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Video / DVD

A toast to TV's 'Bewitched'

A twitch of the nose and Samantha had TV audiences spellbound in the '60s, when the cocktail hour reigned.

By CHASE SQUIRES
Published June 23, 2005

[Sony Pictures

Darrin (Dick York) and Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) enjoy a cocktail while Endora (Agnes Moorehead) watches in the background of a colorized scene from the first season of Bewitched.

	Film review Less than bewitching Bewitched, the new film based on the old television sitcom, twitches its intentions too often to cast the spell of the original.

Forty years ago, it all looked so easy.

Sit down, have a drink and remember when.

The first season of Bewitched came out on DVD this week, in colorized and original black and white versions. Thirty-six episodes spanning 15 hours reveal the secrets to happiness on the homefront, circa 1964. It's as simple as a domestic diva in the kitchen, a contented client in the board room, a smoke to soothe the nerves, and a cocktail.

Always a cocktail.

At work, at lunch, at home, alone, with friends, with mom, with dad, with clients, with the boss, doesn't matter, the booze cart is just around the corner.

"The bar's in my office, I'll fix you something," offers Darrin Stephens (played by Dick York, the first Darrin) in an early episode.

"A little hair of the dog that bit me, know what I mean," tipsy client Rex Barker (Jack Warden) says, hoisting a midmorning eye-opener. "I usually drink it with carrot juice. I get just as smashed, but I can see better after dark."

In the world of Bewitched, there's nothing that can't be fixed with a little help from the spirits, either witchcraft or whiskey. And please, nothing frilly. Liquor, hard and neat, maybe over ice or with a dash of bitters if you must.

The classic series recounts the suburban adventures of young witch Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) who marries a mortal, advertising exec Darrin Stephens. Samantha only wants what's best for Darrin, and Darrin doesn't want her to use witchcraft. Nosey neighbors, eccentric mother-in-law Endora (Agnes Moorehead in heavy eye shadow and towering hair) and a slew of guest stars set the scene for the misunderstandings, mixups and makeups.

The DVD release is timed to accompany the Hollywood remake. Like a time capsule, the old show is wonderfully out of step with modern America, a boozy blend of sophistication and innocence. Bewitched may have been progressive for its day, but its day was in 1964. Writers in the first season could be daring ... but not too daring.

The theme song hints at a swinging nightclub, but the opening credits roll on an illustrated Samantha at home, cooking for her husband. And while the series is recognized as the first to show husband and wife sleeping in the same bed, they get under the covers dressed for Arctic exploration.

At the same time quaintly progressive - fans point out the number of gay actors and the acceptance of differing views - things that were acceptable in the mid 1960s may shock today's sensibilities. Many scenes, from cigarette smoking and driving cars without seat belts, look out of place now, never mind the occasional drunken antics, sexual harassment and "traditional" view of women's roles.

"Here you see the average, normal suburban housewife in one of her daily, routine tasks: preparing breakfast for her husband," the narrator says, introducing an early episode. "With a modern kitchen and all conveniences at her disposal, the modern housewife moves efficiently through her tasks."

Modern conveniences include lots of paneling and Formica countertops.

Melanie Parker, a lifelong fan, runs Bewitched Web site Harpiesbizarre.com (a sly reference to the magazine favored by Samantha's mother.) While Parker, 34, has the entire collection of 252 episodes (plus specials and flashback episodes) on video tape either from older commercial releases or bootlegged from television, she said fans have pined for the unedited DVD release.

Bewitched has been watched in reruns for years, but Parker said it has been clipped to make room for more commercials.

"They've been butchering this show," she lamented.

Parker, a Chicago technical writer, runs the site with friend Bob Sikora. Fans from around the world are regular contributors to the site, which rings up more than a million hits a month.

"The love story touches a lot of people. There's all that style, and some people love the camp of Endora, and Samantha is so beautiful," Parker said. "What I find so charming is that lifestyle, their relationship as husband and wife. She was so powerful, but she chose that life, to live with Darrin, for herself. I didn't like I Dream of Jeannie where she has to call him master and live in a bottle. Samantha really made the choices for herself because she was in love."

Darrin is stern with his wife, but adoring. And Samantha loves him for it.

Not even Endora can tempt her away from her mortal husband.

"I'm going to stay right here, and I'm going to clean this house with my own two hands," Samantha tells her mom. "And then I'm going to start to fix dinner, and then I'm going to take a bath, and put on the sexiest dress I own, and when my husband comes home, I'm going to have a drink with him and spend the rest of the evening trying to convince him that he was right and I was wrong."

It all looked so easy. Cocktail?

Get more Bewitched on the Internet at www.Harpiesbizarre.com and www.Bewitched.net

[Last modified June 22, 2005, 10:44:04]