Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Bewitched: Season 2

 

The 38-episode second season of Bewitched aired during the 1965/1966 TV season. All of the main cast members (Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York, Agnes Moorehead, David White, Alice Pierce, and George Tobias) returned for season two; however, Alice Pierce's role was reduced throughout the season as she was sick with cancer and passed away before the season finished filming. Mary Grace Canfield was cast as Abner's sister, Harriet, who was house-sitting while Abner and Gladys were out of town, and filled a similar role to Pierce's nosy neighbor who sees Samantha using magic. The guest cast included several notable guest stars. Paul Lynd returned in a completely different role from his first-season role, now playing Samantha's uncle, Arthur. Bernard Fox and Alice Ghostley made their first appearances in the series in roles different from the ones they would play as recurring characters in later seasons. Other guest stars included James Doohan (who would go on to play Mr. Scott in Star Trek), Maureen McCormick (who would later play Marcia Brady on The Brady Bunch), Eve Arden, and Richard Dreyfuss. Marion Lane and Maurice Evans reprised their roles as Aunt Clara and Maurice, respectively.

As of this writing, the Blu-Rays are only available in the complete series release. The individual seasons are available on DVD. In the Blu-Ray set, the second season episodes are spread across three discs. They are all in black-and-white as originally filmed and aired. The only bonus material on the second-season discs is commentary tracks for a couple of episodes, created for the Blu-Ray release. It has been released on DVD a few times, including one version with the episodes in color and another with them in black and white.

The series continues to be a story-of-the-week sitcom, but every so often, the writers do reference earlier plotlines. There is one major ongoing serial arc this season: Samantha's pregnancy and the birth of Tabitha. This was done to write Elizabeth Montgomery's real-life pregnancy into the show. A couple of the episodes this season were repeats of season one episodes (the Christmas Episode and the episode in which Samantha meets Darrin's parents), with the opening scenes reshot, but the bulk of the episodes playing as they aired in season one. This may have been done to give Montgomery time off toward the end of her pregnancy. The episodes are mostly good, but some of the material is very dated (and outdated now). As is the case with many older sitcoms, some of the jokes would never be used today, but overall, it is a very family-friendly sitcom. Ultimately, it is a good season that is worth watching, especially if you watched it when it originally aired or watched the reruns as a kid.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Bewitched: Season 1

 

Bewitched is the classic 1960s sitcom about a witch who marries a mortal while trying to keep up appearances as a traditional 60s suburban family. It starred Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York, and Agnes Moorehead in the leading roles and David White, Alice Pearce, and George Tobias in the primary supporting roles. The 36-episode first season aired during the 1964/1965 TV season. In it, Montgomery plays a witch named Samantha who falls in love with and marries a mortal named Darren (played by York), much to the dismay of her mother, Endora (played by Moorehead). He is an ad executive and she is a housewife. They live a fairly typical suburban life, aside from the fact that she uses magic (sometimes unwittingly in front of her nosy neighbor, Gladys Kravitz, (played by Pearce)), and his mother-in-law uses magic to try to make his life miserable. The show also featured several guest stars (some of whom would become recurring characters in the series, like Maurice Evans, Marian Lorne, and Paul Lynde) and others who had early roles (or even got their start) on the series and would become big stars themselves, like Adam West, Raquel Welch (in a blink-and-you-will-miss-it background appearance), and Peggy Lipton. 

The individual seasons have been released on DVD, both in the colorized version and the black-and-white version (which the first couple of seasons of the series aired in). The series has been released on blu-ray in a complete series release and in two-season sets (with seasons 1 and 2 packaged together, seasons 3 and 4 packaged together, etc.). On the complete series set, the first two seasons are in black and white, as they were originally aired. The A/V quality of the blu-rays is good, but not outstanding (especially the audio). The HD video restoration does look very good, most of the time, but can be uneven. One big drawback to watching the episodes in HD, however, is that when they are using prosthetics (such as fake noses) it is extremely obvious in HD, as you can very clearly see the makeup lines. On the complete series release, the first season episodes are spread across three discs. There are commentary tracks on a few episodes featuring Dick York's son, Chris, Herbie Pilato, who authored several books about the series and a biography of Elizabeth Montgomery, and historian Rob Ray. The episodes can also be played with English captions. The commentary tracks are somewhat informative and provide some information about the series (like the fact that rehearsals for the pilot started on the day JFK was assassinated) and the cast (like the fact that Alice Pearce took the role of Gladys despite having a terminal cancer diagnosis). Chris York also tells stories about his dad.

The series is primarily a story-of-the-week procedural, but sometimes events in prior episodes are referred back to. The acting is good and the cast all play their roles well. Of course, the series is the product of the 1960s, so some things about it are very dated and would not be used if the series were made today. Some of the storylines were very chauvinistic about the roles of men and women. But the show also included themes of inclusion and acceptance of differences, and included black and asian actors, and had actors that would later be known to be homosexual. It is a very nice blast from the past for people who are old enough to have watched it when it aired initially or those who watched the reruns in syndication. Ultimately, it is a good, but dated, sitcom that is worth watching, especially if you watched it when you were younger.