Did ‘Sex and the City’ Reference ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’?
Sex and the City and Buffy The Vampire Slayer ran concurrently for a few seasons. If you look carefully, it seems someone on the Sex and the City writing team might have been a Buffy fan. A fan theorizes that one particular season 4 storyline proves someone was watching Buffy. There are a couple of smaller hints, take a look, and you be the judge.
When did ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Sex and the City’ air?
Sex and the City and Buffy the Vampire Slayer were inherently different shows. Sex and the City, a cable offering, was pretty strictly a comedy but incredibly provocative for its time. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a pioneer in the sci-fi genre. Still, the shows likely had some viewership overlap, and they certainly aired at the same time.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered in 1997 and aired on UPN and The WB over its seven seasons. The finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired in 2001. Sex and the City premiered in 1998 and served as one of HBO’s flagship series before wrapping up in 2004. The 2021 reboot of the series, And Just Like That…, is housed on HBO Max.
Did ‘Sex and the City’ make subtle hints at ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’
Sex and the City was never huge on pop culture references. The show’s writers worked pretty hard to keep Sex and the City in its universe. Even the TV show Miranda Hobbes mentioned wasn’t a real television offering. Still, one fan noticed a few subtle details that hint that a Buffy fan was on the writing staff.
A Reddit user pointed out that Mr. Big’s season 4 storyline makes subtle references to the characters on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The user noted that Mr. Big’s season 4 girlfriend, Willow Summers, shares the names of two characters on the show. Buffy’s last name was Summers, and Willow was another character in the series. There is more than a name coincidence, though.
The Reddit user pointed out that Mr. Big also made mention of his love interest’s recent flick, a “spy girl” type movie. Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Dawn Summers on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was the star of Harriet the Spy. While it was a children’s movie, the spy element is certainly interesting. The movie poster later shown also appeared to borrow its font from Angel, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff.
There is one more connection to consider
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sex and the City also shared an actor, at least for a minute. Long before Mr. Big met Willow Summers, Carrie Bradshaw traveled to California to meet with a junior development executive interested in optioning her books. The executive, Debbie, was played by Sarah Michelle Geller, who famously played Buffy Summers.
Geller’s role in the series wasn’t a long-lasting one. She appeared in just one episode. Regardless, it’s an interesting connection and one that leaves us wondering who, if anyone on the writing staff, was a fan of supernatural television shows. While this fan theory isn’t confirmed, it certainly has plenty of evidence to back it up.
