By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
There’s a fair argument to be made that Buffy the Vampire Slayer has the best theme song in television history. The band Nerf Herder provided this rollicking tune, and it never failed to set the tone for weekly adventures where our titular Slayer took on vampires, demons, and whatever else went bump in those sleepy Sunnydale nights. The song is so perfect that you might think it was hand-chosen by Buffy the Vampire Slayer mastermind Joss Whedon, but he only went with this theme song because it was recommended by Willow actor Alyson Hannigan.
The Buffy Theme
Unless you’re a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you might have never heard the theme song, much less the obscure band that made it. Nerf Herder is a pop punk band that hails from Santa Barbara, and one of the band’s friends played their self-titled debut album for Alyson Hannigan. She immediately fell in love with their unique sound and introduced their album to Whedon, who suddenly had a need for a new theme.
According to Nerf Herder member Parry Gripp, Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s producers “had hired some guy in Hollywood, some famous theme song composer to come up with a theme, and they didn’t like the one he came up with.” But the money was already spent, which meant the producers “were kind of on a low budget,” causing them to ask “a bunch of bands, local bands — we live about an hour and a half away from Hollywood — to come up with theme song ideas.”
Thank You, Alyson Hannigan
In other words, several other bands were also asked to come up with a Buffy the Vampire Slayer theme song. Thanks to Hannigan sharing Nerf Herder’s music with Whedon, the showrunner asked the band to provide a better theme than what they originally got from their big Hollywood composer. In the words of Nerf Herder member Steve Sherlock, “They wanted our raw, punky sound for the main theme,” which is how we got the show’s rollicking earworm of a theme song.
Of course, if you’re a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan with a very good ear, you may know that the theme song changed a little bit in the third season. The original theme used for Season 1 and Season 2 was something Nerf Herder had recorded before Whedon asked for theme song submissions; for Season 3, the band got together with the show’s music director to create a tighter song more suited to the opening credits and the show in general. It was this version of the song that added the famous bell sound at the end.
The only other tweak the Buffy the Vampire Slayer theme ever received was getting an orchestral-only version for the show’s famous musical episode “Once More With Feeling.” That set the tone for an episode full of impossibly catchy songs and charming character moments. Too bad Willow, whose actor recommended Nerf Herder in the first place, doesn’t really get to sing much in this episode per the actor’s request.
In addition to coming up with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer theme song, Nerf Herder appeared in the show on multiple occasions, starting with their poster being in Willow’s locker in the Season 1 episode “Nightmares.” And they were actually the last live band to perform at the Bronze in Season 7 even as the residents of Sunnydale began evacuating the town. In this way, the band was part of the show from beginning to end, but they never would have been there at all if Alyson Hannigan didn’t have absolutely impeccable musical tastes.
