“In every generation there is a chosen one. She alone will stand against the vampires the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the slayer.”
Welcome to Retro Rewind, the TGJ original feature carved out to celebrate TV and Film’s game-changing past.
Today, we make our way back to 1997, the year in which the world was first introduced to the TV series ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’
Named after the widely panned movie of the same name, ‘Buffy’ tells the tale of a sixteen-year old Valley girl chosen by fate to slay the forces of darkness and the evil that can be high school.
The layered character was portrayed by ‘All My Children‘s Sarah Michelle Gellar who led the series to groundbreaking territory alongside its creator Joss Whedon (‘The Avengers’) on a ratings and critical front.
How so?
One academic study of the hit show came to the following conclusion:
In the world of Buffy the problems that teenagers face become literal monsters. A mother can take over her daughter’s life (“Witch”); a strict stepfather-to-be really is a heartless machine (“Ted”); a young lesbian fears that her nature is demonic (“Goodbye Iowa” and “Family”); a girl who has sex with even the nicest-seeming guy may discover that he afterwards becomes a monster (“Innocence”).
Ready to reunite with the demon-slaying cheerleader?
Catch its unaired pilot and a little action from her rival Kendra (portrayed by Bianca Lawson) and Ashanti below…
Ashanti better kick some ass before she gets decapitated on screen!
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Title is very misleading since this was a cameo by Ashanti. Even as a big fan I had NO idea she guest stared on this show!
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Overall from that single scene the show seemed like #TeamTooMuch, which is probably why I didn’t watch it growing up.
That’s why they put her name in the headline. Most people don’t know she was on the show.
Ashanti was on about 25% of that clip, i’d be surprised if a body double wasn’t used for the rest.
Why can’t we celebrate that a major network thought enough of her at the time to give her an entire episode?
This was on air over a decade ago and when she appeared she was at her peak so she was doing the network/show a favour.
I’m making an opinion whats celebrating got to do with anything?
Ashanti really took over though wow????????
SLAY!!!!!!!!! Yes!!! This is one of my absolute FAVE shows!! BTW wasn’t Ashanti playing Xander’s love interest for like 1 episode before her head got chopped off? I CAN’T!!!! Also apparently Britney was supposed to play a robot in Season 5 but she turned it down at the last minute, which was a shame!
Bianca and Ashanti look pretty in that clip. Melanin on fleek!
Ashanti is beautiful. Seeing this has me excited to see Rihanna in the fifth season of Bates Motel.
OMG BUFFY IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE!!! I REMEMBER CHANGING THE CHANNEL WHEN I WAS 5 AND COMING ACROSS HER CRAWLING UP A VENT SHAFT WHILE A VAMPIRE WAS FOLLOWING HER. TURNS IT WAS BUFFY GETTING READY TO SLAY SOME SERIOUS ASS AT THE BRONZE!!! ????!!! Gosh I’ve watched this series like 5x! LMAO!!! I was soooo devastated when Buffy died (for 2.9 seconds) at the end of season 1. Come season 5 I was sure little Buffy was taking Big Sis shoes. LOVEEEE THIS SHOW SO MUCH! SO AHEAD OF IT’S TIME AND PAVED THE WAY FOR ALL MODERN DAY SCI-FI HORROR GENRE’S.
YASSSSSSSSSSSSS! 😆 such an ICONIC show with so much SLAYAGE!!!!
Sara Michelle Gellar was seriously my 90s QUEEN!!! My sister’s used to tease me when they read in cosmo that She was marrying Freddie Prince Jr lmao!!! THIS WAS MY FUXKING SHOW!!! ????
The only reason you guys made this post is because Bianca is Beyonce’s step sister! Ya’ll are so pretentious
I disagree. David has been adding retro-rewinds with good shows for ages now. He had to angle the article a certain way to get people to comment though, which is why most people are talking about Ashanti.
Exactly Annalise!
mmmKay! So I love Bianca and I loved her role on the show, but hated that fake Caribbean accent they gave her character. Also that fight scene between her and BÏTCHsilla pissed me tf off, and Kendra should’ve definitely won. All and All my favourite character was probably Faith though, she was the definition of a BAD Bįtch!!!
Best damn Show ever!
Season 5 is one of the best seasons of television ever made. The episode when her mother died was brilliant acting by Sarah Michelle Gellar and finally got her the Emmy nomination she long deserved. This series was everything to me and touched on real human issues. The vampires were just a backdrop to the real storylines. Love it!
YES! The body is one of the best hours of television I’ve watched, with amazing acting from the entire cast (especially SMG). I like the fact that it had no music, so that each viewer could connect with it in their own way.
Yes it was! The silence throughout that episode is what draws you in. Anya’s inability to understand how to console the group was the hilarious ice breaker. It made me love her even more lol. I’d never experienced grief like that before but now that I have, I appreciate that episode more.
Nice show