Bewitched - Series 4 - Complete (Box Set) > Reviews > A Bit Be Bloopered

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	quality acting, many fine scripts
Disadvantages:	a couple of episodes to regret, last series with Aunt Clara, no extras

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Season four of this perennial family favourite is where the storylines began to undergo more experimentation. Mostly the result was good, but there are a few clinkers when compared to the brilliance of the other episodes, though none are painfully bad and unwatchable. Many fans hold this season as their favourite, as Serena makes many more appearances, as does Dr Bombay, Aunt Clara is still knocking about, and Tabitha begins exhibiting her powers with humorous yet not cutesy results.

As always the chemistry between actors Dick York and Elizabeth Montgomery made this a joy to watch and the young twins playing Tabitha acted with a sweet naturalness sadly missed by many TV child stars today. With her feet now firmly wet from the previous season, the new Gladys Kravitz gets to dig into her role more deeply, and we see a return to the flighty, flaky Gladys that we had known and loved so much.

Memorable highlights for this season are:

Samantha taking delightful revenge on Darrin's wealthy, snobbish ex who tries to upstage Sam and steal Darrin during a business get to together (Snob in the Grass)

Tabitha exacting her own fitting revenge upon a spoiled bully twice her size. (Playmates)

Gladys and the Air Force going gaga when Aunt Clara manages to summon up aliens in a flying saucer ("Samantha's Secret Saucer" )

Endora discovering the power of the love between Darrin and Sam when she sends to an alternate timeline where they had never met ("If They Never Met" )

Truthfully, the only two serious clinkers of the season revolve around the rather lame decision to make Sam Queen of the Witches, and the two episodes that deal with this are the weakest of the series. Thankfully, this did not last and no more sharks had to endure the fear of people jumping over them! The premise was so far from the established character of the show and what it was all about that it was almost, but not quite painful to watch. Luckily the rest of the episodes quickly make up for this small set of missteps, and we have a glowing season once again.

Sadly, award winning actress Marion Lorne passed away after filming was complete and so this is the final series we see the gentle, kind, forgetful and bumblingly eccentric Aunt Clara. Luckily, we get well measured doses of her, and she especially shines in the one and only Thanksgiving special episode they did, so even if you are tempted to skip this episode on the DVD as Thanksgiving is not particularly relevant to you, don't, as you will miss a treasure.

Production values as always remained high for this series, and we also get to see more 60's era special effects, which while not up to state of the art modern techniques, are more than passable. Likewise, the transfer of the prints from celluloid to digital was done with the utmost care, giving them the respect they deserve. All 33 episodes are shown here uncut, with clear bright prints and any fading restored for crisp colour. The sound is also clear, but being mono, modern electronics that are expecting stereo may play this a little on the soft side, necessitating a minor adjustment upwards in regards to volume. Like the season before it, the studio does let us down once again by not giving us any extras and the extra space this would have taken up on the discs are instead used by advertisements for other recent and soon to be released DVD sets. Slightly, disappointing, I am sure you will agree, but not the end of the world.

Overall, its a fine set, and priced about right to be a true bargain. Great for family viewing, rainy days, and when once again at night, nothing worth watching is on TV despite the presence of over 500 channels. So pull up a chair, and come visit the Stephens at 1164 Morning Glory Circle, and have a great time.