Bewitched Season 8? (1 Viewer)

[Rob_Ray]

The onscreen announcer commenced with season six on the original network airings. I remember vividly because as a kid I always thought he came in late with the show title. I never saw the show in its cable reruns, so my memory is solely from the original ABC broadcasts on Thursday nghts.

I stopped watching the show around season seven because at fourteen I started losing interest and thought the show was getting too silly and repetitive. And soon they moved the show to, I believe, Saturday, and we all knew it was over. Bewitched had been ABC's rock on which it built its Thursday nights for years and moving it to Saturdays was the network's acknowledgement that its days were numbered. By the middle of season eight, my local station, KTRK in Houston, started tape delaying it and airing it on Sunday afternoons. When the major affiliates start taking your shows out of their prime time schedules, you know it's just a matter of time.

With some exceptions, I never saw much of season eight until I picked up the new DVD. And what little I saw in 1971 made me groan at how far the show had fallen. Now, decades later, I see that there were a few good ones like "Serena's Youth Pill" sprinkled about all the remakes. And the current state of what passes for "comedy" makes me think of these as classics.

But I recently had a problem with the season eight remake of a season one episode where Darrin thought Samantha had used witchcraft to help sell his ad campaign. It's perfectly understandable for Darrin to be that paranoid as a newlywed, but after being married over seven years, it's an insult to Samantha to think she'd interfere in that way. Doesn't he know her better than that after all these years? His stubborn refusal to listen to her repeated denials in that one made me wince. If you're going to remake a storyline, at least update it to fit the current relationship!

 

[Larry Tate]

Originally Posted by Jdcrackers /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Maybe someone can answer this question. Who was the announcer that announced Elizabeth Montgomery in seasons 6-8? And isn't it true that during the original run it just started with season 8? Does anyone know why they started doing it for 6 and 7? Was it because Dick Sargent so people wouldn't get confused? Just curious... I really love the last 3 seasons and like to know all the trivia possible about them. Thanks

Some people have said they thought the announcer was Dick Sargent but i don't think it was he myself, most likely it was a studio inhouse voice talent.
Only in Season 8 in the original run of Bewitched were the voice over's done in the animated opening.
I have the original studio 16mm prints from many of the episodes from Seasons 6 though 8 & as a result i see them as they were originally shown in Primetime.
As well in Season 7 they changed the music for the opening & ending speeding it up from the Season 6 version & retained the faster music for Season 8.
As well in the last two seasons the Screen Gems Logo at the end of the show was a shortend variety of about 2 seconds compared to Seasons 2 through 7.
Liz renewed her contract option for season 8 and that was one of the perks she got along with half ownership in the show, a ton of money as in a million dollars, an Ashmont credit etc.
They in syndication later added it in for Season's 6 & 7 as well when they slapped on the Season 8 animated opening on the season 6 & 7 episodes as well.
Everyone already knew it was Dick Sargent in Season's 6 & 7 due to his animated likeness already being in it.
Larry Tate

 

[Jdcrackers]

In the episode "Tabitha's first day of School" when Ms. Hickman and Samantha are discussing how The Board of Education found out about Tabitha who do you think told them about her not being enrolled in school? I was thinking either Mrs Kravitiz or Mrs. Stephens. I love that episode!

 

[Larry Tate]

Originally Posted by Jdcrackers /img/forum/go_quote.gif
In the episode "Tabitha's first day of School" when Ms. Hickman and Samantha are discussing how The Board of Education found out about Tabitha who do you think told them about her not being enrolled in school? I was thinking either Mrs Kravitiz or Mrs. Stephens. I love that episode!

My Guess it had to be Mrs.Kravitz, Mrs.Stephens was a nosey interferring busybody, but i don't think she would ever rat Samantha & Tabitha out, she would just try to nag them into it.
Larry Tate

 

[Jdcrackers]

That's who I was thinking of too when she asked Ms. Hickman who told her and Mrs. Kravitz was always snooping around the Stephens house. In the episode where Ms. Peabody asks Samantha where she is from reminded me of when Mrs Kravitz asked Samantha if she was from Venus. I think that was back in the earlier seasons.

Why did they decide to not show "Serena's Richcraft" during the 7th season? I know it was filmed around the middle of the 7th season so I was just curious.

 

[Larry Tate]

Originally Posted by Jdcrackers /img/forum/go_quote.gif
That's who I was thinking of too when she asked Ms. Hickman who told her and Mrs. Kravitz was always snooping around the Stephens house. In the episode where Ms. Peabody asks Samantha where she is from reminded me of when Mrs Kravitz asked Samantha if she was from Venus. I think that was back in the earlier seasons.
Why did they decide to not show "Serena's Richcraft" during the 7th season? I know it was filmed around the middle of the 7th season so I was just curious.

Yes that was in season one episode #29 "Abner Kadabra" that the Venus comment was made, i think it was Mrs.Grumbacker who thought that was the case.
About Serena's Richcraft not sure what that was about as i too have wondered why it was put off to Season 8, although this was not unknown as one Season 4 & four Season 6 episodes were filmed late in one Season & then shown in the following Season.
Larry Tate

 

[JohnMor]

Serena's Richcraft was the only episode in BW history to be held back into the following season. It was a common practice for some series to do that, but not BW. It could be that they wanted to give it more time between the episode it (mostly) remade, A Chance on Love from the season before. That was the quickest time between remakes and they may have wanted to put some distance between the airing of the two.
The only other time it happened, it was not planned. Toys in Babeland is actually a Season Three epsiode that was scheduled to air on 5/11/67, marking the season finale. It appears in TV Guide for that week. But ABC had to preempt it at the last minute. Therefore, it was re-scheduled as early in Season Four as they could (week #2), bearing in mind that the season premiere was about Sam being chosen Queen of the Witches. In fact, in the TV Guide description for it on 9/14/67, it states "Postponed from a previously schedule date."

 

[Larry Tate]

Hummmm........well if Toys in Babeland was scheduled to be the final episode of Season 3 then there would have been 34 episodes that season not 33 as was the case the following year as well, lending one to think that as they would not have gone from 36 episodes the first 2 seasons to 34 then to 33, although that is possible.


As well why would they not have simply showed it the following week as they did on other occasions with a premption rather then put it off to the following season.


Of course to accommodate Liz's pregnancy they did film 4 episodes at the end of Season 5 that were later shown in Season 6 after being held back a Season.


#171 Samantha & the Beanstalk 4/18/69 9/18/69
#172 Samantha's Yoo Hoo Maid 4/6/69 9/25/69
#174 Samantha's curious cravings 4/25/69 10/9/69
#185 Samantha's better halves 3/31/69 1/1/70


3/11/69 was the filming date for the last episode filmed in Season 5, a break of a few weeks between filming of episodes in a particular season was quite common.


Larry Tate

 

[Larry Tate]

Originally Posted by Rob_Ray /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The onscreen announcer commenced with season six on the original network airings. I remember vividly because as a kid I always thought he came in late with the show title. I never saw the show in its cable reruns, so my memory is solely from the original ABC broadcasts on Thursday nghts.
I stopped watching the show around season seven because at fourteen I started losing interest and thought the show was getting too silly and repetitive. And soon they moved the show to, I believe, Saturday, and we all knew it was over. Bewitched had been ABC's rock on which it built its Thursday nights for years and moving it to Saturdays was the network's acknowledgement that its days were numbered. By the middle of season eight, my local station, KTRK in Houston, started tape delaying it and airing it on Sunday afternoons. When the major affiliates start taking your shows out of their prime time schedules, you know it's just a matter of time.
With some exceptions, I never saw much of season eight until I picked up the new DVD. And what little I saw in 1971 made me groan at how far the show had fallen. Now, decades later, I see that there were a few good ones like "Serena's Youth Pill" sprinkled about all the remakes. And the current state of what passes for "comedy" makes me think of these as classics.
But I recently had a problem with the season eight remake of a season one episode where Darrin thought Samantha had used witchcraft to help sell his ad campaign. It's perfectly understandable for Darrin to be that paranoid as a newlywed, but after being married over seven years, it's an insult to Samantha to think she'd interfere in that way. Doesn't he know her better than that after all these years? His stubborn refusal to listen to her repeated denials in that one made me wince. If you're going to remake a storyline, at least update it to fit the current relationship!

Bewitched was not moved from Thursday to Saturday to push it aside, but rather as a counter
programming move against the new ratings giant on the scene All in the Family.
it actually did very well against in the key demographics that sponsors salivate over, lending ABC to renew it for a 9th season.
After Liz changed her mind after initially agreeing to a Season 9, ABC went to her home with a high powered delegation & begged her to change her mind offering her everything yet she politely demmured & that was that.
As to Darrin not believing Samantha, there had been many times since the early days of his marriage to her that she had used her witchcraft to help him with a client etc, usually to fix a problem that witchcraft had caused by her family.
But as well there were times she did it without his knowledge & as a result of finding this out later he would be sceptical as to her denials in this case, her many uses of magic in similar situations as this would also cause him to question her in this particular case & understandably so.
So an insult?, no i don't think so, as well he only expressed disbelief & she denied it only once not over & over again in this case before he retreated from the discussion right away, so i don't see that myself in that scene that is suggested.
Larry Tate

 

[JohnMor]

Originally Posted by Larry Tate /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Hummmm........well if Toys in Babeland was scheduled to be the final episode of Season 3 then there would have been 34 episodes that season not 33 as was the case the following year as well, lending one to think that as they would not have gone from 36 episodes the first 2 seasons to 34 then to 33, although that is possible.
As well why would they not have simply showed it the following week as they did on other occasions with a premption rather then put it off to the following season.
Of course to accommodate Liz's pregnancy they did film 4 episodes at the end of Season 5 that were later shown in Season 6 after being held back a Season.
#171 Samantha & the Beanstalk 4/18/69 9/18/69
#172 Samantha's Yoo Hoo Maid 4/6/69 9/25/69
#174 Samantha's curious cravings 4/25/69 10/9/69
#185 Samantha's better halves 3/31/69 1/1/70
3/11/69 was the filming date for the last episode filmed in Season 5, a break of a few weeks between filming of episodes in a particular season was quite common.
Larry Tate

They didn't show last minute preemptions the following week as a rule. They rescheduled them. The one time they did that was in Season One with Mother Meets Whats-His-Name because it was so important to overall plot of the series. That's why It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog wasn't aired until repeats.

As for the pregnancy episodes, they weren't held back. They were never part of Season Five. They were always meant to be Season Six eps. They were just filmed around the pregancy.

 

[Garysb]

#185 Samantha's better halves 3/31/69
Always seems funny that the first episode Dick Sargent filmed was a remake plus had Samantha say lines like " I only want one Darrin."
As for the "Fan Favorites" it looks like Sony chose one episode and they just released the disk from the season set that the episode appeared. For Bewitched it was Uncle Arthur's first appearance, for "All In The Family" it was cousin Maude's.
Merry Sitcom! Christmas Classics from TV's Golden AgeThe Bewitched episode on this set is
A Vision of Sugar Plums December 24, 1964
Other shows :
Father Knows Best: The Christmas Story December 19, 1954
The Donna Reed Show: A Very Merry Christmas December 24, 1958
McHales Navy: The Day They Captured Santa Claus December 21, 1962
That Girl: Christmas and the Hard Luck Kid December 22, 1966
Window On Main Street: Christmas Memory November 6, 1961
The Flying Nun: Wailing In A Winter Wonderland December 21, 1967
Per the listing at Amazon. Episodes were leased to Shout Factory which is releasing the DVD

 

[Larry Tate]

Originally Posted by JohnMor /img/forum/go_quote.gif
They didn't show last minute preemptions the following week as a rule. They rescheduled them. The one time they did that was in Season One with Mother Meets Whats-His-Name because it was so important to overall plot of the series. That's why It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog wasn't aired until repeats.

As for the pregnancy episodes, they weren't held back. They were never part of Season Five. They were always meant to be Season Six eps. They were just filmed around the pregancy.

One we don't know for sure why Serena's Richcraft was filmed in Season Seven but not shown till Season 8 so we don't know if it was intentionally held back or not along those lines you outline, as for all we know like Toys in Babeland re seasons 3 & 4 it might have been intended for Season 7 but not shown till Season 8 for some reason, or like the Season 6 episodes it might have been filmed in Season 7 with the intention that it would not be seen till Season 8, we just don't know yet.
Besides the whole issue was that there were episodes that were filmed in one season & then seen in the following season, they were all HELD back no matter what the reason for this being the case was, such was the case as you outlined for Babes in Toyland as well for the season 6 episodes for Liz's maternity leave to come as well, so no matter why it was, Serena's Richcraft is not the only one that was heldback no matter what the reason was for it to be heldback which of course we do not as of yet know.
Go to Bewitchded.net's filming schedule & you will see that Bewitched was preempted once in season 2, Season 5, 6 & 8 & Two times in Season 7 as well with in each case the episode to be seen that week simply carried over till the following week with no rescheduling being done as you suggested was the case, so it was the rule as all premptions were last minute & not
pre-planned long in advance.
So the norm was not to reschedule them with them being just shown the following week a rareity, rather it was the other way around, simply showing them the following week was the norm, rescheduling them was the rareity.
Larry Tate

 

[JohnMor]

The copies posted on Bewitched.net are summaries re-typed after the fact. I have copies of the originals, which go into more detail.

Also, you are confusing what's on those papers. All those show are preemptions scheduled in advance by ABC, i.e for specials or holiday programing. They do NOT show last minute preemptions for news or sports related events, such as what happened with Toys in Babeland. During that time, ABC did NOT disturb their pre-advertised schedules by moving the shows back a week as a rule. They did not do it for BW, nor for any other series. They scheduled a last minute preemption into the first available slot. They made an exception in season one for MMW-H-N because it was so important for the fledgling series. If they had done as you said, they would have then scheduled ISHTAD the next week and so on with everything being moved back a week. That is not what they did. ISHTAD went unseen, becoming, in effect, the preempted episode. That is why those schedules do not show either MMW-H-N or ISHTAD as being preempted. They weren't scheduled to be preempted; it happened at the last minute and that is not reflected on those schedules.

Also, as far as Serena's Richcraft possibly being intended for S7, if that were that case, it would have appeared in TV Guide for the scheduled week, as did Toys in Babeland.

 

[JohnMor]

Also, it is a misnomer to say that the pregnancy eps were filmed in Season Five and held back. They were Season Six scripts and intended to air in Season Six. Therefore, they were filmed during production of Season Six, not Five. The fact that they started production early and then shut down for Liz's pregancy does not make it Season Five. Once you are working on Season Six, you are IN PRODUCTION on Season Six. The dates do not determine what is Season Five vs. Six. The production itself does. They were filmed earlier than the norm, but they were not "held back." They aired in Season Six just when they were intended to.

 

[Larry Tate]

Originally Posted by JohnMor /img/forum/go_quote.gif

The copies posted on Bewitched.net are summaries re-typed after the fact. I have copies of the originals, which go into more detail.

Also, you are confusing what's on those papers. All those show are preemptions scheduled in advance by ABC, i.e for specials or holiday programing. They do NOT show last minute preemptions for news or sports related events, such as what happened with Toys in Babeland. During that time, ABC did NOT disturb their pre-advertised schedules by moving the shows back a week as a rule. They did not do it for BW, nor for any other series. They scheduled a last minute preemption into the first available slot. They made an exception in season one for MMW-H-N because it was so important for the fledgling series. If they had done as you said, they would have then scheduled ISHTAD the next week and so on with everything being moved back a week. That is not what they did. ISHTAD went unseen, becoming, in effect, the preempted episode. That is why those schedules do not show either MMW-H-N or ISHTAD as being preempted. They weren't scheduled to be preempted; it happened at the last minute and that is not reflected on those schedules.

Also, as far as Serena's Richcraft possibly being intended for S7, if that were that case, it would have appeared in TV Guide for the scheduled week, as did Toys in Babeland.

What difference does it make if the summeries are typed after the fact or as they happened, the dates are still the same with them still being filmed in one season & seen in another, what you said makes no sense.

MMW-H-N & ISHTAD were the one exception with ISHATAD being actually seen as the 36th episode in Season One with this being due to the unique impact the episode had on the series re Darrin meeting Endora & all, it was not the template on how this situation was handled throughout the series run.

That has no bearing on the fact that no matter the context of the preemption, if episode X was preempted then it was seen the following week not fitted in down the road many weeks later, nothing you have said states this was the case and that a show was not simply seen the following week, with Bewitched that was the norm.

It matters not if Serena's Richcraft appeared in TV Guide or not as to if it was filmed for Season 7 or not, it could well have been yet for any number of reasons was decided to be held back to season 8 well in advance of when it would have been scheduled for a particular week in season 7 & listed as such in that weeks TV Guide, so it would not have been in the TV Guide in that context if it was intended to be seen in season 7 but delayed to season 8, whether it was listed in TV Guide or not is not relevant & proves nothing as to whether it was intended for
season 7 or 8 when it was filmed.


Again you miss the point, the whole thing about the held back is that an episode is filmed during the season for the next season, even if it is at the very very end of the season it is still part of the season therefore the season 6 episodes were STILL filmed at the VERY END of Season 5 no matter if they were intended for season 6 from the get go or not.

The Production season is determined chronologically not seasonly so your statement otherewise is incorrect on this, if it was filmed with the season 5 episodes (which it was even if it was with the last few of them) no matter if it was from the start intended for Season 6, it was still filmed during Season 5 (which it was in this case) during the season 5 filming production schedule (which it was in this case) to be seen in Season 6, this was also the case in respect to the 4 season Six episodes in question which were filmed right at the end of the Season 5 filming schedule no matter the intent as to when they would be seen.

So they were filmed during the Season 5 Production Schedule which are determined by the DATES chronologically speaking NOT the Production Season it is intended for.

If an episode was filmed in Season 2 for Season 4 for example, even if it was intended for Season 4 with Season 4 scripts it would have been filmed in Season 2's Production schedule
because Dates are what determine the Production schedule not the Season it is intended for.

It is still filmed when it was no matter for when, time is the determining factor here.
In respect to the Heldback aspect no matter the intent & the script being for next season, if it was filmed this season then then it was still held back from this season for next season, simple as that.

Larry Tate

 

[JohnMor]

Larry Tate, you missed the point. Again, those schedules DO NOT show last minute preemptions, only ones scheduled in advance by ABC. Please look at them closely: they DO NOT list an epsiode title, mark it PREEMPT and repeat it again the next week. They simply show a scheduled preemption, and YOU ASSUMED it was the episode shown the following week. No where is that stated on those schedules.
A simple check of the original TV Guides will confirm that the weeks marked PREEMPT on the schedules you are referring to do not have ANY episode scheduled that week. For example, in Season Two, the week of 3/31/66 had NO EPISODE SCHEDULED. You assumed that Disappearing Samantha was scheduled that week and then preempted and shown the following week. YOU ARE INCORRECT. TV Guide for 3/31/66 confirms no BW ep scheduled for that day. The following week's TV Guide confirms DS scheduled as listed by Screen Gems. Having gotten copies of the original productions schedules back in the 70's, I cross referrenced them with EVERY episode listing in TV Guide, both first run and summer reruns.
And, again, you have your facts wrong about productions. When a series finishes production on the last script of a season, say season five, and immediately begins work on the next season, say season six, that becomes the production of season six. Dates do NOT have anything to do with it. In the case of BW, NO season six ep was produced until after the last season five episode wrapped on 3/11/69.
Having worked for Sony and having very close ties with long-time ABC executives, believe me I KNOW what I am talking about. But it's irrelevent, as you obviously prefer to surmise than to listen to someone who actually has the facts. You seem to have trouble with someone posting info you don't have. I'm not sure why.
And I'll be sure to let all my co-workers and clients in production know that their season scehdules are determined by dates. It'll be an eye-opener to learn that we work on the prior season until, say, July 1st, or so, when it automatically becomes THIS season. It's great to learn that the production numbers assigned in advance to each season to track script development and expenses are irrelevent until that magic date change comes into effect. And that everyone's salary stays at last season's rate until that magic date change, instead of what season's script you're working on. All those productions doing it wrong all these years.

 

[Larry Tate]

Originally Posted by JohnMor scheduled as listed by Screen Gems. Having gotten copies of the original productions schedules back in the 70's, I cross referrenced them with EVERY episode listing in TV Guide, both first run and summer reruns.

And, again, you have your facts wrong about productions. When a series finishes production on the last script of a season, say season five, and immediately begins work on the next season, say season six, that becomes the production of season six. Dates do NOT have anything to do with it. In the case of BW, NO season six ep was produced until after the last season five episode wrapped on 3/11/69.

Having worked for Sony and having very close ties with long-time ABC executives, believe me I KNOW what I am talking about. But it's irrelevent, as you obviously prefer to surmise than to listen to someone who actually has the facts. You seem to have trouble with someone posting info you don't have. I'm not sure why.

And I'll be sure to let all my co-workers and clients in production know that their season scehdules are determined by dates. It'll be an eye-opener to learn that we work on the prior season until, say, July 1st, or so, when it automatically becomes THIS season. It's great to learn that the production numbers assigned in advance to each season to track script development and expenses are irrelevent until that magic date change comes into effect. And that everyone's salary stays at last season's rate until that magic date change. All those productions doing it wrong all these years.

 

[JohnMor]

You are right. I stand corrected.

Moving on to the land of the sane and the real...

 

[Jdcrackers]

Hey guys I have a couple questions for you! 1) Anyone heard about the box set? One of my friends said that it is going to be shaped like the Neighbourhood??!?? That would be kind of cool and 2) Did Elizabeth do drugs? My friend told me when we were watching season 7 that she started doing them in early 1970. I just don't see Liz doing drugs, but she did smoke right? Thanks

 

[Larry Tate]

Elizabeth Montgomery smoked all her life & socially drank, perhaps a bit too much when
she was married to her alcoholic husband Gig Young, but she never as far as i know
ever dabbled in any drugs, recreationally or otherwise.

Where did your friend come up with this?

Larry Tate