Bewitched Was A Classic TV Master Class in Abusive Relationships

[Gov Kodos]

Darrin wasn't abusive but he was stupidly fearful of Samantha's powers being discovered to the extent he didn't want her using them at all. I think Tony and Jeannie got a better balance with that from their show's writers so Bewitched didn't need to make Darrin so paranoid. However, when it came to Tabitha, he was absolutely wrong. She's got those powers and abilities. She needs to learn how to use them properly otherwise it is leaving a kid with a loaded gun so to speak. It's also teaching her she is inherently bad because what she is, a witch, must be suppressed and hidden. Darrin is being an ass on this score. Sure, a lot of Sam's relatives were no boxes of peaches but his attitudes didn't help him win anyone over. Tabitha needs Sam and her witch relatives so she can grow up without a sense of shame for her being a witch instilled in her by her father's paranoia.

 

[Brobdingnag]

Darrin is always disagreeable and often insulting to Samantha's relatives, even when unprovoked and even to the harmless ones like Esmeralda. Plus he's sometimes paranoid to the point of disbelieving his wife when she says to him that she didn't use her powers, even in the eighth season when he should know better. Samatha also is too easy to be manipulated and turned against him by her mother, to the point that she almost left him a few times and was only convinced at the last minute but I guess that's what makes it a comedy, otherwise there wouldn't be much to tell.

 

[IMC Headquarters]

Well, on the other hand, Gladys was inquisitive, mean, and quite a troublemaker. Abner kept giving her the benefit of the doubt but by the time he went to verify her claim, everything was back to normal. So you can't really blame him for thinking that she'd lost her mind.

If only Abner would have moved his ass off the sofa immediately when she summoned him, instead of making wisecracks, her observations would have been confirmed. It might even have helped them to reconnect emotionally.

But the actors did have terrific comic timing, and were funny to watch.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

What benefit or reward could they possibly obtain from running or ruling the mortal world in the 17th century?

"The purpose of power is power." - George Orwell, 1984

 

[Timewalker]

When you stop to think about it, given how much power the witches have, it's a wonder that they're not ruling the world. In fact, they would be ruling the world but since this is a comedy, they don't.

Probably for the same reason the Wizarding World doesn't rule the Muggles. At best they find them confusing and not worth the bother, and at worst they find them annoying and prefer to have absolutely no contact. And at least Bewitched never spawned either Voldemort or Harry Potter.

 

[Brobdingnag]

You know Bewitched has something of Romeo and Juliet to it. I mean, two people from two different, antagonistic groups fall in love and have to face dire consequences because of it. How many times was Darrin punished by random wizards of all kinds, just for being married to a witch and similar stuff also happened to Sam, although maybe not as bad. I guess it's also an allegory about racism and about how hard it is for people who are in mixed marriages.

 

[IMC Headquarters]

Is no one going to discuss how much of an a**hole Larry Tate could be? His respect for his wife was dire, and he fired Darrin almost weekly! His pathological need to secure accounts brought out the slime from his pores.

 

[ED-209]

Is no one going to discuss how much of an a**hole Larry Tate could be? His respect for his wife was dire, and he fired Darrin almost weekly! His pathological need to secure accounts brought out the slime from his pores.

Remember the 90s song “son of a gun”? I tried to create a face swap of that with Larry Tate but couldn’t find one anywhere.

But yeah he was a douche, why Darrin had any loyalty to him I don’t know because it certainly wasn’t reciprocated.

 

[J.T.B.]

Is no one going to discuss how much of an a**hole Larry Tate could be? His respect for his wife was dire, and he fired Darrin almost weekly! His pathological need to secure accounts brought out the slime from his pores.

He really was terrible but David White was great playing him. So many good recurring actors on that show.

 

[valkyrie013]

Have to look through the lens of.. It's a show, a comedy show, in the 60s. Bad traits and the like we're magnified for comedic effect. If there's no tension there's no show.
Going back to the article. They look at it as if it's a real couple. Not taking into account that it was a 60s comedy show.

 

[IMC Headquarters]

I believe Bewitched and Harry Potter take place in the same universe. With Bewitched being as Mary Tyler Moore and Harry Potter as Lou Grant.

 

[Awesome Possum]

Darrin is awful and deserved all the abuse he got. Telling someone they have to hide who they are so they can appear to be normal is disgusting.

Also I wish Uncle Arthur had been on the show more, Paul Lynde was a blast.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I remember thinking that Louise is half the age of Larry.

Daddy issues, true love or gold digging?

The Louise actress I was looking at, was only 9 years younger than the Larry actor, but fuck me, he looks terrible for 49.

There were two Louises too.

Maybe she got killed by magic too, and they gave Larry a Mulligan wife.

 

[Brobdingnag]

Darrin is awful and deserved all the abuse he got. Telling someone they have to hide who they are so they can appear to be normal is disgusting.
....

I don't know. In all alternate reality episodes where Samanta revealed her nature to, well, eventually everyone... it ended really badly for all of them, including Tabitha and later Adam... So I don't think it was unreasonable of them to hide their nature. They tried to tell only Darrin's mother but she couldn't keep her mouth shut and told everyone else and eventually they had to convince her that she took hallucinogenic pills because the alternative was her ending in an insane asylum.

 

[Awesome Possum]

I don't know. In all alternate reality episodes where Samanta revealed her nature to, well, eventually everyone... it ended really badly for all of them, including Tabitha and later Adam... So I don't think it was unreasonable of them to hide their nature. They tried to tell only Darrin's mother but she couldn't keep her mouth shut and told everyone else and eventually they had to convince her that she took hallucinogenic pills because the alternative was her ending in an insane asylum.

Given the era it was made in, it's not surprising. But it still isn't justified.

 

[IMC Headquarters]

Samantha pulled a bait-and-switch of a sort on Darrin. She didn't mention being a witch until after they were married. They also got married in a vacuum--neither set of parents was present for the ceremony. Indeed, the whole thing seemed rushed without forethought of inclusivity. And Sam performed some powerful hex to keep Endora oblivious to her relationship with the mortal Darrin. Did she know her mother would react poorly? And her father?

Darrin also kept his parents in the dark as well. Was this an attempt to isolate Sam from external, familial influence? Was this isolation a form of control that could foster abuse? Or were their hormones raging so hot they were blind to all custom and tradition?

Regardless, it was always satisfying to see Darrin humbled and more respectful of Sam at the end of the episode each week. Pity his memory was so short in between...

 

[Brobdingnag]

Samantha pulled a bait-and-switch of a sort on Darrin. She didn't mention being a witch until after they were married...

At Endora's prompting, Sam and she explored an alternate timeline where Sam revealed herself to be a witch before the marriage and though Darrin first recoiled with horror he eventually decided to marry her anyway, because he realized that he couldn't live without her.

 

[anti-matter]

Hey it was a funny show...

...why make it harder than it is?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Darrin first recoiled with horror he eventually decided to marry her anyway, because he realized that he couldn't live without her.

How long do witches in this universe typically live? Samantha may end up outliving HIM....

 

[Brobdingnag]

How long do witches in this universe typically live? Samantha may end up outliving HIM....

It's almost a certainty. There are hints that she could be centuries old already.