All right, it's been a month and a half since S.5 and the discussion in that thread started to turn towards S.6 so I thought I would ask, when we gonna hear about S.6's release????
And also I wanted to post my thoughts and the episode guide to S.6.
This was a HUGE season of change for the series, the most notable being the switching of the Dicks – Dick York for Dick Sargent. The change wasn’t greatly publicized (though a story did appear in the TV Guide a couple months before) but for the most part television viewers tuned in on 9/18/1969 and had the shock of their lives when they found that Samantha was calling a taller, more sarcastic fellow, Darrin. Of course, the reason DY had to leave was because of back problems and a pain killer addiction. It has been said that Dick Sargent was actually the producers’ original choice for Durwood but he had to decline as he was under contract with another studio, but this is a story only DS has told. All other signs point to the fact that DY was the first they read and liked for the role. It is interesting to note, though, that DS had a part on the Tammy Grimes Show playing Tammy’s twin brother. She was the original choice for Samantha. Anyway, it’s quite apparent with DS being on the show that the series became another series in and of itself with story lines more geared to a younger audience and unfortunately less focus on what BW originally was, and that was a love story.
Because there was a switch in the Durwoods the opening credit cartoon needed to be changed, which simply could’ve been done with a few switched out frames but more changes were made.
The new credits looked similar but they begin with the night sky and a burst of magic which says “Elizabeth Montgomery in”…and then the cartoon witch flies around bursting the words and she swoops around again with the words “Bewitched” trailing out. The rest of it follows the same protocol with the witch twitching herself into the kitchen and the cartoon Durwood walking in, but now looking more like DS, kissing her, she changing into a cat and then jumping into his arms and changing back to her human form. At this point, in the old credits, it would just say “And Agnes Moorehead as Endora” in the cloud of smoke from the burning pan. Now more credits were added to the smoke with the addition of “David White as Larry Tate” and “William Asher, Producer”. The announcer we’re familiar with would not be used until Season 8 but in syndication those credits are used for all seasons with DS.
Another big change was the addition of the character of Esmeralda, the bumbling witch-maid played by Alice Ghostley. With the absence of Aunt Clara messing up all the magic (due to the death of Marion Lorne who played her) the producers felt they needed another bungler and therefore brought in Esmeralda, a witch who happens to fade out whenever she’s nervous or she would inadvertently cause magic to happen when she would sneeze. Of course, Esmeralda had nowhere near the charm of Aunt Clara and really ended up being more annoying than funny.
The last big change/addition to the cast was that of baby Adam who was born during this season. It is not known what set of twins played the character during this season, but beginning in Season Seven, Adam was played by David and Greg Lawrence.
All these changes didn’t bode well for the series which dropped drastically in the ratings from last season. Season Five ended #12 in the rankings but Season Six would end only at #26 and didn’t even place in the top 30 in the following seasons.
It wasn’t all bad, though, as the show received two Emmy nominations at the 1970 awards. One was for Elizabeth Montgomery for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series (Hope Lange won for “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir”) and the other was for Agnes Moorehead for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Karen Valentine won for “Room 222”).
There was also one more piece of BW memorabilia that came out during this original run and that is the book titled “The Opposite Uncle” which featured drawings with the likeness of Dick Sargent.
All though the show sunk in the ratings there were still some fantastic episodes throughout the season including the most memorable BW episode of all “Serena Stops the Show” where Serena makes the singing group Boyce & Hart quite unpopular.
Here, now are a listing of the episodes during this season and their original airdates:
#171: “Samantha and the Beanstalk” 9/18/69
– Tabitha thinks that her parents would like to have a son rather than a daughter when they discuss the imminent birth. Feeling bad she decides she wants someone to talk to and brings Jack from ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ alive from one of her books. In speaking with him she finds that Jack isn’t happy where he’s at and that he longs for parents who love him. She decides to switch places with Jack. When Samantha discovers this she pops into the story and finds Tabitha arguing with the story’s Giant.
David “Deacon” Jones played the Giant’s Guard. At the time he was the defensive left-end for the LA Rams.
Johnny Whitaker plays Jack. He is most famous for his role as Jody on “Family Affair”
This episode was not the first to be filmed, though it was the first shown for the Sixth Season. In fact it was third to be filmed.
#172: “Samantha’s Yoo-Hoo Maid” 9/25/69 – Endora decides that Samantha needs help around the house while pregnant as she insists on living the mortal life. She sends Esmeralda, a witch maid, to help out. Durwood doesn’t like this idea at all but Endora assures him Esmeralda will work out as she isn’t too good at magic anymore. He consents but later regrets it as he finds that whenever Esmeralda sneezes something happens, such as the furniture floating off the floor, and with a client at the house. Samantha and Esmeralda decide that Esmeralda will not stay there permanently but will pop in whenever Samantha “yoo hoos” for her.
This is the first episode with Esmeralda played by Alice Ghostley. AG had been considered as the next Mrs. Kravitz but turned it down as Alice Pearce had been one of her good friends. AG was also a very good friend of Paul Lynde’s (Uncle Arthur) and it is said he got his signature way of speaking from her. Though it is the first episode with Esmeralda, it is AG's second appearance on BW. She made her debut clear back in the Second Season episode as Naomi, the maid, who happens to help out the Tate's when their maid Esmeralda gets sick!
#173: “Samantha’s Caesar Salad” 10/2/69
– When Samantha asks Esmeralda to help her in making a Caesar salad, she gets more than she bargained for when the Roman Emperor is conjured up. Of course, Esmeralda can’t remember how to send him back, and when he reads some unseemly things about himself in the history books he demands that they be changed and he immediately leaves for the court. Meanwhile, Larry phones and says he is coming over with the new cologne client, Evelyn Charday, to discuss the account. Samantha finds Caesar and brings him back to the house. Esmeralda remembers the spell but he won’t go back because he doesn’t want to. Samantha conjures up Cleopatra to remind him why his life back when was so desirable. At this time Larry, Durwood and Ms. Charday show up and see Caesar and Cleopatra. Durwood explains that it’s for the new ad campaign for great romances in history.
Jay Robinson plays Caesar. He was a famous character actor.
#174: “Samantha’s Curious Cravings” 10/9/69 – Samantha finds that when she starts to have food cravings, whatever she’s thinking of pops in. She calls Dr. Bombay who administers a powder and a spell. However the “cure” causes Samantha to pop out and appear wherever the food would be. Once she gets back home she believes that she is about to go into labor, so she and Durwood make a mad dash for the hospital. On the way, Durwood gets pulled over for speeding and just at that time Samantha pops out as she had been thinking about hotdogs. Of course, this doesn’t look too good for Durwood. She finally gets to the hospital and while waiting for her mortal doctor she calls for Dr. Bombay who cures her of the disappearing. The mortal doctor also tells her that it was a false alarm, that it will be a little while yet before the baby arrives.
#175: “And Something Makes Four” 10/16/69 – The day of the baby’s arrival comes and Samantha presents Durwood with a baby boy. Her parents pop in to see the child. Maurice becomes incensed that his grandson isn’t front and center in the nursery and casts a spell on him that whoever looks upon him will fall in love with him. Larry decides he wants to use the new baby as part of an ad campaign but Samantha and Durwood will have none of this. Samantha convinces her father to remove his spell.
This episode was a general remake of Season Two’s “And Then There Were Three” episode when Tabitha was born, though this one doesn’t have nearly the charm as the original.
#176: “Naming Samantha’s New Baby” 10/23/69 – Endora arrives with the news that Maurice is furious over hearing that the new baby will be named Frank, after Durwood’s father who is coming with his wife to see the baby. When they arrive Maurice also arrives amid house shaking and winds. Maurice directly casts a spell causing the elder Stephenses to leave so that he can “discuss” the baby’s name. Durwood insisting that the baby’s name be Frank infuriates Maurice so much that he zaps him into the hall mirror where it’s very cold. At that point the elder Stephenses return and see Durwood in the mirror. Samantha explains that Maurice came up with a new invention of a mirror that captures images. Frank is quite interested in the invention and wants to speak to Maurice about it and in their conversation he states that he has never liked his name as he was named after his grandfather and was always referred to as “Little Frank” something he wouldn’t like to happen to his grandson. Thinking that he will now get his way, Maurice frees Durwood from his mirror prison. Samantha and Durwood decide that they would like to name the baby Adam, but Durwood says he hates the name to which Maurice says he demands the name be Adam. And so it is.
#177: “To Trick-or-Treat or Not to Trick-or-Treat” 10/30/69
– When Endora and Durwood argue over Tabitha going Trick-or-Treating she gets mad and turns him into an ugly old crone. The change comes on gradually as Durwood is about to meet with Mr. Bartenbach, a cosmetics client. Durwood apologizes to Endora and she decides to lift the spell. Samantha also decides not to go trick-or-treating for UNICEF with Tabitha and the other neighborhood kids. It turns out that Mrs. Bartenbach is in charge of the UNICEF committee and is upset that Samantha has decided not to participate. She decides she will go and Endora returns the ugly guise she had zapped on Durwood. Later on Samantha said that Durwood put on the ugly witch disguise as part of an idea for the cosmetics campaign where after the ugly crone had used the product she would look beautiful, like Glinda the Good Witch of the North, which Samantha dresses like. Endora also removes her spell when she realizes that her being annoyed with Durwood isn’t as important as all the hungry children that UNICEF will help. This episode is the first Halloween episode since Season Four but the last Halloween episode of the series.
#178: “A Bunny for Tabitha” 11/6/69 – Uncle Arthur shows up as Durwood and Samantha are preparing for Tabitha’s birthday party. He insists on staying and says he’ll put on a magic show for the party. Durwood reluctantly agrees as he knows the kids will love it. At the same time Larry calls and requests that Durwood come into the office to meet with Mr. Sylvester. Durwood won’t leave the party so Larry says he’ll bring Sylvester out to Durwood’s place. Meanwhile, Uncle Arthur tries to make a bunny that he had given to Tabitha disappear but instead changes her into a Playboy bunny! When Larry and Mr. Sylvester arrive, the latter develops a crush on Bunny, whom Arthur can’t change back. Soon Samantha and Durwood find that Bunny and Mr. Sylvester plan to get married but Samantha finds that Mr. Sylvester is an avid hunter and when she tells Bunny this, the marriage is called off. It is at this point that Arthur believes he has remembered the spell but instead gets six copies of Bunny.
Carol Wayne plays Bunny. She was quite popular in the 70s from her appearances as the Tea Time Girl on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Her sister, Nina, who looked and sounded a great deal like Carol, appeared in Season Two as Beverly Wilson, the girlfriend of Osgood Righmeyer in “Disappearing Samantha”.
Danny Bonaduce makes his second BW appearance as one of the kids at the party.
Diane Murphy appears as a girl in this episode. She is Erin Murphy’s twin sister and appeared occasionally as Tabitha earlier in the series.
This is also the first time that Bernie Kopell appeared on BW.
#179: “Samantha’s Secret Spell” 11/13/69
– When Durwood and Endora argue he tells her that she is no longer welcome in his house. She tells Samantha that if he doesn’t apologize he will be turned into a mouse, permanently, at midnight. Samantha consults Postelwaithe, the Apothecary, who finds a spell for her to prevent the mouse spell by having Durwood perform certain odd rituals without him knowing he’s doing it.
This is the first time we see the aged Apothecary played by Bernie Kopell.
#180: “Daddy Comes to Visit” 11/20/69 – Maurice arrives wanting to make peace with Durwood in the form of a gift – a watch which has many functions including performing witchcraft. Durwood refuses at first but Maurice says it would be the least he could do as Samantha has lived Durwood’s way of life for so long. Durwood relents and uses the watch to pop into the office. At the office Durwood finds that the owner of Bliss Pharmaceuticals is thinking of taking their business elsewhere as McMann and Tate have suggested changing their advertising, which they have used for many, many years. Larry says that the Blisses are currently having a meeting to discuss their future with McMann and Tate. Maurice suggests to Durwood to pop in invisibly on the meeting. Durwood declines and Maurice casts a spell on him to want to use the magic. Once Durwood hears what Bliss Sr. wants he pops back to the office and tells Larry he knows how they can save the account. Samantha sees that Durwood has gone power mad and worries that what she had come to love about her life with Durwood is over.
This episode, was the basis for “Daddy Does His Thing” last season and had DY not become ill and left the show, it would’ve turned out like this episode.
#181: “Darrin the Warlock” 11/27/69 – Durwood is now quite zap-happy and when Larry catches him performing some witchcraft, Durwood tells him that he has developed some power that will help them. Larry, always power hungry, decides that he can use Durwood’s power to take over the world and mentions that their partnership will be “a wonderful marriage”. At those words, Durwood remembers how Samantha told him she was happy with their life, that she had chose to stay there and live without witchcraft, because she loved it. He decides that being the master of all situations isn’t for him and when he meets with the client later on he goes back to his original ideas, which the client now accepts, based solely on Durwood’s passion.
#182: “Sam’s Double Mother Trouble” 12/4/69
– While reading Tabitha nursery rhymes Esmeralda sneezes up Mother Goose just as Durwood’s mother has come to seek refuge at his house as she has decided to leave his father. When Frank comes over to try and mend things he begins to get rather friendly with Mother Goose, whom he finds charming. Esmeralda tries to get rid of her but can’t remember and in front of Frank and Phyllis sneezes Mother Goose into the form of an actual goose. Samantha convinces Mrs. Stephens that maybe the things she thought Frank was doing that upset her could’ve been imagined like the goose.
David White, who plays Larry, directed this episode, the only episode to be directed by a cast member. And unfortunately, it isn’t a great episode at all.
Jane Connell plays Mother Goose and will later return as the High Priestess Hepzibah in Season 7 and Martha Washington in Season 8.
#183: “You’re So Agreeable” 12/11/69 – Durwood tries to be agreeable with Endora at Samantha’s request but this only gives her the idea to make him 100% agreeable with anything he hears. This causes him to get fired at work as the client doesn’t like yes-men. When Samantha requests that Endora reverse the spell, she does so but makes it so now Durwood is totally disagreeable. After figuring this out she finally gets her mother to remove the spell.
#184: “Santa Comes to Visit and Stays and Stays” 12/18/69
– Esmeralda sneezes up Santa Clause a couple days before Christmas and unlike her other sneezed up mistakes he is not returning to the North Pole to carry out his Christmas Eve duties. Samantha decides to zap up his elves and workshop who work through the night and then she zaps up the reindeer and sleigh on their front lawn. Fortunately, this time, Gladys sees it and they win first prize in the lawn decorating contest. This is the first Christmas episode since Season Four.
#185: “Samantha’s Better Halves” 1/1/70 – Samantha and Durwood recall the time that Endora split Durwood in two so that one part of him could stay to take care of a pregnant Samantha and the other could attend a business meeting in Japan.
This is the first episode DS filmed and was shelved until later in the season as the producers didn’t like the fact that Samantha says something about only wanting one Durwood. They felt it would bring to mind the huge change in Durwood.
#186: “Samantha’s Lost Weekend” 1/8/70 – When Tabitha refuses to eat her lunch, Esmeralda puts a hex on her milk which will give her an appetite. But Samantha drinks the milk instead and begins to eat everything in sight. Esmeralda, afraid of what Samantha and Durwood will say, disappears. Samantha thinks she may have a rare witch disease known as Voracious Ravenousitis and calls in Dr. Bombay. He tries to cure her and he does so, but now she falls asleep at random times. When they finally figure out that Esmeralda had hexed the milk they have her go to the apothecary to get a cure. EM sited this episode as one of her favorites as she thought it was hilarious when Samantha was seen eating a head of lettuce.
#187: “The Phrase is Familiar” 1/15/70
– Endora sends for a warlock tutor, Professor Phips, to help Tabitha in her schooling. He promises not to use witchcraft with Tabitha which settles Durwood’s fears. Meanwhile, Endora causes Durwood to speak entirely in clichés which irritates the client who is trying to get away from that type of advertising. Endora then decides to further it by having Durwood act out the clichés. He decides to go home before he gets into any more trouble but Larry and the client follow him home. When Durwood says that after he gets a little rest he’ll be out there pitching for the team, all three men suddenly appear in baseball uniforms. Samantha freezes them, demands Endora to remove the spell from Durwood, and then they come up with a plan to just act like nothing happened. But first of all they move Larry and the client to a different area of the room and when Samantha unfreezes them they continue on with a totally different conversation.
In my opinion, this is one of DS’s best episodes as his physical comedy is so up to the challenge of the script.
#188: “Samantha’s Secret is Discovered” 1/22/70 – When Samantha returns home from shopping she finds that Endora has changed out her furniture for that of extremely wealthy taste. They argue over what furniture should be in the house while zapping their favorites in and out. As they are doing this Mrs. Stephens shows up and sees what is going on and faints. Samantha and Durwood decide that maybe it’s time his mother found out about Samantha so Sam tells her she is a witch and proves it by levitating an ashtray and levitating a vase which she drops and then reassembles. Mrs. Stephens is ecstatic about this revelation and immediately tells her husband. Sam and Durwood were going to wait to tell him but when Samantha goes to prove her powers to him nothing happens. Frank thinks Phyllis is just seeing things and they leave. Samantha finds out that a stopper was put on her powers as the Witches’ Council was not impressed with her flaunting her powers in front of mortals (Endora: “Durwood doesn’t count.”) Frank then tells them that Phyllis has gone and checked herself into a senior citizen center. Samantha finds her and decides to make her see various things along with one of the other residents. She then changes the nerve pills to hallucinogens which the doctor takes away. This episode was usually left out of the rotation in reruns because of the drug theme.
#189: “Tabitha’s Very Own Samantha” 1/29/70
– Tabitha, jealous of all the time her mother is spending with her brother, zaps up her own Samantha who will play with her and do what ever she wants. When Mrs. Kravitz meets up with Tabitha and the fake Samantha at the fun park she worries about what’s happening with Adam and immediately runs home to go over to the Stephenses where she finds Samantha at home. Samantha believes that maybe Serena is playing a prank by appearing as Samantha but finds out that Tabitha believed she wasn’t as loved as Adam. Samantha assures her that there is enough love for both of them.
#190: “Super Arthur” 2/5/70 – When Uncle Arthur starts breaking mirrors simply by popping out of them, Samantha thinks he is ill and calls on Dr. Bombay who diagnoses Arthur with an allergic reaction to horse feathers which he obtained when riding in the winged horse races. He gives him a cure which causes everything he says to come true. To help him relax until Dr. Bombay gets back Samantha offers to teach him how to drive the mortal way, which almost gets them wrecked. Arthur laments the fact that he can’t fly, that when he was up in the air he felt like Superman – who he instantly becomes. He immediately begins flying around the neighborhood, just as Durwood, Larry and the client pull up. Durwood says it’s for a new ad campaign for Top Pop, where the slogan says “Try Top-Pop, it’s super, man!” Dr. Bombay shows up and finally cures Arthur.
This episode is one that seems to be remembered most when people think of Uncle Arthur and in fact was the basis for Uncle Arthur’s scenes in the big screen BW movie, though Jack Wyatt inaccurately states that every time Uncle Arthur showed up he would crack mirrors. That only happened in this episode.
#191: “What Makes Darrin Run” 2/12/70 – When Endora pops in on a rather busy morning for Samantha, she tells Samantha that if Durwood were more ambitious she wouldn’t be in this predicament. Samantha tells her mother that Durwood is very ambitious, it’s just there is a lot to do. Endora casts a spell on him that makes him overly ambitious so much so that he undermines Larry in getting an account and he invites Mr. McMann and his wife over for dinner. McMann is very impressed with him, so much so that he is about to give Larry’s position over to Durwood. Just at that time the Tates arrive and Samantha freezes time and gets her mother to undo her spell. When Durwood realizes what he’s done, Samantha tells him that it’ll be up to him undo the whole deal, which he does when time starts again.
This is the second and last time we will ever see Mr. McMann, whom we saw in the Fourth Season played by a different actor.
This is also the first episode in which Kasey Rogers aka Louise Tate wears her natural red hair. Originally she had been asked to wear a brunette wig so that the switching in Louises from Second Season to Third wouldn’t be so noticeable. Around this time she asked if she could quit wearing it and the producers told her that was all right and wanted to know why she was even wearing a wig in the first place!
#192: “Serena Stops the Show” 2/19/70
– Serena decides she is going to use the mortal singing group, Boyce and Hart, as the entertainment at the Cosmos Cotillion this year after she hears their music which Durwood was listening to as part of work on a campaign that they will be used in. Serena pops in on B&H and offers them the job which their manager declines as they are booked up “through 1976”. When she insists that they play for her, he gets angry and tells her that she’s going to be thrown out if she doesn’t leave. Incensed at the refusal Serena thinks that maybe she can get Durwood to talk them into playing for, especially since she has written a song for them, which she performs for Samantha and her cousin-in-law. Durwood tells her that it stinks and he will not help her out. She decides that the only way she will get them is to make them so unpopular that nobody would want them. When she shows up again they are more than willing to play for her. She zaps them to the Cosmos Cotillion where they are a smash until Samantha shows up and requests that Serena take the spell off them and return them to Earth. Serena complies and Boyce & Hart return to their popular status among mortals.
Boyce & Hart were an actual group responsible for writing a lot of the Monkees hits. They were seen on a lot of other Screen Gems shows such as “I Dream of Jeannie” and “The Flying Nun”. This episode is one of the most remembered out of the series.
#193: “Just a Kid Again” 2/26/70 – While shopping for a gift for one of Tabitha’s friends, Samantha and Tabitha are assisted by Irving Bates, a clerk who wishes out loud that he were a kid again. While Samantha is paying for the items, Tabitha grants Irving’s wish as he is stocking items. Understandably Irving is shocked and shows up to 1164 demanding to be turned back. Tabitha tries to turn him back but it won’t work. As Irving contemplates his new childhood he decides he’d rather not be turned back, which is why it won’t happen. Samantha calls in Dr. Bombay to try to reverse it but nothing he tries works. Irving mentions that he needs to call Ruthie, his girlfriend, to apologize for missing their lunch date. Now that he has a young voice she doesn’t believe him and when Samantha tries to vouch for him this only leads Ruthie to believe he is seeing another woman. Irving realizes that with being a child again he won’t be able to be with Ruthie and asks Tabitha to change him back, which she does.
Ruthie is played by Pat Priest, most famous for playing the second Marilyn Munster on “The Munsters”.
#194: “The Generation Zap” 3/5/70 – Durwood is chosen to be the mentor for Dusty Harrison, the college daughter of the new client, who is shadowing him in an attempt to learn all there is about the advertising business. She is quite serious and shy until Serena, at Endora’s request, casts a love spell on her to fall totally for Durwood. Now she can’t get enough of him. To get her out of his hair he sends her on a quest to find the perfect coffee pot for a new slogan. She shows up at his house later with tons of coffee pots. Mr. Harrison isn’t too pleased with this as he believes Durwood is leading his daughter on and is very unimpressed that Durwood would do this while married. Durwood invites the client over to meet Samantha so that he can see how happy they are. Meanwhile, Samantha is unimpressed with how forward Dusty is and she figures that her mother has caused it so she pops off to go find her. At the same time Serena and Endora pop in and Serena becomes Samantha’s double. When Mr. Harrison meets her she makes Durwood out to be a fool and she starts hitting on Mr. Harrison. At that point Samantha pops in, sees that it’s Serena and gets her to remove the spell from Dusty. Now back to normal, Dusty thinks Durwood has been trying to attack her and she and her father leave. All looks bleak until it’s announced on the news that Mr. Harrison has been caught on embezzlement charges.
#195: “Okay, Who’s the Wise Witch?” 3/12/70
– Samantha and Durwood find themselves unable to leave their house as all the doors and windows will not open, not even to break. When Samantha calls for her mother’s help, Endora pops in and hasn’t an idea of what it’s all about and finds that she is unable to leave. Thinking that maybe Esmeralda cast an errant spell they call her in and she denies having done anything and is now depressed that she won’t be able to make her date with Ramone Verona. Samantha finally decides to call Dr. Bombay as she believes the house may be sick. He diagnoses a vapor lock, which happens when the metaphysical particles distributed by witchcraft remain undisturbed by lack of use. He says the only way to administer the cure is from outside, so Samantha transfers him to a photograph and slips him under the door where she redimensionalizes him to cure the house.
#196: “A Chance on Love” 3/19/70
– When Samantha finds that she has forgotten that she volunteered to sell tickets to help some children in a fundraiser, she calls on Serena to take her place. Serena turns on all the charm with George Dinsdale who buys a ticket from her and asks for a date. Unfortunately he turns out to be one of Durwood’s clients and when he shows up at a dinner party at the Tate’s that the Stephenses are at, Samantha finds out that Serena was selling more than tickets. She tries to convince him that it was really Serena he has fallen for. When he shows up at their house later and is rather aggressive with Samantha she changes him into a parrot and explains to Durwood what’s going on. She calls for Serena who shows up after she’s changed George back and now he understands what’s going on.
George is played by Jack Cassidy in his second and final appearance on BW.
#197: “If the Shoe Pinches” 3/26/70
– Endora enlists the aid of a leprechaun in another attempt to break up Samantha’s mortal marriage. When Samantha finds out his ploy she gets rid of him. He leaves Durwood a pair of shoes, that when worn make the wearer quite lazy. And on top of that they are not able to take the shoes off. Samantha finds a spell for a potion that will give her control over leprechauns and feeds it to the leprechaun who then gets rid of the shoes. Meanwhile, in all his laziness, Durwood has managed to lose an account by not showing up to work so Samantha has Endora zap him with a brilliant slogan to get the account back.
Henry Gibson plays the Leprechaun.
#198: “Mona Sammy” 4/2/70
– Endora gives Samantha a painting of her great-aunt Cornelia painted by Leonardo Davinci around the time he painted the Mona Lisa. Cornelia looks a great deal like Samantha and Durwood isn’t too sure that it isn’t Samantha and insists that they not hang it up as it’ll bring up too many questions from visitors. Just as the Tate’s arrive for dinner Endora zaps the portrait above the fireplace and replaces Leonardo’s signature with that of Durwood’s. Louise sees it and asks if Durwood would paint a portrait of her. At Larry’s insistence, Durwood agrees. Samantha twitches him into being a great painter but Endora shows up and causes him to paint a goofy version of Louise which Larry is furious over and he insists his wife not see the finished painting. Before Louise can see it Samantha twitches it into a beautiful portrait of Louise and says the reason Durwood gave up painting was his allergic reaction to paint.
Kasey Rogers (Louise Tate) still had both portraits and during Halloween would hang up the ugly one. It is also rumored that EM's daughter Rebecca is in possesion of the Mona Sammy!
#199: “Turn on the Old Charm” 4/9/70 – After being the victim of Endora’s one too many times, Samantha reveals to Durwood that there is a way to get Endora on his good side by use of a magic amulet that Maurice has. He tells her to get it as he’s had enough. The amulet looks like a peace symbol with a heart in it and whenever Endora is around she is quite amiable and accommodating. Samantha warns him to not let her find out about it or there will be hell to pay. Endora, noticing that she is being quite friendly with Durwood, even remembering his name (!!!), goes to Dr. Bombay for a checkup. When she comes back she tells Samantha that Dr. Bombay gave her a clear bill of health which means that something else is going on. When she pops in on Durwood, who is getting a midnight snack, he asks her to make him a sandwich, which she tells him to make himself, “make it and then choke on it.” Realizing he no longer has the charm (he left it on the dresser) he yells for Samantha who comes down to find her husband is now a dog. Samantha takes it down to Durwood the dog and puts it under his paw causing Endora to regret what she’s done and she changes him back. Thinking that everything is OK they go about their business until Endora finds out from Maurice that Samantha got the amulet from him. She is so furious that she casts a spell over Samantha and Durwood to constantly bicker, which they do in front of the greeting card client, Mr. Sunshine. Meanwhile, Esmeralada mistakes the amulet for a love charm which she thinks she can use on the ever elusive Ramone Verona, the object of her affection so she takes the charm. Esmeralda had returned with the charm realizing that it didn’t work so Samantha takes it from her and calls on her mother to take off the spell. Samantha casts a spell to bring Larry and Mr. Sunshine back and tells him that it was part of Durwood’s idea to try out funny insult cards.
Very brief clips from this episode are seen in the movie “Apollo 13” as though this episode aired the same night of the disaster. In reality this episode aired four nights earlier.
#200: “Make Love, Not Hate” 4/16/70 – Esmeralda is majorly depressed by Ramone Verona not paying her any attention and she comes to sulk at Samantha’s. Wanting to cheer up the maid, Samantha calls on Dr. Bombay to ask if he might know of anyone he could set up with Esmeralda, as he doesn’t want to go out with her. He suggests his friend Norton who owes him a favor. When he returns with Norton he is told Esmeralda is sitting in the kitchen and Dr. Bombay tells Norton to have a look at her before he introduces her. Meanwhile Samantha is telling Esmeralda that she is going to meet a new warlock, which causes Esmeralda to fade out with nerves. Just then Norton looks in, spies Samantha, and agrees to go on the date. When he finds out that it wasn’t Esmeralda he had seen he declines. Samantha insists that Norton go out with Esmeralda and Dr. Bombay concocts a love potion that will make the person who takes the potion fall immediately in love with the next person of the opposite sex they see. When Norton takes it, Esmeralda fades out and the next woman he sees is Samantha. Meanwhile Durwood has come home with Larry, the client and his wife. Samantha has been preparing a clam dip which gets some of the love potion in it. The client tastes the dip, falls deeply in love with his wife, who has fallen for Larry. At the same time Esmeralda tastes the dip and falls in love with Durwood. Samantha hollers for Dr. Bombay who comes back with an antidote and cures everyone.
This marks the end of the Sixth Season and the end of another era in terms of the set. Over the following summer the kitchen set caught fire necessitating the cast and crew to film on location in Salem. With the kitchen being redone it was decided the rest of the set needed an overhaul, therefore this is the last time we see the flowered couch and the green carpet on the floor in the living room and the red brick fireplace.
In terms of extras that should be included on this set they should have:
•ABC Commercial promoting BW where they have start out with a clip from “Super Arthur”.
•Clairol commercial with EM.
•Another commercial that I can’t remember the full details but it again showed clips from the show.
•Maybe a featurette about why the Durwoods switched.
And also I wanted to post my thoughts and the episode guide to S.6.
This was a HUGE season of change for the series, the most notable being the switching of the Dicks – Dick York for Dick Sargent. The change wasn’t greatly publicized (though a story did appear in the TV Guide a couple months before) but for the most part television viewers tuned in on 9/18/1969 and had the shock of their lives when they found that Samantha was calling a taller, more sarcastic fellow, Darrin. Of course, the reason DY had to leave was because of back problems and a pain killer addiction. It has been said that Dick Sargent was actually the producers’ original choice for Durwood but he had to decline as he was under contract with another studio, but this is a story only DS has told. All other signs point to the fact that DY was the first they read and liked for the role. It is interesting to note, though, that DS had a part on the Tammy Grimes Show playing Tammy’s twin brother. She was the original choice for Samantha. Anyway, it’s quite apparent with DS being on the show that the series became another series in and of itself with story lines more geared to a younger audience and unfortunately less focus on what BW originally was, and that was a love story.
Because there was a switch in the Durwoods the opening credit cartoon needed to be changed, which simply could’ve been done with a few switched out frames but more changes were made.
The new credits looked similar but they begin with the night sky and a burst of magic which says “Elizabeth Montgomery in”…and then the cartoon witch flies around bursting the words and she swoops around again with the words “Bewitched” trailing out. The rest of it follows the same protocol with the witch twitching herself into the kitchen and the cartoon Durwood walking in, but now looking more like DS, kissing her, she changing into a cat and then jumping into his arms and changing back to her human form. At this point, in the old credits, it would just say “And Agnes Moorehead as Endora” in the cloud of smoke from the burning pan. Now more credits were added to the smoke with the addition of “David White as Larry Tate” and “William Asher, Producer”. The announcer we’re familiar with would not be used until Season 8 but in syndication those credits are used for all seasons with DS.
Another big change was the addition of the character of Esmeralda, the bumbling witch-maid played by Alice Ghostley. With the absence of Aunt Clara messing up all the magic (due to the death of Marion Lorne who played her) the producers felt they needed another bungler and therefore brought in Esmeralda, a witch who happens to fade out whenever she’s nervous or she would inadvertently cause magic to happen when she would sneeze. Of course, Esmeralda had nowhere near the charm of Aunt Clara and really ended up being more annoying than funny.
The last big change/addition to the cast was that of baby Adam who was born during this season. It is not known what set of twins played the character during this season, but beginning in Season Seven, Adam was played by David and Greg Lawrence.
All these changes didn’t bode well for the series which dropped drastically in the ratings from last season. Season Five ended #12 in the rankings but Season Six would end only at #26 and didn’t even place in the top 30 in the following seasons.
It wasn’t all bad, though, as the show received two Emmy nominations at the 1970 awards. One was for Elizabeth Montgomery for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series (Hope Lange won for “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir”) and the other was for Agnes Moorehead for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Karen Valentine won for “Room 222”).
There was also one more piece of BW memorabilia that came out during this original run and that is the book titled “The Opposite Uncle” which featured drawings with the likeness of Dick Sargent.
All though the show sunk in the ratings there were still some fantastic episodes throughout the season including the most memorable BW episode of all “Serena Stops the Show” where Serena makes the singing group Boyce & Hart quite unpopular.
Here, now are a listing of the episodes during this season and their original airdates:
#171: “Samantha and the Beanstalk” 9/18/69
– Tabitha thinks that her parents would like to have a son rather than a daughter when they discuss the imminent birth. Feeling bad she decides she wants someone to talk to and brings Jack from ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ alive from one of her books. In speaking with him she finds that Jack isn’t happy where he’s at and that he longs for parents who love him. She decides to switch places with Jack. When Samantha discovers this she pops into the story and finds Tabitha arguing with the story’s Giant.
David “Deacon” Jones played the Giant’s Guard. At the time he was the defensive left-end for the LA Rams.
Johnny Whitaker plays Jack. He is most famous for his role as Jody on “Family Affair”
This episode was not the first to be filmed, though it was the first shown for the Sixth Season. In fact it was third to be filmed.
#172: “Samantha’s Yoo-Hoo Maid” 9/25/69 – Endora decides that Samantha needs help around the house while pregnant as she insists on living the mortal life. She sends Esmeralda, a witch maid, to help out. Durwood doesn’t like this idea at all but Endora assures him Esmeralda will work out as she isn’t too good at magic anymore. He consents but later regrets it as he finds that whenever Esmeralda sneezes something happens, such as the furniture floating off the floor, and with a client at the house. Samantha and Esmeralda decide that Esmeralda will not stay there permanently but will pop in whenever Samantha “yoo hoos” for her.
This is the first episode with Esmeralda played by Alice Ghostley. AG had been considered as the next Mrs. Kravitz but turned it down as Alice Pearce had been one of her good friends. AG was also a very good friend of Paul Lynde’s (Uncle Arthur) and it is said he got his signature way of speaking from her. Though it is the first episode with Esmeralda, it is AG's second appearance on BW. She made her debut clear back in the Second Season episode as Naomi, the maid, who happens to help out the Tate's when their maid Esmeralda gets sick!
#173: “Samantha’s Caesar Salad” 10/2/69
– When Samantha asks Esmeralda to help her in making a Caesar salad, she gets more than she bargained for when the Roman Emperor is conjured up. Of course, Esmeralda can’t remember how to send him back, and when he reads some unseemly things about himself in the history books he demands that they be changed and he immediately leaves for the court. Meanwhile, Larry phones and says he is coming over with the new cologne client, Evelyn Charday, to discuss the account. Samantha finds Caesar and brings him back to the house. Esmeralda remembers the spell but he won’t go back because he doesn’t want to. Samantha conjures up Cleopatra to remind him why his life back when was so desirable. At this time Larry, Durwood and Ms. Charday show up and see Caesar and Cleopatra. Durwood explains that it’s for the new ad campaign for great romances in history.
Jay Robinson plays Caesar. He was a famous character actor.
#174: “Samantha’s Curious Cravings” 10/9/69 – Samantha finds that when she starts to have food cravings, whatever she’s thinking of pops in. She calls Dr. Bombay who administers a powder and a spell. However the “cure” causes Samantha to pop out and appear wherever the food would be. Once she gets back home she believes that she is about to go into labor, so she and Durwood make a mad dash for the hospital. On the way, Durwood gets pulled over for speeding and just at that time Samantha pops out as she had been thinking about hotdogs. Of course, this doesn’t look too good for Durwood. She finally gets to the hospital and while waiting for her mortal doctor she calls for Dr. Bombay who cures her of the disappearing. The mortal doctor also tells her that it was a false alarm, that it will be a little while yet before the baby arrives.
#175: “And Something Makes Four” 10/16/69 – The day of the baby’s arrival comes and Samantha presents Durwood with a baby boy. Her parents pop in to see the child. Maurice becomes incensed that his grandson isn’t front and center in the nursery and casts a spell on him that whoever looks upon him will fall in love with him. Larry decides he wants to use the new baby as part of an ad campaign but Samantha and Durwood will have none of this. Samantha convinces her father to remove his spell.
This episode was a general remake of Season Two’s “And Then There Were Three” episode when Tabitha was born, though this one doesn’t have nearly the charm as the original.
#176: “Naming Samantha’s New Baby” 10/23/69 – Endora arrives with the news that Maurice is furious over hearing that the new baby will be named Frank, after Durwood’s father who is coming with his wife to see the baby. When they arrive Maurice also arrives amid house shaking and winds. Maurice directly casts a spell causing the elder Stephenses to leave so that he can “discuss” the baby’s name. Durwood insisting that the baby’s name be Frank infuriates Maurice so much that he zaps him into the hall mirror where it’s very cold. At that point the elder Stephenses return and see Durwood in the mirror. Samantha explains that Maurice came up with a new invention of a mirror that captures images. Frank is quite interested in the invention and wants to speak to Maurice about it and in their conversation he states that he has never liked his name as he was named after his grandfather and was always referred to as “Little Frank” something he wouldn’t like to happen to his grandson. Thinking that he will now get his way, Maurice frees Durwood from his mirror prison. Samantha and Durwood decide that they would like to name the baby Adam, but Durwood says he hates the name to which Maurice says he demands the name be Adam. And so it is.
#177: “To Trick-or-Treat or Not to Trick-or-Treat” 10/30/69
– When Endora and Durwood argue over Tabitha going Trick-or-Treating she gets mad and turns him into an ugly old crone. The change comes on gradually as Durwood is about to meet with Mr. Bartenbach, a cosmetics client. Durwood apologizes to Endora and she decides to lift the spell. Samantha also decides not to go trick-or-treating for UNICEF with Tabitha and the other neighborhood kids. It turns out that Mrs. Bartenbach is in charge of the UNICEF committee and is upset that Samantha has decided not to participate. She decides she will go and Endora returns the ugly guise she had zapped on Durwood. Later on Samantha said that Durwood put on the ugly witch disguise as part of an idea for the cosmetics campaign where after the ugly crone had used the product she would look beautiful, like Glinda the Good Witch of the North, which Samantha dresses like. Endora also removes her spell when she realizes that her being annoyed with Durwood isn’t as important as all the hungry children that UNICEF will help. This episode is the first Halloween episode since Season Four but the last Halloween episode of the series.
#178: “A Bunny for Tabitha” 11/6/69 – Uncle Arthur shows up as Durwood and Samantha are preparing for Tabitha’s birthday party. He insists on staying and says he’ll put on a magic show for the party. Durwood reluctantly agrees as he knows the kids will love it. At the same time Larry calls and requests that Durwood come into the office to meet with Mr. Sylvester. Durwood won’t leave the party so Larry says he’ll bring Sylvester out to Durwood’s place. Meanwhile, Uncle Arthur tries to make a bunny that he had given to Tabitha disappear but instead changes her into a Playboy bunny! When Larry and Mr. Sylvester arrive, the latter develops a crush on Bunny, whom Arthur can’t change back. Soon Samantha and Durwood find that Bunny and Mr. Sylvester plan to get married but Samantha finds that Mr. Sylvester is an avid hunter and when she tells Bunny this, the marriage is called off. It is at this point that Arthur believes he has remembered the spell but instead gets six copies of Bunny.
Carol Wayne plays Bunny. She was quite popular in the 70s from her appearances as the Tea Time Girl on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Her sister, Nina, who looked and sounded a great deal like Carol, appeared in Season Two as Beverly Wilson, the girlfriend of Osgood Righmeyer in “Disappearing Samantha”.
Danny Bonaduce makes his second BW appearance as one of the kids at the party.
Diane Murphy appears as a girl in this episode. She is Erin Murphy’s twin sister and appeared occasionally as Tabitha earlier in the series.
This is also the first time that Bernie Kopell appeared on BW.
#179: “Samantha’s Secret Spell” 11/13/69
– When Durwood and Endora argue he tells her that she is no longer welcome in his house. She tells Samantha that if he doesn’t apologize he will be turned into a mouse, permanently, at midnight. Samantha consults Postelwaithe, the Apothecary, who finds a spell for her to prevent the mouse spell by having Durwood perform certain odd rituals without him knowing he’s doing it.
This is the first time we see the aged Apothecary played by Bernie Kopell.
#180: “Daddy Comes to Visit” 11/20/69 – Maurice arrives wanting to make peace with Durwood in the form of a gift – a watch which has many functions including performing witchcraft. Durwood refuses at first but Maurice says it would be the least he could do as Samantha has lived Durwood’s way of life for so long. Durwood relents and uses the watch to pop into the office. At the office Durwood finds that the owner of Bliss Pharmaceuticals is thinking of taking their business elsewhere as McMann and Tate have suggested changing their advertising, which they have used for many, many years. Larry says that the Blisses are currently having a meeting to discuss their future with McMann and Tate. Maurice suggests to Durwood to pop in invisibly on the meeting. Durwood declines and Maurice casts a spell on him to want to use the magic. Once Durwood hears what Bliss Sr. wants he pops back to the office and tells Larry he knows how they can save the account. Samantha sees that Durwood has gone power mad and worries that what she had come to love about her life with Durwood is over.
This episode, was the basis for “Daddy Does His Thing” last season and had DY not become ill and left the show, it would’ve turned out like this episode.
#181: “Darrin the Warlock” 11/27/69 – Durwood is now quite zap-happy and when Larry catches him performing some witchcraft, Durwood tells him that he has developed some power that will help them. Larry, always power hungry, decides that he can use Durwood’s power to take over the world and mentions that their partnership will be “a wonderful marriage”. At those words, Durwood remembers how Samantha told him she was happy with their life, that she had chose to stay there and live without witchcraft, because she loved it. He decides that being the master of all situations isn’t for him and when he meets with the client later on he goes back to his original ideas, which the client now accepts, based solely on Durwood’s passion.
#182: “Sam’s Double Mother Trouble” 12/4/69
– While reading Tabitha nursery rhymes Esmeralda sneezes up Mother Goose just as Durwood’s mother has come to seek refuge at his house as she has decided to leave his father. When Frank comes over to try and mend things he begins to get rather friendly with Mother Goose, whom he finds charming. Esmeralda tries to get rid of her but can’t remember and in front of Frank and Phyllis sneezes Mother Goose into the form of an actual goose. Samantha convinces Mrs. Stephens that maybe the things she thought Frank was doing that upset her could’ve been imagined like the goose.
David White, who plays Larry, directed this episode, the only episode to be directed by a cast member. And unfortunately, it isn’t a great episode at all.
Jane Connell plays Mother Goose and will later return as the High Priestess Hepzibah in Season 7 and Martha Washington in Season 8.
#183: “You’re So Agreeable” 12/11/69 – Durwood tries to be agreeable with Endora at Samantha’s request but this only gives her the idea to make him 100% agreeable with anything he hears. This causes him to get fired at work as the client doesn’t like yes-men. When Samantha requests that Endora reverse the spell, she does so but makes it so now Durwood is totally disagreeable. After figuring this out she finally gets her mother to remove the spell.
#184: “Santa Comes to Visit and Stays and Stays” 12/18/69
– Esmeralda sneezes up Santa Clause a couple days before Christmas and unlike her other sneezed up mistakes he is not returning to the North Pole to carry out his Christmas Eve duties. Samantha decides to zap up his elves and workshop who work through the night and then she zaps up the reindeer and sleigh on their front lawn. Fortunately, this time, Gladys sees it and they win first prize in the lawn decorating contest. This is the first Christmas episode since Season Four.
#185: “Samantha’s Better Halves” 1/1/70 – Samantha and Durwood recall the time that Endora split Durwood in two so that one part of him could stay to take care of a pregnant Samantha and the other could attend a business meeting in Japan.
This is the first episode DS filmed and was shelved until later in the season as the producers didn’t like the fact that Samantha says something about only wanting one Durwood. They felt it would bring to mind the huge change in Durwood.
#186: “Samantha’s Lost Weekend” 1/8/70 – When Tabitha refuses to eat her lunch, Esmeralda puts a hex on her milk which will give her an appetite. But Samantha drinks the milk instead and begins to eat everything in sight. Esmeralda, afraid of what Samantha and Durwood will say, disappears. Samantha thinks she may have a rare witch disease known as Voracious Ravenousitis and calls in Dr. Bombay. He tries to cure her and he does so, but now she falls asleep at random times. When they finally figure out that Esmeralda had hexed the milk they have her go to the apothecary to get a cure. EM sited this episode as one of her favorites as she thought it was hilarious when Samantha was seen eating a head of lettuce.
#187: “The Phrase is Familiar” 1/15/70
– Endora sends for a warlock tutor, Professor Phips, to help Tabitha in her schooling. He promises not to use witchcraft with Tabitha which settles Durwood’s fears. Meanwhile, Endora causes Durwood to speak entirely in clichés which irritates the client who is trying to get away from that type of advertising. Endora then decides to further it by having Durwood act out the clichés. He decides to go home before he gets into any more trouble but Larry and the client follow him home. When Durwood says that after he gets a little rest he’ll be out there pitching for the team, all three men suddenly appear in baseball uniforms. Samantha freezes them, demands Endora to remove the spell from Durwood, and then they come up with a plan to just act like nothing happened. But first of all they move Larry and the client to a different area of the room and when Samantha unfreezes them they continue on with a totally different conversation.
In my opinion, this is one of DS’s best episodes as his physical comedy is so up to the challenge of the script.
#188: “Samantha’s Secret is Discovered” 1/22/70 – When Samantha returns home from shopping she finds that Endora has changed out her furniture for that of extremely wealthy taste. They argue over what furniture should be in the house while zapping their favorites in and out. As they are doing this Mrs. Stephens shows up and sees what is going on and faints. Samantha and Durwood decide that maybe it’s time his mother found out about Samantha so Sam tells her she is a witch and proves it by levitating an ashtray and levitating a vase which she drops and then reassembles. Mrs. Stephens is ecstatic about this revelation and immediately tells her husband. Sam and Durwood were going to wait to tell him but when Samantha goes to prove her powers to him nothing happens. Frank thinks Phyllis is just seeing things and they leave. Samantha finds out that a stopper was put on her powers as the Witches’ Council was not impressed with her flaunting her powers in front of mortals (Endora: “Durwood doesn’t count.”) Frank then tells them that Phyllis has gone and checked herself into a senior citizen center. Samantha finds her and decides to make her see various things along with one of the other residents. She then changes the nerve pills to hallucinogens which the doctor takes away. This episode was usually left out of the rotation in reruns because of the drug theme.
#189: “Tabitha’s Very Own Samantha” 1/29/70
– Tabitha, jealous of all the time her mother is spending with her brother, zaps up her own Samantha who will play with her and do what ever she wants. When Mrs. Kravitz meets up with Tabitha and the fake Samantha at the fun park she worries about what’s happening with Adam and immediately runs home to go over to the Stephenses where she finds Samantha at home. Samantha believes that maybe Serena is playing a prank by appearing as Samantha but finds out that Tabitha believed she wasn’t as loved as Adam. Samantha assures her that there is enough love for both of them.
#190: “Super Arthur” 2/5/70 – When Uncle Arthur starts breaking mirrors simply by popping out of them, Samantha thinks he is ill and calls on Dr. Bombay who diagnoses Arthur with an allergic reaction to horse feathers which he obtained when riding in the winged horse races. He gives him a cure which causes everything he says to come true. To help him relax until Dr. Bombay gets back Samantha offers to teach him how to drive the mortal way, which almost gets them wrecked. Arthur laments the fact that he can’t fly, that when he was up in the air he felt like Superman – who he instantly becomes. He immediately begins flying around the neighborhood, just as Durwood, Larry and the client pull up. Durwood says it’s for a new ad campaign for Top Pop, where the slogan says “Try Top-Pop, it’s super, man!” Dr. Bombay shows up and finally cures Arthur.
This episode is one that seems to be remembered most when people think of Uncle Arthur and in fact was the basis for Uncle Arthur’s scenes in the big screen BW movie, though Jack Wyatt inaccurately states that every time Uncle Arthur showed up he would crack mirrors. That only happened in this episode.
#191: “What Makes Darrin Run” 2/12/70 – When Endora pops in on a rather busy morning for Samantha, she tells Samantha that if Durwood were more ambitious she wouldn’t be in this predicament. Samantha tells her mother that Durwood is very ambitious, it’s just there is a lot to do. Endora casts a spell on him that makes him overly ambitious so much so that he undermines Larry in getting an account and he invites Mr. McMann and his wife over for dinner. McMann is very impressed with him, so much so that he is about to give Larry’s position over to Durwood. Just at that time the Tates arrive and Samantha freezes time and gets her mother to undo her spell. When Durwood realizes what he’s done, Samantha tells him that it’ll be up to him undo the whole deal, which he does when time starts again.
This is the second and last time we will ever see Mr. McMann, whom we saw in the Fourth Season played by a different actor.
This is also the first episode in which Kasey Rogers aka Louise Tate wears her natural red hair. Originally she had been asked to wear a brunette wig so that the switching in Louises from Second Season to Third wouldn’t be so noticeable. Around this time she asked if she could quit wearing it and the producers told her that was all right and wanted to know why she was even wearing a wig in the first place!
#192: “Serena Stops the Show” 2/19/70
– Serena decides she is going to use the mortal singing group, Boyce and Hart, as the entertainment at the Cosmos Cotillion this year after she hears their music which Durwood was listening to as part of work on a campaign that they will be used in. Serena pops in on B&H and offers them the job which their manager declines as they are booked up “through 1976”. When she insists that they play for her, he gets angry and tells her that she’s going to be thrown out if she doesn’t leave. Incensed at the refusal Serena thinks that maybe she can get Durwood to talk them into playing for, especially since she has written a song for them, which she performs for Samantha and her cousin-in-law. Durwood tells her that it stinks and he will not help her out. She decides that the only way she will get them is to make them so unpopular that nobody would want them. When she shows up again they are more than willing to play for her. She zaps them to the Cosmos Cotillion where they are a smash until Samantha shows up and requests that Serena take the spell off them and return them to Earth. Serena complies and Boyce & Hart return to their popular status among mortals.
Boyce & Hart were an actual group responsible for writing a lot of the Monkees hits. They were seen on a lot of other Screen Gems shows such as “I Dream of Jeannie” and “The Flying Nun”. This episode is one of the most remembered out of the series.
#193: “Just a Kid Again” 2/26/70 – While shopping for a gift for one of Tabitha’s friends, Samantha and Tabitha are assisted by Irving Bates, a clerk who wishes out loud that he were a kid again. While Samantha is paying for the items, Tabitha grants Irving’s wish as he is stocking items. Understandably Irving is shocked and shows up to 1164 demanding to be turned back. Tabitha tries to turn him back but it won’t work. As Irving contemplates his new childhood he decides he’d rather not be turned back, which is why it won’t happen. Samantha calls in Dr. Bombay to try to reverse it but nothing he tries works. Irving mentions that he needs to call Ruthie, his girlfriend, to apologize for missing their lunch date. Now that he has a young voice she doesn’t believe him and when Samantha tries to vouch for him this only leads Ruthie to believe he is seeing another woman. Irving realizes that with being a child again he won’t be able to be with Ruthie and asks Tabitha to change him back, which she does.
Ruthie is played by Pat Priest, most famous for playing the second Marilyn Munster on “The Munsters”.
#194: “The Generation Zap” 3/5/70 – Durwood is chosen to be the mentor for Dusty Harrison, the college daughter of the new client, who is shadowing him in an attempt to learn all there is about the advertising business. She is quite serious and shy until Serena, at Endora’s request, casts a love spell on her to fall totally for Durwood. Now she can’t get enough of him. To get her out of his hair he sends her on a quest to find the perfect coffee pot for a new slogan. She shows up at his house later with tons of coffee pots. Mr. Harrison isn’t too pleased with this as he believes Durwood is leading his daughter on and is very unimpressed that Durwood would do this while married. Durwood invites the client over to meet Samantha so that he can see how happy they are. Meanwhile, Samantha is unimpressed with how forward Dusty is and she figures that her mother has caused it so she pops off to go find her. At the same time Serena and Endora pop in and Serena becomes Samantha’s double. When Mr. Harrison meets her she makes Durwood out to be a fool and she starts hitting on Mr. Harrison. At that point Samantha pops in, sees that it’s Serena and gets her to remove the spell from Dusty. Now back to normal, Dusty thinks Durwood has been trying to attack her and she and her father leave. All looks bleak until it’s announced on the news that Mr. Harrison has been caught on embezzlement charges.
#195: “Okay, Who’s the Wise Witch?” 3/12/70
– Samantha and Durwood find themselves unable to leave their house as all the doors and windows will not open, not even to break. When Samantha calls for her mother’s help, Endora pops in and hasn’t an idea of what it’s all about and finds that she is unable to leave. Thinking that maybe Esmeralda cast an errant spell they call her in and she denies having done anything and is now depressed that she won’t be able to make her date with Ramone Verona. Samantha finally decides to call Dr. Bombay as she believes the house may be sick. He diagnoses a vapor lock, which happens when the metaphysical particles distributed by witchcraft remain undisturbed by lack of use. He says the only way to administer the cure is from outside, so Samantha transfers him to a photograph and slips him under the door where she redimensionalizes him to cure the house.
#196: “A Chance on Love” 3/19/70
– When Samantha finds that she has forgotten that she volunteered to sell tickets to help some children in a fundraiser, she calls on Serena to take her place. Serena turns on all the charm with George Dinsdale who buys a ticket from her and asks for a date. Unfortunately he turns out to be one of Durwood’s clients and when he shows up at a dinner party at the Tate’s that the Stephenses are at, Samantha finds out that Serena was selling more than tickets. She tries to convince him that it was really Serena he has fallen for. When he shows up at their house later and is rather aggressive with Samantha she changes him into a parrot and explains to Durwood what’s going on. She calls for Serena who shows up after she’s changed George back and now he understands what’s going on.
George is played by Jack Cassidy in his second and final appearance on BW.
#197: “If the Shoe Pinches” 3/26/70
– Endora enlists the aid of a leprechaun in another attempt to break up Samantha’s mortal marriage. When Samantha finds out his ploy she gets rid of him. He leaves Durwood a pair of shoes, that when worn make the wearer quite lazy. And on top of that they are not able to take the shoes off. Samantha finds a spell for a potion that will give her control over leprechauns and feeds it to the leprechaun who then gets rid of the shoes. Meanwhile, in all his laziness, Durwood has managed to lose an account by not showing up to work so Samantha has Endora zap him with a brilliant slogan to get the account back.
Henry Gibson plays the Leprechaun.
#198: “Mona Sammy” 4/2/70
– Endora gives Samantha a painting of her great-aunt Cornelia painted by Leonardo Davinci around the time he painted the Mona Lisa. Cornelia looks a great deal like Samantha and Durwood isn’t too sure that it isn’t Samantha and insists that they not hang it up as it’ll bring up too many questions from visitors. Just as the Tate’s arrive for dinner Endora zaps the portrait above the fireplace and replaces Leonardo’s signature with that of Durwood’s. Louise sees it and asks if Durwood would paint a portrait of her. At Larry’s insistence, Durwood agrees. Samantha twitches him into being a great painter but Endora shows up and causes him to paint a goofy version of Louise which Larry is furious over and he insists his wife not see the finished painting. Before Louise can see it Samantha twitches it into a beautiful portrait of Louise and says the reason Durwood gave up painting was his allergic reaction to paint.
Kasey Rogers (Louise Tate) still had both portraits and during Halloween would hang up the ugly one. It is also rumored that EM's daughter Rebecca is in possesion of the Mona Sammy!
#199: “Turn on the Old Charm” 4/9/70 – After being the victim of Endora’s one too many times, Samantha reveals to Durwood that there is a way to get Endora on his good side by use of a magic amulet that Maurice has. He tells her to get it as he’s had enough. The amulet looks like a peace symbol with a heart in it and whenever Endora is around she is quite amiable and accommodating. Samantha warns him to not let her find out about it or there will be hell to pay. Endora, noticing that she is being quite friendly with Durwood, even remembering his name (!!!), goes to Dr. Bombay for a checkup. When she comes back she tells Samantha that Dr. Bombay gave her a clear bill of health which means that something else is going on. When she pops in on Durwood, who is getting a midnight snack, he asks her to make him a sandwich, which she tells him to make himself, “make it and then choke on it.” Realizing he no longer has the charm (he left it on the dresser) he yells for Samantha who comes down to find her husband is now a dog. Samantha takes it down to Durwood the dog and puts it under his paw causing Endora to regret what she’s done and she changes him back. Thinking that everything is OK they go about their business until Endora finds out from Maurice that Samantha got the amulet from him. She is so furious that she casts a spell over Samantha and Durwood to constantly bicker, which they do in front of the greeting card client, Mr. Sunshine. Meanwhile, Esmeralada mistakes the amulet for a love charm which she thinks she can use on the ever elusive Ramone Verona, the object of her affection so she takes the charm. Esmeralda had returned with the charm realizing that it didn’t work so Samantha takes it from her and calls on her mother to take off the spell. Samantha casts a spell to bring Larry and Mr. Sunshine back and tells him that it was part of Durwood’s idea to try out funny insult cards.
Very brief clips from this episode are seen in the movie “Apollo 13” as though this episode aired the same night of the disaster. In reality this episode aired four nights earlier.
#200: “Make Love, Not Hate” 4/16/70 – Esmeralda is majorly depressed by Ramone Verona not paying her any attention and she comes to sulk at Samantha’s. Wanting to cheer up the maid, Samantha calls on Dr. Bombay to ask if he might know of anyone he could set up with Esmeralda, as he doesn’t want to go out with her. He suggests his friend Norton who owes him a favor. When he returns with Norton he is told Esmeralda is sitting in the kitchen and Dr. Bombay tells Norton to have a look at her before he introduces her. Meanwhile Samantha is telling Esmeralda that she is going to meet a new warlock, which causes Esmeralda to fade out with nerves. Just then Norton looks in, spies Samantha, and agrees to go on the date. When he finds out that it wasn’t Esmeralda he had seen he declines. Samantha insists that Norton go out with Esmeralda and Dr. Bombay concocts a love potion that will make the person who takes the potion fall immediately in love with the next person of the opposite sex they see. When Norton takes it, Esmeralda fades out and the next woman he sees is Samantha. Meanwhile Durwood has come home with Larry, the client and his wife. Samantha has been preparing a clam dip which gets some of the love potion in it. The client tastes the dip, falls deeply in love with his wife, who has fallen for Larry. At the same time Esmeralda tastes the dip and falls in love with Durwood. Samantha hollers for Dr. Bombay who comes back with an antidote and cures everyone.
This marks the end of the Sixth Season and the end of another era in terms of the set. Over the following summer the kitchen set caught fire necessitating the cast and crew to film on location in Salem. With the kitchen being redone it was decided the rest of the set needed an overhaul, therefore this is the last time we see the flowered couch and the green carpet on the floor in the living room and the red brick fireplace.
In terms of extras that should be included on this set they should have:
•ABC Commercial promoting BW where they have start out with a clip from “Super Arthur”.
•Clairol commercial with EM.
•Another commercial that I can’t remember the full details but it again showed clips from the show.
•Maybe a featurette about why the Durwoods switched.
