Customer Reviews

Tabitha - The Entire Series

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I agree that this isn't the greatest TV series ever made, but it is a lot of fun. I was excited when I found out it was being released on DVD, and ordered it right away. I am glad that I did, because I am extremely impressed with this release. If you watched the recent airings on TV Land, you'll remember the murky, faded picture quality that almost all of the episodes exhibited. Well, surprisingly Sony has outdone themselves with this release. The episodes look incredible! Sharp, crisp picture quality, with bright, vibrant colors. It looks truly incredible compared to what was shown on TV! Plus, it includes the rarely seen pilot episode with a different cast and location. All of this on 2 single sided discs housed in a standard size DVD "flipper" amaray. I wish that all studios would take notice of the excellent transfer used for this set, and apply it to other TV shows that are released on DVD.

This spinoff series to Bewitched, one of the greatest sitcoms of all times, tries very hard to capture the magic of the original but just misses. It's cute in it's own way and fun to hear the soundeffects from the original series reused as well as some of the characters such as Dr. Bombay (played again by Bernard Fox) and the Kravitzes (played again by Sandra Gould and George Tobias). And who can deny how cute Lisa Hartman as Tabitha is.

The problem though is that the characters don't seem to be fleshed out until the last couple episodes but by then it was too late. And the fact that this show started in 1977 only five years after Bewitched ended makes you wonder how Tabitha grew up so fast.

The video and sound on this DVD release is awesome! Crystal clear and vibrant!

If you're looking for some light fun you should check this out.

This is one of the shows that I have very vague memories of watching as a little kid. I was six when the show aired. The only thing I really remembered about it was that Lisa Hartman played Tabitha (which led me to believe for years that she also played Tabitha on "Bewitched" this is not the case). The other thing I remembered about this show was her driving a yellow VW. That's all I could recall of this show. So I rented the DVD set to refresh my memory. The show just isn't that good. It comes off as a very cheap attempt at redoing "Bewitched". On "Bewitched" you believed all the charaters were who they played, you got lost in their reality. That is not the case with this show. You watch the show and you ask yourself, why does Adam have such a problem with his sister doing her thing (witchcraft)? Why does their Aunt Minerva have such disdain for her own nephew? Where did Aunt Minerva come from since everything from the original show led you to believe that Samantha was an only child??? In short you really don't care about these people or what they are doing.
The gimmick of the show was obviously the whole "Bewitched" tie in, however that is ALL it had going for it, and even that wasn't done very well. The overall plot of Tabitha working at a TV station isn't all that interesting. Lisa Hartman and Robert Urich do a good job though, it's just the material they had to work with wasn't that great.
I suppose if you're a huge fan of "Bewitched" or Lisa Hartman (who is still incredibly cute today!) you will pick this up regardless, if you're just a casual fan, you'll do better to skip this altogether, you're not missing anything.

I love the show Tabitha, maybe it's not quite as good as Bewitched but it's a cute show with highly entertaining episodes and as for the charsm of Lisa Hartman, well I think she is very pretty and she's pretty darn cute as Tabitha!

I aslo like Robert Urich. The character he played started off kind of dorky but they started to tone him down after several episodes but unforunately it was canceled so soon.

Concededly there was a lot of room for improvement, unfortunately ABC never gave the show a chance to develop further. For a 1970s show, it was par for the course. Lisa Hartman definitely had what it took to carry her own show. And she and the actor who played Adam resembled their TV parents enough to make it seem plausible. "Tabitha" is charming in its own way. And yes, the guest appearances of original characters like the Kravitzes and Dr. Bombay were welcome delights (only wish Ms. Montgomery and Uncle Arthur showed up too). The original pilot included on this DVD is just a dull re-telling of the original Bewitched pilot. Too bad this show wasn't given the opportunity to turn into what could've been another classic.

First off, let me say that I am a die-hard Bewitched fan. Always have been, always will be. But I remember being dissapointed, as an 11 year old, that Elizabeth Montgomery wasn't going to be on "Tabitha". I remember liking the series, but not being enthralled with it as I was it's originator. However as an adult, I can now watch the show and enjoy it for what it was...a charming escape. I wish it had been given a chance is a solid timeslot and allowed to grow on it's own. Maybe not enough time had passed from the original to it's spinoff. I think that most people buying entertainment these days will like this. It view's now like an "homage" to "Bewitched". And yes, 1970's TV seems far racier now that when I was 11, but it still makes me smile.

I had only seen the Liberty Williams original pilot, which is included in this set. That pilot's script seems to be heavily lifted from elements of the first two episodes of "Bewitched," some of the dialogue quoted almost verbatim!

I will concur with other reviewers that "Tabitha" is no "Bewitched" and that Lisa Hartman is no Liz Montgomery. However, let us be fair. Lisa had some pretty big shoes to fill. To her credit, the character she develops does seem as though she could indeed be the offspring of Sam and Darrin. It is great to see the funny Sandra Gould as Mrs. Kravitz, George Tobias as Abner, and Bernard Fox as Dr. Bombay. Watch for some hilarious, catty banter between Minerva and Gladys in Episode 7, "The Arrival of Nancy."

As far as entertainment value, the show did have some very funny, catty, witty, and sarcastic moments. I think everyone involved gave it their best shot. However, it could have never lived up to the magic of its parent show "Bewitched." The same people were involved in producing the show, but the same magic wasn't there. I think we all missed Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha too much to even give the show a chance, quite frankly. After all, didn't we all really want the old "Bewitched" back and not a sequel? I think the best episodes of "Tabitha" are nearly on par with the mediocre or average "Bewitched" shows of the later seasons. (Please don't hex me me for saying that there were actually less-than-excellent episodes of "Bewitched!")

Errors on the packaging: In the liner notes, Adam is called Tabitha's mortal brother in the description for the original pilot. Adam played a full-fledged warlock in that pilot! Furthermore, the original pilot is called an "unaired" pilot on the DVD menu. This is not the case. That show did indeed hit the airwaves.

Trivia: There are two major allusions to "I Dream of Jeannie" in the "Tabitha" series. On episode 9, Portia, Tabitha's high school friend and witch, actually folds her arms and blinks to conjure up a red velvet coat. On episode 12, Cassandra pours something from Jeannie's bottle into her cauldron!

It was somehow nice to hear many of the same sound effects from "Bewitched;" it gave a little extra to the continuity and familiarity with the old show.

In summary, a great show for nostalgiac purposes and a few giggles. And for the carnal creatures within us all, neither Lisa Hartman or Robert Urich are exactly hard on the eyes, either.

Reading the other reviews here, I think there are a lot of people missing the point of this series. It's pure entertainment, plain and simple. It's not entirely fair to compare it to the original "Bewitched", although there's a temptation to do so. The casting of Lisa Hartman as Tabitha, and David Ankrum as Adam, works because she resembles Elizabeth Montgomery, and he Dick York, enough to make you believe Samantha and Darren could be their parents. Keeping Adam a mortal was the right way to go, since he was mortal on the original show. The unaired pilot made him a warlock, which would have detracted from the show if he had been portrayed that way. It would have been great if the parents had made a guest appearance (Sandra Gould and George Tobias reprising their roles as Gladys and Abner Kravitz was welcome). Robert Urich as an egotistical talk show host worked; he really looked the part. Karen Morrow was also terrific as Aunt Minerva, Tabitha's "guardian witch". Anyway, this is a cute show that deserves a look. Don't judge it entirely as a "Bewitched" spin-off. Take it on its own merit.

I was absolutely in love with this show for the short time ABC aired it back in the late 70s and had the sense to ignore the negative reviews here when I ordered it last week. Verdict: I'm still guilty of loving the very young Lisa Hartman as Tabitha Stevens.

Now, true, there is a thin resemblance to Mary Tyler Moore, but there is enough Bewitched to make a die-hard fan like myself smile in total approval. Lisa Hartman wears her hair, wears clothes similar to, and acts enough like Elizabeth Montgomery to pass herself off as Samantha Stevens' magical daughter, while David Ankrum plays mortal brother Adam, who happens to be a chip of the old "Derwood" block. The late Robert Urich as egomaniacal Ted Baxteresque on/off love interest Paul serves to work up some notable sparks, and Karen Morrow as Aunt Minerva is so bewitching all by herself that she often steals the show away from the rest of the cast just by showing up for as little as 2 minutes in a given episode. Of special note, check out the original pilot with Liberty Williams and Bruce Kimmel to see how much better I think the show might have gone had Adam been kept a warlock.

I saw Tabitha on TV Land as part of their as part of their corny TV show night hosted by Martin Mull and Fred Willard and it is so silly but enjoyable mainly because of the charming Lisa Hartman-Black. The only character I don't like is Adam because he's a boring drip! A total stuffed shirt! I have been wondering if this hsow would ever make it to DVD and actually I seriously doubted that it would but thank the lucky stars that I was wrong! This would make a great edition to my huge DVD collection!