• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

"Bewitched" Being Rebooted As Hourlong Show

Danja

Danja

Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Life imitates art ... :whistle:

Personally, I'm much more of an I Dream of Jeannie fan than a BW fan (I'm thinking Jeannie could be rebooted as something along the lines of Highlander where there's this subculture of seemingly "mythical" creatures existing on the fringes of our modern world).

https://deadline.com/2024/02/bewitc...ira-overall-deal-sony-pictures-tv-1235825041/

Written by Neira, the new Bewitched is described as an irreverent hourlong reimagination of the classic TV series. She is executive producing alongside The Goldbergs executive producer Doug Robinson and Lauren Moffat of Sony TV-based Doug Robinson Productions.

Created by Sol Saks and executive produced by Harry Ackerman, Bewitched ran for eight seasons on ABC from 1964-72. It starred Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha, a witch married to an ordinary mortal man, Darrin, and chronicles the way her powers and wicked family get in the way of her efforts to live a normal, magic-free life as a typical suburban housewife. A short-lived spinoff about Samantha’s daughter, Tabitha, ran on ABC in 1977.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
In Darrin's defense, consider:

Samantha had already been living as a mortal for an undisclosed period of time before Darrin came along. That was a choice she made independent of him. They met in a mortal bar, in New York City, on the mortal plane. She did not tell him who she really was. They dated. She did not tell him. They became engaged. She did not tell him. They married. She finally did tell him on their honeymoon, after they were legally joined. Darrin could have bolted. He did not. He stayed with her. From that day forward he endured nothing but humiliation from her family. He stayed. Samantha herself could have left at any time; Darrin had no power over her whatsoever. And he coped by drinking (quite acceptable at the time given 1960s culture; they did meet in a bar, after all). He stayed. There was indeed abuse in the Stephens' household, but Darrin wasn't the one who dished it out.
 
I've been watching a few episodes of the original every now and then on one of the classic TV channels, and I have admit, Darren's attitude towards her witchcraft does kind of bug me. I understand he didn't know she was a witch at first, but it's still kind of shitty of him to force her to deny who she is.
And I've been think that a new version of the show with a more modern approach to their relationship could be interesting. So this definitely has my attention.
 
JD said:
I've been watching a few episodes of the original every now and then on one of the classic TV channels, and I have admit, Darren's attitude towards her witchcraft does kind of bug me. I understand he didn't know she was a witch at first, but it's still kind of shitty of him to force her to deny who she is.
And I've been think that a new version of the show with a more modern approach to their relationship could be interesting. So this definitely has my attention.
Click to expand...
Yeah. Imagine if Samantha was a brilliant musician, incredible artist or Olympic level athlete. Even if she lied to Darrin about that when they were dating (for whatever reason), no one would think to justify Darrin forbidding her from using those talents in any way whatsover. But that's what he does to Sam.
 
Danja said:
A mother-in-law like Endora would drive ANYONE to drink! :lol:
Click to expand...
Endora was difficult but when you rewatch the series, Darrin treated every single relative of Sam rudely from the second they showed up in the house, even the relatively innoculous ones. And even with Endora, Darrin would start in on her the second she showed up.

So, basically, we have an alcoholic husband physically handicapping his wife and isolating her from family.

(This isn't something I didn't notice until recently, btw. Even as a kid in the 60s-70s, the way he treated her made me uncomfortable).
 
I didn't really notice it until my mom pointed it out. I can still watch it for all the crazyness with her family, but it still bugs me.
 
JD said:
I've been watching a few episodes of the original every now and then on one of the classic TV channels, and I have admit, Darren's attitude towards her witchcraft does kind of bug me. I understand he didn't know she was a witch at first, but it's still kind of shitty of him to force her to deny who she is.
And I've been think that a new version of the show with a more modern approach to their relationship could be interesting. So this definitely has my attention.
Click to expand...

You have to consider the era in which it was made.

This was the 1960's. This was the era of the Organization Man. Conformity was EVERYTHING.
 
JD said:
Oh yeah, I'm definitely more forgiven of that kind of thing with a show that old than I would be of a newer show.
Click to expand...

Back then, a person was expected to hide what society at the time deemed as "socially unacceptable" aspects of themselves in order to "fit in."

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.
 
the G-man said:
Yeah. Imagine if Samantha was a brilliant musician, incredible artist or Olympic level athlete. Even if she lied to Darrin about that when they were dating (for whatever reason), no one would think to justify Darrin forbidding her from using those talents in any way whatsover. But that's what he does to Sam.
Click to expand...

Not quite the same, being a witch is a bit more than being able to play the piano, its something that should have been said to him, maybe not while starting to date, but before being married, when she knew her relatives would let the cat out the bag early on. There's accepting who the other is, but dropping a huge bomb AFTER the marriage is a bit wrong. If they showed him accepting it during the series there would have been that, but being 60's TV, there's always the giant reset button at the end, so Darrien was the same on Ep 1 as Ep 120

Now if Darrien couldn't accept Sam, then they should separate. As my Ex motherlaw said, I can be miserable by my self, I don't need your help.

Now, a husband or wife oppressing the other is NEVER good, lets take the Piano, if the husband forbid her playing, she should leave. no one should stay in an abusive household.

Now for this series, it can be more serial, as in Darrien finds out, starts off hopping mad, but then gradually accepts Sam for who she is, even her dysfunctional family. Accepting of others regardless of whom they are, Human, Witch, Octo Person

Well, Conformity is still in effect today, Why alot of people "Come out of the closet" because they might be stigmatized or "Othered" by the public. Its still, if you don't act or believe in X or Y your shunned.
 
Last edited:
The difference between the "Greatest generation's" Organizational Man and the way people think of themselves as individuals today percolates through popular culture in all kinds of ways.

Take James Bond. Originally, he was the ultimate company man. He killed enemies of his government because he was assigned to do so. In Thunderball, he went so far as to claim to a woman that he'd just made love with that ”What I did this evening was for King and Country,”*

So my brother was complaining to me the other day that the Craig movie SPECTRE made this big reach (SPOILER AHEAD, BUT THE MOVIE'S BEEN ON TV FOR YEARS FOR GOD'S SAKE) and suddenly revealed Bond and Blofeld to be half-brothers. "Why do they do that all the time now?"

Well, AFAIK it's to help modern audiences better identify with the protagonist. The highest stakes now have to be personal, relating to friends, family, romantic relationships and so forth. Even the fate of the world in a fantasy movie has to be weighed against the necessity of sacrificing or rescuing a loved one. "This is my job, my assignment and my committed duty" doesn't cut it no more.

The cop movie doesn't really get going, after all, until the Hero tells their boss to shove it and does it their own way because It's Right.

*Uh huh, right.
 
Serveaux said:
So my brother was complaining to me the other day that the Craig movie SPECTRE made this big reach (SPOILER AHEAD, BUT THE MOVIE'S BEEN ON TV FOR YEARS FOR GOD'S SAKE) and suddenly revealed Bond and Blofeld to be half-brothers. "Why do they do that all the time now?"

Well, AFAIK it's to help modern audiences better identify with the protagonist. The highest stakes now have to be personal, relating to friends, family, romantic relationships and so forth. Even the fate of the world in a fantasy movie has to be weighed against the necessity of sacrificing or rescuing a loved one. "This is my job, my assignment and my committed duty" doesn't cut it no more.
Click to expand...

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
 
valkyrie013 said:
Not quite the same, being a witch is a bit more than being able to play the piano, its something that should have been said to him, maybe not while starting to date, but before being married, when she knew her relatives would let the cat out the bag early on. There's accepting who the other is, but dropping a huge bomb AFTER the marriage is a bit wrong. If they showed him accepting it during the series there would have been that, but being 60's TV, there's always the giant reset button at the end, so Darrien was the same on Ep 1 as Ep 120

Now if Darrien couldn't accept Sam, then they should separate. As my Ex motherlaw said, I can be miserable by my self, I don't need your help.

Now, a husband or wife oppressing the other is NEVER good, lets take the Piano, if the husband forbid her playing, she should leave. no one should stay in an abusive household.
Click to expand...

I don't think we're really disagreeing much here. My point isn't that Sam was 100% in the right, simply that Darrin's ongoing behavior towards her as a result of finding out her secret after the fact was, at best, highly inappropriate.
 
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.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top