Buffy the Vampire Slayer's ending.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer follows the titular Slayer, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), and her friends as they battle the monsters and demons drawn to the Hellmouth beneath their high school. Whedon, the show's creator, initially hired a professional songwriter to craft the series’ theme. However, he later asked the pop-punk band Nerf Herder to craft the opening after Alyson Hannigan brought their music to his attention. This led to the rock-inspired theme that has become emblematic of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Buffy's Theme Song Became More Polished In Season 3
Buffy the Vampire Slayer kept the same opening over its run, but a slight change occurred between seasons 3 and 4. Steve Sherlock, Nerf Herder’s drummer, told Dazed that the band was allowed to rerecord the song once the show got more popular than anticipated. This allowed the band and music director to smooth any rough edges from the original recording. Sherlock explained, "Due to record label obligations, we were a bit rushed in the studio the first time around – we didn't get proper sounds, and the final mix was a little thin. We met the music director of the show and re-recorded the theme together."
This update made the track a bit more polished than the original version. At this time, Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s logo changed as well, creating a smoother look for the introduction overall. The rerecording enabled Nerf Herder to add and remove elements after testing the theme for two seasons. Most notably, the group input the bell that rings at the end of the song. This iconic addition further emphasized how the series includes both modern elements and gothic horror.
Buffy's Theme Song Removed An Iconic Element
The bell was added to Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s theme song, but a distinctive element was removed as well. At about eight seconds into the theme song in seasons 1 to 3, Buffy the Vampire Slayer features a high-pitched scream that coincided with a shot of a girl screaming as she’s washed in white light. By season 4, the scream had disappeared from the piece. While there’s no public reason why the shriek was removed, it’s possible the band and sound director thought the sound was too jarring and distracted from the other elements of the song.
Source: Dazed