Sarah Michelle Gellar was the star of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” but the cult series really was an ensemble show — especially as it went on. The main characters in “Buffy” grew from the titular slayer and her “Scoobies” to an extensive cast of beloved favorites who became just as integral to the show’s success and its enduring status as one of the great TV shows of the late-’90s/early aughts.
In that sense, it’s not surprising that while Gellar was the lead, there were several other cast members who appeared in almost as many episodes as the star herself. Across seven seasons and 144 episodes, Buffy was joined most frequently by her close friends Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) and Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon) — the original Scooby gang. Then, there was her Watcher, Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), Scooby adoptee Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), and “big bad”-turned ally Spike (James Marsters). All these characters, and more, became important to the series in a way that makes it odd to think they weren’t all there from the very first episode — and that’s to say nothing of Emma Caulfield Ford’s Anya, Amber Benson’s Tara Maclay, David Boreanez’s Angel, Seth Green’s Oz, or Kristine Sutherland’s Joyce Summers, who was killed off in the “Buffy” episode that show creator Joss Whedon still considers the best thing he’s ever done.
But of this group, only two cast members actually showed up in every single episode. Though he appears in the opening credits due to his main character status, Nicholas Brendan’s Xander doesn’t show up in the season 7 episode “Conversations with Dead People” — marking the only time he was absent from the series. Of the original crew then, that just leaves Gellar and Hannigan, who each have a full 144 appearances to their names.
Buffy and Willow were the true mainstays
It’s a little odd to note that Xander just missed out on being in every episode of “Buffy.” His absence from “Conversations with Dead People” was, however, not entirely intentional. According to an old BBC article, the original plan was for Xander to encounter a resurrected Jesse McNally (Eric Balfour). The character originally appeared in the first season of the show, before being turned into a vampire and ultimately slayed by Buffy. “Conversations with Dead People” sees several characters meeting reincarnated versions of former friends and acquaintances, all of whom were really manifestations of season 7’s main antagonist The First Evil. Xander’s storyline would have seen him meeting Jesse but the idea was dropped for whatever reason — perhaps scheduling issues — making this the only episode not to feature Xander beyond the opening credit sequence.
That means that Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan are the only two “Buffy” actors to have appeared in all 144 episodes of the series, having been in evidence since the pilot episode in March 1997 all the way up to the series finale in May 2003. That’s quite an accomplishment, especially if you’re familiar with the allegations of workplace misconduct and abuse against series creator Joss Whedon, which arose in recent years and have made loving “Buffy” complicated for fans.
Meanwhile, Anthony Stewart Head’s Giles is the only one who comes close to Gellar, Hannigan, and Brendan, with 123 appearances across the series. James Marsters appeared in 97 installments, while Emma Caulfield Ford’s Anya showed up in 85. Michelle Trachtenberg’s Dawn Summers was present in 66 episodes, while Kristine Sutherland and David Boreanez are tied for 58. Charisma Carpenter managed 57 appearances as Cordelia Chase, while Amber Benson played Tara Maclay in 47 episodes and Seth Green played Oz in 40.
Gellar is the only Buffy star to actually feature in every episode
If you take a look at the IMDB page for “Buffy,” you’ll see that both Sarah Michelle Gellar and Nicholas Brendon are credited with appearing in 145 episodes of the series, while Alyson Hannigan is credited with just 144. But if Willow and Buffy were the only characters to appear in every episode, what gives?
Well, Brendon was credited on “Conversations with Dead People,” which means IMDB counts that as an appearance. What’s more, both he and Gellar appeared in the infamous unaired “Buffy” pilot, which almost killed the show before it started. In this test episode, Willow was actually played by Riff Regan, but The WB ordered several changes before commissioning the show, including recasting Willow. Thus, Alyson Hannigan was brought in to replace Regan, and the show was greenlit — even then only after the short-lived “Savannah” was cancelled and WB needed a mid-season replacement.
All of which means that while Brendon just missed out on technically appearing in every episode of Buffy due to his absence from “Conversations with Dead People,” he did appear in the unaired pilot, so it could be argued that he appeared in just as many episodes as Hannigan. What’s more, the only “Buffy” star to actually appear in every single episode of the show, including the unaired pilot, is Sarah Michelle Gellar herself, who like Brendan has 145 credits to her name, but actually appeared in every single one of them.
