Customer Reviews

Bewitched [VHS]

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

You will not find any of the black & white episodes from the early season of "Bewitched," when Dick York played Darrin. This 2-pack of videos are all in glorious color, with Dick Sargent as Darrin Stephens. The main thing of course is that they all have Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha, Agnes Moorehead as Endora, Marion Lorne as Aunt Clara, Maurice Evans as Maurice, and David White as Larry Tate.

"Generation Zap" features a trio of classic sit com episodes from the fourth season of "Bewitched." (1) In "Samantha's Thanksgiving to Remember" (Episode #119, November 23, 1967), Aunt Clara's inadvertently (of course) sends the Stephenses back to the Pilgrim's first Thanksgiving in Plymouth. Unfortunately, this is the Plymouth where they Pilgrims are interested in burning witches. Ironically, the visitor they go after is Darrin. One of the most interesting parts of this episode is when it gets a bit serious and Samantha speaks out against prejudice during Darrin's trial. (2) "No Zip in My Zap" (Episode #113, October 12, 1967), finds that Darrin has a new account and Samantha has lost her powers. The twist is that McMann & Tate's new client turns out to be a woman, and Darrin and Larry have a hard time dealing with this. However, not as hard a time as Samantha is having trying to do simple things like put plates back together. There might be lots of social consciousness in these first two episodes, but then we get to (3) the classic "Allergic to Macedonian Dodo Birds" (#118, November 16, 1967), with the wonderful performance of the great Agnes Moorhead. Endora loses all her power after coming into contact with the giant Dodo Bird, which transfers all of her magical power to Aunt Clara. Unable to raise a coffee pot (with her hand) let alone rise from her sick bed, Endora still proves she can make "Derwood" miserable and Darrin's initial glee over his mother-in-law's plight is soon dashed. Meanwhile, it is Aunt Clara who proves to finally have the upper hand with Endora. These are three excellent episodes from this Sixties sit com that is as beloved as it is under-appreciated. That is only because some critics want to ignore the fact that the witch married to the mortal on "Bewitched" is being played by a very talented actress, Elizabeth Montgomery.

The best episode of the trio of color episode of "Bewitched" is the first one, "My Friend Ben" (Episode #87, December 8, 1966). Aunt Clara tries to help with the repair of a lamp by summoning an electrician, but ends up bringing Ben Franklin (Fred Wayne) from the past instead. Before Samantha can send him back, Darrin shows up with his boss. Larry assumes Ben is part of Darrin's ad campaign for Franklin Electronics. There is a nice sequence in this one where Sam and Clara take Ben and show how his inventions are being used. Wandering around the city Ben is arrested for stealing a fire engine and has to stand trial, which takes place in "Samantha for the Defense" (Episode #88, December 15, 1966). The best part of this one is when Ben skillfully refutes the supposedly damaging testimony of the witnesses. We jump way ahead in the series with the final episode, "Samantha's Good News" (Episode #168, April 10, 1969), in which the fact Sam in going to have another baby almost gets lost in the fun as her parents fight it out over which one of them is divorcing the other one. Watching Agnes Moorehead and Maurice Evans chew up scenery is always great fun, even if the prospect of a grandson forces them to pretend to be civil to one another. "It's All Relative" presents another three excellent examples of this particular situation comedy, which could get a bit repetitive and redundant at times. However, distilled to these six episodes the strengths of the sitcom become clear as the twitching nose on your face.

The boxed set contains Its all Relative and Generation Zap. The genartion zap has one real good episode on it. The Stephens and Aunt Clara are zap back to the pilgrims time for thanksgiving, during a time where the people burned witches. It was not Sam that was accused of being a witch but rather Darrin. Don't want to spoil how they got out of it. There are also two episodes on Ben Franklin which are quite interesting. Overall I say four of the six episodes in this package are worth watching.

This review has nothing to do with the content of the movie rather the quality of the tape. Not only is the video of a poor quality but the audio make the viewing very un-entertaining.

I would not recommend getting these tapes.

These are one of the best Bewitched shows shown. It is something that I would consider a classic. Unfortunately, it has been made on a rather poor quality tape. Not only is the video of a poor quality, but the audio make the viewing very un-entertaining.

I would not recommend getting these tapes.

I purchased the Bewitched pak as an addition to my favorite "Archetypes" collection. Appreciation contains many perspectives as many as this classic series puts forward in it's unique light hearted manner. If you require an enlightening dose of white magical moments that will keep Dr. Bombay a bay this series provides in spades.
"Mother! Mother! Mother!"