Bewitched Season 8? (1 Viewer)

[Rob_Ray]

Besides, didn't Bewitched's ratings slip... well, plummet during season 8?
That could've been a factor. Besides Elizabeth Montgomery not wanting to come back for a 8th season, maybe ABC didn't want to fund a show that wasn't performing as well as it had been the year before?

By Season 8, everyone connected with the show was merely going through the motions, the budgets were slashed and the ratings dived. It was perceived as a show which had run its course by the affiliates and the audiences. The era of All in the Family and the changes it brought to TV comedy had begun.
I remember that late into season 8, Houston's KTRK started tape-delaying the show and placing it in a Sunday afternoon slot. The network wasn't about to renew a show that wasn't even being aired during primetime in one (or perhaps more) of the major markets in the country.

 

[Jdcrackers]

From what I understand the rating of 72 for the 1972 year was just the ABC rating not the tv series rating... So if Liz decided to come back the show would have went on right? Also I was in the understanding that Bewitched wasn't canceled according to Herbie Pilato.... I read his book and it said the show was supposed to go on for a few more seasons.... He said Liz decided to pop out while the show was still popping... It's in one of the chapters in the book... I can understand why she wanted to leave, but since her and her hubby were not getting a long that would be very hard to deal with. I did read that if Season 9 were filmed 26 more episodes would have been shot... I think if the producers got better writers the last season would have been much better...Does anyone know why her and Mr. Asher had a falling out? Was he cheating on her or vice versa? If you look at the show today compared to the Vietnam War era there are a lot of similarities... One I noticed was in the episode "Sams Old Man" when the hippies were in the car and the sticker on it...reminds me a lot of today... I can't wait for season 8, because I haven't seen those episodes since about 10 years when I was around 18 or so... I can't wait to see them

Liz was pretty political in real life wasn't she? She did incorporate some of her beliefs into the show...

 

[Larry Tate]

When Liz signed back on with Bewitched after season 5 it was a 2 year deal (season 6 & 7) with a mutual option for an 8th season, another for a 9th season & another two way option for a TV Movie of Bewitched.
That was the deal & after season 7 Liz used this as leverage to get a higher % of the gross from 50% up to 80% & more weekly salary etc.
So it was never that she didn't want to do season 8, she did, she was just a shrewd negotiator.
The ratings in the key demographics for season 8 were actually not much different then it had been the previous year or two & were a quite respectable 2nd to All in the Family which was the number one show at the time & a monster to take on, just like Cheers, Seinfeld, Happy Days & Mash later proved to be.
After season 8 Bewitched was renewed by both ABC & Screengems & Liz initially agreed as well, then the following March she told them she had changed her mind & that was that.
ABC sent a high powered delegation to Liz's home to offer her the moon to get her to come back for season 9, she politely listened & then reaffirmed her decision & that it was final, such was the end of Bewitched.
Larry Tate

 

[David*P]

Very interesting, Larry Tate! I wonder what the script would've been like for the TV movie? That would've been so awesome!

 

[Larry Tate]

Another interesting point is that back in 1969 when supposedly according to Bill Asher they wanted to end Bewitched at season 5, they were actually negotiating with CBS for a new weekly TV Series Sitcom.
This was widely reported at the time by Variety & other trade papers.
They had a deal all locked up with CBS & were ready to sign when they then took it to ABC & offered them a chance to match it & keep them on Bewitched.
Of course ABC matched it & the rest is history.
So despite Bill Asher saying they wanted to end the show, the reality seems to me that this was all a negotiating ploy to get the max out of Screen Gems & ABC.
If Liz was burned out with weekly TV & wanted to do other dramatic roles, spend more time at home with her children & husband & just living life, do Movies & was tired of playing Samantha & of Bewitched then why would she be talking to CBS to do the same thing that she was supposedly trying to get away from with Bewitched only with a new Sictom?
If she was tired of playing Samantha & of Bewitched then why didn't she take the same identical offer from CBS to do something new.?
I don't think she ever wanted to leave Bewitched and that she wanted to return to playing Samantha & used CBS & the threat of leaving & all the reasons i mentioned as a way to leverage the most out of Jackie Cooper at Screen Gems that she could.
As well it is reported in Jackie Coopers Bio. that around Christmas that year she already approached Screen Gems per opening up negotiations on her new contract, Jackie Cooper was the head of Screen Gems at the time.
I might add this was after Dick York was no longer on the show.
So all this that they had to beg her to stay & she really wanted out is not the case in my mind.
Jackie Cooper Bio. Excerpts:
"In 1968, during the Christmas season, I was putting the lights up
outside the house when Liz and Bill drove up. They were bringing a
gift-a large and lavish Christmas wreath which I promptly nailed to
the front door.
There were hugs and kisses all around, and we became good friends again.
Soon after that gift it was time for negotiations with her for another
contract. At the time of those negotiations I knew something she didn't
know,and I hoped she would not find out.
That was that ABC was
making us an extremely profitable deal for the syndication rights to
Bewitched. The deal was contingent on our signing her to another
five-year contract. So it was to our interests to sign her before she
got wind of that proviso, if she did find out, she could justifiably hold
us up for a lot more money.
So I became more generous with her than
I might otherwise have been. I wanted her name on that contract very
quickly, and very painlessly, so the syndication deal could go through.
And so I made her a most generous offer-involving cash, a big
increase in her salary, a deferment arrangement.
I believe she received maybe a half million more than she might have, had not circumstances dictated. And that wreath had contributed to my feeling
of kindness.
For years we kept that wreath, and whenever we put it
on the door, every Christmas, Barbara and I joked about the "half million-dollar wreath." The show, as it was, ran on ABC for eight years.
It became one of the big hits in TV series syndication and turned out to be a gold mine."
Liz was a very smart businesswoman.
Larry Tate

 

[Jdcrackers]

Thanks for the info Larry Tate... she was indeed a smart business woman because those shows make a killing off the actors...n ow it makes more sense about the end... it would have been interesting to see the movie and the 9the season though but I loved her in the Victim I think that was her first role after Bewitched right?

 

[Jdcrackers]

If Bewitched Season 8 comes out this July, when do you guys think we will hear about it?

 

[JohnMor]

Probably the first week of May (or the very, very end of April.) Not too long now...

 

[Mark Talmadge]

According to Wikipedia:

Montgomery wanted to end the series at the conclusion of the fifth season because both she and her husband, the show's producer William Asher, were getting tired of it 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 Asher significant pay raises, plus part ownership of the series (via Ashmont, a production company owned by Asher and Montgomery), for another three seasons. By season eight (1971-1972), the story ideas had run dry – with many scripts from the show's earlier seasons being re-shot nearly verbatim. Also, the characters of Abner and Gladys Kravitz (referenced only once), Uncle Arthur and Darrin's parents did not appear. The series was moved to Saturday nights in January 1972 and was pitted against the hit show All in the Family, which proved to be a virtual death knell.

Bewitched finished the 1972 season at no. 72 in the ratings [3]. ABC had planned a ninth season, according to the network's contract with Montgomery and Asher but Elizabeth Montgomery had fallen in love with director Richard Michaels and moved in with him at the end of Season 8, deciding not to come back for another season..

 

[Jdcrackers]

Probably the first week of May (or the very, very end of April.) Not too long now...

John, I can't wait to hear about Season 8... what art cover do you think they will choose? I hope they include Adam on the cover of the final season and I hope they put Sam and Darrin on Disc 1 and 2 and Tabitha and Adam on Disc 3 and 4... I think they have neglected poor little Adam... So if Sony reads this you should put him on the final season... I do hope they choose a colour other than Blue... lol yellow or orange would be great

 

[JohnMor]

I agree. The four Stephenses should be the disc art for the final season. And Blue has been overdone on the covers. I know the credits were blue, but there was no rhyme or reason to the color scheme of the packaging over the seasons. I'd love to see an orange-y or a brick color.
Of course, whatever the packaging is, the episodes and their quality is the most important thing. I can't believe it's almost finished. When I was a kid I dreamed of owning all the episodes somehow (which seemed impossible back then, pre-vcr's) and now it's gonna be a reality after all.

 

[Larry Tate]

Ashmont Productions actually came into being at the very start of Bewitched when the Ashers were recieving 20% of the Gross on the show & then later 50% starting with season 6 & i believe it was up around 80% for season 8.
Yes the Victim was Liz's first movie post Bewitched Nov.14th, 1972.
First off with Wikipedia it is garbage in garbage out, you can not trust anything there as anyone can post anything about anything with zero accountability, the Encyclopaedia Britannica it is not needless to say.
So what is posted there is of little credibility to me.
Elizabeth Montgomery had stated on Camera on many occasions that she NEVER ever got tired or bored playing Samantha or of Bewitched, so that is good enough for me & trumps some micky mouse site like Wikipedia that has zero verification & therefore credibility.
Larry Tate

 

[Jdcrackers]

Larry Tate, I read that Liz never complained once about playing Sam... why do people say that she hated doing the last season? They say there is something in her demeanor that shows it... I haven't seen Season 8 in years so I can't remember... Man, I wished she would have done Season 9... and had a finale I guess so we could have had closure with the show, but it went out with a bang... I love the last lines from Season the truth nothing but the truth etc... so thats the way the series ended... I can't wait for it on DVD...
Do you have any info on the commercials she did for Japan?

 

[JohnMor]

Ashmont Productions actually came into being at the very start of Bewitched when the Ashers were recieving 20% of the Gross on the show & then later 50% starting with season 6 & i believe it was up around 80% for season 8.
Larry Tate

Larry Tate, where did you get that information? It runs contrary to info I've received from certain people in the industry.
(and BTW, you are so right about Wikipedia!)

 

[Jdcrackers]

Here you guys go...an interview...

 

[Larry Tate]

right about Wikipedia!)

If you are refering to the %'s that Ashmont got it is very common knowledge and i must have seen this info in at least a dozen articles on Bewitched & Liz.
As for Ashmont i for ex. have seen a contract it had for Bewitched as early as 1965.
Larry Tate

 

[Larry Tate]

Larry Tate, I read that Liz never complained once about playing Sam... why do people say that she hated doing the last season? They say there is something in her demeanor that shows it... I haven't seen Season 8 in years so I can't remember... Man, I wished she would have done Season 9... and had a finale I guess so we could have had closure with the show, but it went out with a bang... I love the last lines from Season the truth nothing but the truth etc... so thats the way the series ended... I can't wait for it on DVD...
Do you have any info on the commercials she did for Japan?

Yes I have the original transfers of Liz's 3 commercials that she did in Japan on DVD.
I have all the Season 8 episodes uncut on original studio 16 mm prints so I have seen them all about 25 times by now.
Myself all this stuff that people are seeing are just that they are seeing things that they want to be there that are not, this is due to a preconceived agenda that has nothing to do with the reality of what the shows themselves actually entailed.
Her attitude and the way she portrayed Samantha was in no way different then she had at any other point in the series.
Just look at her in the last episode & as well in Bewitched, Bothered & Baldoni, 3 Men & a Witch on a Horse, The Henry the VIII two parter, The leaning tower of Pisa & you see classic Samantha, sweet, happy, Full of Life & utterly attractive in her demeanour.
Larry Tate

 

[Larry Tate]

By Season 8, everyone connected with the show was merely going through the motions, the budgets were slashed and the ratings dived. It was perceived as a show which had run its course by the affiliates and the audiences. The era of All in the Family and the changes it brought to TV comedy had begun.
I remember that late into season 8, Houston's KTRK started tape-delaying the show and placing it in a Sunday afternoon slot. The network wasn't about to renew a show that wasn't even being aired during primetime in one (or perhaps more) of the major markets in the country.

Actually the Budgets at the time for Season 8 were higher then they had ever been on Bewitched & as well about as high as they were at the time in the industry.
The ratings were actually quite respectable & i have seen them listed in the low 40's.
The key Demographics ratings were quite good.
Actually the Network did renew Bewitched for season 9, this is documented.
I have seen them all i saw zero going through the motions, in my view that was anything but the case during Season 8.
Larry Tate

 

[Jdcrackers]

Thanks for all the info Mr. Tate... I just finished watching the E True Hollywood Story of BW on Youtube... overall it was good, but I was a bit disappointed that they didn't say anything about Marion Lorne or Maurice Evans or even the twins that played Adam... they even mentioned Esmeralda as the Aunt...lol
You can tell her son that was interviewed loved his mother very much as I am sure all her kids do... it was emotional watching it and very sad... Bill Asher spoke about the ending and the 9th season and Liz deciding not to continue on with the series... I would love it after they finish releasing BW on DVD if they would release her TV movies... The Victim, Lizzie Borden and Dark Victory I think that's the name are all on youtube in parts... I would love to see her other movies she made for television.
I hope we hear something about Season 8 soon... I am getting anxious to get the final season...

 

[Larry Tate]

First off the Writing on Bewitched was nothing short of Brilliant & some of the best that TV Comedy has ever seen, right up there with I Love Lucy & the Dick Van Dyke Show.
Although Elizabeth Montgomery was the main reason Bewitched was to become the finest TV show to ever appear on TV, it still was so superbly crafted & had such a Brilliant supporting cast with Agnes Moorehead, Dick York, David White, Alice Pierce etc., that I believe it would have been very successful even without Liz & at any point in time.
I know that it would have been fun to see more of the Witch life, but that was not what the premise of the show was about & to stay true to the premise & the characterisations & their interaction, that part of her life had to be strictly background & in support of the relationship between Samantha & Darrin which was
what the premise entailed.
I might add that all this talk about flaws & inconsistencies do not hold much water either.
Almost any aspect of what happened on Bewitched could be explained away by the basic premise of the show & was not inconsistent at all.
Example, she is a different age at different point in history, in each point it can be explained away in a consistent manner by the simple use of time travel.
Such as for example she is born in 1500 AD lets say, yet we hear she was 200 years old in 1200 AD, this can be explained in a consistent manner that in 1700 AD she went back in time to 1200 AD and at that point in time was 200 years old 200 years prior to her birth.
Same thing with spells being reversible, as all spells are not the same depending on the type used, the power of the witch envolved, the intent by them & the reason it is cast all effects the outcome & what the nature of the magical reality is in each instance when it is done, & there is a great range in the type & their effect and in how they can be manipulated by a third witchly party or not, so that explains why sometimes a spell was reversible & sometimes not.
To be honest I don't see where the idea that Bewitched was formulaic in it's story lines & plot devises comes about.
Some say just about every episode was about a spell being zapped on Darrin & then what to do about it.
The stats just do not back this up.
If anything what you suggest as the constant norm was actually the rare exception & in the minority.
So to say Bewitched was just a lot of stale over worked plot devises..............well as they say in the Ozarks about the plausibility of such a statement......................................... ...that Dog just Ain't gonna Hunt.
The numbers do not lie & clearly refute the premise put forth that the show was formulaic which clearly it was not in general nor in the last 3 years of the show, these facts clearly delineated by the stats are irrefutable.
The only thing formulaic in its premise about Bewitched was the focus on the relationship between Darrin & Samantha, the rest is just not so & the facts clearly prove my point of view.
The recycling point is of limited impact in my view as that has been overblown & exaggerated to the extreme, to the point that almost if Sam twitched her nose it is called a remake.
Or if an episode evolves Spells on Darrin or Transformations of Darrin,Witch Disease for Samantha,Going back in time, Historical Figures brought to the Present or Client Episodes it is called a remake.
This of course is just not so.
These were in affect sub-premises of the main premise of the show and nothing like a remake.
Even the remakes were turned around to such an extent that they were merely similar yet different episodes in of themselves with over 95% of the dialogue being new & different from the earlier versions.
In reality there were remakes as early as season two & evolved 2 per season in seasons,3,4,5 & 3 per seasons 6,7,8 until the last 3 or 4 episodes of season 8, hardly the all or almost all of the episodes that the later years are claimed to have been remakes.
What I accept are facts that are clearly visible to one, not criticisms of the show that have no bearing in reality or existence in the show, saying it so does not make it so when the facts show clearly otherwise.
No show made by mortal man is perfect or flawless, but nor is it flawed in a way when the facts as such are misrepresented and inaccurate.
It is what it is & is not what it is not.
What it was is a show that remained true to its fundamental premise & did not stray from it, this does not constitute a series of overused plot devises.
Of course the writers were not perfect, they simply did not make the mistakes you are referring too.
The only thing that got a workout on the show were Samantha's Nose (upper lip) & our eyes watching her.
Larry Tate

Spells on Darrin:
0/36
5/36
4/33
5/33
7/30
6/30
3/28
2/26
Transformations of Darrin:
5/36
6/36
0/33
3/33
4/30
5/30
9/28
1/26
Witch Disease for Samantha:
0/36
1/36
0/33
1/33
2/30
3/30
5/28
2/26
Going back in time:
0/36
1/36
2/33
1/33
1/30
0/30
3/28
4/26
Historical Figures brought to the Present:
0/36
0/36
5/33
1/33
1/30
1/30
1/28
2/26
Client Episodes:
12/36
23/36
21/33
22/33
14/30
22/30
20/28
16/26
To err is to be Human,to be with Lizzie is Divine