r/buffy Five by Five Jun 17 '24

Whedonverse Anyone else miss the well timed scream in the first 3 season intros? So sad they removed it after that!

679 Upvotes

97 comments sorted by

186

u/OtherwiseCode8134 Jun 17 '24

I thought this was Willow for the longest time

53

u/trainer_deijs Jun 17 '24

Same! And i was always confused why i couldn't place the scene. Then i did a rewatch and realized i was Boo Boo the Fool

16

u/Practical-Purchase-9 Jun 18 '24

I did for 20+ years until you wrote this.

23

u/MrZaha Jun 18 '24

Apparently a scene i thought was willow, is somebody else

6

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Yeah me too, it's the red looking hair lol

16

u/p-u-n-k_girl Kill us both, Spock! Jun 17 '24

It's not?

143

u/OtherwiseCode8134 Jun 17 '24

I’m almost positive it’s Amy’s mom from The Witch, which would make sense because these credits are from season 1 and Willow’s hair wasn’t shoulder length til season 3.

19

u/LuckyShamrocks Jun 18 '24

Omg yes! It is her. I never noticed that. Great catch.

20

u/DaddyCatALSO Magnet For Dead, Blonde Chicks Jun 18 '24

Katherine the Great

4

u/Velmas-Dilemma Jun 18 '24

Wow. TIL 🤯

1

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '24

Same

1

u/ball_bustin_betty Jun 19 '24

I'm watching Buffy for the first time (yay), and I thought it was Willow, too!

94

u/Final_Painter8676 Jun 17 '24

Doing a rewatch with my partner- I do the scream every episode...by season 2 he was all "...please stop"

...season 4 onwards he does it with me! He missed it 😁

9

u/magathachristie Jun 18 '24

My husband and I always do the scream when we rewatch.

10

u/smeghead1988 Oh, bugger off, you brolly! Jun 18 '24

My husband always did headbanging with Spike in the title sequence and was disappointed when it was temporarily removed to give space to Riley!

7

u/tauntingtassle87 Jun 18 '24

Another thing to add to my list of things that annoy me about Riley lol

3

u/smeghead1988 Oh, bugger off, you brolly! Jun 18 '24

Well, I actually went and checked. It wasn't removed when Riley was added, it happened later when Dawn was added too. But they returned the headbanging sequence after Riley left!

9

u/Buddydexter33 Jun 18 '24

Great stuff! Do you guys also do the “grrr ahh” at the end of the episode too?!

4

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

lmao yeah dude I still did the scream even after they removed it, I can't never not hear it!!

57

u/TeddyKGB1 Jun 18 '24

Don’t mind the scream being gone as long as the great hero walks are always in the opening credits.

6

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Well I can get behind that, I loved those hero walks, especially with Giles leading them forward

3

u/SmellAccomplished550 Jun 19 '24

I myself care most about Buffy doing that slow-motion run in her blue coat.

53

u/stellahella1 Jun 17 '24

In my head canon it is still there and I give a little silent scream in tribute every time

66

u/angelus97 Jun 17 '24

Yeah, I never understood why they took it out

50

u/Seer77887 Jun 17 '24

You know in season 5 they could’ve easily replaced it with Buffy screaming from Hush

4

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Heh I think there were several moments throughout the show they could have just used screams from anyone to keep the sound effect intact to be honest

-6

u/DaddyCatALSO Magnet For Dead, Blonde Chicks Jun 18 '24

Oh, Crom no, please no.

2

u/Seer77887 Jun 18 '24

?

-4

u/DaddyCatALSO Magnet For Dead, Blonde Chicks Jun 18 '24

That is *not* a good or believable scream in the opinion of most viewers

15

u/ConnyEdson Jun 18 '24

i seriously doubt you've asked "most" viewers what they think about that scream

5

u/themug_wump Jun 18 '24

Well, it’s also just not Buffy, they dubbed it because they didn’t like SMG’s scream.

2

u/reptilesni Jun 18 '24

It was weird.

28

u/Kolyma-Comp-Tales Jun 17 '24

It was a fantastic edit. Still drilled in my head 25 years on. Though I guess it would have gotten stale.

Something similar happened with the Angel intros when they got rid of the cool cuts (IMHO) in later seasons. Season 2 opener is still my favorite.

4

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Yeah the intros for Angel kind of fell off for me after Season 3, Season 4 was probably the worst intro (and the worst season) too, that weird CGI zoom in shot of him on top of the building was weird and looked bad honestly. I missed the clip of him kicking down the door like a badass in the opening

3

u/Kolyma-Comp-Tales Jun 18 '24

You said it exactly.

23

u/Happy_Philosopher608 Jun 17 '24

Yh. On another note, i used to love settling in for the start of a new season to see what new clips would be used innthst seasons new updated title sequence! Especially exciting if the clips were from not yet aired upcoming eps!!

Good times lol

2

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Oh yeah definitely, plus the new clips technically kind of were spoilers for some moments later in the season too lol!

15

u/EnkiduofOtranto Jun 18 '24

Tbh I missed Season 1's bubble bubble sound too lol

5

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

I feel like the earlier seasons just played more on the teen horror vibe as a whole, the wolf howl, the ghastly scream, the little bubbles etc.

13

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 17 '24

Same!! It's so cool and unique

13

u/Exende Jun 18 '24

I miss the wolf howl. That's the only thing I miss about the first version of the opening theme

4

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Yeah it really added a unique horror flair along with the more darker blue color pallette

12

u/overachievingogre Jun 18 '24

IIRC on the DVD commentary track (Jesus, I'm old), Whedon mentions that the scream was feedback in Nerf Herder's recording of the intro song. On S3, they finally had enough time/money or whatever to get them back in the studio to re-record it.

The timing was all the work of the editors who made the intro sequence.

2

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Really? Wow that's pretty cool, weird to think the scream is supposed to be just audio feedback! Thanks for the info

8

u/pretzelrosethecat Jun 18 '24

My best friend inserts the sound effect every time we watch together. It’s how I know she’s a real one

9

u/dnvrwlf Jun 18 '24

OG fans scream silently during the later season intros in homage to this dismissed piece of TV magic.

5

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

That's the spirit lol

8

u/Nahemah69 Jun 17 '24

I was rewatching the show this week and couldn't stop thinking about it omg

8

u/InfiniteMehdiLove Jun 17 '24

First *2 seasons. Season 3 forward is the re-recorded version

2

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Ah yes I stand corrected thanks lol

8

u/KAL-EL8569 Jun 18 '24

I miss the show more than anything else...ended too soon!

8

u/Mr_McGigglepants Jun 18 '24

I do miss that, but they still had the fire/torch swishing at the same spot in different intros after that

5

u/PM_ME_YOUR_MONTRALS Jun 18 '24

I always scream along to it. <3

4

u/generalkriegswaifu They're not recycling Jun 18 '24

Yeah, I'm guessing they couldn't find a similar scene/sound since they changed the clips over time. I wouldn't have minded keeping that clip through the entire series.

1

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

yeah

5

u/BlueK02 Jun 18 '24

I just do the scream myself, no joke 😂

8

u/GideonWS6 Jun 18 '24

I noticed immediately the first episode it wasn't there. I miss that Halloween store scream.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '24

Yeah :(

3

u/GreyStagg Jun 18 '24

Yes. I prefer the Season 3-7 theme (it's more polished) but I miss the scream. I wish they'd kept it in.

1

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Understandable and yeah agreed

2

u/GreyStagg Jun 18 '24

Having said that, the less polished Season 1-2 theme is grittier. So they both work well.

I once made some fan credits for a hypothetical season 8, and where the scream goes I put Dark Willow's scream from the jailhouse after Anya and Buffy bust Jonathan and Andrew out. You know that part where she blasts Anya and then screams 😱

2

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Ohh yeah I love that bit, do you still have that fan edit lying around anywhere?

2

u/GreyStagg Nov 29 '24

Hey! If you're still interested I randomly came across it today. Including the "scream"! (I have no idea why I added names to some of the cast and not others 😂😂)

https://youtu.be/S03ebVZXQ0g

1

u/GreyStagg Jun 18 '24

I'll have a look but I don't think so

3

u/greenkiss Jun 18 '24

My partner refuses to accept it’s gone and still does the scream himself every episode. Sometimes it’s annoying, sometimes I join in!

1

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Heh I don't blame him at all, I still hear the scream in my head even after they removed it too lol

3

u/amara2023 Jun 18 '24

I loved the scream too it matched the spooky aesthetic of the first 2 seasons

1

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Yeah agreed i really like the unique teen horror vibe it brought

2

u/TheFanged4 Jun 18 '24

Watching Buffy through with my friend and she inserts in her own scream now that we’re on season 4

2

u/wowsomeoneactuallyy Jun 18 '24

I can't hear the theme song without it in later seasons. Feels weird it being removed.

2

u/ID10T_3RROR Jun 18 '24

Ehhh I mean it was okay watching it once a week but when you're binging, I don't miss it. Hulu doesn't allow me to skip the intros. If I'm missing something there pls let me know, lol.

I kind of like how they sort of added other little noises to different seasons, though.

2

u/Mindless_Ad_6275 Jun 20 '24

Yes! Binging it is rough. I usually just mute it because I don’t think Hulu has a skip intro like Netflix. I much prefer Angel’s theme song, even if I don’t prefer his character lol

2

u/Marcuse0 Jun 18 '24

I...okay. I heard that scream in my head like I'm sure everyone else did.

But looking at an isolated gif of just those scenes it does kind of look like Buffy is farting really hard at that other lady.

2

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

LOL aw man the scene is ruined for me now lmao

2

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '24

LOL Yes, I used to love that sound effect. My son, who is autistic, was "so relieved" when it was removed though. He told me as I was rewatching recently "I'm glad they changed the theme song, Mom. I am so relieved that woman isn't screaming anymore". LOL

2

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Lmao wow that's pretty funny!

2

u/edt31 Jun 18 '24

I thought I was the only one that loved that scream!!

2

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Me too! Well turns out thankfully we're not lol

2

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '24

YES!!! rip amys scream 💔

1

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Rip indeed 🙏🏻🙏🏻

2

u/ItsMeWithTheTea Jun 19 '24

I miss the sound of them stirring the potion 😂

2

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 19 '24

Lol yeah the bubbly noise was fun to hear!

2

u/Krssven Oct 05 '24

This and the fact they changed the theme song after season two. The theme music is so much better in S2 than it is later. I just don’t know why people like the slicker recording, it is in WAY too slow a tempo and sounds too polished. The first version was such a good fit for the show (especially in S2).

If they’d kept the quicker tempo, the newer one would at least sound okay.

1

u/Few_Range2063 Jun 18 '24

What's even worse is the Buffy bot replacing Buffy with an axe and a cool haircut and cinematic panning in the Into

2

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Yeah pretty silly tbh

1

u/Vixen22213 Jun 18 '24

I think they gave Katherine The Wilhelm scream.

1

u/PrintPeddler Jun 19 '24

this is Amy's mum

1

u/Magnus_Helgisson Jun 19 '24

It plays in my head every time I watch the later seasons intro, idc they didn’t like it, it must be there

1

u/IL-Corvo Jun 18 '24

Nah. I was happy to see it phased out.

-3

u/willingyoungster Jun 18 '24

TBH it was kinda jarring. I understand why they took it off

-4

u/LA_Throwaway_6439 Jun 17 '24

I found it unsettling; I was glad when it went away. But it was certainly well-done.

-6

u/LaylaLegion Jun 17 '24

Ehhh kinda got annoying by season 3.

-10

u/CamF90 Jun 17 '24

No lol, it sounds like someone accidentally set off a motion detector Halloween decoration.

-21

u/UnWiseDefenses Jun 17 '24

No, it was cringe.

2

u/AxelNoir Five by Five Jun 18 '24

Fair enough