Bewitched Season 8? (1 Viewer)

[Jdcrackers]

Does anyone have the Herbie J Pilato book "Bewitched Forever"? I noticed in season 4 he mentions that Darrins only relative other than his parents is his cousin Helen on the show... but I noticed in Season 8 we got introduced to his cousin Robbie in the Loch Ness Monster episode... also I have a theory... lol maybe they made the creature so cheap because they were afraid if they made it too realistic it may have scared the kids?? Just a theory... because I know how the kids loved BW and I Dream of Jeannie during that time... By the way... why was IDOJ canceled after season 5? I thought it had high ratings? I know this is the BW Forum, but just wondering...

 

[JohnMor]

I think Herbie probably forgot about Robbie when he wrote that in the book.

And I think where Nessie is concerned, there is only so much they could do on a television schedule and budget in those days, so they opted for campy & cute, which I think works well if you accept that it's just a comedy. I love the way Liz plays off him. She gets it. (And it's kinda the way they did the Macedonian DoDo bird in S4 and S8 as well.)

As far as IDOJ, I remember Bill Daily saying that they never got more than a 13 episode renewal from NBC at a time. It was never a big ratings winner when it aired on the network. That happened in syndication, where it proved to be a monster hit, one of the biggest of the 1970's.

In fact, for most of it's original network airing, NBC didn't even schedule it in Prime Time. And they kept changing the day each season:

Season 1: Saturday 8:00pm EST
Season 2: Monday 8:00pm EST
Season 3: Tuesday 7:30pm EST
Season 4: Monday 7:30pm EST
Saeson 5: Tuesday 7:30pm EST
Edited by JohnMor - 7/27/2009 at 10:07 pm GMT
Edited by JohnMor - 7/27/2009 at 10:08 pm GMT

 

[Jdcrackers]

It seems like NBC still does that to this day... Wonder why?

 

[Jdcrackers]

Hey guys do you think in the episode "Samantha on Thin Ice" that was really her ice skating? She wore the witch face, and I am betting that was a stunt double? I think in the syndicated version it didn't show her twirling around... I found a lot of snipets I hadn't seen because of the syndicated versions... I just love this season...

Another question I have is did Liz introduce BW in all the seasons or was it just season 8?

 

[JohnMor]

Mike, yes that was a stunt double under the witch make-up. You can see in the brief shot of Liz starting to twirl that she wasn't quite enough of an ice skater to pull off that routine. Erin was also doubled.

Liz began introducing the eps in Season 5. They had one version of her doing it for Seasons Five and Six, and then they revamped it for Season Seven, and again for Season Eight. (Prior to Season Five, they had a title card that introduced the show.)

You can see the various versions on some of the BW fan sites on the web.

It's too bad they didn't put them all on the respective seasons episodes.

 

[Michael Rogers]

Even with the reduction in some of the production values in this season I thought the invisible effects work on A Good Turn Never Goes Unpunished was pretty good. I don't remember ever seeing the scene with invisible Sam in bed in syndication until I stumbled on some shows being shown uncut on a local channel a few years ago. I thought the bed effect was great and I liked the blue screen effect when she is using the iron.

 

[Larry Tate]

Yes there were 4 Liz introductions in all with a Bewitched next in color card as well
(there were two versions of this with one having the Bewitched theme music playing) there were two in season 7, the generic one & another devoted to Salem & those episodes.

Larry Tate

 

[Larry Tate]

Originally Posted by JohnMor /forum/thread/283275/bewitched-season-8/240#post_3589585
I think Herbie probably forgot about Robbie when he wrote that in the book.
And I think where Nessie is concerned, there is only so much they could do on a television schedule and budget in those days, so they opted for campy & cute, which I think works well if you accept that it's just a comedy. I love the way Liz plays off him. She gets it. (And it's kinda the way they did the Macedonian DoDo bird in S4 and S8 as well.)
As far as IDOJ, I remember Bill Daily saying that they never got more than a 13 episode renewal from NBC at a time. It was never a big ratings winner when it aired on the network. That happened in syndication, where it proved to be a monster hit, one of the biggest of the 1970's.
In fact, for most of it's original network airing, NBC didn't even schedule it in Prime Time. And they kept changing the day each season:
Season 1: Saturday 8:00pm EST
Season 2: Monday 8:00pm EST
Season 3: Tuesday 7:30pm EST
Season 4: Monday 7:30pm EST
Saeson 5: Tuesday 7:30pm EST
Edited by JohnMor - 7/27/2009 at 10:07 pm GMT
Edited by JohnMor - 7/27/2009 at 10:08 pm GMT

Are you sure about the IDOJ seasons not being in prime-time as that can't be right.
It was barely a top 30 rated show so it was only moderately successful.
With the Nessie Prop, you have to remember it was Serena that turned Bruce into Nessie & with her sense of humor it would look exactly as it does in the show & could not be expected to look like a realistic Nessie, plus the episode had many moments of high camp comedy such as this one so i can not see the Nessie prop as being any other way then it was, & it would have not been as effective if it had been a sophisticated & realistic one.
So i don't see it as being cheap but rather an effective way to intentionally show what silly Brucie would have had done to him by a way out witch like Serena, it is not meant to be taken seriously.
Larry Tate

 

[Larry Tate]

Originally Posted by Mark Talmadge /forum/thread/283275/bewitched-season-8/240#post_3589440
One of the things I hated about Bewitched and about Darrin's character is that the writer's always portrayed him as an abuser. Just about in every episode, he was either yelling at Samantha or some member of her family. If he really loved his wife, he would have been more accepting of Samantha's talents and her family.

Bottom line the conflict that existed was between Darrin's insistence that his family live in mortal world context magic free & Endora & the Witch World's insistence that they & particularly Samantha & the children live a magical life in the Witch world.
Now this had to be to create the dramatic tension & conflict that the story-lines were created around.
Without it there would have been no show Bewitched as we know it.
There would have been only a half a season with that premise of magical gratification before the show got stale with everyone getting what they wanted through magic.
To stay true to the premise & to maintain the credibility and integrity of Darrin's character he had to remain consistent in his insistence that their life be magic free.
This is demonstrated in the episode "The Girl with the golden nose" & others in the line of
"A is for Aardvark".
The conflict was never a personal one between Darrin & Endora & company or even that he was mortal, it was all based on his insistence of no magic & whenever he even for a moment changed his tune on that such as when he said he was wrong in a situation of magicalness then Endora's attitude went 180 degrees in respect to Darrin & no longer was a hostile one.
Although Darrin received no assurance from Samantha's family of no witchcraft, he was simply being consistent in his opposition to witchcraft by whomever, especially if it impacted on the life of him & his family.
I don't think Darrin was ever abusive towards Samantha, rather he was reacting to the extreme to some impossible situation he was placed in by magic be a member of Samantha's family.
If he had been accepting of the use of Witchcraft by Samantha & her family then he would have been a hypocrite and a traitor to his values & all that he stood for, the hard working all American executive devoted to free enterprise & the American way.
He took it out on her at times as she was his contact to her witchly world inhabited by her family that were causing all the problems in his life.
Larry Tate

 

[JohnMor]

Originally Posted by Larry Tate /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Are you sure about the IDOJ seasons not being in prime-time as that can't be right.
It was barely a top 30 rated show so it was only moderately successful.
Larry Tate

Actually, you're right. The info is taken right from the networks' published schedules, but I just looked up and found out that prior to the 1971-72 season, Prime Time was 3 & 1/2 hours. I didn't know that. So while it aired at 7:30pm EST, it WAS in Prime Time. My bad.

 

[Jdcrackers]

I have been going through all the episodes from season 1-8 this past week and have any of you noticed that during the 7th season I think Larry tends to start picking up the hints about Darrin and Samantha... I think during the last two seasons you can see Larry noticing somethings were different as compared to the previous seasons when he had no clue... I like how the show evolved over the course of 8 years... very interesting

 

[Mark Talmadge]

Well, it's about time that I dug my heels into watching the rest of the Bewitched series with Dick Sargeant(the second Darrin). Now, I'm planning to finally watching the rest of these episodes and I can say that after this that I have finally watched every single episode of Bewitched for the first time.

However, I still lilke the first two seasons, personally. For some reason, the black and white episodes of the first seasons are the best, at least, for me, personally.

 

[Rob_Ray]

Originally Posted by Mark Talmadge /img/forum/go_quote.gif
However, I still lilke the first two seasons, personally. For some reason, the black and white episodes of the first seasons are the best, at least, for me, personally.

I'm with you all the way. The black and white shows were entirely different and far preferable for me. It was a love story of two people trying to make the ultimate in "mixed marriages" work, taking the typically silly supernatural sitcom into moments that were genuinely moving and occasionally quite touching. There was a sense of reality among all the shenanigans. It worked on two levels: it was a clever sitcom with special effects that kept kids entertained and at the same time it explored emotional relationships between two very different families brought together by marriage in ways that resonated with everyone trying to make any relationship work. Later on, Dr. Bombay and Serena provided laughs, but that warmth found in the early shows was gone.
The Darrin vs. Endora conflict never contained the nuances it should have. Deep down, there should have been a respect and mutual admiration by both for qualities that the other had even if they rarely rose to the surface. My favorite moment with Darrin and Endora was at the birth of Tabitha, where Endora asks Darrin if he could swim and when he says he can't swim a stroke, she says, "Well then we better use these!" and zaps up a couple of handkerchieves to share their tears together. More moments like that could have made their ongoing battles less strident, predictable and ultimately silly.
The black and white Gladys played by Alice Pearce elicited genuine audience sympathy as we watched her begin to doubt her sanity as she witnessed all the crazy goings on across the street. The color-era Gladys played by Sandra Gould was just plain mean and you couldn't wait for her to get put in her place. Much as I love Sandra Gould as an actress, I couldn't stand her character. And when Marion Lorne left us after season four, she took the last vestiges of those early heart-felt episodes with her.
There were other occasional episodes during the later years that tried to give us some tender moments ("Sisters at Heart", etc.) but there was far too much Loch Ness Monster Serena-inspired camp without a whiff of reality anywhere. As a sitcom aimed at children, it was still one of the best, but for adults looking for something more amidst all the childish hijinks, there was nothing there.
Seasons One and Two are among my favorite sitcoms of all time. I wish I could say the same for the later years, but I can't.
Edited by Rob_Ray - 7/30/2009 at 06:38 pm GMT

 

[Mark Talmadge]

Rob, I agree with you.

I just find it odd that the writers on the show always keep Darrin and Endora at odds with each other. While it was entertaining for the first few seasons, it became tediously ridiculous as the show went on with absolutely no character development.

While I'll always love the Bewitched series, I just think that the writers spent too much time trying to throw Darrin into one situation or another instead of trying to develop the various characters that appear throughout the series. I just think that writers spent more time developing the characters on I Dream of Jeannie than they did on Bewitched.

 

[Jdcrackers]

We should create a Bewitched Complete Series Home Theater Forum. Anyone Interested? I hope they include the Bewitched Back in Moment on all of them and have Liz introducing and all kinds of goodies... You know the Stephens House would be a nice display for the DVDs... Any suggestions?

 

[Jdcrackers]

I read an interesting piece of information about the series Temperatures Rising. It ran from 1972-1974 and William Asher would have done Bewitched until then, but Liz didn't want to come back for the future seasons... This is very interesting that would have meant BW would have had 10 seasons. WOW! William Asher did TR instead to stay on ABC's good side. I think it would have been interesting to see Tabs get into her pre-teen years. I also like the fact that in the last few years Samantha was getting more independent... wonder if any episodes for the 9th season were written?

 

[Garysb]

Originally Posted by Mark Talmadge /forum/thread/283275/bewitched-season-8/270#post_3590800
Rob, I agree with you.
I just find it odd that the writers on the show always keep Darrin and Endora at odds with each other. While it was entertaining for the first few seasons, it became tediously ridiculous as the show went on with absolutely no character development.

There were shows in the early years where Endora actually helped Samantha help Darrin such as when Darrin's mother and father were going to get a divorce, Endora helped get them back together and when Samantha's father found out she married a mortal Endora stood by Samantha.
On another topic who else was Aunt Clara related to besides Samantha? It was always clear that Endora and Arthur were brother and sister but not so Clara. Did Endora ever refer to Clara as her sister ?

 

[JohnMor]

Originally Posted by Garysb /img/forum/go_quote.gif
There were shows in the early years where Endora actually helped Samantha help Darrin such as when Darrin's mother and father were going to get a divorce, Endora helped get them back together and when Samantha's father found out she married a mortal Endora stood by Samantha.
On another topic who else was Aunt Clara related to besides Samantha? It was always clear that Endora and Arthur were brother and sister but not so Clara. Did Endora ever refer to Clara as her sister ?

Even later on Endora helped Sam and Darrin if the chips were down.
As for Clara, yes it was said that she was Endora's sister. The whole family tree was never really set in stone, though. In season three alone, Endora says she was an only child until Arthur came along, but in two other episodes she and Clara and Hagatha and Enchantra are sisters.
In season 4's "Allergic to Ancient Macedonian DoDo Birds" Endora loses her powers, which attach themselves to a blood relative: Clara.

 

[Larry Tate]

In season 4's "Allergic to Ancient Macedonian Do Do Birds" the reference is not to a Blood relative but to a relative so there is no confirmation there that Aunt Clara was Endora's sister.

As well there is never any statement that Clara is Endora's sister.
In the two episodes you refer too Hagatha & Enchantra are referred to as Sisters
as in being sisterly but there is never any connection relationship wise as to what
Endora & Aunt Clara were to each other or too Hagatha & Enchantra for that matter.

In Conclusion although it is not clear or definitive, my view is that Aunt Clara, Endora, Hagatha
and Enchantra were indeed sisters but it was never confirmed on screen so to speak.

Larry Tate

 

[Larry Tate]

Originally Posted by Jdcrackers /forum/thread/283275/bewitched-season-8/270#post_3593099
I read an interesting piece of information about the series Temperatures Rising. It ran from 1972-1974 and William Asher would have done Bewitched until then, but Liz didn't want to come back for the future seasons... This is very interesting that would have meant BW would have had 10 seasons. WOW! William Asher did TR instead to stay on ABC's good side. I think it would have been interesting to see Tabs get into her pre-teen years. I also like the fact that in the last few years Samantha was getting more independent... wonder if any episodes for the 9th season were written?

Actually the Temperatures rising series was not Bill Asher trying to stay in the good graces of ABC, rather it was part of the new contract that Liz & he signed with ABC & Screen Gems after season 5 to do at least 2 more seasons of Bewitched.
A 3rd season ( season 8) option was picked up but when the last options for a season 9 & a TV Movie with Bewitched was not picked up by Liz, then ABC was contractually bound for at least 2 seasons of some show to Ashmont their production company since 1964, hence the TR series came about.
As far as i know no season 9 scripts were ever written.
Larry Tate