Kristine Sutherland revealed Joss’s initial plans for the Summers family, at the beginning of season four:
“I knew that Joyce was going to die suddenly. Initially when we talked, before I went to Italy, Joss’s idea was that Joyce adopted a five or six year old girl. It was interesting how …

There are a few alternative Chosen scripts on the internet with many differences, including: Xander dying to save Dawn; Anya living to see the end and Dawn being the third Slayer. In the alternatives, there are many extra guest stars including Kendra. Sarah Michelle Gellar told Entertainment Weekly in 2003 …

In the original script for Chosen, the conversation between Buffy and Angel was supposed to be longer, with Angel revealing to Buffy that he loved Cordelia and also that he had a son, Connor (which makes me wonder why Willow didn’t mention this to Buffy before). This was amended as …

The exposition about Anyanka was changed in the episode The Wish. Giles’s original story of her ran as follows:
“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 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 the episode Reptile Boy. The following is from the original …

In the original script for the Angel episode ‘City Of…‘, Angel was going to taste Tina’s blood after her death, but the scene was cut. The intention was to show that Angel is really on the edge, but it was decided that it was enough that he wasn’t able …

The original opening scene of Disharmony, like Eternity and Reprise, began with a misdirection:

We probably don’t know where we are as we open close on Cordelia and Gunn, both scrutinising something off camera.
Gunn: “Found ‘em just like this. Blood all over”
Cordelia: “Dried blood. This wasn’t recent. …

David Fury mentioned in his commentary for Grave that he wanted to bring back the dragon that came out of the portal in The Gift for Buffy to fight. However, the season’s budget had been blown on Once More, With Feeling and Gone. Because CGI dragons are expensive they had …

Pop starlet Britney was supposedly due to play April the robot in I Was Made to Love You. She backed out at the last minute. Adam Busch (Warren) told Zap2it, “But then Britney backed out in the last minute and they got this other actress.” Coincidentally, Shonda Farr, who ended …

David Fury’s original idea for the episode Helpless was to have Buffy made to hallucinate that her friends and family were vampires. It was felt though, that this would be too close to the events of The Wish.

It was rumoured that the entire town of Sunnydale would be sucked into the Hellmouth in the episode The Gift. This actually occurred in the show’s final episode, Chosen. Marti Noxon revealed in an interview with the BBC that:
“Originally Joss’s plan was that at the end of season five, Sunnydale …

In Conversations with Dead People, Cassie tells Willow that Tara cannot be there herself because of Willow’s destructive behaviour following her death. The original script had Tara coming to her girlfriend but Amber Benson (who played Tara) didn’t want to appear. She felt her character was so loved by herself …

In Living Conditions, Kathy plays Cher’s ‘Believe’ over and over:
Kathy: “This song is super fun. Isn’t it?”
Buffy: “You bet. It just gets funner and funner every time you play it.”
In the original script the song was Mariah Carey’s ‘Butterfly’.

Darla was originally supposed to be killed in the end of The Harvest when Willow threw holy water on her, but a more intresting storyline for episode seven (Angel) was needed so they kept her in the show.

The following was an alternative ending to Buffy vs Dracula:
Buffy arms herself with a lit torch, when Giles and Riley burst into the room:
The arrival of her entourage is the final straw for Dracula. He fixes Buffy with a final look, full of both pain and fury.
Dracula: “What …