THE STEPFORD WIVES. BtVS Intertext/Allusion

In "Ted," an episode in which Buffy's mother's new perfect boy friend Ted (John Ritter) is finally revealed to be a serial killer robot in search of the perfect wife, a suspicious Buffy shares her concerns with Willow.

Buffy: Will, I'm not wrong here. Ted has a problem with me. He acts like I'm in the way or something. And Mom's been totally different since he's around.

Willow: Different, like happy?

Buffy: Like Stepford. Will you help me?

Willow: You know I will. What do you want me to look for?

The Stepford Wives was a 1975 film starring Katharine Ross set in Stepford, Connecticut in which the perfect women of a near-utopia small town are revealed to be robots. A remake starring Nicole Kidman will be released in 2004.

--David Lavery