Adam on playing a nerd

Adam Busch, who played Warren, talked to Entertainment Geekly about playing a nerd:

Bye, crossovers

Angel discovers that Buffy is alive during an off-screen phone call from Willow in the Angel episode ‘Carpe Noctem‘. Angel calls the Slayer in the Buffy episode Flooded, and she goes off to meet him - not in Sunnydale, not in L.A., but somewhere in the middle. This is a nod towards the fact that there are no more Buffy/Angel crossovers now that Buffy has moved from the WB to UPN. Buffy returns to Sunnydale in Life Serial but doesn’t want to talk about her meeting with Angel (she just says it was “intense”), another nod to the lack of crossovers. Likewise, in Fredless, Angel says he really doesn’t want to talk about meeting Buffy.

Completing the trio

Buffy producers had apparently originally planned for Tucker Wells to be part of the nerd trio, and for him to be the leader. Brad Kane (who played Tucker) was unavailable so the character of Andrew was written. The producers had been impressed by Tom Lenk when he played Cyrus in Real Me so they cast him as Andrew and made Warren the leader.

Giles in Bath

In Flooded, Giles says he has a flat in Bath in England. This is an in-joke as Anthony Stewart Head, who plays Giles, lives in Bath in real life. He decided to spend more time there with his family during season six which is why we don’t see as much of him. Scenes from the beginning of season seven where filmed in Anthony’s house in Bath.

Marti on Buffy’s bills

Marti Noxon said about the episode Flooded:

Musical ad

During the UPN commercial break for Flooded, a twenty second trailer for Once More, With Feeling (then still being called ‘Buffy: The Musical’) was shown. It featured Alyson Hannigan miming along to ‘The Mustard Song’. In the next couple of weeks several scenes from the making of the musical were shown on UPN to promote the forthcoming episode.

Soaked

A special waterproof floor was built for the flooded basement set in Flooded. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Michelle Trachtenberg allowed themselves to be soaked during filming, and Doug Petrie (the writer of the episode) bought Sarah a special towel with her name on it for braving the icy water. What about Michelle?

Adam Busch

Adam Busch played Warren Meers in seasons five to seven. Adam previously appeared in Magic Rock, Sugar & Spice and Leon (as Manolo). He sings in a band called Common Rotation, the other members of which are Eric Kufs (singer/guitarist), Mike Uhler (bassist) and Ken Beck (drummer). Adam plays alto sax, harmonica, guitar, drums and the piano. The band’s second album, ‘The Big Fear’, was released in February 2003. Adam was born in Long Island on 6th July, 1978. Adam originally auditioned for a role on Angel which led to him getting the part of Warren. He is friends with his fellow onscreen ‘nerds’, Danny Strong and Tom Lenk. Since leaving Buffy he has appeared in Point Pleasant and The Jury.

Danny Strong

Danny Strong played Jonathan Levinson. His first appearance in Buffy was in Inca Mummy Girl, though he had previously had a small part in the unaired pilot. Danny’s character Jonathan became a fan favourite and he appeared in many episodes. Danny is 5 feet, 2 inches tall. He was born and raised in Manhattan Beach, a little borough south of Los Angeles. Danny first began acting on stage in high school and was instantly smitten with it. He attended the University of Southern California as a theatre major with numerous scholarships he had won. He was nominated for the prestigious Irene Ryan/Kennedy Center Award and USC awarded him the James Pendleton Award for Acting. He then began acting with small roles in numerous TV shows which included Boy Meets World, Saved By The Bell: The New Class (which starred Bianca Lawson, who played Kendra), Gilmore Girls and Third Rock From The Sun. Danny has been in the movies Seabiscuit, Perpetrators of the Crime, Pleasantville, Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth (along with Julie Benz, who played Darla) and Behind the Mask. His first professional acting job was for a Doritos commercial when he was 15. Dean Cain (Superman in Lois & Clarke) played his older brother.

John Jabely

John Jabely, who played plumber Tito in Flooded, appeared as the bartender in Joss Whedon’s Firefly episode ‘Jaynestown’. John is a filmographer.

Todd Stashwick

Todd Stashwick, who played the M’Fashnik demon in Flooded, also played Vocah in the Angel episode ‘To Shanshu In LA’. He has been in Along Came Polly, The Rundown, Scream at the Sound of the Beep, Lucid Days In Hell, Whacked, CSI: Miami, Malcolm in the Middle, Dharma & Greg, Dark Angel, Will & Grace, Providence and Law & Order.

Tom Lenk

Tom Lenk played Andrew Wells and Cyrus, one of Harmony’s minions, in Real Me. Tom was born in Westlake Village, California, on June 16th, 1976. His full name is Thomas Loren Lenk. He attended Moorepark College and later UCLA’s theatre programme. In 1997, Tom won the Carol Burnett Award and Scholarship before touring with the European cast of Grease playing the role of Doody. Tom has written three plays. Tom’s father Fred is a computer programmer, and his mother Pam is a teacher in the Pleasant Valley School District. Tom can be seen in Bandwagon (a movie starring Emma Caulfield), Window Theory, Straight-Jacket, And Then Came Summer, Boy Next Door, Boogie Nights (as Uncle Floyd’s Kid), Popular, Joey and Judging Amy. The character of Andrew became popular and was brought back as part of the Scoobies in season seven. Tom can also be seen as Andrew in the Angel episode ‘Damage’.
In January 2005, Tom wrote and starred in Will You Be My Special Friend?, which featured various special guests including Emma Caulfield, Danny Strong and Adam Busch.
Tom appeared as Lord of the Rings character Frodo in Alyson Hannigan’s 2006 movie Date Movie.

Andrew Wells

Andrew Wells was a Bond wannabe who was in actual fact a powerless nerd. He banded with Jonathan and Warren with the intention of taking over Sunnydale (Flooded). The three nerds’ plans became increasingly dangerous culminating with the deaths of Warren’s ex-girlfriend (Dead Things) and Tara (Seeing Red). Andrew and Jonathan escaped to Mexico but were drawn back to Sunnydale, haunted by a mysterious dream. The First Evil came to Andrew in the guise of Warren and convinced him to kill Jonathan, thus activating an ancient seal under Sunnydale High School (Conversations with Dead People). The Scoobies captured Andrew and held him hostage but he eventually became an ally, aiding them in their final fight (Chosen).

Carl Sevinsky

Carl Sevinsky was a bank loan officer. He turned Buffy down for a loan even after she saved him from a M’Fashnik demon in Flooded.

Jonathan Levinson

Jonathan was a shy, quiet, nerdy boy who attended Sunnydale High. He tried to kill himself at school, but was saved by Buffy. After a brief stint in a psychiatric ward, where he learnt some interesting spells, Jonathan returned to Sunnydale and cast a spell on the town to make the residents believe he was their ideal person. After being found out by Buffy, Jonathan left Sunnydale but returned to team up with Warren Meers and Andrew to take over Sunnydale. The three nerds got up to a lot of trouble, which resulted in Jonathan becoming increasingly shunned by his friends. He and Andrew escaped to Mexico when Willow tried to kill them, but returned to open a Seal underneath the school. Unbeknownst to Jonathan, Andrew was being visited by the First in the body of Warren who forced Andrew to kill Jonathan.

Tito

Tito was a plumber friend of Xander who did a full copper repipe in Buffy’s house in Flooded. He was first mentioned by Xander in Bargaining (Part 2).

Warren Meers

Warren was a nerd who was able to create perfect human-like robots, including one which was an exact likeness of Buffy. He hooked up with Jonathan and Andrew to ‘take over Sunnydale’. The three devised mad James Bond-style gadgets and robbed banks and museums as well as confounding Buffy using magic. Warren became the leader of the three nerds and started to feel more and more power. He accidentally killed his ex-girlfriend Katrina and blamed it on Buffy. Warren went out of control and left his friends behind. He eventually got a gun and shot Buffy blaming her for messing up his latest plan. He shot and killed Tara, which made Willow ’see red’ and, summoning all the dark magics she could, she killed Warren by flaying him alive. The First took the form of Warren in season seven to try and trick Andrew into helping it.

Anya’s ring

In Flooded, Anya mentions the engagement ring Xander gave to her in The Gift.

Costume drama

Some of the Scooby Gang members wore clothes with numbers on them in the episode Bargaining (Part 1). Willow wears ‘11′, Xander wears ‘13′ and Dawn wears ‘7′. In Flooded, Dawn wears shirts with the numbers 2 and 55 on them. Many fans thought they were some kind of cryptic clue from Joss Whedon, predicting future episodes… It turns out they’re not, but hey, it’s fun to speculate!

Fire bad

In Flooded, Buffy suggests she burn her house down for the insurance. She says, “plus fire? Pretty.” In Graduation Day (Part 2), Buffy said to Giles “fire bad, tree pretty”. She also said the line, “fire bad!” in Beer Bad.

Flying monkeys

In Flooded, Andrew says, “I had nothing to do with the devil dogs. I trained flying demon monkeys to attack the school play. School play, dude!” In Gone, he tells Buffy, “I summoned the flying monkeys that attacked the high school.”

Hard hugs

In Into the Woods, Buffy, momentarily forgetting her slayer strength, hugs the Doctor who successfully performed Joyce’s surgery a little too hard. This also occurred in Flooded, when Buffy hugged Giles, nearly squeezing him to death.

Jobless friends

Buffy discovers in Flooded that she’s having major financial difficulties. It seems weird that Willow and Tara, who have moved into her house, don’t attempt to help her out by getting part time jobs.

Knocked out

In Buffy vs Dracula, Giles falls into Dracula’s basement, where he is surrounded by the sisters. After he falls he says, “Good show, Giles. At least you didn’t get knocked out for a change.” In A New Man, Giles says he has a “tendency to get knocked on the head”. He’s not kidding. Giles has been knocked unconscious in the episodes:

• The Witch (by vampires who want to raise the Master again)
• Never Kill a Boy on the First Date (by Andrew Vorba in the crematorium)
• Prophecy Girl (by Buffy, to stop him from trying to help her)
• When She Was Bad (by the vampires attempting to raise the Master)
• Passion (by Angelus, after Giles attacks him for killing Jenny)
• Becoming (Part 1) (by a group of vampires who take him to Angelus)
• Beauty and the Beasts (shot with a tranquilizer gun)
• Homecoming (by Lyle Gorch and Candy).
• Revelations (by Gwendolyn Post, in his office)
• Gingerbread (by the MOO mob as they come to take Buffy away. When Cordy wakes him up shes says, “I came over here to tell Buffy to stop this craziness and found you all unconscious… again. How many times have you been knocked out, anyway? I swear, one of these times, you’re going to wake up in a coma.”)
• Earshot (he doesn’t get knocked out in this episode - but he does walk into a tree in a very amusing manner)
• Flooded (by the Mfashnik demon as it breaks ino Buffy’s house. Giles later says, “Well, I know I’m back in America now. I’ve been knocked unconscious”).

Nerd’s missions

The nerds’ missions (seen on a board in Flooded) initially included: Control the weather; miniaturize Fort Knox; conjure fake I.D.s; Shrink Ray; girls; girls; The Gorilla Thing. They later add “Hypnotize Buffy” to the top.

Start charging

In Flooded, Anya suggests that Buffy charge money for slaying vampires, and is quickly admonished by the rest of the group:

ANYA: “I know how. If you want to pay every bill here and every bill coming and have enough to start a nice college fund for Dawn? Start charging.”
BUFFY: “For what?”
ANYA: “Slaying vampires!” (off everyone’s looks) “Well, you’re providing a valuable service to the whole community. I say cash in.”
BUFFY: “Well, that’s an idea… you would have. Any other suggestions?”
ANYA: “Well, I mean, it’s not so crazy.”
DAWN: “Yes it is! You can’t charge innocent people for saving their lives.”

This is a nice reference to Buffy’s spin-off show Angel, in which the characters routinely charge money for killing demons.

Tucker’s brother

Tom Lenk played two characters in Buffy - Cyrus in Real Me and Andrew Wells in seasons six and seven. A small piece of continuity for these two characters is that others find it hard to remember who they are. In Real Me, when Harmony is talking to her minions about “the plan”, she can’t remember Cyrus’s name, and asks him what it is.
In Flooded, Warren confuses Andrew with his brother Tucker (seen in The Prom):

Additionally, in Gone, Doublemeat Palace and Never Leave Me, Buffy, Xander and Spike all say they have no idea who Andrew is.

Useless guns

In Flooded, when the M’Fashnik demon attacks the bank, Buffy says to the guard while holding his gun: “these things, never helpful”. In As You Were while holding a gun that Riley gives her, she says: “these things, never useful”.

M’Fashnik demon

M’Fashnik demons (pronounced mmm’Fashnik, like “mmm-cookies”) come from a long line of mercenary demons that perform acts of violence and mayhem for the highest bidder. The demon in Flooded robbed a bank for the trio of nerds and tried to kill Buffy.

Big Mel

In Flooded, Andrew wears a t-shirt depicting ‘Big Mel’, who is the mascot of writer and director Doug Petrie’s favourite comic book store - Meltdown in Los Angeles.

Dungeons and Dragons

Giles, Xander, Andrew and Amanda play the game Dungeons and Dragons to pass the time before going to battle in Chosen. The nerds were playing Dungeons and Dragons when they decided to take over Sunnydale, seen in a flashback in Flooded. Xander thought he found the “frost demon” from Smashed in a Dungeons and Dragon manual. In Showtime, Giles and Anya visit Beljoxa’s eye. This is a reference to Beljoxa - a dangerous Dungeons and Dragons creature which has many eyes.
In War Zone, David Nabbitt says, “”Are you familiar with Dungeons & Dragons?” and in To Shanshu in L.A., he says, “Tonight’s my turn to be Dungeon Master”, on his way to a Dungeons and Dragons game.

James Bond

In the episode Ted, Cordelia states Buffy should have ’special rules’ when it comes to the subject of murder to which Xander replies, “What? A license to kill?” This is the title of the 1989 James Bond movie starring Timothy Dalton.
In The Prom, Cordelia says that Wesley would look “way-007 in a tux”, referring to Agent 007 - James Bond. In Flooded, the nerds can be seen playing 007 Golden-Eye on their Playstation. In Out of My Mind, Buffy says, “You’re like my fairy godmother and Santa Claus and Q all wrapped up into one… Q from Bond not Star Trek“.
In Life Serial, Jonathan, Andrew and Warren discuss the different actors who have portrayed James Bond. Warren likes Sean Connery, Jonathan favours Roger Moore and Andrew’s favourite is Timothy Dalton. They mention the movies Dr. No, Moonraker, Licence to Kill and The Living Daylights.
In As You Were, Buffy says to Riley, “you still carry around all that James Bond stuff.” They later abseil down a giant dam, 007-style.
In Lessons, Dawn says, “Check out double-oh Xander”, referencing James Bond. In Showtime, Andrew tells Dawn she has a “License to Kill” and in Villians, Buffy, Xander,and Dawn are talking about what to do with Warren and Buffy says, “That doesn’t give me a license to kill.”

Parsecs

In Flooded, Warren refers to ‘parsecs’ which are units of astronomical length equal to 3.258 light years.

Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a popular Marvel comic starring Peter Parker, who leads a double life as superhero Spider-Man. Made into two successful movies starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. There are many similarities between Peter and Buffy, as she too is trying to lead a normal life, and (occasionally) make a living, whilst saving the world. Spider-Man has been mentioned in numerous Buffy and Angel episodes, including:

• Angel - The Master says, “With power comes responsibility”, which is the motto of the Spider-Man comics and movie.
• I Robot, You Jane - Buffy says, “My spider-sense is tingling”.
• A New Man - Riley says to Buffy, “You’re strong. Like Spider-Man strong”.
• No Place Like Home - Ben suggests Buffy’s strength comes from a “Radioactive spider bite”.
• Flooded - Anya and Dawn argue over if Spider-Man charges for helping people - Xander reminds them that “Action is his reward”.
• Two To Go - Andrew says, “Lex Luthor had a false epidermis escape kit in Superman Versus the Amazing Spider-Man Treasury edition”
• Selfless - Xander says, “This isn’t springy high-flying fun!”
• Bring on the Night - Andrew says “My spider-sense is tingling”.
• Inside Out - Cordy says “That’s it? I get away with bringing the world down around you and two eensy words tingle your spider sense?”
• Additionally, Buffy stuntman Erik Betts was director Sam Raimi’s choice for doubling actor Tobey Maquire for the movie Spider-Man, but was told by the costume designer that his shoulders were too large. Nicholas Brendon auditioned for the role of Spider-Man in the movie.

Star Trek

There are many cast/crew links between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the long-running cult sci-fi show Star Trek. Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder) played Quark in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for seven years. Dominic Keating, who played Blair in the episode Helpless, later went on to star in Star Trek: Enterprise as Lt. Reed. Jennifer Hetrick, who played the teacher Ms. Moran in Homecoming (whom Buffy asked for a reference) played the girlfriend of Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Buffy writer Jane Espenson wrote an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine called ‘Accession’. Star Trek has also been referenced numerous times in Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

• In Prophecy Girl, Xander says, “Calm may work for Locutus of Borg here, but I’m freaked and I intend to stay that way.” Upset by Giles’ reserve, he is referencing Star Trek’s emotionless cyborgs from the episode ‘The Best of Both Worlds’. Locutus was the name given to Captain Pickard (Patrick Stewart) when he was captured, and ‘assimilated, by the Borg.
• In Homecoming, Cordelia woos the nerds at Sunnydale High by saying, “Are you kidding? I’ve been doing the Vulcan death grip since I was 4.”
• In Consequences, Cordy calls Wesley, “Giles the next generation” in a reference to Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• In Out of My Mind, Buffy says, “You’re like my fairy godmother and Santa Claus and Q all wrapped up into one… Q from Bond not Star Trek“.
• In The Replacement, the two Xanders say, “Kill us both Spock” - a reference to a Star Trek episode where Kirk is split two - one being good and one bad.
• In Flooded, the nerds vote with the Star Trek Vulcan salute, which is the same salute that Cordelia used to impress the ‘geeks’ in Homecoming.
• In Smashed, Spike tells the nerds, “You can play holodeck another time” - he means the virtual reality technology used in Star Trek.
• The nerds compare Buffy’s time loop in Life Serial with an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called ‘Cause and Effect’ (Andrew: “I just hope she solves it faster than Data did on the ep of TNG where the Enterprise kept blowing up.”)
• In As You Were, Buffy says. “they’re like really mean Tribbles”, referring to the popular, but quick breeding, pets on board the Starship Enterprise.
• After her visit to the nerds’ ‘lair’ in Doublemeat Palace, Willow says that they had numerous pictures of the “Vulcan women from Enterprise“. She’s referring to Jolene Blaylock, who played T’pol in UPN’s Star Trek show.
• The episode Normal Again is similar to the season five episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine called ‘Far Beyond the Stars’. In that episode, Captain Benjamin Sisko imagines that he is a science fiction writer living on 1950s Earth and writing about a station full of aliens called Deep Space Nine. He hallucinates that the people he knows in the 1950s are futuristic aliens and is thrown into an asylum.
• In Seeing Red, Andrew references Star Trek: The Next Generation when he discusses who’s boss of the nerds: “Warren’s the boss. He’s Picard, you’re Deanna Troi. Get used to the feeling, Betazoid.” In that episode, Xander realises that the nerds had love poems in their lair written in Klingon.
• In Grave, after the Magic Box has been destroyed, a William Shatner book can be seen on the floor.
• In Conversations with Dead People, we learn that Andrew learned Klingon (a language in Star Trek) from a dictionary in two and a half weeks.
• In Dirty Girls, Andrew hilariously confuses Faith’s murder of a Volcanologist with a Vulcan:
  

  Andrew: “Nobody was immune to her trail of destruction. Not friends, not family, not even the most pacifist and logical of races…”
  Amanda: “What the hell are you talking about? I thought Faith killed a volcanologist.”
  Andrew: “Silly, silly Amanda. Why would Faith kill a person who studies Vulcans?”

The Wizard of Oz

The movie The Wizard of Oz, made in 1939, in mentioned several times in Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
Buffy refers to the hyena-possessed bullies in The Pack as the “winged monkeys”. The phrase comes from the scene in The Wizard of Oz in which the Wicked Witch of the West sends her loyal winged monkeys to collect Dorothy and the ruby slippers. In Flooded, Andrew says he trained flying demon monkeys to disrupt the school play.
In Nightmares, Billy Palmer awakens from his coma and, seeing the Scoobies around his bed, says, “I had the strangest dream. And you were in it, and you”. This is a reference to when Dorothy wakes in her bed and sees her friends around her.
In What’s My Line? (Part 2), Xander says, “Welcome my little pretties”. In The Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West called Dorothy her “pretty”.
In The Yoko Factor, Willow says, “If ever a whiz there was.” This is a line from the song in the film ‘Follow the Yellow Brick Road’ / ‘We’re Off To See the Wizard’.
The episode No Place Like Home takes it’s name from Dorothy clicking her heels together and repeating the phrase, “There’s no place like home” in order to get back to her Kansas home. A similar reference to this phrase is in the Angel episode There’s No Place Like Plrtz Glrb.
In Grave, Willow says, “Fly my pretty…fly!” when she sends her ball of fire to find Andrew and Jonathan. This is what the wicked witch says to her flying monkeys when she sends them off. In Empty Places, Rona says, “Ding, dong, the witch is dead.” This is from a song in The Wizard of Oz.
The title of the Angel episode Over the Rainbow is another reference to The Wizard of Oz, in which the land of Oz is said to be ‘over the rainbow’. In that episode, Cordelia clicks her heels three times (as Dorothy does in the film) and says, “Worth a shot.”

Welcome to the Dollhouse

In Flooded, Anya says to Xander, “don’t be such a wienerdog”, trying to persuade him to make an announcement about their engagement. This is a reference to the Todd Solondz film Welcome to the Dollhouse, in which the main character is cruelly taunted with the name ‘weinerdog’ by all the other kids at school.

Seen at 29.30 minutes:

When Giles wears a short-sleeved shirt, his Eyghon tattoo from The Dark Age is missing.