Episode Trivia
Bad tippers
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In 6.12 Doublemeat Palace, Buffy mentions she has waitressed before in an L.A diner with lots of people who didn’t tip. This is a reference to season three’s opening episode 3.01 Anne, where Buffy ran away briefly to L.A.
Brent Hinkley
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Brent Hinkley, who played Manny in 6.12 Doublemeat Palace has also been in Vampires Anonymous, Say It Isn’t So, Carnival of Souls, Ed Wood (alongside Buffy’s Juliet Landau), Falling Down (as Whammyburger), Honeymoon in Vegas, The Silence of the Lambs and Jacob’s Ladder. He has also been in Carnivále, ER, The West Wing, Seinfeld, Star Trek: Voyager, Muscle, Chicago Hope and The X Files. Brent has also directed numerous plays.
Bye bye sponsors
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Joss Whedon said at “Behind the Scenes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer” at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in June 2002 that 6.12 Doublemeat Palace was unpopular with Buffy sponsors who felt it was making fun of their businesses. Some sponsors even pulled out of the show because of the episode.
Delicious Doublemeat
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Buffy took a job at the fast food restaurant the 6.12 Doublemeat Palace after her mother died. She discovered that employees were being eaten after hours by a worm-like monster who lived under the wig of an old lady. Willow and Buffy destroyed the monster and Buffy continued to work at the Palace for a number of episodes. The Doublemeat Palace served a special burger called the Doublemeat Medley. It supposedly consisted of two burgers: beef and chicken but was actually made from processed vegetables blended with beef fat. The employees of the Palace wore a fetching uniform of red and yellow stripes topped with a cap with a cow on it.
Disneyland / World
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In 6.09 Smashed, Warren says to the security guard:
“Museums, libraries, Disney Hall of Presidents … not boring.”
The Disney Hall of Presidents is in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida. Disneyland is referenced in 2.10 What’s My Line? (Part Two):
Buffy: “No, Disneyland would get boring after a few months.”
Amy: “That was like a trip to Disneyland without the lines.”
Doublemeat medley
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In 6.15 As You Were, Buffy sings the Doublemeat medley tune, first heard in 6.09 Smashed and later in 6.12 Doublemeat Palace. The lyrics are:
“Get the double treat, that’s the double sweet, oh it’s hard to beat, when the meat meets…”
Doublemeat offer
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In 6.09 Smashed, Amy watches an ad on TV for the fast food restaurant 6.12 Doublemeat Palace (”Now you get two Doublemeat Medleys for the price of one!”). Buffy ends up working at the Doublemeat Palace three episodes later.
Doublemeat Palace workers have gone
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In the episode 6.12 Doublemeat Palace, in the the scene when Buffy goes back for her second day, Manny tells her that Gary has “gone” and there is a big wadge of clocking slips on the wall in a box marked “gone” - a reference to the previous episode?
Gary
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Gary was the employee at the Doublemeat Palace who showed Buffy how to use the till. He was eaten by the wig lady’s penis-monster.
Gina
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Gina was an older employee at the Doublemeat Palace, who managed not to get eaten by the wig-lady. She was a victim of the Palace’s bizarre atmosphere and acted pretty much like a zombie. Gina also appeared in the episode 6.13 Dead Things.
Glutton for punishment
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In 6.12 Doublemeat Palace, Xander says:
“I thought Jonathan completely learned that lesson.”
He’s referring to the events of 4.17 Superstar, in which Jonathan created a spell to be everyone’s ideal. The spell went horribly wrong.
Hamburgers
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In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, burgers are often associated with vampirism and/or cannibalism:
- In the first first draft of Welcome to the Hellmouth, (NB not in the unaired pilot), when Giles warns Buffy against vampires at the Bronze, he initially told her that “To a vampire, this is Burger King.”
- In Becoming (Part 2), Spike tells Buffy that people are “like Happy Meals with legs” to him.
- In Doublemeat Palace, Buffy yells “The DoubleMeat Medley is people!”
Kali Rocha
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Kali Rocha played Spike’s crush Cecily when he was a human, and later went on to play vengeance demon Halfrek. Kali has appeared in Gods and Generals, White Oleander, Meet the Parents, The Object of My Affection, The Crucible, Will & Grace and Becker.
Kirsten Nelson
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Kirsten Nelson played Buffy’s boss and manager Lorraine Ross in 6.12 Doublemeat Palace and 6.17 Normal Again. She has been in The O’Keefes (as Ellie O’Keefe), Baby’s Day Out, The Fugitive, Frasier, Ally McBeal, The West Wing, Just Shoot Me and Boy Meets World.
Lorraine Ross
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Lorraine Ross became the manager of the 6.12 Doublemeat Palace after Manny was killed, after working with the company for five years. She explained to Buffy (in complete confidence) that the Doublemeat meat was actually vegetables. Lorraine allowed Buffy to have her job back after the wig-lady debacle. In 6.17 Normal Again, Lorraine told Buffy:
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were on drugs.”
Manny
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Manny was the bespectacled manager of 6.12 Doublemeat Palace when Buffy first began to work there. He had little interest in the well-being of his workers and was mostly concerned with keeping the secret ingredient hidden. He worked at the Palace for 10 years before being devoured by the wig lady.
Manny’s nametag says ‘Manny Rocha’. Doublemeat Palace was first episode in which we see Anya’s demon friend Halfrek played by Kali Rocha.
Marti on the penis monster
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Marti Noxon said the following about the episode Doublemeat Palace:
“One of the craziest episodes we’ve ever done. It’s just insane. And the monster looks like a penis - we know that! Talk about the academic papers that are going to be written about that one! The castration fantasy made large. We were like, ‘Oh my God, it looks like a giant penis. What are we going to do?’ We had to paint it, because originally it was penis-colored. It wasn’t even a metaphor, it was just a big, giant penis. So we painted it brown and it looked like a brown penis. Be we kind of went with it, because the whole episode was so crazy. It was so weird. I personally really like it; I just think it’s really out there. Again, it was just an attempt to have a little fun in a crazy season. It just got baroque, though. This was just a weird, off-kilter Coen Brothers kind of episode.”
McDonalds
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In 2.22 Becoming (Part Two), Spike calls humans “Happy Meals with legs” after the McDonald’s children’s meal. In 3.19 Choices, Buffy calls the Mayor “Mayor McSleaze”, referring to the McDonald’s character Mayor McCheese. In The Price, Angel references McDonald’s meal sizing options: “Okay, sir, you wanna just put down the super size or…”
Sarah Michelle Gellar was sued by McDonald’s at the age of four. She appeared in a Burger King advert where she said:
“Do I look 20 per cent smaller to you? I must have at McDonald’s because their hamburgers are 20 per cent smaller than Burger King’s.”
It was the first time a company used another company’s name in an advert so McDonald’s sued Burger King, the advertising agency, and Sarah herself. The case was settled out of court.
More Janice
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We met Dawn’s friend Janice Penshaw in the episode 6.06 All The Way. In that episode, Dawn and Janice lied to their families so they could go out on dates with what turned out to be vampires. Janice is mentioned in several more episodes. In 6.12 Doublemeat Palace, Dawn mentions that her friend Janice has a sister who is a lawyer. In 6.13 Dead Things, Dawn tells Buffy she’s sleeping over at Janice’s house, but Buffy says she isn’t falling for that again. In 6.17 Normal Again, Dawn says:
“I’m going over to Janice’s where they actually like having me around.”
In 6.19 Seeing Red, Dawn tells Spike:
“I’m sleeping over at Janice’s.”
Pat Crawford Brown
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Pat Crawford Brown, who played the scary “wig lady” in 6.12 Doublemeat Palace, has previously appeared in Stuck On You, Daredevil, Forces of Nature, Jack Frost, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, Johnny Mysto: Boy Wizard (with Amber Tamblyn, who played Janice in All the Way), Reality Bites, Sister Act and The Rocketeer. Pat has appeared in many TV shows. She is the aunt of folksinger Christine Lavin.
Potestas
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Amy’s spell on Willow in Doublemeat Palace is one word: “Potestas”. It translates from Latin into “power” or “you have the power”.
Sleepless in Seattle
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Buffy says about the swirly cow and chicken in 6.12 Doublemeat Palace,
“It’s like Sleepless in Seattle, if Meg and Tom were minced.”
She is, of course, referring to the 1993 romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
Soylent Green
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When Buffy and Cordelia collide and spill the contents Buffy’s tray in 1.05 Never Kill A Boy On The First Date, Owen says:
“at least you won’t have to eat your Soylent Green…”
This is a reference to the Charlton Heston movie, Soylent Green, in which Soylent Green is actually human remains processed into food.
The movie is also referenced in the episode 6.12 Doublemeat Palace, when Buffy runs into the customer area of the restaurant yelling:
“It’s people!”
Heston’s character tries the same thing in Soylent Green.
In 3.04 Carpe Noctem, Angel says:
“Charlton Heston. Double feature! At the Nu-art. Soylent Green and The Omega Man.
Star Trek
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There are many cast/crew links between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the long-running cult sci-fi show Star Trek. Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder) played Quark in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for seven years. Dominic Keating, who played Blair in the episode 3.12 Helpless, later went on to star in Star Trek: Enterprise as Lt. Reed. Jennifer Hetrick, who played the teacher Ms. Moran in 3.05 Homecoming (whom Buffy asked for a reference) played the girlfriend of Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Buffy writer Jane Espenson wrote an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine called ‘Accession’. Star Trek has also been referenced numerous times in Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
- In 1.12 Prophecy Girl, upset by Giles’ reserve, Xander says:
“Calm may work for Locutus of Borg here, but I’m freaked and I intend to stay that way.”
He is referencing Star Trek’s emotionless cyborgs from the episode ‘The Best of Both Worlds’. Locutus was the name given to Captain Pickard (Patrick Stewart) when he was captured, and ‘assimilated’, by the Borg.
- In 3.05 Homecoming, Cordelia woos the nerds at Sunnydale High by saying:
“Are you kidding? I’ve been doing the Vulcan death grip since I was 4.”
In 3.15 Consequences, Cordy calls Wesley, “Giles the next generation” in a reference to Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- In 5.04 Out Of My Mind, Buffy says:
“You’re like my fairy godmother and Santa Claus and Q all wrapped up into one… Q from Bond not Star Trek“.
- In 5.03 The Replacement, the two Xanders say, “Kill us both Spock” - a reference to a Star Trek episode where Kirk is split two - one being good and one bad.
- In 6.04 Flooded, the nerds vote with the Star Trek Vulcan salute, which is the same salute that Cordelia used to impress the ‘geeks’ in Homecoming.
- In 6.09 Smashed, Spike tells the nerds, “You can play holodeck another time” - he means the virtual reality technology used in Star Trek.
- The nerds compare Buffy’s time loop in 6.05 Life Serial with an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called ‘Cause and Effect’:
Andrew: “I just hope she solves it faster than Data did on the ep of TNG where the Enterprise kept blowing up.”
- In 6.15 As You Were, Buffy says. “they’re like really mean Tribbles”, referring to the popular, but quick breeding, pets on board the Starship Enterprise.
- After her visit to the nerds’ ‘lair’ in 6.12 Doublemeat Palace, Willow says that they had numerous pictures of the “Vulcan women from Enterprise“. She’s referring to Jolene Blaylock, who played T’pol in UPN’s Star Trek show.
- The episode 6.17 Normal Again is similar to the season five episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine called ‘Far Beyond the Stars’. In that episode, Captain Benjamin Sisko imagines that he is a science fiction writer living on 1950s Earth and writing about a station full of aliens called Deep Space Nine. He hallucinates that the people he knows in the 1950s are futuristic aliens and is thrown into an asylum.
- In 6.19 Seeing Red, Andrew references Star Trek: The Next Generation when he discusses who’s boss of the nerds:
“Warren’s the boss. He’s Picard, you’re Deanna Troi. Get used to the feeling, Betazoid.”
Also in that episode, Xander realises that the nerds had love poems in their lair written in Klingon.
- In 7.07 Conversations With Dead People, we learn that Andrew learned Klingon (a language in Star Trek) from a dictionary in two and a half weeks.
- In 7.18 Dirty Girls, Andrew hilariously confuses Faith’s murder of a volcanologist with a Vulcan:
Andrew: “Nobody was immune to her trail of destruction. Not friends, not family, not even the most pacifist and logical of races…”
Amanda: “What the hell are you talking about? I thought Faith killed a volcanologist.”
Andrew: “Silly, silly Amanda. Why would Faith kill a person who studies Vulcans?” - From Sense and Sensitivity:
Cordy: “Mr. and Mrs. Spock need to mind meld now.”
Timothy
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Timothy was an employee at the Doublemeat Palace. He was promoted from grill to counter after Gary disappeared.
Tucker’s brother
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Tom Lenk played two characters in Buffy - Cyrus in 5.02 Real Me and Andrew Wells in seasons six and seven. A small piece of continuity for these two characters is that others find it hard to remember who they are. In 5.02 Real Me, when Harmony is talking to her minions about “the plan”, she can’t remember Cyrus’s name, and asks him what it is.
In 6.04 Flooded, Warren confuses Andrew with his brother Tucker (seen in 3.20 The Prom):
Warren: “Oh, or else what? You’ll train another pack of devil dogs to ruin my prom? Ha! Graduated!”
Andrew: “That wasn’t me! How many times do I have to say it? The prom thing was my lame-o brother, Tucker.”
Additionally, in 6.11 Gone, 6.12 Doublemeat Palace and 7.09 Never Leave Me, Buffy, Xander and Spike all say they have no idea who Andrew is.
Wig lady
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“Wig Lady” was one of the regular customers at the 6.12 Doublemeat Palace. She seemed fairly harmless at first, but we later discovered that her bad wig was actually covering a giant penis-like monster which grew from the top of her head. The demon paralyzed its victims so that it could eat them slowly. It’s all very Freudian, really.
William Cowper
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In 6.12 Doublemeat Palace, Buffy says, “Variety is the spice of bad.” She’s paraphrasing the English poet William Cowper, who wrote “Variety’s the very spice of life that gives it all its flavour”.
[Goof] Intercom
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Why was the drive-through intercom still on when Willow goes to find Buffy in Doublemeat Palace? And why is Willow’s voice broadcast over the entire restaurant?
[Goof] Working on the grill
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When Buffy’s co-worker is showing her how to work on the grill in Doublemeat Palace, we see that he’s wearing plastic gloves. Then he puts two beef patties on the grill and he suddenly isn’t wearing gloves. In the next shot there are now four burgers on the grill and he’s wearing gloves again.