Bewitched

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For the film, see Bewitched (film). For other meanings, see Bewitched (disambiguation)

Template:Infobox television Bewitched was an American situation comedy starring actress Elizabeth Montgomery, broadcast on ABC from 1964 to 1972.

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Background

The show's focus was the mixed marriage of a nose-twitching witch, Samantha Stephens, and her mortal husband, Darrin. Samantha's mother, Endora (played by Agnes Moorehead), disapproves of Darrin, and many episodes revolve around her using magic to make life difficult for her non-magical son-in-law, whose name she invariably mispronounces as "Durwood," "Darwin," and other variations even less complimentary.

The only member of Samantha's family that Darrin really likes is the lovable and forgetful Aunt Clara (played by Marion Lorne — who won an Emmy in 1968 for her role), an old witch whose powers have begun to wane. Almost all of her spells end in disasters. She was in 27 episodes and was not replaced when Lorne died during the fourth season. Image:BewitchedDickYorkandElizabethMontgomery.jpg Darrin works for an advertising company — McMann and Tate — and his boss, Larry Tate, never learns that Samantha is a witch, despite strange events taking place on a weekly basis. The Stephenses live at 1164 Morning Glory Circle, Westport, Connecticut. Across the road lives nosy neighbor Gladys Kravitz (played first by Alice Pearce, who won a 1966 Emmy for this role; following Pearce's death in 1966 the role was played by Sandra Gould). Image:Bewitched1.jpg

Adding to the fun was the Stephens' witch daughter Tabitha, and the later-added baby boy Adam, and various witches, warlocks, and mere mortals. The program made use of clever-for-its-time special effects to work its magic, and the story lines were imaginative and good-natured. Most episodes ended with Darrin, having been the victim of witchcraft throughout the episode (often with a spell put upon him by Endora), affirming his love for Samantha and acknowledging that, like it or not, he would have to accept witchcraft in his life.

Image:Moorehead as Endora.jpg The show was an immediate hit and was second only to Bonanza in its first season. It continued to rate well for another six years, but it lost some popularity when Dick York (who played Darrin) left the series in 1969, owing to health problems, and was replaced by Dick Sargent. The drop in popularity is ironic in light of the fact that Sargent had been the original choice to play Darrin, but had been unavailable in 1964.

However, it should be noted that Dick Sargent was first considered for the role of Darrin only when actress Tammy Grimes was first offered the role of Samantha, which was before William Asher and Elizabeth Montgomery were even involved with the show. William Asher's first and only choice was Dick York since "He [Dick] was too perfect for the role".

In 1966 the show saw Samantha give birth to daughter Tabitha, played by fraternal twins Erin and Diane Murphy. Tabitha took after her mother with her witch abilities, adding to Darrin's worries. In 1968 Diane Murphy was fired as the sisters began looking less and less alike.

Image:BewitchedGeorgeTobiasandAlicePearce.jpg 1969 saw the birth of Adam, played by Greg and David Lawrence. Many see this family addition as another reason for the continued drop in popularity.

It should be noted that Elizabeth Montgomery wanted to end the series at the conclusion of the show's fifth season, not only because of Dick York's departure, but both Elizabeth Montgomery and William Asher were getting tired of the series and wanted to move on to other projects, but ABC did not want to drop one of its top-grossers. Since the series was one of the network's few hits, they offered Montgomery and her husband, producer William Asher, significant pay raises for another three seasons plus part ownership of the series (the last season was produced by Ashmont, a production company owned by William Asher and Elizabeth Montgomery). By the series' seventh season, many felt the story ideas had started to run dry, with many older episodes being remade. By the last season (1971–1972), episodes were being remade almost word for word.

Image:Bewstone.jpg ABC renewed Bewitched for another season despite poor ratings in the 8th season. But during the 8th season, Elizabeth's marriage had deteriorated and her relationship with director Richard Michaels became a love affair. After the filming of the season was completed she moved in with Michaels, ending her marriage with husband-producer William Asher. Who would actually produce and direct a 9th season had no accepatble answer so Elizabeth Montgomery finally decided to move on to other projects, thereby ending the show a season early. Her relationship with Richard Michaels lasted 2 1/2 years.

Bewitched continues to be seen throughout the world in syndication. TV Guide recently listed Bewitched as the 50th Greatest Television Program of All Time.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the first two seasons of Bewitched on DVD in 2005 with more seasons expected in 2006. Due to the fact the first season was produced in black and white, Sony released two versions of the set in region 1: one with the episodes as originally broadcast and a second with the episodes colorized. The color set outsold the black and white set by a substantial margin. The colorized edition was the only one released in region 2 and region 4.

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Regular and recurring characters

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Spin-offs

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Tabitha and Adam and the Clown Family

An animated cartoon made in 1972 by Hanna-Barbera Productions for the ABC Saturday Superstar Movie, this featured a teenage version of Tabitha and Adam visiting their aunt and her family who travel with a circus.

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Tabitha

In 1977, a spin-off show entitled Tabitha aired on the ABC network. The show, which ran for less than a season, starred Lisa Hartman as an adult Tabitha.

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Bewitched movie

Bewitched is a 2005 movie re-imagining starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. When Jack Wyatt (Ferrell), a failing Hollywood actor, is offered the chance of a career comeback playing Darrin in a remake of Bewitched, all he has to do is find the perfect girl to play Samantha. He finds Isabel Bigelow (Kidman), who really is a witch. It is set in Los Angeles rather than Connecticut.

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Remakes

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Argentina

In 2006, the local remake of Bewitched, Hechizada, will be made by Telefé and is slated to be aired in April. Florencia Peña will play the role of "Samantha".

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India

In 2002, Sony Entertainment Television (India) began airing Meri Biwi Wonderful, a local adaptation of Bewitched.

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Japan

The Japanese TBS network, in collaboration with Sony Pictures Entertainment, produced a remake called 奥さまは魔女 (Oku-sama wa majō) (My wife is a witch) . Eleven episodes were broadcast on Friday nights at 22:00, from January 16 to March 26, 2004, with a special extra episode broadcast on December 21, 2004. The main character, Arisa Matsui, was performed by Ryōko Yonekura. 奥さまは魔女 is also the Japanese title for the original American series.

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Chile

The Chilean television channel Mega, in collaboration with Sony Pictures Entertainment, will produce a remake called La Hechizada.[1]

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Controversy

Image:TVGuidebewitched.jpg The show's witchcraft-related subject matter initially infuriated some evangelical and fundamentalist Christian organizations, claiming that the show displayed the playful use of ungodly powers in a context that characterized them as good rather than the evil some Christians believed them to be.

Elizabeth had an affair with Richard Michaels, a director of the show, during filming of the eight season. They finally came out with the truth after the season ended. Her marriage to producer William Asher ended and so did the series. (Granted, some believe that Asher was having affairs of his own as well). She moved out of their house, and moved in with Michaels. They lived together for two and a half years before they ended the relationship.

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Bewitched in other languages

  • Catalan: Embruixada
  • Chinese: 神仙家庭 (literally, "the family of 神仙")
    • NOTE: 神仙 means a supernatural or immortal being (i.e. fairy, elf, leprechaun)
  • French: Ma sorcière bien aimée
  • German: Verliebt in eine Hexe (In Love With a Witch)
  • Italian: Vita da Strega (Life as a Witch)
  • Japanese: 奥さまは魔女 (Oku-sama wa majō)
  • Korean: 아내는 요술쟁이 (R.R.: anaeneun yosuljaengi; My wife is witch)
    • NOTE: Theatrical film title is 그녀는 요술쟁이 (R.R.: geunyeoneun yosuljaengi; She is a witch). For reason, see Bewitched (film)
  • Portuguese
  • Spanish
    • Spain: Embrujada
    • Latin America: Hechizada
      • NOTE: The Chilean remake is called La hechizada
  • Turkish: Tatlı Cadı (Sweet Witch)
  • Finnish: Vaimoni on noita (My Wife is a Witch)
  • Greek: I Maghissa (The Witch)
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See also

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Trivia

  • The show was featured in a Jack Chick tract.
  • Australia's first winner of Nine Network's 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' quiz show correctly answered a) Bewitched, to the million dollar question: Which, of these four '60s television show, premiered first: a) Bewitched, b) Get Smart, c) Hogan's Heroes or d) I Dream of Jeannie.
  • Darrin Stephens is named James Stephens in Brazil.
  • Samantha and Darrin Stephens made a cameo in The Flintstones
  • Samantha and Darrin were the first live action characters to share a bed together (according to the first season DVD) Not even in "I Love Lucy" did characters sleep in the same bed (though The Flintstones, not a live-action show, predates Bewitched with characters sharing beds).
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Darrin Stephens's Wardrobe

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External links

es:Hechizada fr:Ma sorcière bien-aimée he:סמנת'ה ja:奥さまは魔女 (テレビドラマ) no:Bewitched sv:Bewitched zh:神仙家庭

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