The Puppet Show 

Buffy suspects that a ventriloquist's dummy may be harvesting organs from classmates performing in a talent show.

Director:

Ellen S. Pressman

Writers:

Joss Whedon (created by), Dean Batali

Stars:

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendon	...	Xander Harris
Alyson Hannigan	...	Willow Rosenberg
Charisma Carpenter	...	Cordelia Chase
Anthony Head	...	Rupert Giles (as Anthony Stewart Head)
Kristine Sutherland	...	Joyce Summers
Rich Werner	...	Morgan Shay (as Richard Werner)
Burke Roberts	...	Marc
Armin Shimerman	...	Principal Snyder
Lenora May	...	Mrs. Jackson
Chasen Hampton	...	Elliot
Natasha Pearce	...	Lisa
Tom Wyner	...	Sid (voice)
Krissy Carlson	...	Emily (Dancer)
Michelle Miracle	...	Locker Girl

Storyline

Mr. Snyder, Sunnydale High's new principal after the devouring of fatherly Mr. Robert Flutie, believes in order and discipline to instill school spirit. So he orders Giles to produce a talent show and punishes the Buffy, Xander and Willow by forcibly enrolling them as candidates. Then, dancer Emily is found with her heart cut out, but demons don't usually use a knife, yet one was found next to her. So, the human student contestants are screened. The weirdest suspect proves to be gifted ventriloquist Morgan Shay, who treats his inseparable wooden dummy Sid as real, in fact takes orders from it in private. And if it is, as Giles suspects, one of seven demons who take possession of human bodies, anybody may be turned bad by it.

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Plot Keywords:

ventriloquist's dummy | reference to the usual suspects | library | heroine | female protagonist | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The pen that Willow used in History class, where Morgan gets Sid taken away from him, is the same pen that Buffy drops when she needs to steal hair from Amy in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Witch (1997).

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Goofs

At about 5:40, the girl in the locker room hears a noise. She says "Is anyone there?" and starts to move along the lockers. She then says "Hello?" while she is at the end of the line of lockers but her mouth does not move.

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Quotes

Buffy Summers: Okay, Morgan, we get the joke. Horny dummy. Ha, ha. It's very funny, but you might want to consider getting some new shtick unless you want your prop ending up as a Duraflame log.

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Crazy Credits

The original US WB airing had a sequence where Buffy, Xander and Willow performed their theatrical scene in the talent show during the closing credits.

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Alternate Versions

The original US WB broadcast had a sequence where Buffy, Xander and Willow performed their theatrical scene in the talent show during the closing credits, but it was removed for re-runs and syndication. The season one DVD box-set restores the original closing credits sequence.

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Connections

Featured in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Gift (2001)

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Soundtracks

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Theme
Performed by Nerf Herder

User Reviews

So dummy

Episode 9 of the first season of "Buffy" is probably the funniest of the show so far, and it has also one really neat twist in a show that, in this respect, has not been particularly original.

There is a high school festival but, again, someone seems intend on killing the students. Buffy and Co. suspect that the dummy is doing it.

The episode does a great job in poking fun at the fact that students keep dying on the premises of the high school (who would want their children to go there after the first couple of episodes?) and also does a great job at playing the 'dummy' card. We all know the dolls are scary, but "Buffy" turns this upside down offering a very funny take on it, with a very tongue-in-cheek approach to the plot. It is also has a very nice pace (an upgrade after the previous one's stilted one) and the acting fits perfectly with the mood. Buffy, Willow and Xander's horror at having to take part on the festival is the perfect mood setting for the rest of the episode.

All 'horror' shows have to have one episode with a dummy in them, and this one does the trick for "Buffy". In a really funny way. A winner.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 May 1997 (USA)

Filming Locations:

1800 Stewart St., Santa Monica, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mutant Enemy, Kuzui Enterprises, Sandollar Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1