Joyce Summers works at an art gallery, where she acquires and sells art pieces. She is divorced from Hank Summers, whom she met at a Homecoming dance during her freshman year of college. Joyce remained oblivious to the fact that Buffy was the Slayer (despite many clues that something was odd about Buffy's life) until Buffy finally told her the truth at the end of season two. Joyce came to accept it, but she didn't like it, and she worried about Buffy. Despite this, the two seemed to have a good relationship. Joyce didn't date a lot after her divorce; she did get pretty serious with Ted, who turned out to be a robot-doppelganger of a guy from the fifties who had killed his past four wives. She also showed interest in Giles, and when they were under the influence of poisoned band candy, the two had sex; they avoided each other and the subject after that. Joyce wasn't a central part of Buffy's life when Buffy first went to college, however the addition of Dawn to the family changed that, as Buffy moved back home to protect Dawn from Glory. Joyce was aware of Dawn's supernatural origin, but loved her anyway. Joyce developed a brain tumor, which was successfully removed, though sadly she later died from an aneurysm (a side effect of the operation), and Buffy discovered her body lying on their couch. A grief stricken Dawn attempted to magically resurrect her, but she canceled the spell after learning of the possible terrible consequences of it, and after receiving support and reassurance from Buffy.

Kristine Sutherland, 69, loved her job on Buffy. She said that she used her role as the mother of a teenager to prepare herself for when her own daughter hits adolescence. Kristine feels very motherly toward and protective of both her young co-stars and their fictional characters: she worries, for example, about Sarah Michelle Gellar working too hard, and about Buffy not having a father around. Kristine is a big fan of the show, and says that she gets very caught up in the story lines. She's always liked fantasy and science-fiction, but she doesn't like horror; she even gets scared watching Buffy sometimes. Interestingly, Joyce auditioned for BtVS on the same day that David Boreanaz did — she saw him waiting with about four other guys, and he was the one that struck her (women's intuition, maybe?). Kristine hadn't had a whole lot of roles before playing Joyce, but you might recognize her from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids or her Hoover vacuum commercials.