wholesome family entertainment, 36 episodes provide value for money
Disadvantages:
this is colourised so a few niggles, nothing major
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Once upon a time, an All American girl kept bumping into an All American boy. And bumping. And bumping. So he asked her out, and she accepted. They fell in love, got married, and in the second season, had a baby (actually, they had 2). Except this girl happened to be a witch.
This was the premise for the beloved iconic 1960's television series, Bewitched. It starred Elizabeth Montgomery as the beautiful witch who fell in love with an marred a mortal, Dick York (in the first 5 seasons) as the young mortal Darrin Stevens, an advertising executive, who became her husband, the marvellous Agnes Moorehead (dig her hair and eye shadow!) as Sam's upset mother, and their best friends (and Darrin's boss and his wife) Larry and Louse Tate (played by David white and Irene Vernon). Sam wishes to fit into the human world and help Darrin live his ordinary life the same as any other man, but she simply finds it difficult to not twitch her nose and unbreak casserole dishes, or get a little help hanging pictures, and "unimportant" things such as that. Unimportant except for the fact every neighbourhood has at least ONE nosy housewife, and hers lives across the street…..Gladys Kravitz (played by Alice Pearce). Gladys is always trying to get the law, various politicians, neighbours, and her long suffering husband, Abner (George Tobias) to believe the bizarre things she sees.
This television series was groundbreaking. It not only was Samantha the first TV character to have divorced parents, but it was also the show that brought the occult into the mainstream with witches as likeable characters. Later TV shows through the decades owe a lot to this series, and indeed, Charmed even paid homage to it and its '60's sensibilities in an episode.
This box set is for series 1. We get to see Sam and Darrin meet, Darrin meets Endora, they marry and set up house (Sam is a housewife with all that that entails) and so on. It sets the tone for the remainder of the series. It is television you can watch with your children and everyone be entertained, though some things you see you may need to chat with younger children about later. By this, I am referring to smoking. If your child knows smokers, they will already understand about smoking. My children do not know any smokers, and only know about it from stop smoking advertisements, so were quite shocked to see people lighting up. This actually had an advantage; I was able to explain about advertisements that tricked people into thinking it was a good thing to do, and harmless, and so on so that my children could see that smoking was seen as a very normal and even helpful (calming the nerves sort of thing) to do. (No offence meant to any smokers out there.) None of the plotlines involve anything even the youngest child should not see, and even my 3 year old appreciates the humour displayed and laughs out loud while sitting rapturously. The special effects are pretty good, though some are a bit dated, but it WAS 1964.
I should also mention that this particular set is the ONLY set sold here in the UK and it is colourised. It is done quite well, though we did notice in one episode that Endora's coat changed from black to navy blue to black to nay blue from frame to frame in close-ups, which while not the end of the world, was noticeable. I am a purist though, and as we have a multiregion player, so after watching the rental copy, we ordered the set from Amazon's US site (got to love the exchange rate!) and ordered the first season in its original black and white. Being in black and white did not diminish the viewability and the children were intrigued at the fact TV's did not have colour originally.
So if you are looking for good old fashioned viewing that you can relax and laugh with, this is a fantastic choice. Especially if you are like us, with a young family, and despair at the lack of good programming for the entire family in the evenings before children's bedtimes. If you enjoy family comedy viewing, may I also suggest The Andy Griffith Show if you have a multiregion player. It is another classic gem.
I should add that the box set does not have a lot of extras. The full screen (it WAS TV after all) prints were wonderfully remastered, and also has featurettes on "How the Magic was made" as well as a blooper reel and a theatrical trailer for the Bewitched movie with Nicole Kidman. Sadly, as Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York, and several other cast members have all died, it does not have any interviews from the original stars. Perhaps one day they will uncover old interviews from the original airdate periods, and can put them on.
Below I have provided the series episode listings. The discs have them in proper order. The listings below give the order, then the episode number, the production number, and the original airdate followed by the title.
Season 1 (from http://epguides.com/Bewitched/ )
1. 1- 1 3055 17 Sep 64 I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha 2. 1- 2 3908 24 Sep 64 Be it Ever So Mortgaged 3. 1- 3 3915 1 Oct 64 Mother Meets What's His Name 4. 1- 4 3908 8 Oct 64 It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog 5. 1- 5 3914 15 Oct 64 Help, Help, Don't Save Me 6. 1- 6 3919 22 Oct 64 Little Pitchers Have Big Fears 7. 1- 7 3913 29 Oct 64 The Witches Are Out 8. 1- 8 3903 5 Nov 64 The Girl Reporter 9. 1- 9 3924 12 Nov 64 Witch or Wife? 10. 1-10 3910 19 Nov 64 Just One Happy Family 11. 1-11 3907 26 Nov 64 It Takes One to Know One 12. 1-12 3926 3 Dec 64 And Something Makes Three 13. 1-13 3928 10 Dec 64 Love is Blind 14. 1-14 3934 17 Dec 64 Samantha Meets the Folks 15. 1-15 3927 24 Dec 64 A Vision of Sugar Plums 16. 1-16 3929 7 Jan 65 It's Magic 17. 1-17 3922 14 Jan 65 A is for Aardvark 18. 1-18 3902 21 Jan 65 The Cat's Meow 19. 1-19 3916 28 Jan 65 A Nice Little Dinner Party 20. 1-20 3923 4 Feb 65 Your Witch is Showing 21. 1-21 3933 11 Feb 65 Ling Ling 22. 1-22 3946 25 Feb 65 Eye of the Beholder 23. 1-23 3936 4 Mar 65 Red Light, Green Light 24. 1-24 3904 11 Mar 65 Which Witch is Which? 25. 1-25 3939 18 Mar 65 Pleasure O'Reilly 26. 1-26 3948 25 Mar 65 Driving is the Only Way to Fly 27. 1-27 3935 1 Apr 65 There's No Witch Like an Old Witch 28. 1-28 3932 8 Apr 65 Open the Door Witchcraft 29. 1-29 3921 15 Apr 65 Abner Kadabra 30. 1-30 3950 22 Apr 65 George the Warlock 31. 1-31 3953 29 Apr 65 That Was My Wife 32. 1-32 3952 6 May 65 Illegal Separation 33. 1-33 3957 13 May 65 A Change of Face 34. 1-34 3906 20 May 65 Remember the Main 35. 1-35 3951 27 May 65 Eat at Mario's 36. 1-36 3942 3 Jun 65 Cousin Edgar
More details
Soundtrack
Outstanding
How does it compare to others by the same director?
Outstanding
Value for Money
Excellent
What format are you reviewing?
DVD
Evaluate this review
How helpful would this review be to someone making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
