"" is a musical episode of the
Television Series ''
Buffy The Vampire Slayer ''. It was written and directed by
Joss Whedon , the creator of the show. The lyrics and music were also written by Whedon, with a score by
Christophe Beck and arrangements by Beck and Jesse Tobias.
It was first broadcast (as the seventh episode of season six) by the
United Paramount Network on
November 6 ,
2001 .
A mysterious force impels Sunnydale residents into songs that reveal their true feelings; Buffy and Spike share a kiss.
After an overture with some wordless scenes of Buffy and her friends taken from a normal day (simply named ""), we see Buffy patrolling in a cemetery at night, but there is something wrong with her and with the demons she meets and kills: they are all singing and dancing. Buffy sings "'''Going Through the Motions'''" about her life after returning to Earth, and the way she feels detached from it.
The morning after, Buffy asks her friends if the same thing had happened to them, and it turns out it has. They suddenly burst into song again, first wondering what can possibly be the cause for this (""), then, guided by Buffy, reasserting their ability to deal with it together ("'''If We're Together'''"). This group song is notable for reenforcing
Anya 's fear of bunnies, as she blames the singing on them ("'''Bunnies'''", a short heavy metal section inside "I've Got A Theory"). It seems that all the people in
Sunnydale are forced to sing about their inner feelings, including a man (played and sung by series producer David Fury) praising his dry-cleaning as Buffy peeks out onto the street from the Magic Box, trying to figure out if they are the only ones affected ("'''The Mustard'''") and a woman (producer Marti Noxon) whom Giles, Xander and Anya later pass by, who pleads with a police officer about the parking ticket he is giving her (aptly, "'''The Parking Ticket'''").
Later
Xander and Anya sing together about things they would otherwise have never told themselves or each other, namely their fears about their coming marriage (""),
Tara sings a love song to
Willow about the difference she's made in her life ("'''Under Your Spell'''") and
Spike sings to Buffy about the tortuous nature of their relationship ("'''Rest In Peace'''").
In the meantime,
Giles realizes that his continued presence encourages Buffy to remain emotionally dependent on him and thus, ironically, prevents her from recovering emotionally from the trauma of her death and resurrection; deciding that he should no longer act as a father to her lest she never mature, he decides to leave again and return to England for good (""). Tara finds out about a forgetting spell Willow had cast some days before to make her forget about a fight they had, and decides to break up with her. The two duet about it as they look at Buffy and Willow respectively, the two of whom are distractedly chatting ("'''Under Your Spell/Standing (Reprise)'''").
It seems that there is a new demon in town, Sweet, and he is responsible for all the singing. Unfortunately, some people are singing and dancing so much that they start burning from the inside, and end up dying in flames.
The demon, known as
Sweet , has
Dawn kidnapped by his minions as she laments the way her life is ("") and taken to
The Bronze ("'''Dawn's Ballet'''"), as he thinks she is the one who summoned him, and intends to take her to the
Underworld and make her his queen ("'''What You Feel'''").
Discovering this through one of Sweet's minions, Buffy and the gang head there to fight him, Buffy once again singing about her inability to feel, as the gang expresses its wish to fight along with her, accompanied by Sweet, who summons them in song (""). Arriving, Buffy starts to sing and dance defiantly, again expressing her current condition and the hardships of being the Slayer, when she finally reveals to Sweet and her friends that when, by resurrecting her, they had pulled her out of
Heaven and not out of a hell dimension as they thought. Then, just when she is close to dancing to the point of burning, in a somewhat suicidal effort, Spike arrives and helps her recover ("'''Something to Sing About'''").
Eventually, it turns out that it is not Dawn who had summoned the demon, but Xander--who had not understood the implications--leading to the demon giving up on the queen matter and just vanishing away, telling the group to say their thoughts, "once more with feeling" (""), which they do, questioning what to do next ("'''Where Do We Go From Here?''''").
The episode ends with Spike and Buffy kissing, as the curtains fall, as predicted in the previous song as the chorus swells one last time ("").
- The majority of the footage of "I'll Never Tell" was shot in just one take. Other scenes, notably the parking meter aria immediately following, are long, continuous takes that are stunning in their complexity, at least by television standards.
- This is the longest episode of ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' ever - 50 minutes long, as opposed to the usual 42 minutes.
- This episode took two weeks to rehearse dance numbers, record songs, and film (although, unusually for ''Buffy'', it filmed in "bits and pieces" - the various sections were recorded between other episodes in Season 6).
Titles:
- French title: ''Que le spectacle commence'' ("Let the Show Begin")
- German title: ''Noch einmal mit Gefühl'' (literal translation)
- Italian title: ''La vita è un musical'' ("Life Is a Musical")
- Finnish title: ''Vielä kerran tunteella'' (literal translation)
:: You're the cutest of the Scoobies,
:: With your lips as red as rubies,
:: And your firm yet supple... tight embrace!!
:: I was able to examine the body while police were taking witness arias.
:: When I want your opinion, Spike, I'll... I'll never want your opinion.
:: She needs backup...Anya...Tara...
- Although he is never named in dialog or lyrics, the Demon ic Villain of this episode is called Sweet per the episode's closing credits.
- Joss Whedon had wanted to create a musical episode since the first season of "Buffy", but wasn't allowed to until the show was moved to a more lenient network, UPN.
- Buffy's Line, "Dawn's in trouble. Must be Tuesday", is a reference to UPN, who was currently airing Buffy on Tuesday nights.
- The original airing of 'Once More, With Feeling' received 5.4 million viewers.
- Amber Benson's musical number, "Under Your Spell" was edited out during the episode's first broadcast in conservative countries like the Philippines and China.
- '' The Music Man '' - At the end of the episode, Spike says to Buffy, "The day you suss out what you do want, there'll probably be a parade. Seventy-six bloody trombones." This is a reference to the song Seventy-Six Trombones , from the Meredith Wilson musical The Music Man .
- '' Rent '' - Joss Whedon gained lots of musical inspiration from musicals such as the rock-edged '' Rent '' by the late Jonathan Larson . It has been said by Whedon that the song "Walk Through the Fire" partly came from the line "Walking through fire without a burn" from the ''Rent'' song "I Should Tell You".
- '' Pinocchio (1940 Film) '' - When Spike is unable to stop the henchman, and he escapes, Spike mutters "Strong. Someday he'll be a real boy". This is a reference to the story of Pinocchio .
- Sarah Michelle Gellar said she "hated" making this episode (in particular the complicated singing and dancing she had to perform for "Something to Sing About"). Although this is one of the most popular episodes in the entire series, the experiment was never repeated.
- James Marsters has some musical experience as he was the lead singer and guitarist for his own rock band formed by his friends, Ghost Of The Robot .
- Anthony Stewart Head also has some musical experience. He was once the lead in an English stage version of '' The Rocky Horror Picture Show '' and released his own solo album, ''Music for Elevators''. James Marsters, Alyson Hannigan and Amber Benson all made small guest appearances on this album, and Joss Whedon composed a song.
- Joss discovered his actors could sing during a wine-charged Shakespeare reading at his house. He later fashioned his songs around each actor's ability and amount of comfort with their talent. This is why Alyson Hannigan only sings a few sparse lines in this episode.
- Writer/producer Marti Noxon makes her first on-screen appearance on ''Buffy'' as the singing woman receiving a parking ticket. Similarly, executive producer/writer David Fury makes his first appearance as the man who joyously proclaims how the mustard stains were removed from his shirt. Both actors later reprised their roles for the episode " Selfless " in the following season, in a short song explaining exactly how the mustard stains were created.
- Timothy Anderson as Henchman
- Hunter Cochrane as College Guy #2
- Alex Estronei as Henchman
- David Fury as Mustard Man
- Marti Noxon as Parking Ticket Woman
- Matt Sims as College Guy #1
- Daniel Weaver as Handsome Young Man
- Zachary Woodlee as Demon/Henchman
- Scot Zeller as Henchman
All the actors sing their own parts without having another singer " and "
Nightmares ".)
The opening sequence is completely changed from its usual form, featuring a 26-second main theme whose
Rock and dark atmosphere was eliminated through its use of
Percussion in the background and a stereotypical light drum sequence at the end of the theme, similar to the conclusion of heroic classical films.
The episode was actually nominated for an Emmy, but, due to a misprint, was left off the official ballot sent out to voters. This was fixed with an addendum, but it was too late, as many voters had already returned their ballots. The episode and ''Buffy'' along with it, are almost as famous for ''not'' winning an
Emmy as other shows are for winning one.
Numerous critics placed the episode on their "alternative Emmy" lists and it continues to win plaudits. It was recently voted the 13th greatest musical of all time in a poll conducted by the British TV channel,
Channel 4 {Link without Title} . It has always been a firm favorite among fans.
This episode also marks what some viewers believe to be the beginning of the gradual decline into a depressing darkness which is a constant source of conflict within the fans. Specifically, the episode ends with Buffy and Spike's first kiss which signifies the beginning of their controversial affair, the largest source of conflict between fans.
A music
CD has been released, featuring the entire score and some additional tracks, namely the demo of "Something to Sing About", sung by Joss Whedon and his wife Kai Cole, and three pieces of music from other popular episodes by regular composer
Christophe Beck . The art for the CD — also used as cover for related items, such as the script book, the DVD and the poster — is by popular
Comic Book artist
Adam Hughes . The booklet includes liner notes by Whedon, the lyrics for the songs, and pictures from the episode.
Other technical differences between this episode and the normal ones are its running time (50 minutes and 52 seconds instead of the usual average of 43 minutes) and its format: the episode aired in
Letterbox format.
Because of the running time, UPN only aired the full, unedited episode once — delaying the start of the following program (a U.S. pilot of "Iron Chef" hosted by
William Shatner ). Unfortunately serious technical glitches plagued UPN's broadcast feed to some of its affiliates in the U.S. Eastern and Central time zones when the episode aired on November 6, 2001. In the case of one UPN affiliate, WKBD TV in Detroit, the only "glitch" involved a few seconds where the picture "froze" during "Sweet's" initial meeting with Dawn. At UPN's insistence, Joss Whedon supervised the editing of the full length episode into a more advertiser-friendly standard length. UPN never aired the full length episode again, opting instead for the shortened version. The shortened version is also the one that airs in syndication on FX and Fox affiliates in the U.S. and in other markets. The editing eliminated parts of certain songs, including Buffy singing "If We're Together" and several bars of "Walk Through the Fire." Loss of certain dialog resulted in a confusing ending for the audience, with Sweet abruptly announcing "Big smiles everyone, you beat the bad guy," with little apparent cause.
This "one time only" dispensation to air a longer format is not unprecedented for Whedon and ''Buffy''. A first season episode, ''The Puppet Show'', enjoyed only a single airing (on
May 5 ,
1997 ) of an amusing closing credits scene in which Xander, Buffy, and Willow perform in their school's talent show.
In an unusual effort to garner Emmy support, 20th Century Fox had the full length episode pressed onto special DVDs shortly after its airing for distribution with the industry trade publication ''Daily Variety''. Regular DVD series collections also include the full length episode.
Also available for sale is the original script book (ISBN 0-689-85918-X). Besides the actual screenplay the book features pictures from the episode, articles, sheet music for all the songs and a behind the scenes.
Finally, after pressure from fans, a single (Region 2) for the
United Kingdom and in
German for
Germany ).
David Fury , producer and writer of the show (who also appeared in the episode as the man excited they got the mustard out) asked Whedon if he could document it, and shot about 40 hours of behind-the-scenes material; part of this material is available on the Season Six
DVD set.
All of the Region 1
DVD s have French and Spanish versions, and the songs are done in French and Spanish too.
- Anya's line "His penis got diseases from a Chumash tribe" refers to the season 4 episode " Pangs ", in which a Native American spirit infects Xander with a cornucopia of various diseases, including Syphilis .
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
