Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Bewitched: Season 8

 

The 26-episode 8th and final season of Bewitched aired during the 1971/1972 TV season. All the main cast members, including Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick Sargent, Agnes Moorehead, and David White, returned for the final season. Erin Murphy appeared in most episodes as Tabitha, and the combination of twins David and Greg Lawrence played Adam, the Stephens' son. Some of the "regular" recurring cast members who have appeared throughout the series (Alice Ghostley, Bernard Fox, and Maurice Evans) do appear during the season; however, characters like Abner, Gladys Kravitz, and Uncle Arthur do not. The guest stars this season include Julie Newmar (in a role that is a funny nod to her Catwoman character in the Batman TV series), Peter Lawford, and Al Molinaro, and actors such as Bernie Koppel, Parley Baer, and Charles Lane (who have all appeared in various roles throughout the series) make appearances. 

As with season 7, the episodes at the beginning of the season are set on location, this time in Europe. The show retains the story-of-the-week format with the usual hijinks (sometimes characters going into the past, sometimes bringing a historical figure into the present, etc.) occurring. The writers definitely recycle storylines this season, and it seems the show's budget was reduced, as the effects are not as good as in past years.

As of this writing, the Blu-Rays are only available as a complete series release or bundled seasons. The individual seasons are only available on DVD. The 8th season episodes are on the final two discs. There are episode commentaries on three of the season's episodes, each featuring Bewitched historian and Elizabeth Montgomery biographer Hebie J. Pilato and usually one of the cast members who appeared in the particular episode (which was usually one of the younger guest cast members). On the final disc, there is a half-hour documentary entitled Behind the Magic, which features Pilato, Dick York's son, one of the twins who played Adam, and a couple of guest stars who were children when the series aired. The bonus content was made specifically for the Blu-Ray release and is not available on the DVD releases.

By the 8th season, the show had become stale, and ratings were down because the network kept moving its time slot around. The network was willing to pick up the show for three more seasons; however, Montgomery was ready to move on, and it was not picked up. The downside is that the series never received a proper finale, as the cancellation decision was not made until after the season ended, so the final episode just felt like any other episode. Ultimately, the season was not as good as prior seasons. That said, there are still some good moments, and the show continued to use the witch-mortal stories as a metaphor for issues like women's and civil rights. So, if you liked the prior seasons, this one is worth checking out to see how the series ends.