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Fantasy Casting: Bewitched 2014

Dark Gilligan

Dark Gilligan

Writer
Fleet Captain
Eight years ago, NBC greenlit a pilot episode for a continuation of "Bewitched". Set in the present day, the new series would follow Daphne, the twenty-something daughter of Tabitha and granddaughter of Samantha. The pilot was never made, nor was it even cast.

So, group mind, you've been given the power to greenlight the pilot a second time. The principle characters are the four generations of Stephens witches: Daphne, Tabitha, Samantha, and Endora. (No, Endora is not a Stephens... So what.) Who in today's acting pool would you cast? Age appropriate for each, preferably, but hey! They're witches. Pick whomever you want, and cue the nose twitch.
 
Honestly, I'd rather have a reboot with a more open minded Darrin. My mom pointed out recently, that if you think about it Darrin is kind of a prejudiced ass, he basically forces Samantha to deny a huge part of her identity.
I think a new version, with a more modern approach to the Stephens' relationship could be a lot of fun.
 
JD said:
Honestly, I'd rather have a reboot with a more open minded Darrin. My mom pointed out recently, that if you think about it Darrin is kind of a prejudiced ass, he basically forces Samantha to deny a huge part of her identity.
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That's not a new revelation -- that was the point all along.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bewitched
First season producer and head writer Danny Arnold... thought of Bewitched essentially as a romantic comedy about a mixed marriage... Many of the first season's episodes were allegorical, using supernatural situations as metaphors for the problems any young couple would face. Arnold stated that the two main themes of the series were the conflict between a powerful woman and a husband who cannot deal with that power, and the anger of a bride's mother at seeing her daughter marry beneath her.
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Darrin and Endora were both conservative and intolerant of the other's group, and Sam was caught in the middle, trying to find a balance between the two people that she loved, but that were trying to pull her in opposite directions. There was also probably a critique of conventional gender expectations built in, because while Sam nominally tried to conform to the cultural expectation of a wife subsuming her identity and independence to her husband, in practice she kept ending up using her power after all, holding onto her identity despite the pressure.

At least, that's the way it was under Arnold in season 1. As the article says, the network pushed for more magical hijinks and gimmicks, and the show was dumbed down considerably after Arnold left. (He would go on to co-create Barney Miller, one of the smartest sitcoms of the '70s.)


On the one hand, I don't see much point to a remake with an open-minded Darrin, because that removes the core conflict that drove the series. On the other hand, since the series was an allegory for 1960s gender and class norms and the rigid expectations imposed on different groups, it wouldn't translate directly to the modern world and our more inclusive, egalitarian society.
 
Even if Darrin was more accepting, they could still deal with other issues that come up with a marriage between members of two different groups.
 
Maybe the key is to do what modern shows do and have an arc. Start with Darrin being opposed to magic and have him gradually come around.

Although the suggestion above was to do more of a sequel rather than a remake, albeit with the original roles recast. So maybe Darrin is the grouchy grandfather still set in his ways, a relic of the past who's an embarrassment to the current generation. Maybe set it in a world where the magical community is out and proud now, and Darrin is the resident Archie Bunker type, upset that things aren't like they were in the old days.
 
Let's not forget though that Sam was already living as a mortal for an unspecified amount of time prior to meeting Darrin. No one forced that on her. She chose it. She met Darrin in a bar, in New York City, on the mortal plane. They dated, became engaged, married, and she didn't reveal her true self to him until they were on their honeymoon. Considering 1960s culture and norms regarding mixed marriages, Darrin likely would have had serious reservations had he known (why would he not?), and Sam was well aware of that. She wanted a mortal's life, but it was Darrin who paid the price more often than not.
 
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Oh, I didn't realize that. I had just assumed it was pretty much all on Darrin, and he just decided the moment he from out she was a witch that she was forbidden from using her magic now.
Christopher said:
Maybe the key is to do what modern shows do and have an arc. Start with Darrin being opposed to magic and have him gradually come around.

Although the suggestion above was to do more of a sequel rather than a remake, albeit with the original roles recast. So maybe Darrin is the grouchy grandfather still set in his ways, a relic of the past who's an embarrassment to the current generation. Maybe set it in a world where the magical community is out and proud now, and Darrin is the resident Archie Bunker type, upset that things aren't like they were in the old days.
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Yeah, those ideas could both be pretty good.
 
Dark Gilligan said:
Let's not forget though that Sam was already living as a mortal for an unspecified amount of time prior to meeting Darrin. No one forced that on her. She chose it. She met Darrin in a bar, in New York City, on the mortal plane. They dated, became engaged, married, and she didn't reveal her true self to him until they were on their honeymoon.
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All true, so one can say Sam deceived Darrin, knowing he would either disbelieve or object, so she strung him along (that she was mortal) until it was too late.

Darrin did express feeling overwhelmed or persecuted by Sam and her family from time to time (one has to recall the number of things witches and warlocks did to him in one episode after another), and did walk out on the marriage on occasion, only to return, obviously.

Regarding Sam's parents, it is well-known how much Endora first despised, then barely tolerated Darrin, until their relationship was more or less one of frenemies (at least during the Dick Sargent era). The same cannot be said of her father (Maurice), who said so many demeaning things about Darrin that if the latter had been black, the nature of his slurs would have come off like those of a hyper-aggressive racist, which was the unspoken point, to a degree.
 
Darrin is blamed for trying to take away Samantha's agency, but it was his agency that was belittled time and again. All he wanted was a happy marriage and family, in the context of what that meant in the mid-1960s. Does that translate in 2022? Of course not, but due to no fault of his own. He hung on through the worst of it, and that's his real legacy. For my own fantasy casting:

Daphne: Sydney Sweeney
Tabitha: Anna Faris
Samantha: Bonnie Hunt
Endora: Susan Sullivan
 
Could Lisa Kudrow fit in there somewhere? I like the idea of an older Darrin and after a few seasons they could just recast the part.
 
TREK_GOD_1 said:
Regarding Sam's parents, it is well-known how much Endora first despised, then barely tolerated Darrin, until their relationship was more or less one of frenemies (at least during the Dick Sargent era).
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It's interesting that in real life, Agnes Morehead and Dick York were very close chums. She'd long been a fan of his work. So much so that she was quite vocal in her protest that Darrin be recast, despite York's chronic back pain. She never really warmed up to Dick Sargent as a result.
 
Dark Gilligan said:
Let's not forget though that Sam was already living as a mortal for an unspecified amount of time prior to meeting Darrin. No one forced that on her. She chose it. She met Darrin in a bar, in New York City, on the mortal plane. They dated, became engaged, married, and she didn't reveal her true self to him until they were on their honeymoon. Considering 1960s culture and norms regarding mixed marriages, Darrin likely would have had serious reservations had he known (why would he not?), and Sam was well aware of that. She wanted a mortal's life, but it was Darrin who paid the price more often than not.
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I dunno. Even as a kid, I thought Darrin could be awfully insensitive to Sam, even by 60s standards, and he was clearly a raging alcoholic.
 
Dark Gilligan said:
It's interesting that in real life, Agnes Morehead and Dick York were very close chums.
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If two actors are going to be playing enemies on a regular basis, it's probably best if they are good friends in real life, with a lot of mutual trust so that they feel comfortable enough not to hold back on playing the enmity.
 
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