Buffy the Vampire Slayer in popular culture

Buffy and its spinoff, Angel which employed pop culture references as a frequent humorous device, have themselves become a frequent pop culture reference in video games, comics and television shows, and has been frequently parodied and spoofed. Even Sarah Michelle Gellar has participated in several parody sketches, including a Saturday Night Live sketch in which the Slayer is relocated to the Seinfeld universe, and adding her voice to an episode of Robot Chicken that parodied a would-be eighth season of Buffy. There are also several adult parodies of Buffy, web comics, and music.

Television

Sketch shows

There have been a number of spoofs of Buffy on notable TV comedy sketch shows. In chronological order:

• "MADtv" (1997) - "Buffy the Umpire Slayer" sketch in which Nicole Sullivan starred as 'Buffy'. The clip features Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles attempting to control the threat from blood-sucking baseball umpires.

• "Saturday Night Live" - Sarah Michelle Gellar starred in a sketch first aired on 1999, in which the Slayer was relocated to the Seinfeld universe, starring as an Elaine Benes version of Buffy.

• "MADtv"(2001) - Michelle Trachtenberg appeared in a sketch that has been entitled "Bunny the Vampire Slayer" by MadTV, and features the MadTV recurring character, Bunny Swan, (more commonly known as "Ms Swan)". The five minute clip includes Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers coming face to face with Bunny Swan in a graveyard. Bunny tells Dawn that she is her aunt, and also the slayer. It also includes castmembers Andrew Daly as Spike, Mo Collins as Willow and Stephnie Weir as Tara.

• "V Graham Norton" - When Anthony Stewart Head appeared on Norton's show he spoofed "Buffy" in a "Poofy the Vampire Slayer" sketch. Graham Norton portrayed 'Poofy', whilst Head portrayed 'Rupert Giles'.

• "Robot Chicken" - Series co-created by Seth Green (who portrayed Oz on Buffy). Sarah Michelle Gellar lent her voice to the episode "Plastic Buffet", which included a parodied would-be eighth season of Buffy. The story featured soulless Cabbage Patch Kids terrorising America.

Friends

The episode, The One Where Chandler Can't Cry, included a scene in which Phoebe's sister, Ursula Buffay starred as Buffay the Vampire Layer (parodying Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and perhaps alluding to real life Buffy adult parodies). Ursula Buffay uses her twin sister Phoebe's name for the credits.

The Simpsons

The Simpsons episode, "Treehouse of Horror XVI" originally aired in the US six days after Halloween. The last of four segments was entitled, "I've Grown a Costume on Your Face" and had similarities with the Buffy episode "Halloween" (which had aired eight years earlier).

In the Buffy episode, a sorcerer transforms many of the residents into their Halloween costumes. Willow (who would later become the witch of the series) dresses as a ghost, and becomes a ghost-version of herself, whilst her friends identities are completely transformed and their memories wiped. Therefore Willow can initiate a return to normality.

In the Simpsons episode, citizens of Springfield dress in their Halloween costumes for a costume contest. A wicked witch also entered, and won. But after revealing that she isn't wearing a costume, and is really a witch, she is disqualified and her prize is taken away, and in revenge, turns everyone into the actual characters that their costumes are. In one scene Principal Skinner in army clothes stands next to his mother dressed in a big, poofy pink Victorian dress in a shot reminiscent of Buffy characters Xander and Buffy wearing said clothes in "Halloween":

File:Buffy eisode (Halloween).jpg File:The Simpsons-17x04-screenshot.jpg

The only person who can reverse the spell is Maggie, who was actually dressed as a witch, and now really is one. Unfortunately, Maggie turns the people of Springfield, including guest star Dennis Rodman, into pacifiers with their normal heads.

Grandma's Boy

In the movie, JP comes into Samantha's office. He tells her he just got the new season of Buffy on DVD.

Other

• A season-one episode of the show "Big Wolf on Campus" was called "Muffy the Werewolf Slayer."
• Miley's foil/rival/crush, Jake Ryan (played by Cody Linley), on the Disney Channel Series "Hannah Montana" is the star of a fictional television series "Zombie Slayer at Zombie High," with obvious Buffy parallels.
• The humor card game Chez Geek contains a TV card named "Mitzi the Demon Hunter."

Comics

DC Comics' "Young Justice" title made numerous references to a show called "Wendy the Werewolf Stalker", including a two-part story, during #33-34 where several of the book's heroines actually go to Hollywood to take part in an episode. "WtWS" is a pretty straight-forward "homage" to "BtVS", with the twist that show creator "Joe Westin" is revealed to himself be a vampire.

Fan films

Main article: Unofficial Buffy the Vampire Slayer productions

Fan films parodying or paying tribute to Buffy have become more common, as computer and digital technology has advanced and become affordable, and distribution over the internet has become easier.

Adult parodies

Further information: Unofficial Buffy the Vampire Slayer productions

Miscellaneous

• Anarchy Online (June 27 2001) features a decorative statue called the "Marble Statue of the Goddess Buffy Summers".
• In the Charmed episode "The Power of Two", Phoebe Halliwell says the line, "Where's Buffy when you need her?" when they are in a cemetery.
• In the video games The X-Files: Resist or Serve (March 14 2004) and Max Payne (July 25 2001), a secret room contains a staked corpse with "Buffy" smeared on the wall in blood.
• The English version of Secret of Mana, a video game for the SNES which appeared shortly after the original movie came out, contains a boss named Buffy the Vampire. It can be most easily defeated with light magic.
• Archie Comics character, Betty Cooper, dresses up as Bunny the Vampire Slayer for a Halloween costume party.
• The Wotch web comic frequently references Buffy.
• In the House of Mouse episode "Gone Goofy", when Donald Duck is watching TV, there is a show on called "Goofy the Vampire Slayer".
• In the Supernatural episode "Hell House", two amateur ghost hunters ask themselves, "What would Buffy do?"
• In the Farscape episode "Promises", John Crichton, confronted by Scorpius whom he thought dead, asks "Kryptonite? Silver Bullet? Buffy?!? What's it gonna take to keep you in the grave?"
• In 2005, a Trans-Neptunian object 2004 XR₁₉₀ was unofficially named "Buffy", after the main character of the series.
• In the 33rd issue of Birds of Prey, the Blue Beetle accepts a mission from Oracle, saying, "Buffy's in reruns. Why not?"
• In the Xena: Warrior Princess episode "The Play's the Thing", a theater critic remarks, "I hear "Buffus the Bacchae Slayer" is playing next door."
• In the international release of the 2004 Russian film Night Watch, a major character is seen watching television which is airing a scene from the show where Buffy meets Dracula in the cemetery - dubbed into Russian.
• In an episode of Smallville ("Thirst"), Lana Lang is changed into a vampire by a blonde sorority girl by the name of "Buffy Sanders".
• In the Canadian series Big Wolf on Campus, one episode features "Muffy the Werewolf Slayer" and one of its characters (Merton Dingle) is infatuated with Sarah Michelle Gellar.
• In Will & Grace, the title characters have been shown in several episodes as watching the show, as well as the character Jack stating "Buffy is my life" in the episode "Love Plus One".
• In the Gilmore Girls episode "But Not As Cute As Pushkin", right before Paris Geller gets ready to go out, she asks Rory Gilmore how she looks. Rory says, "It's 11 o'clock at night. Who you lookin' to hook up with, Spike and Drusilla?"
• During the prom in the second season finale of South of Nowhere, Ashley remarks, "Come on, let's go before the Hellmouth opens."
• In the episode "Ruby Newsday" of the sitcom Corner Gas, Hank Yarbo suggests a tip jar question: "This question's gold... who's the better vampire slayer, Movie Buffy or TV Buffy?"
• On the german TV series Berlin Berlin the main character Lolle sais in one episode after an attact by a Satanist: "Wo ist Buffy, wenn man sie mal braucht?" ("Where is Buffy when you need her?")