear and claim to be speaking for Tara.
92	** For her part, Benson has said she was never told about a possible return as ''Tara'',(which she may have been open to, having been heartbroken about her character's death) and was only invited back to play the First.
93	* The last scene of "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E2BeneathYou Beneath You]]" was originally Spike admitting actual guilt for the bad he's done and how selfish he was, instead of more complaining about how Buffy used him. A lot of fans would have preferred the former, but ''Series/{{Angel}}'' Season 5 included elements of that.
94	* Another sequence for "Conversations with Dead People" would be for Jesse to confront Xander. Creator/EricBalfour was unavailable however, and as a result, it's the only episode of the series that Xander doesn't appear in.
95	** There were also plans for the First to impersonate Halfrek and talk to Anya. Kali Rocha however was committed to a ''Theatre/NoisesOff'' on Broadway and couldn't fit it in. She in fact filmed all her Season 7 scenes in just one day; the death scene in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E5Selfless Selfless]]" was filmed in front of a green screen.
96	* Amanda was originally intended as a one-episode part, but was brought back as a recurring character due to Sarah Hagan's connection to writer Rebecca Rand Kirshner, who wrote for Hagan's previous series ''Series/FreaksAndGeeks''.
97	* Xander could, once again, have been killed by Caleb instead of mutilated in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E18DirtyGirls Dirty Girls]]" so that the First would appear as him from then on, but the writers decided the rest of the characters [[AngstWhatAngst would have insufficient grieving time.]]
98	* Whedon discussed with Creator/NicholasBrendon and Creator/SarahMichelleGellar the idea of Buffy and Xander ending up together at the end of the final season, which the actors reportedly agreed. Gellar has stated she believes Whedon's original intention was "was to put Xander and Buffy together. I really do believe that."
99	* Throughout Season 7, Joss had terrible trouble deciding if Principal Wood would survive the finale. He describes the result as the episode just happening to be filmed on a day where he was leaning toward Wood surviving.
100	* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E22Chosen Chosen]]" was planned to be a two-hour event, but the network only allowed them one episode.
101	** There are a few alternative scripts with many differences, including: Xander dying to save Dawn, Anya living to see the end and Dawn being the third Slayer.
102	** Glory was originally meant to as one of the forms assumed by the First Evil. However, due to conflicting schedules, Creator/ClareKramer could not appear.
103	** At one point the First was going to take a physical form and have a proper FinalBattle against Buffy - as her mother.
104	* According to Joss, had there been another season, Creator/TomLenk would have been PromotedToOpeningTitles.
105
106	!!Continuations and spin-offs
107
108	* The series came very close to getting an animated series, with designs of the characters and even a concept reel which you can find [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnUvZP7-5LM here]]. However, when the intended home for the show, Creator/FoxKids, ended in 2002, the producers tried to shop it around to other networks, and none of them were interested in it. They resumed development in 2004, at which point the pitch reel was created; again, nobody wanted it, partially because of the AnimationAgeGhetto (being seen as too dark for kids and not "suitable" in primetime) and partially because of financial issues (as Whedon wanted quality animation more on the budget of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''). Ultimately, the series was shelved and buried. It did get a nice nod in the season eight comic 12th issue, "After These Messages... We'll Be Right Back", which explores the animated series for a bit.
109	* The proposed live-action ''Ripper'' spin-off, which would have been a ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}''-esque dark supernatural thriller starring Creator/AnthonyStewartHead as Giles, initially intended to be set during his [[PutOnABus bus excursion]] in the sixth season. Whedon described at as "''Series/{{Cracker}}'' with ghosts". It was reportedly intended to have been made in the UK as a co-production with Creator/TheBBC. With hindsight it appears that the Beeb were never actually very interested as at much the same time they were considering the revival of [[Series/DoctorWho their own biggest fantasy property]]. There were still occasional fan rumors of the show being made for a couple of years after ''Buffy'' ended, but Head signing up for ''Series/{{Merlin\|2008}}'' probably put the final nail in the coffin.
110	** ''Ripper'' would have introduced Giles' eternally young great aunts Lavinia and Sophie, played by Anthony Head's daughters Emily and {{Creator/Daisy\|Head}}. They later appeared in the ''Angel & Faith'' comic series as recurring characters.
111	* Creator/TimMinear was behind an idea for a spinoff in 2003 featuring Faith. He pitched as "Faith meets ''Series/{{Kung Fu\|1972}}''" and it would have seen her WalkingTheEarth on her motorcycle trying to find her place in the world and that Spike would appear. This was abandoned when Creator/ElizaDushku starred in ''Series/TruCalling'' and Spike joined the last season of ''Angel''. Ideas intended for the spin-off were later borrowed in small part by Brian K. Vaughan for his "No Future for You" arc in the Season Eight comics.
112	* Creator/JaneEspenson has said that back when the series was nearing its end, "I think Marti talked with Joss about ''Slayer School'', I assume there was some back-and-forth pitching."
113	** Espenson revealed more information when she gave a talk at Ball State University in March 2003. The show might have used some of the Potentials, and other characters from ''Buffy'', which might have included Willow. Espenson also revealed that Whedon did not think that such a spinoff felt right. It seems that the concept for "Slayer School" was never developed beyond a 'pitch' for a potential spin-off to replace ''Buffy''.
114	* A Spike movie was kicked around for a while. The idea was considered dead by 2006 and in 2012 Creator/JamesMarsters confirmed for 411Mania that he would not play Spike again: he felt he was too visibly old to play the character without having "to cheat". In a later interview in June 2016, Marsters clarified that he might reprise his role as Spike in the future, but only if technology had advanced far enough that it would be able to convince viewers that Spike had not aged. He stated that in 2004, when he was asked by Whedon if he would be willing to be cast as Spike in future projects, he replied that he would be able to portray him for up to seven years after the end of ''Angel''. After this time had passed in 2011, Marsters believed that he was too old to play the part. Marsters' and Whedon's ideas became the graphic novel ''Spike: Into the Light''.
115	* Marti Noxon was keen on bringing Tara back for the Creator/DarkHorseComics seasons, but Whedon wanted her death to stick.

Context WhatCouldHaveBeen / BuffyTheVampireSlayer