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"Bewitched" Being Rebooted As Hourlong Show

Skipper said:
With modern eyes it almost seems that Samantha is the victim in an abusive relationship: an intelligent, cultured woman with greater abilities than her partner forced to self-mutilate (because for her not using magic for something as simple as household chores would be like asking me to clean the floor of a house by doing it with a toothbrush held in my mouth) and play the role of the Stepford Wife. When her friends and relatives come to check on her, they are greeted with hostility by her husband if not explicitly chased away. A woman with many more years and experience than him is infantilized and diminished by him, forbidding her not only from showing that she is better than him, but not even equal to him. Only total inferiority and subjection is acceptable.

One might say “It was a different time.” The problem is that the episodes with the same plot went on until 1972, after the sexual revolution and in full second feminist wave.
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It's one reason it was cancelled.

Audiences preferred edgier sitcoms like All in the Family, Maude, and Sanford and Son that dealt more with contemporary issues (i.e., divorce, abortion, women's liberation, civil rights). High-concept fantasy sitcoms like Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie were seen as being outdated.
 
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Sam gave up her magical life to live with her husband per the promise she made to herself to give it up for his sake. Yet, try as she might, she invariably resorts to witchcraft to solve the problems her family encounters, but only after she tries every possible mortal way to solve them.

They did talk about it, and she stopped willingly, YET, her family not just her mother tried everything and then some to drive a wedge between them. Sam still uses her magic, mainly to help Darren out of whatever her family has done, but a bit here and there as well.
Is Darren a bit wrong strongly object to magic? Yes.

Sam has lived for over 400 years, and will probably live for Thousands, she fell in love with him, and she decided to live a mortal for whatever the duration, and without the witches interference, she would have lived with him for a few decades and moved on.

Want to talk about "racism", try the Witches views on mortals, they positively ( think Harry Poter and the Malfoys) Loath them. Samantha does not. She loves her husband, and Most episodes are of her family pulling a spell on Darrien. Hell his Father in law Disintegrates him when they first meet! Of course he's going to be mad


For a show Idea, maybe show her going through Aunt Hagatha's school for witches.
 
Skipper said:
One might say “It was a different time.” The problem is that the episodes with the same plot went on until 1972, after the sexual revolution and in full second feminist wave.
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That's part of what I was touching on. I was about seven or eight years old when the show went off the year and grew up in a pretty conservative/traditional household and even to my sheltered eyes, Darrin was often a terrible jerk to Sam.
 
Danja said:
It's one reason it was cancelled.
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The main reason was Elizabeth Montgomery not only grew tired of the series (despite ABC offering her more money to continue for what would have been a 9th season), and thanks to her open affair with director/producer Richard Michaels and its impact on her dissolving marriage to co-creator Bill Asher (which ended in 1973), the series ceased production in 1972.


valkyrie013 said:
Want to talk about "racism", try the Witches views on mortals, they positively ( think Harry Poter and the Malfoys) Loath them.
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Undoubtedly; most of the witches and warlocks viewed mortals as something on the level of animals, and subjected Darrin to their opinions (and magical abuse) around the clock. No matter what kind of life Samantha chose to live, her family worked overtime to disregard her wishes in an attempt to end the marriage. It was rare to see any recurring witch character treat Darrin with any kindness, save for Aunt Clara or Esmeralda.
 
As for show ideas.
Still keep Darrin as a white guy, but make Sam Native American, Still have Sam 400 years old, growing up in America and all the troubles.
Then introduce various conclaves of witches, Japanese, African, Middle Eastern, etc. And while they are more powerful than regular mortals, they are quite fewer in numbers, millions to billions, and to keep themselves safe, they live in secret, but don't shy away from using there power.

Now, what kind of show? A comedy like the original or more adventuresome? can go ether way .

instead of Darrin being a pompous jerk, have him being in love with Sam, and doing everything in his power to prove that regular mortals are good people to her Jerk family
 
valkyrie013 said:
Still keep Darrin as a white guy, but make Sam Native American, Still have Sam 400 years old, growing up in America and all the troubles.
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I kind of like that idea, but given that the concept is already something of a metaphor for interracial marriage, I sort of feel like they should both be the same "race," or it's not really a metaphor.

That being said, how great would a "race swapped" Bewitched with Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Samantha and Reacher's Malcolm Goodwin as Darrin be?
 
TREK_GOD_1 said:
Undoubtedly; most of the witches and warlocks viewed mortals as something on the level of animals, and subjected Darrin to their opinions (and magical abuse) around the clock. No matter what kind of life Samantha chose to live, her family worked overtime to disregard her wishes in an attempt to end the marriage. It was rare to see any recurring witch character treat Darrin with any kindness, save for Aunt Clara or Esmeralda.
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He wasn't exactly the most welcoming person when they showed up, so it's not like he was an innocent victim in those situations.
valkyrie013 said:
Sam gave up her magical life to live with her husband per the promise she made to herself to give it up for his sake. Yet, try as she might, she invariably resorts to witchcraft to solve the problems her family encounters, but only after she tries every possible mortal way to solve them.

They did talk about it, and she stopped willingly, YET, her family not just her mother tried everything and then some to drive a wedge between them. Sam still uses her magic, mainly to help Darren out of whatever her family has done, but a bit here and there as well.
Is Darren a bit wrong strongly object to magic? Yes.

Sam has lived for over 400 years, and will probably live for Thousands, she fell in love with him, and she decided to live a mortal for whatever the duration, and without the witches interference, she would have lived with him for a few decades and moved on.

Want to talk about "racism", try the Witches views on mortals, they positively ( think Harry Poter and the Malfoys) Loath them. Samantha does not. She loves her husband, and Most episodes are of her family pulling a spell on Darrien. Hell his Father in law Disintegrates him when they first meet! Of course he's going to be mad


For a show Idea, maybe show her going through Aunt Hagatha's school for witches.
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Even if she agreed, it was still really shitty of him to even ask her, and it's not like she could so no, since we can tell from his attitude in the show that that probably would have put a quick end to their marriage.
 
JD said:
Even if she agreed, it was still really shitty of him to even ask her, and it's not like she could so no, since we can tell from his attitude in the show that that probably would have put a quick end to their marriage.
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She could have said No.. and left if she didn't like it. Honestly more people should.
There are hard red lines tha people should not cross.
But she did agree, and it eas after they were married that she came out. Honestly should have said something before so both go into it eyes wide open. And if there was a problem they can go there separate ways.

Not like there weren't ample opportunities for her to bail if she wasn't happy.
 
Yeah, but that still doesn't change the fact that she should never have had to make that choice. If Darren was a decent guy who actually loved her as much as he claimed did, he never have forced her to make that choice in the first place.
 
Danja said:
Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie each have large followings within the LGBTQ+ community for that reason. Both shows strike a chord within that community.
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See also Bewitched's immediate predecessor, BELL, BOOK, AND CANDLE, in which the more bohemian "witches" and "warlocks" literally live in Greenwich Village in NYC. :)
 
JD said:
Yeah, but that still doesn't change the fact that she should never have had to make that choice. If Darren was a decent guy who actually loved her as much as he claimed did, he never have forced her to make that choice in the first place.
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Magic is stealing.

If your wife had a printing press that could make an infinite number of Canadian 20 dollar bills... No, wait, that's already a show, and that lady would look great dressed up like it's the 1960s, no wait, that's already a show too.
 
TREK_GOD_1 said:
The main reason was Elizabeth Montgomery not only grew tired of the series (despite ABC offering her more money to continue for what would have been a 9th season), and thanks to her open affair with director/producer Richard Michaels and its impact on her dissolving marriage to co-creator Bill Asher (which ended in 1973), the series ceased production in 1972.
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Ah, the Sixties! :lol:

valkyrie013 said:
As for show ideas.
Still keep Darrin as a white guy, but make Sam Native American, Still have Sam 400 years old, growing up in America and all the troubles.
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No ...

I'm Native American. We have enough trouble with that "mystical Indian" stereotype as is (I'm looking at YOU, Dances With Wolves! :scream:)

I do not possess mystical powers or great spiritual gifts (it's all I can do to get out of bed some days :( ).

We're as human as everyone else.

Then introduce various conclaves of witches, Japanese, African, Middle Eastern, etc. And while they are more powerful than regular mortals, they are quite fewer in numbers, millions to billions, and to keep themselves safe, they live in secret, but don't shy away from using there power.
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Jeannie had two British uncles. It wouldn't be much of a stretch.
 
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Danja said:
Ah, the Sixties! :lol:



No ...

I'm Native American. We have enough trouble with that "mystical Indian" stereotype as is (I'm looking at YOU, Dances With Wolves! :scream:)

We're as human as everyone else.



Jeannie had two British uncles. It wouldn't be much of a stretch.
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None of the Witches were Human. There were from another world. The human appearances they took on were just fun costumes. Or am I thinking of Sabrina the Teenage Witch?
 
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