Pop Culture References in Buffy & Angel

[TriBel]

Angel calls Spike "Caspar" in AtS S5 (I don`t remember the episode, though)

Just Rewards 5 #2 - "You're not IN the world - Casper" (I need to get out more.)

 

[theslayerettes]

When Willow and Giles are in England Willow says "When you brought me here, I thought it was to kill me. Or to lock me in some mystical dungeon for all eternity, or....with the torture. But instead you go all Dumbledore on me." A reference to the Harry Potter character Albus Dumbledore.

 

[Living Dead Boy]

When Buffy mistakenly called the Turok-Han the "Chaka Khan", this is the powerhouse she was talking about. Second only to Aretha as far as vocals, she continues to be one of the most underrated musicians ever. This particular track is pure FUNK.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

From Dead Man's Party:

The episode name comes from a 1985 song by Oingo Boingo.

During the fight in the house we get this:

INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT

Xander and Cordy battle a zombie who has made it all the way into the kitchen. Xander CONKS IT REPEATEDLY WITH THE FROZEN SCHNAPPS BOTTLE while Cordy grabs a BARBECUE FORK and SKEWERS IT. All to no avail.

XANDER
Man, this sucker wobbles but he won't
fall down!

This is a reference to an egg-shaped toy made by Kenner that always returned to upright when they were pushed over. The advertising tag line was "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down."

 

[SunnydaleGlitz]

Here are a few.

Spike in OMWF: 'The day you suss out what you do want, there'll probably be a parade. Seventy-six bloody trombones.'
"Seventy-Six Trombones" is the signature song from the 1957 musical play The Music Man (1957), written by Meredith Willson.

S6 Willow: "Fly, my pretty, fly. See what I did there?"
Reference to Wicked Witch of the West.

Warren in Normal Again "Got her tripping like a Ken Russell film festival,"
reference to director of Altered States. (Jonathan in the same episode references Jack Torrance of The Shining.)

In The Yoko Factor, Buffy makes a Godfather reference: "Family. What kind of family are you? Corleones."
In the same episode, Spike asks Adam if he's ever listened to the Beatles and Adam replies he likes Helter Skelter (from the White Album.) Spike responds that he's not surprised, which is likely a reference to murderer Charles Manson who believed the Beatles had hidden messages directed at him, and who named his killing spree Helter Skelter.

The opening scene from Storyteller is performed as if in a parody of the series Masterpiece Theatre.

"Oh Pacey, you blind idiot. Can't you see she doesn't love you?" from Out of My Mind.
Reference to Dawson's Creek

"Couldn't she have dressed up like Xena?" Willow in Halloween.
Reference to Xena the Warrior Princess.

 

[Alittlegrim]

Spike and Giles refer to the St. Crispen's Day speech from Henry V:
Giles: We few, we happy few.
Spike: We band of buggers.
 
Buffy is referring to a Robert Frost poem when she says "I get it. Miles to go before we sleep."

 

[Alittlegrim]

Seeing Willow trying to dance away her sadness at Oz leaving Xander says
"I believe that's the dance of a brave little toaster."

 

[TriBel]

Spike in OMWF: 'The day you suss out what you do want, there'll probably be a parade. Seventy-six bloody trombones.'
"Seventy-Six Trombones" is the signature song from the 1957 musical play The Music Man (1957), written by Meredith Willson

The interesting thing (for me) about that quote is the melody is picked up by the Music Man's love interest but she uses different words. I'm not sure if either is aware of the other's involvement.

That aside - apparently there are 4,231 references or allusions in the whole of the series. (E. Dial-Driver (ed) The Truth of Buffy: Essays on Fiction Illuminating Reality). Way to go yet guys!

 

[flow]

We love a good challenge !

flow

 

[Buffy Summers]

The Krispy Kreme donuts in Killed By Death. There's also an earlier scene where there's a box of them on the table in the library when Willow's talking to Giles, but I can't find it again now.

The song Willow can't remember in Nightmares is the same song that is sung in Goonies (“Vieni La Sera” from Madame Butterfly).

 

[Buffy Summers]

In City Of, Doyle calls malt liquor a Billy Dee.

 

[TriBel]

GONE: Invisible Buffy "Hey, I'm walking here!" is a reference to this (Midnight Cowboy).

 

[Kratos]

In “I Will Remember You”, there’s a reference to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when Buffy calls a demon a Mutant Ninja Demon or something like that.

 

[spikenbuffy]

In Bring On The Night or Showtime Buffy says to Andrew about she will do to him if he wants to escape from her house, she asks him if he watched the movie Misery and Andrew makes then a reference to differences between the movie and the book. I can't forget that scene because it pursued me to want to know about Misery lol.

 

[DeadlyDuo]

INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT

Xander and Cordy battle a zombie who has made it all the way into the kitchen. Xander CONKS IT REPEATEDLY WITH THE FROZEN SCHNAPPS BOTTLE while Cordy grabs a BARBECUE FORK and SKEWERS IT. All to no avail.

I think this is a subtle call back to the episode Angel where Darla bites Joyce but the doctors think the culprit was a barbecue fork.

Joyce: I guess I slipped and cut my neck on... The doctor said it
looked like a barbecue fork. (looks at Buffy) We don't have a barbecue
fork.

Spike's line in School Hard "I'll chop her into messes" is reference to a Shakespeare play (though I can't remember which one).

 

[Kratos]

There’s a shout-out to The Merchant of Venice in “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” (Shylock is mentioned).

Also, Spike talks about The Beatles in “The Yoko Factor”.

 

[TriBel]

Spike's line in School Hard "I'll chop her into messes" is reference to a Shakespeare play (though I can't remember which one).

Othello.

Buffy's dress and hair in Hell's Bells is a homage to Hitchcock's Vertigo. Robin Wood is also a reference to Hitchcock - it's the name of a film theorist who was an expert in horror films and Hitchcock.

 

[Vulpixx91]

Don't know if this has been mentioned:

'Older and Far Away' is basically a reinterpretation of the 1962 Mexican arthouse film The Exterminating Angel (El Angel Exterminador) by Luis Buñuel, which is also about a party where people find themselves physically unable to leave, leading to all sorts of drama and tensions coming to the surface.

I discovered it by accident because we were discussing this film during my Film History class. I'd just seen 'Older and Far Away' the week before and suddenly went (to quote Spike in that same episode) 'Hey, wait a minute...'

 

[TriBel]

Don't know if this has been mentioned:

'Older and Far Away' is basically a reinterpretation of the 1962 Mexican arthouse film The Exterminating Angel (El Angel Exterminador) by Luis Buñuel, which is also about a party where people find themselves physically unable to leave, leading to all sorts of drama and tensions coming to the surface.

I discovered it by accident because we were discussing this film during my Film History class. I'd just seen 'Older and Far Away' the week before and suddenly went (to quote Spike in that same episode) 'Hey, wait a minute...'

Interesting because I think S7s First Date refers us back to Older and Far Away (in the choice that Buffy makes to go to Spike before Xander). In Exterminating Angel, they break down a wall to access a water pipe. In FD, the pipework's on the surface. In O&FA, the demon is in the wall. In Restless, Joyce is in the wall. In Lessons we get this:
SPIKE: This is my home. I belong here. Always been here. Cheers for stopping by.
Spike walks away from Buffy. He faces the wall and puts his hands on it.
SPIKE (To himself) It's in the wall.
As Willow says in Lessons, "Everything's connected".
@Mr Trick...I didn't think of EA - I can be so thick at times.

 

[Buffy Summers]

NileQT87 It's a reference to Billy Dee Williams being the ad spokesman for Colt 45 back in the '80s.

Yes, I know, that’s why it’s a pop culture reference.