BEWITCHED [TV SERIES] - DVD review

"Bewitched" garnered 22 Emmy nominations its first seven seasons. Though silly, it was also a sophisticated TV comedy with some fun special effects, clever writing, and funny situations. Its first season, the William Ascher-directed series finished second in the Nielsens and continued to be among the top 11 most-watched TV shows in America through its fifth season. But it slipped to #24 the following year and fell out of the Nielsen Top-30 its seventh and eighth seasons.

In 1964, when "Bewitched" debuted, novelty sitcoms were all the rage. You had shows like "My Favorite Martian," "The Munsters," "The Addams Family," Gilligan's Island," "The Beverly Hillbillies," "Petticoat Junction," "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.," and "McHale's Navy. The style of comedy was by-and-large over-the-top, with silly situations and loud laugh tracks. "Bewitched" broke the mold by allowing the characters to have more extended poignant and dramatic moments, where viewers got to see a side of them that made them less two-dimensional. William Asher (who was married to series star Elizabeth Montgomery at the time) won an Emmy for best direction for the show's second season, and in part that's because he seemed to know the difference between comedy and silliness. Plus, the premise was irresistible: Mortal Darrin Stephens, an advertising executive who works for the New York firm of McMann & Tate, falls in love with a woman (Montgomery) who just happens to be a witch. Darrin makes Samantha promise to give up her witchcraft, but well, situations just keep coming up where it can't be helped.

When Samantha's disapproving witchy mother, Endora (Agnes Moorehead), dropped in, there'd be the usual friction between "Durwood" or "Darwin" and his mother-in-law, often resulting in a spell being thrown his way. Later in the show's run, the producers got plenty of mileage out of historical figures transported to present times, and a little girl and born to the Stephens that had everyone wondering whether they take after their mortal dad or immortal mom. Samantha's warlock father, Maurice (Maurice Evans), often made a theatrical entrance, and practical joke-loving Uncle Arthur (Paul Lynde) also popped in every now and then. So did other aunts and members of the witches council, and when things went really awry Dr. Bombay (Bernard Fox) was called in. Meanwhile, Darrin's boss and wife and family popped in too, and somehow the witchcraft and mortal shenanigans had to be kept separate. The witness to all this hocus-pocus mayhem was nosey neighbor and her husband, Abner (George Tobias), and, of course, the rest of America, who fell in love with Montgomery and her benevolent household witchcraft.

Over the years the show survived key character replacements--two Darrins (Dick York, then Dick Sargent), two nosey neighbors (Alice Pearce, then Sandra Gould as Gladys Kravitz), and two slightly daft and inept witches (Marion Lorne as Aunt Clara, then Alice Ghostley as Esmeralda). Minor characters changed too, with Irene Vernon replaced by Kasey Rogers as the boss's wife, Louise; Ysabel MacCloskkey and Reta Shaw both playing Aunt Hagatha; and Robert F. Simon, then Roy Roberts, playing Darrin's father, Frank. But it couldn't survive the gradual depletion of ideas that the writers faced.

Anachronisms had been the show's bread and butter for years, with historical figures either zapped into the Stephens' modern present or else one (or both) of the Stephens zapped into another time and place. But even those old tricks didn't seem to work as well during the eighth and final season of "Bewitched." And some of the episodes, like one which supposedly features a Loch Ness Monster that's one of cousin Serena's ex-boyfriends, is so downright stupid it's difficult to watch. I think that a group of seventh graders could have come up with a more realistic-looking monster. That's one of the worst episodes, along with one that features Esmeralda babysitting for Larry (David White) and Louise Tate.

Twenty-six episodes are contained on four single-sided discs that are housed in two slim, clear plastic keep-cases and tucked inside a sturdy cardboard slipcase. The titles and a one-sentence description of the episodes appears on the back of each keep-case. Some of the better episodes this season feature Tabitha as she tries things the mortal way but, well. . . .

1-2) "How Not to Lose Your Head to King Henry VIII," Pts. 1&2. On a tour of the Tower of London, Samantha gets mixed up with a hateful witch who sends her back in time to the court of King Henry VIII. Endora sends Darrin back to rescue Samantha before King Henry VIII adds her to his gallery of late wives. Montgomery actually gets to sing several long Renaissance songs.

3) "Samantha and the Loch Ness Monster." Dopey effects are far from special. Even if intended as campy fun, it's painful to watch. And the silly plot about a warlock being turned into a monster 40 years ago doesn't help.

4) "Samantha's Not-So-Leaning Tower of Pisa." First England and Scotland, and now Italy. The Stephens' European vacation continues as we learn that it was Esmeralda who made the tower lean in the first place, and she decides to right the wrong years later. Naturally, all of Italy panics.

5) "Bewitched, Bothered, and Baldoni." In the romantic city of Rome, Endora's spell brings the statue of Venus to irresistible life in order to test Darrin's fidelity. Better, but not by much.

6) "Paris, Witches Style." Samantha's father is furious when he learns that she and Darrin have failed to pay him a visit while on their European tour. Another stinker finds Endora trying to solve the problem by conjuring up a double Darrin.

7) "The Ghost Who Made a Spectre of Himself." A lovesick ghost longing to be near Samantha takes up residence in Darrin's body and refuses to leave. Better than it sounds. Louise is at risk this episode too, but at least the final European episode was watchable.

8) "TV or Not TV." Tabitha becomes an overnight sensation when she magically appears on a puppet show sponsored by Darrin's client. A complete retread (this happened last season) with a different show and sponsor, the Tabitha episode is still one of the best.

9) "A Plague on Maurice and Samantha." Maurice decides that he would like to sample mortal life after he temporarily loses his powers from a virus he caught from Samantha. Another decent episode.

10) "Hansel and Gretel in Samanthaland." Another one that's strictly for the kids. A dinner party at the Stephens'' house ends up with two unexpected guests when Tabitha zaps H&G out of their storybook so the hungry children can enjoy a home-cooked meal.

11) "The Warlock in the Gray Flannel Suit." Endora enlists the help of a hippie warlock named Alonzo to do away with Darrin's job so that he is free to attend a family wedding with Samantha. Okay at best.

12) "The Eight-Year Itch Witch." Endora transforms a cat into a temptress in an effort to test Darrin's loyalty to Samantha. Original idea, huh?

13) "3 Men and a Witch on a Horse." Endora casts a spell that sends Darrin off to the horse races, hoping that his newly inspired gambling bug will make him a better provider for Samantha. Another fair-at-best episode.

14) "Adam, Warlock, or Washout." Adam's powers need to be tested, but not before he receives some coaching from his grandfather.

15) "Samantha's Magic Sitter." Esmeralda's babysitting skills are a big hit with the kids but not with Darrin's client, whose son will not give up the notion that he was entertained by witchcraft. One of the weaker episodes this season.

16) "Samantha is Earthbound." Samantha is lighter than air after Dr. Bombay's attempt to cure a gravitational pull backfires. I was never a fan of the Dr. Bombay episodes. They always struck me as supremely stupid, but this one has some funny scenes, as when Samantha can't stay earthbound at a charity fashion show.

17) "Serena's Richcraft." I was never a fan of the Serena episodes either, in which Montgomery plays her "evil twin" and swinging cousin. But for those who get a kick out of Serena, this is one of the better episodes. After losing her powers, Serena flirts with a wealthy and attractive client of Darrin's, hoping to prove that "richcraft" can be just as powerful as witchcraft.

18) "Samantha on Thin Ice." One of the better episodes finds Tabitha invited to an ice skating party, and she can go . . . but only if she can learn to skate the mortal way. Endora has other plans for her granddaughter when she casts a spell that transforms Tabitha into an Olympic star.

19) "Serena's Youth Pill." Serena gives Larry Tate a dose of Vitamin V hoping to turn back the clock by a couple of years, but the pill has an unexpected effect and takes him all the way back to his childhood. Another one that's surprisingly funny, considering the Serena effect.

20) "Tabitha's First Day in School." One of the best episodes finds Tabitha changing the class bully into a frog on her very first day, then encountering trouble as she later tries to reverse the spell.

21-22) "George Washington Zapped Here," Pts. 1&2. Another historical premise should have been funnier than it turns out to be. Esmeralda accidentally brings George Washington into the 20th century, but the father of our country finds it difficult to adjust to modern times. In part two, the first President remains stuck, awaiting a hearing for threatening a police officer and speaking out publicly about the Constitution. In-between, he mucks things up for one of Darrin's accounts, all because he cannot tell a lie.

23) "School Days, School Daze." Tabitha is worried about being smart enough to skip the second grade. But with Endora's help she far exceeds the expectations of her teacher. Another solid episode. When the writers work with Tabitha and play to a younger audience the results are much better.

24) "A Good Turn Never Goes Unpunished." Darrin is sleeping on the couch after he suspects that Samantha's brilliant slogans for a mattress account are the result of witchcraft.

25) "Samantha's Witchcraft Blows a Fuse." Samantha's face is covered with red stripes. Dr. Bombay's cure requires two important ingredients: a Himalayan cinnamon stick and the tail feather of a dodo bird. Another just plain stupid Dr. Bombay episode.

26) "The Truth, Nothing but the Truth, so Help Me Sam." A dinner party for a prospective client ends in disaster after Endora casts a spell on Samantha's unicorn pin that causes every mortal that comes near it to tell the absolute truth. Well, at least the show ended on a relatively high note.

Video:
The color seasons have been much sharper than the black and whites, and this season seems even more grain-free than the others. The colors are bright and sassy, with Endora's outfits and flaming hair as garish as ever--no fading whatsoever. The presentation is 1.33:1.

Audio:
It's the audio seems deficient. The music is louder than the dialogue, and so you have to turn it up to hear, and yet there's this overpowering white noise and musical interlude that intrudes. There's a flatness to the sound as well. The audio once again comes in English, Spanish, or Portuguese Dolby Digital Mono, with English closed captions and Spanish or Portuguese subtitles.

Extras:
You'd think there's be at least one bonus feature for a curtain call, but nope. Just an uneventful release of the final season of a beloved TV show.

Bottom Line:
The final season was far from the best, but "Bewitched" fans are going to want to buy this one just to complete their sets. Today's children may like this season because it features a number of episodes that focus on young Tabitha and her antics.