"Bewitched" Being Rebooted As Hourlong Show

[vandevere]

Or maybe she's just self-employed. Or an artist. One who creates beautiful works of art through magic. She marries a man who actually wants a trad-wife and forbids her from using magic to create her works and she must painfully learn to use her hands like humans.

By the way, I'm pretty sure they'll at most produce a pilot that won't go anywhere.

There is no need, in this day and age, for Darrin, or anyone else for that matter, to forbid sam from using magic. Whether she's a Stay at Home Mom, or whether she works at a school, the thing about Sam not using her powers is that, on very many levels, she's a rebel. Even more so than her otl series Kooky Sister.

In this day and age, a witch not using her powers would be equivalent to someone baking their own bread as opposed to buying packaged bread at the grocery.

If anyone is keeping Sam from using her powers, it's Sam herself, and no one else, and all the drama comes from that.

Her family looks down on Darrin because he's a Mortal, like a lot of Wizards in Harry Potter look down on Muggles. Then, there's the issue of the daughter, Tabitha, who not only has to learn how to use her powers, but also how to do so in a way that won't harm the mortals, and also that she shouldn't use her magic whenever she feels like it.

Plenty of room for drama and problems there...

 

[Nerys Myk]

I thought of Bewitched as a commentary on class. With the witched being upper class and looking down on lower class humans. Darrin doesn't want their help to succeed.

 

[the G-man]

The older I get, the more attractive Endora gets.
In another 20 years, Aunt Clara is going to be a drop dead gorgeous sexpot, to me.

Yeah, I'm quickly reaching the point of seeing Mrs Howell as a viable third option on the island.

 

[Guy Gardener]

There is no need, in this day and age, for Darrin, or anyone else for that matter, to forbid sam from using magic. Whether she's a Stay at Home Mom, or whether she works at a school, the thing about Sam not using her powers is that, on very many levels, she's a rebel. Even more so than her otl series Kooky Sister.

In this day and age, a witch not using her powers would be equivalent to someone baking their own bread as opposed to buying packaged bread at the grocery.

If anyone is keeping Sam from using her powers, it's Sam herself, and no one else, and all the drama comes from that.

Her family looks down on Darrin because he's a Mortal, like a lot of Wizards in Harry Potter look down on Muggles. Then, there's the issue of the daughter, Tabitha, who not only has to learn how to use her powers, but also how to do so in a way that won't harm the mortals, and also that she shouldn't use her magic whenever she feels like it.

Plenty of room for drama and problems there...

If you had a friend who fell in love romantically with a terminally ill 5 year old, I guess you would have some strong opinions about that relationship.

Sam wiggles her nose and Darrin is the King of America, living in a castle, with billions in the bank, and an executive staff of thousands.

And even that will taste like ash.

 

[valkyrie013]

That would be a good episode.
Darrin flat put refuses the help of magic, where say a member if Sam's family comes along and hates mortals because they also fell in love with one , however when they told there spouse the power went to there head asking for everything

Or another episode where they also fell in love and told s mortal but they hated them, and tried to kill them or hunt them. Maybe that's how the inquisition or Salem started.

 

[Skipper]

That would be a good episode.
Darrin flat put refuses the help of magic, where say a member if Sam's family comes along and hates mortals because they also fell in love with one , however when they told there spouse the power went to there head asking for everything

Or another episode where they also fell in love and told s mortal but they hated them, and tried to kill them or hunt them. Maybe that's how the inquisition or Salem started.

Darrin refuses the help of magic, but a dear friend of his is in danger of dying and only magic can save him. Will Darrin prefer to respect his principles or save a human life?

 

[Jayson1]

There is no need, in this day and age, for Darrin, or anyone else for that matter, to forbid sam from using magic. Whether she's a Stay at Home Mom, or whether she works at a school, the thing about Sam not using her powers is that, on very many levels, she's a rebel. Even more so than her otl series Kooky Sister.

In this day and age, a witch not using her powers would be equivalent to someone baking their own bread as opposed to buying packaged bread at the grocery.

If anyone is keeping Sam from using her powers, it's Sam herself, and no one else, and all the drama comes from that.

Her family looks down on Darrin because he's a Mortal, like a lot of Wizards in Harry Potter look down on Muggles. Then, there's the issue of the daughter, Tabitha, who not only has to learn how to use her powers, but also how to do so in a way that won't harm the mortals, and also that she shouldn't use her magic whenever she feels like it.

Plenty of room for drama and problems there...

I agree that it should be her choice but it's not like they were a big stickler with the rule in the end. With a modern show you still need a reason for her to not use her powers because if you don't then you got no conflict or drama because she can solve every problem with the wrinkle of her nose.

One angle is maybe she is not so good at using them. Granted your getting into Aunt Clara territory but the idea that when she uses her magic it often backfires gives the show a more modern reason why she and also Darren who supports her, believe it is for the best to not use them. But of course despite that plot reasons always arise where she ends up needing to use them anyways.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I agree that it should be her choice but it's not like they were a big stickler with the rule in the end. With a modern show you still need a reason for her to not use her powers because if you don't then you got no conflict or drama because she can solve every problem with the wrinkle of her nose.

One angle is maybe she is not so good at using them. Granted your getting into Aunt Clara territory but the idea that when she uses her magic it often backfires gives the show a more modern reason why she and also Darren who supports her, believe it is for the best to not use them. But of course despite that plot reasons always arise where she ends up needing to use them anyways.

Willow had to give up magic because she was a junkie in Buffy.

Salem had his powers taken away, and they turned him into a cat, because he tried and failed to take over the mortal realm in Sabrina.

Cassie fell in love with a witch hunter in Secret Circle.

 

[Skipper]

Sam not wanting to use her powers because her husband is human is like me refusing to use my arms and legs if I married a quadriplegic. I suppose it might seem noble to some, but it would still be stupid and pointless.

 

[Skipper]

So, watching Ep 1.
Sam had already decided to not use magic when she met Darrin.

Uh, exactly why?

 

[Guy Gardener]

Sam not wanting to use her powers because her husband is human is like me refusing to use my arms and legs if I married a quadriplegic. I suppose it might seem noble to some, but it would still be stupid and pointless.

Darren was afraid of some of these eventualities...

1. They become celebrities and can't live normal lives.
2. They become pariahs and they are shunned and can't live normal lives.
3. Witch hunters from the Vatican attack, Sam who is clearly Satan's bride.
4. INS deports Sam for entering the country illegally, IRS prosecutes Sam for working using fraudulent identity papers, and the Secret Service ask Sam about all the millions of counterfeit currency she manifests whimsically.
5. Is Darren a slave? Figuring out if he wants to be there or if he is programmed to think he wants to be there, which is why IRL Chloe from Smallville went to jail. Anytime she does a spell, that's a criminal assault. Either sometimes towards an individual or often at the entire world or America.
6. MAD is moot. Sam and all the other witches will stop wwiii or reverse wwiii, which is castrating America the USSR and China. They have no ability to use the weapons they spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year ensuring the regulation and safety there of, so they're all going to be invaded by little countries who were only well behaved because nukes are scary.
7. Sam can cure cancer. Everyone in the world with cancer makes a pilgrimage to 1164 Morning Glory Circle, and fucks up Darrens lawn.
8. Larry fires Darren and Hires Sam. Magically brainwashing millions of Americans to buy shitty products is way more effective than using "advertising gimmicks" to sell shitty products.
9. Sam can control the weather. When she moves the weather it conveniences anyone else with a different sensibility. And suddenly TV Weather girls are surplus to requirements and fired en mass, since the only way to guess the weather now is to bug the Stephens domicile.
10. Sam can fix the lottery, sports and Las Vegas, every game of chance is suddenly called into question, since witch craft is abundant and everywhere, and it's suddenly a miracle to wonder if a mortal at any point in the history of the world has won any wager ever, with money on the line.

 

[Jayson1]

I think it was mostly just because he wanted to have a normal everyday American life as it was in the 1960's. Sam agreed out of love but she was just to independent thinking to really go along with it. Darren might not have liked it but he also loved her and so it's not like he was ever going to leave her whenever she used her magic. He also went through some crazy stuff against his will but still stayed because in the end they truly did love each other and wanted to be together. In the end he wasn't nearly as controlling as some might think and Sam was also not as radical, despite using her powers when she wanted to as others might also think. She could be very conventional at times and both you could say were truly products of their time.

 

[the G-man]

4. INS deports Sam for entering the country illegally, IRS prosecutes Sam for working using fraudulent identity papers, and the Secret Service ask Sam about all the millions of counterfeit currency she manifests whimsically.

Did Sam enter the country illegally or was she born here in pre-colonial days? I vaguely remember a Salem Witch trial storyline ( and I’ve seen the real life statue) but don’t recall the details

 

[Guy Gardener]

I think it was mostly just because he wanted to have a normal everyday American life as it was in the 1960's. Sam agreed out of love but she was just to independent thinking to really go along with it. Darren might not have liked it but he also loved her and so it's not like he was ever going to leave her whenever she used her magic. He also went through some crazy stuff against his will but still stayed because in the end they truly did love each other and wanted to be together. In the end he wasn't nearly as controlling as some might think and Sam was also not as radical, despite using her powers when she wanted to as others might also think. She could be very conventional at times and both you could say were truly products of their time.

Darren stayed with Samantha, despite being turned into a monkey's uncle, for the free international air travel.

The simple life is one thing, half assed budget holidays to see the world's biggest rubber band ball is another.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Darren stayed with Samantha, despite being turned into a monkey's uncle, for the free international air travel.

The simple life is one thing, half assed budget holidays to see the world's biggest rubber band ball is another.

From memory, the whole modern day family time traveled to Salem during the Witch trials, and then Sam made a nod, about how it's just like she remembers.

 

[Skipper]

Ok I really don't remember: was it Darrin's idea to stop using magic and Sam just agreed, or had she decided to stop before she met him? In this last case, why?

 

[valkyrie013]

@Skipper
Having just started to rewatch the whole series from Ep 1..
Sam had already decided to not use her magic when they got married, that was her choice, After telling Darrin, he freaked out for abit, but told her she loved her, and wouldn't be leaving, then he asked and she agreed to not use her magic. Basically they BOTH wanted a normal 60's suburban couples life, free of magic.

Also in said episode, being "Only" 400 that Sam was still young, and couldn't do to much in the realm of magic ( which obviously was at the whim of the writers) Her mom and family were much more powerful.

In the end, she is practically an immortal, and eventually Darrin will die of old age, in say 30 years, and if she can't fake her ageing with majic, she would have to move on after maybe 20 years. A mere blip of a witches life.
Maybe she was facinated with mortals, and decided to live this part of her life without magic, no special reason.

Also remember she had that Karen of a neighbor looking in her window at all times. being outted as a witch probably wouldn't have been nice.
Makes me wonder where witches usually live in this universe ?

 

[Guy Gardener]

Ok I really don't remember: was it Darrin's idea to stop using magic and Sam just agreed, or had she decided to stop before she met him? In this last case, why?

It was Sam's idea, but months later, years later he's yelling at her about using magic to clean the house, a fraction faster than a regular person.

I just finished spraying the oven with oven cleaner, an I am a little worried I am going to die from the fumes, if I don't open a window, but then the bugs will scoot in, because it's 2 am.

I want magic.

 

[Danja]

Darren was afraid of some of these eventualities...

1. They become celebrities and can't live normal lives.
2. They become pariahs and they are shunned and can't live normal lives.
3. Witch hunters from the Vatican attack, Sam who is clearly Satan's bride.
4. INS deports Sam for entering the country illegally, IRS prosecutes Sam for working using fraudulent identity papers, and the Secret Service ask Sam about all the millions of counterfeit currency she manifests whimsically.
5. Is Darren a slave? Figuring out if he wants to be there or if he is programmed to think he wants to be there, which is why IRL Chloe from Smallville went to jail. Anytime she does a spell, that's a criminal assault. Either sometimes towards an individual or often at the entire world or America.
6. MAD is moot. Sam and all the other witches will stop wwiii or reverse wwiii, which is castrating America the USSR and China. They have no ability to use the weapons they spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year ensuring the regulation and safety there of, so they're all going to be invaded by little countries who were only well behaved because nukes are scary.
7. Sam can cure cancer. Everyone in the world with cancer makes a pilgrimage to 1164 Morning Glory Circle, and fucks up Darrens lawn.
8. Larry fires Darren and Hires Sam. Magically brainwashing millions of Americans to buy shitty products is way more effective than using "advertising gimmicks" to sell shitty products.
9. Sam can control the weather. When she moves the weather it conveniences anyone else with a different sensibility. And suddenly TV Weather girls are surplus to requirements and fired en mass, since the only way to guess the weather now is to bug the Stephens domicile.
10. Sam can fix the lottery, sports and Las Vegas, every game of chance is suddenly called into question, since witch craft is abundant and everywhere, and it's suddenly a miracle to wonder if a mortal at any point in the history of the world has won any wager ever, with money on the line.

There was one episode in which Darrin had a dream where he and Samantha were arrested and held in a military prison on account of Sam being a witch.

 

[Skipper]

Makes me wonder where witches usually live in this universe ?

If I remember correctly, literally anywhere they wanted. Thanks to magic, they lived a luxurious life. The impression I got was that the humans who interacted with them simply thought they were dealing with people of great wealth. In reality Samantha was more at risk of being discovered since she was trying to live a "human" life than all the other witches and warlocks who did not hesitate to use magic for their own interests.

When they had to have a gathering of witches it seems to me that they ended up in some otherworldly dimension, but I could be wrong here.