Eric Balfour

While delivering past-due book reports to the home of their teacher Mr. Turner (Anthony Tyler Quinn), Cory (Ben Savage) and Shawn (Rider Strong) stumble across Turner's class schedule, enabling them to determine when he plans to give the next pop quiz. As a result, the boys are able to cram for the quiz, which they pass with extremely high grades. It isn't long before Cory and Shawn begin suffering the pangs of conscience, but when they confess to Mr. Turner they're in for quite a suprirse. Meanwhile, school tough guys Frankie (Ethan Suplee) and Joey (Blake Sennett), leaderless since top bully Harley was sent to reform school, seek out a replacement so they can retain their "flunkey" status. (Note: this episode was intended as the series finale, but at the last minute Boy Meets World was renewed for a third season). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ostensibly picking up where the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer left off, episode one finds the vampire-stiffing Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her mother, Joyce (Kristine Sutherland), recently moved from Los Angeles to the ironically named suburb of Sunnydale, CA. During her first day at Sunnydale High School, Buffy meets a group of people who will define the course of her new life. Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), a popular girl at school, proffers her friendship by testing Buffy's "coolness factor." "James Spader?" Cordelia inquires. "He needs to call me," replies Buffy, without missing a beat. But Cordelia is soon dismayed when Buffy begins hanging out with the shy computer nerd Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), her friend Xander Harris ( Nicholas Brendon), and his buddy Jesse (Eric Balfour). Also among her new acquaintances is the school librarian, the very British Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), who just happens to be Buffy's Watcher, a sort of guidance counselor for vampire slayers. Giles informs Buffy that the earth is much older than commonly accepted and was once populated by demons and vampires; only vestiges of the great evil still exist. Through Giles, we also learn that after every slayer dies, another is born to take her place, and 17-year-old Buffy is the Chosen One. That night, Buffy meets the enigmatic and mysterious Angel (David Boreanaz), who warns her that Sunnydale is located on the Hellmouth -- a kind of mecca for demons and vampires of all sorts -- and the accompanying "Harvest," when vampires will attempt to take over the earth, is soon approaching. Buffy is resistant to donning her mantle as the Slayer, unaware that in catacombs beneath Sunnydale, the Master (Mark Metcalf) -- a very old and powerful vampire, trapped for 60 years underground -- is now being awakened by his minion Luke (Brian Thompson) to be set free by the Harvest. Originally aired on March 10, 1996, "Welcome to the Hellmouth" is part one of the show's two-part pilot episode. ~ All Movie Guide

After Jen (Michelle Williams) breaks up with him, Dawson (James Van Der Beek) sets out on a road trip with Pacey (Joshua Jackson) and Billy (Eion Bailey). They end up at a college bar where Dawson finds some success with a female film student. After football player Warren Goering (Eric Balfour) begins a rumor that Joey (Katie Holmes) had sex with him, Jen hatches an elaborate plot to humiliate Warren. But the plan leads to some unexpected complications. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Curtis Hanson's adaptation of Jennifer Weiner's novel In Her Shoes stars Toni Collette and Cameron Diaz as a pair of very close but very different sisters. Free-wheeling irresponsible Maggie Feller (Diaz) gets through her life thanks to her remarkable looks and her lack of scruples. She constantly goes to her straight-laced, plain-Jane successful lawyer sister Rose (Collette) for financial help. The two sisters have been very close to each other in part because their troubled mother died when they were girls. Right about the same time that Maggie discovers hidden letters that reveal she and Rose have a grandmother, Maggie does something to betray Rose's trust. Maggie sets off for Florida to find the grandmother. A failed workplace romance forces Rose to rethink her career, a career that has been the center of her life. As Rose tentatively begins a new relationship and Maggie gets to know her grandmother (played by Shirley MacLaine), the two learn a dark family secret that helps smooth the path toward reconciliation. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Coming upon a street shooting, Andy (Dennis Franz) fires at what he thinks is the perpetrator's car -- but cannot prove that he fired correctly when the only eyewitness, the original shooting victim, disappears. As Andy nervously awaits an Internal Affairs investigation, the other detectives begin to suspect that newcomer Connie McDowell (Charlotte Ross) is a spy from the IAB. And in another development, a videotape shot in the bathroom of a bar may nail a rapist. With this episode, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon graduates from "recurring" to "regular" cast member as ADA Valerie Haywood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Teen obsession turns to violence in this gritty made-for-television drama. Child actor Fred Savage plays against type and portrays bullying Bobby Tennison, a high-school senior who dominates and intimidates his timid girlfriend Stacy Collins (Candace Cameron Bure). When their relationship turns abusive, only Stacy's friend knows the truth, and unfortunately the secrecy has tragic consequences. Talk-show host Sally Jesse Raphael appears as a judge. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

The sometimes turbulent relationship between two brothers forms the basis for this coming-of-age drama. Curt Martin (Justin Urich) is a high school student who has a gift for music, but has grown up introspective and shy around girls, in contrast with his older and more popular brother, Andy (Eric Balfour). Andy encourages Curt to try out for the school play and, to his surprise, he wins the leading role -- only to discover his brother rigged the audition. Curt quits in anger, and instead signs on as the play's accompanying pianist, with Andy taking over the role Curt abandoned. Curt strikes up a friendship with Lisa, the play's female lead (Keili Lefkowitz), that soon blossoms into romance -- and inspires tension and jealousy between Andy and Curt. Writer and director Kurt Kuenne takes a new approach to an old theme in Scrapbook, which enlivens its tale of sibling rivalry with inventive photography and editing and strong performances from its youthful cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The first season of HBO's critically acclaimed series Six Feet Under starts out with a bang; or, perhaps more appropriately, a crash, as the patriarch of the Fisher family (Richard Jenkins) is hit by an oncoming bus while driving the family hearse. Suddenly, his business -- Fisher & Sons, a family-owned California funeral home -- is left without an owner, and his survivors, of course, are left without a husband and father. The 'sons' portion of Fisher & Sons includes David (Michael C. Hall), who is still closeted after recently having come to grips with his homosexuality, and Nate (Peter Krause), who had left the morbid funeral trade and his anxiety-ridden mother, Ruth (Frances Conroy), for a career as a health-food store manager. Ultimately, his decision to come back and help the family cope with the elder Nate's (Jenkins) death sets the premise for the entire show; it isn't long before he's fully absorbed in the family business, consumed in a relationship with the quirky Brenda (Rachel Griffiths), and serving as a well-meaning, if distant, influence on Claire (Lauren Ambrose), his angst-ridden teenaged sister. In the meantime, the Fishers are individually affected, both directly and indirectly, by the continuous stream of cadavers into their household, which, along with the loss of their father, forces them to grapple with their own mortality and place in the world far more than most people would be prone to do. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

(Linda Lavin) guest stars as Sophie Cohen, mother of Newport lawyer Sandy Cohen (Peter Gallagher) and grandmother -- or "nana" -- of Seth Cohen (Adam Brody). Arriving at her son's house with some sad news for Passover, Mrs. Cohen has a galvanizing effect on Seth's girlfriend, Summer (Rachel Bilson), who is worried that "Nana" will hate her on sight. Elsewhere, Jimmy (Tate Donovan) draws closer to Hailey (Amanda Righetti), and Marissa (Mischa Barton) goes into hiding after finding out the truth about Julie (Melinda Clarke) and Luke (Chris Carmack). ~ All Movie Guide