The non-broadcast pilot episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was produced by 20th Century Fox in 1996 to pitch a series to networks. The twenty-five-and-a-half-minute production was written and directed by Buffy creator Joss Whedon, and was expanded upon and re-shot for the first episode of the series. It is notable for featuring a different actress in the role of Willow, Sunnydale High is Berryman High and a different actor as Principal Flutie.

After having burned down her school gym and been expelled from a school in L.A., Buffy Summers has moved to Sunnydale with her mother. Buffy goes to school for the first time at Sunnydale High and meets new people: Cordelia, Willow, and Xander. Willow is lured by a vampire into a trap. Buffy shows up with Xander and kills all the vampires except one; the surviving vampire reports the incident back to The Master.

An Incan Princess mummy is reanimated in Sunnydale where she sucks the life force from others in order to stay alive.

Buffy and Cordelia inadvertently attend a frat party hosted by a murderous cult.

Buffy joins forces with another Slayer in hopes of saving Angel from the clutches of Spike and Drusilla.

Buffy and her friends are given eggs to take care of for a health class assignment, but aren't prepared for what hatches.

Angel steps up his torment of Buffy and her friends as Jenny searches for a way to restore his soul.

Members of the Sunnydale swim team are killed by a gill monster of unknown origins.

A Nigerian mask reanimates the dead, forcing Buffy to battle a horde of zombies.

As Buffy and Cordelia vie for Homecoming Queen, a group of killers gather to participate in SlayerFest '98.

Cordelia's wish for a Buffy-free Sunnydale comes true, plunging her into a world where vampires have control of the town.

After Angel breaks off their relationship, Buffy single-handedly battles three fearsome hell hounds so that her classmates can enjoy their senior prom.

In an effort to distract Buffy from the Ascension, the mayor instructs Faith to poison Angel.

On Ascension Day, Buffy and her friends prepare for the ultimate battle as they face off againstthe mayor and a horde of vampires.

A mouthless demon infects Buffy with the ability to hear everyone's thoughts, but what starts out as a useful power soon turns into a curse.

Buffy senses that something is amiss when Jonathan becomes a hero to everyone in Sunnydale.

While trying to get a loan, Buffy runs afoul of three deadbeat sorcerers who are using the otherworldly powers of a demon to rob a bank.

Buffy tries to figure out how to support herself and Dawn. Her job search is complicated by Andrew, Jonathan and Warren, who are testing her to find the Slayer's weaknesses.

Willow turns Amy the Rat into her old self; Jonathan, Warren and Andrew steal a diamond; and Spike discovers something unexpected about Buffy.

The Three Geeks mistakenly turn Buffy invisible. The Slayer takes some advantage from going unseen. Willow has to do the detective without using magic, while Xander finds Spike doing some weird physical training.

After Jonathan, Andrew, and Warren accidentally kill Warren's ex-girlfriend Katrina, they set Buffy up to make her believe it was she who killed the girl.

After being stung by a demon, Buffy finds herself shifting back and forth between the Sunnydale she knows and a psych ward where she is told the last six years have been an elaborate hallucination. Struggling to make sense of either reality, she must decide which to believe.

Anya returns to Sunnydale, bent on vengeance on Xander for leaving her at the altar. She has reclaimed her vengeance demon abilities, but order to use them, she must get one of his frustratingly-forgiving friends to wish him harm.

Willow and Tara delight in their renewed relationship. The Trio arm themselves with an artifact of great power and face off again with the Slayer. Spike's obsession with Buffy drives him further than ever.

A vengeful Willow uses her enormous power to track down Warren, despite Buffy's strong feelings about targeting humans.

Fueled by black magic, Willow targets Andrew and Jonathan, leading to a battle between Buffy and Willow; Spike fights an unstoppable foe.

Giles arrives to face Willow, armed with powerful borrowed magic. Willow, overwhelmed by power and grief, plans a ritual to put the world out of its misery.

Buffy talks through her troubles with an old high school classmate who has recently become a vampire. Cassie, the late student Buffy tried to help, appears to Willow with a posthumous message from Tara. Dawn experiences a terrifying haunting. And Andrew and Jonathan return to Sunnydale High on a mission.

Buffy and the gang capture and interrogate Spike and Andrew.

Buffy accepts a dinner invitation from Principal Wood, and tries to figure out his true intentions. Xander goes out with a girl from the hardware store. The First tries to convince Andrew to murder the potential Slayers. Giles returns from China with a new Potential, but struggles with the language barrier.

Andrew creates a documentary called "Buffy, Slayer of the Vampyres", a record of the current situation in Sunnydale to show to future generations. He manages to capture many important moments, and to annoy almost everyone in the house. But Buffy needs to tear him away from his filmmaking because the Seal of Danzalthar is active and Andrew may hold the key to closing it before it destroys the town.