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Post by snsurone on May 4, 2017 22:45:42 GMT
While this is a very good series, there is only one thing that doesn't make it great: the character of Darren Stephens! To me, he was the most chauvinistic, self-centered boob since Ricky Ricardo!
It infuriates me that Darren forbids Sam to use her powers, even to help him. And Sam really seems to be afraid of his temper, just as Lucy was afraid of Ricky's; she believes her role is to be the "dutiful, obedient wife", with no life outside of housework, child care, and obedience to the "lord and master".
I really like when Endora turns him into a frog, or something. Endora was meant to be the meddling MIL, but it's easy to see that she was only trying to make Sam see the exciting, constructive life she passed over by marrying "the mortal". I'm looking forward to seeing the episode where Darren learns that his baby Tabitha is also a witch.
This same criticism could be levied at I DREAM OF JEANNIE, I suppose, but I dislike that show because Jeannie is portrayed as a ditsy airhead, while Sam was an intelligent woman.
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Post by telegonus on May 4, 2017 23:33:21 GMT
I like Dick York as Darren, found him to be an immensely likable actor. A typical, old school American male of his day, York nails it, and he does so with charm. As to Darren being a chauvinist (and all that), well, that was a half a century ago. Things were different thing.
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Post by snsurone on May 5, 2017 17:09:13 GMT
Oh, I have nothing against Dick York as an actor, or even as a person. My complaint is about the character of Darren Stephens. And it doesn't matter who played him: Dick York or Dick Sargent.
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Post by snsurone on May 18, 2017 21:41:34 GMT
My favorite character is the lovable, bumbling Aunt Clara. It's sad that actress Marion Lorne didn't live longer to do other episodes. She was replaced by Esmeralda, played by Alice Ghostly, who was good, but there was something missing. It was the "grandmotherly" quality that Aunt Clara had that made me love her.
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Post by Jayman on May 19, 2017 22:54:54 GMT
It's a very good show
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Post by naterdawg on May 31, 2017 2:30:23 GMT
I could never understand why Darrin was so opposed to Sam using her powers. At times, he benefited from them and didn't seem to have much of a problem in those instances. Overall, though, he'd fume and fret at Sam twitching her nose to clean the kitchen or whip up something great to eat. No wonder Endora disliked him so much. If he truly loved Samantha, he should've accepted all her quirks and foibles, including her great witchcraft powers!
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2017 8:34:36 GMT
A good show
have it on DVD
Never watched it when it aired as i was born 11 years after the last episode aired.
I think the first 5 seasons are the best.
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Post by louise on Jun 11, 2017 18:24:34 GMT
i could understand darrin not wanting sam to use her powers, he just wanted an ordinary marriage. sam should have told hiim the truth about herself before they married, not after. it was very sneaky of her to keep it from him. Sam wasn't afraid of him, because she kept using her powers anyway, eventough he forbade her to. She wasn't dutiful or obedient. neither was Lucy. if they had been, the shows wouldn't have been very interesting. Both of them had plenty of outside interests and were always up to something.
What i culd never understand is why any witch would want to marry a mortal person, considering the enormous difference in their lifespans. i can't see the appeal. marrying someone who's going to die in a few decades, when you are going to live hundreds of years, strikes me as totslly unappealing. especially as you might run the risk of having a mortal child, which you would also outlive by centuries, which would be horrible. it makes no sense.
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Post by louise on Jun 11, 2017 18:27:25 GMT
I could never understand why Darrin was so opposed to Sam using her powers. At times, he benefited from them and didn't seem to have much of a problem in those instances. Overall, though, he'd fume and fret at Sam twitching her nose to clean the kitchen or whip up something great to eat. No wonder Endora disliked him so much. If he truly loved Samantha, he should've accepted all her quirks and foibles, including her great witchcraft powers! Being a witch wasn't a quirk or a foible. it was a much more major thing. Which Sam chose not to reveal to him until after they were married. He was naturally upset. He just wanted a normal relationship, which he could never have with a witch.
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Post by naterdawg on Jun 12, 2017 3:19:00 GMT
I could never understand why Darrin was so opposed to Sam using her powers. At times, he benefited from them and didn't seem to have much of a problem in those instances. Overall, though, he'd fume and fret at Sam twitching her nose to clean the kitchen or whip up something great to eat. No wonder Endora disliked him so much. If he truly loved Samantha, he should've accepted all her quirks and foibles, including her great witchcraft powers! Being a witch wasn't a quirk or a foible. it was a much more major thing. Which Sam chose not to reveal to him until after they were married. He was naturally upset. He just wanted a normal relationship, which he could never have with a witch. Then he should have divorced her.
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Post by geezer on Jun 12, 2017 7:08:41 GMT
Even as a kid, I always thought it was stupid that Darrin didn't want her to use her powers, (the same for "I Dream of Jeanie"). Later on, I figured that it was dumb male pride and insecurity that the men didn't want the women to provide what they couldn't deliver. Kind of "cave-mannish", really.
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Post by naterdawg on Jun 12, 2017 13:50:10 GMT
Even as a kid, I always thought it was stupid that Darrin didn't want her to use her powers, (the same for "I Dream of Jeanie"). Later on, I figured that it was dumb male pride and insecurity that the men didn't want the women to provide what they couldn't deliver. Kind of "cave-mannish", really. You hit the nail right on the head. But interestingly, both Tony Nelson and Darren were not above using their significant other's magical powers, if they'd gotten themselves into a jam.
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Post by geezer on Jun 14, 2017 1:33:08 GMT
Yes, but the jam was almost always caused by the use of witchcraft/magic to begin with! That was the single plot of the show!
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Post by louise on Jun 14, 2017 4:45:56 GMT
Being a witch wasn't a quirk or a foible. it was a much more major thing. Which Sam chose not to reveal to him until after they were married. He was naturally upset. He just wanted a normal relationship, which he could never have with a witch. Then he should have divorced her. Perhaps he would have done if she hadn't agreed to his terms. But it wouldn't have made a very interesting tv series.
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Post by louise on Jun 14, 2017 4:48:55 GMT
Even as a kid, I always thought it was stupid that Darrin didn't want her to use her powers, (the same for "I Dream of Jeanie"). Later on, I figured that it was dumb male pride and insecurity that the men didn't want the women to provide what they couldn't deliver. Kind of "cave-mannish", really. i don't think it was male pride, he was just freaked out by the witchcraft. he was an ordinary man who wanted an ordinary life. Why Samantha wanted to marry a mortal remains a mystery, but it was her choice.
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Post by snsurone on Jun 18, 2017 19:12:08 GMT
Even as a kid, I always thought it was stupid that Darrin didn't want her to use her powers, (the same for "I Dream of Jeanie"). Later on, I figured that it was dumb male pride and insecurity that the men didn't want the women to provide what they couldn't deliver. Kind of "cave-mannish", really. i don't think it was male pride, he was just freaked out by the witchcraft. he was an ordinary man who wanted an ordinary life. Why Samantha wanted to marry a mortal remains a mystery, but it was her choice. Yes, it definitely was male pride! Both Darren Stephens and Tony Nelson believed that the man was supposed to be superior to the woman, and their egos were bruised by the fact that the women in their lives had powers that actually made them superior. As far as I DREAM OF JEANNIE was concerned, I am very annoyed by Jeannie's subserviant attitude, even to the point of always addressing Tony as "Master". And yes, both men "allowed" the women to use their powers when it was for their benefit. Read "Honey, I'm Home" by Gerard O'Brien (probably available on Amazon); it's a dissection of TV sitcoms throughout the decades. His opinion of BEWITCHED echoes mine.
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Post by geezer on Jun 19, 2017 18:01:17 GMT
i don't think it was male pride, he was just freaked out by the witchcraft. he was an ordinary man who wanted an ordinary life. Why Samantha wanted to marry a mortal remains a mystery, but it was her choice. Yes, it definitely was male pride! Both Darren Stephens and Tony Nelson believed that the man was supposed to be superior to the woman, and their egos were bruised by the fact that the women in their lives had powers that actually made them superior. As far as I DREAM OF JEANNIE was concerned, I am very annoyed by Jeannie's subserviant attitude, even to the point of always addressing Tony as "Master". And yes, both men "allowed" the women to use their powers when it was for their benefit. Read "Honey, I'm Home" by Gerard O'Brien (probably available on Amazon); it's a dissection of TV sitcoms throughout the decades. His opinion of BEWITCHED echoes mine. These 2 shows in particular kind of marked the end and turning point of "traditional" male/female relations. In their cases, both women were superior, but they played along to soothe their men's egos. This would all change a few short years later, especially with the Norman Lear comedies of the early/mid 70's. Unfortunately, it also started the trend that continues to this day of the husband/father always being an idiotic buffoon. One could argue that "The Honeymooners" predated this. As much as Ralph would bluster and try to establish dominance, it was always Alice who was the voice of reason.
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Post by outrider127 on Jun 23, 2017 18:24:09 GMT
I like Dick York as Darren, found him to be an immensely likable actor. A typical, old school American male of his day, York nails it, and he does so with charm. As to Darren being a chauvinist (and all that), well, that was a half a century ago. Things were different thing. Agree, Dick York was great--In 1964, this was the number 2 show in America--Only the first three years were good however--He had to quit the show because he had destroyed his back back in 1959, and the chronic pain became too much to continue by 1968--rest of his life was miserable, he lost all his Bewitched money, and he eventually died of emphysema from his chronic smoking addiction--R.I.P. he was a funny guy--btw, I loved all the extended characters on the show with the exception of Aunt Clara yechh--The first actress to play Mrs Kravitz was told before the show aired that she had only 2 years to live, yet she never gave up the role until she died--R,I,P.
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Post by louise on Jun 28, 2017 18:55:41 GMT
i don't think it was male pride, he was just freaked out by the witchcraft. he was an ordinary man who wanted an ordinary life. Why Samantha wanted to marry a mortal remains a mystery, but it was her choice. Yes, it definitely was male pride! Both Darren Stephens and Tony Nelson believed that the man was supposed to be superior to the woman, and their egos were bruised by the fact that the women in their lives had powers that actually made them superior. As far as I DREAM OF JEANNIE was concerned, I am very annoyed by Jeannie's subserviant attitude, even to the point of always addressing Tony as "Master". And yes, both men "allowed" the women to use their powers when it was for their benefit. Read "Honey, I'm Home" by Gerard O'Brien (probably available on Amazon); it's a dissection of TV sitcoms throughout the decades. His opinion of BEWITCHED echoes mine. i think Darrin was simply freaked out by the whole witchcraft thing, not surprisingly. I think i would be too. can't say I'd fancy being married to a man who could turn me into a frog or something if he felt like it, it would be very weird. jeannie called Tony master because she was a genii and that's what geniies do. A male genii would likewise call the person who commanded him 'master'. Since a genii's purpose is to serve his or her master or mistress, she would be subservient. But she pleased herself most of the time about what she did, as did Samantha for that matter. Neither was really very subservient in reality.
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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on Jun 29, 2017 7:38:52 GMT
I like "Bewitched", it brings back good memories of early cable TV, watching reruns with my parents....
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