Info:
DVD Release Date: March 21, 2006 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Color/ 1966-67
MSRP: $39.95
Number of Discs: 4
Number of Episodes: 33
Running Time: approx. 836 minutes
Total Run Time of Special Features: N/A
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English,
Spanish and Portuguese languages; Spanish, Portuguese
subtitles; closed-captioned.
Special Features: Sony TV DVD Previews
Introduction:
Boy these Bewitched DVDs are coming at a good pace!
Every 4-5 months Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
brings you Bewitched on DVD, this time The Complete
Third Season! This season begins with Tabitha possibly having magical powers of her own. The
nose-twitching madness continues when Sam, Darrin,
Endora and the rest return on DVD for the third season
of Bewitched from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
So join Elizabeth Montgomery in … Bewitched!
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
Season three has a lot of classic episodes such as
“Nobody’s Perfect,” when Sam discovers Tabitha has
magical powers just like her; “A Most Unusual Wood
Nymph,” where Sam travels back in time to the 14th
century to remove a curse on Darrin’s family; “Sam’s
Spooky Chair,” in which Sam’s new furniture purchase
turns out to be an ex-suitor; “My Friend Ben,” is
Benjamin Franklin, accidentally conjured by Aunt
Clara; “Art for Sam’s Sake,” is when Sam paints a
picture for charity and Endora changes it into a
Monet; and “Aunt Clara’s Victoria Victory” has Aunt
Clara conjuring up Queen Victoria.
Some famous guests this season include British
theatrical legend Maurice Evans as Sam’s father;
Bernard Fox as Dr. Bombay; Estelle Winwood, baseball
legend Willie Mays, TV workhorses Parley Baer & Burt
Mustin, John Fielder (The Odd Couple) and Norman Fell
(Three’s Company). Recurring actors include Paul
Lynde, Sandra Gould, Marion Lorne, Kasey Rogers,
and George Tobias.
Packaging:
Like the previous sets, we get nice slim cases! Like
season one, one disc is contained on one side of the
case and the other disc is on the other side--there is
no overlapping at all. This set is a four-disc set, so
this we have two slim cases, each holding two discs
each. But before we get to the full slim case details,
let’s go back to the box. The cover of the box is a
nice red color scheme. It has the attractive Bewitched
logo in script with a photo of an animated Samantha on
top of that. There is a nice photo of Samantha in the
middle, with Darrin & Tabitha to the right and Endora
to the left in a nice city type of background. The
back of the box has synopsis of the show and the set,
with three nice snapshots on the left side.
On the front of each slim case, there are pictures of
various cast members. Case 1 has Samantha, Endora and
Darrin. Case 2 has Tabitha, Aunt Clara and Samantha.
On the back of each case, there is a listing of all of
the episodes on the discs contained inside as well as
a brief description of those episodes.
The art contained on the discs is simple, red color
with the city skyline in the background and pictures
of different characters on each disc. Disc 1 has a
picture of Samantha, Disc 2 has a picture of Darrih,
Disc 3 has a picture of Endora, and Disc 4 has a
picture of Tabitha. Disc 1 contain episodes 1-9, Disc
2 contains episodes 10-17, Disc 3 contains episodes
18-25, and Disc 4 contains episodes 26-33 (and the
bonus previews crap). An old Sony catalog comes with
the packaging. It needs to be updated, it is not even
funny.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menus are pretty simple like the previous sets.
Each menu screen on each of the four discs is
different. It starts off with an animated showcase of
Sam twitching you to the menu screen. Disc one menu is
pink, the disc two menu is green, disc three menu is
tan, and disc four menu is blue. They have one thing
common; they have an animated Darrin & Sam. The theme
song plays in the background (and it does loop if you
stay awhile). The options are: Play All Episodes,
Episode Selections, and Languages. The Episode
Selections option takes you to a simple menu where you
can choose the episode you want to see (pictures from
the episodes are shown in what appears to be picture
frames on a wall). Languages allow you to select what
Audio and Subtitles you want. Bonus Previews option is
on disc four.
Video and Audio Quality:
Overall the episodes look very good and I was pleased
with the video quality. There were no major
compression issues even with many episodes per disc.
All episodes appear to be unedited with running times
on average around 25:25 minutes. Some exceptions
though: #6 24:19, #9 24:55, and #14 24:20. All are
probably just short and still unedited. #14 has no
teaser scene, but that was part two of a two-part
episode, so I guess Sony cut out the recap from the
previous episode. The audio track is pretty good, in
Dolby Digital mono. There are no major problems, and
the volume is at a good level. Chapter stops are
available at the right places.
Special Features:
The first two sets had great extras, this set has
nothing but previews for the Bewitched S1 DVD, Classic
Comedy, Classic Urban TV, Partridge Family S1, I Dream
of Jeannie DVD, Fun with Dick & Jane, Bewitched Movie,
and Capra Box Set. All the TV trailers are so old.
Again, it is not even funny anymore Sony!
Final Comments:
Sony has been good to Bewitched. I think it must be
selling well for them because the pattern seems to be
every 4-5 months, which is good for Sony. Sony
usually has no release pattern and it is anybody’s
guess when a subsequent season will follow. Like the
upcoming I Dream of Jeannie set, this set does not
really feel like a Sony set, but this time it does
more than the first two seasons, as this set has no
extras. I would not expect any more extras, but I hope
I'm wrong. It is more important to just get every
season on DVD--unedited. So buy this set and you’ll be
magically flying all over your living room in joy!
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars - How our point system works)
Video Quality: 4.5/5
Audio Quality: 4.5/5
Special Features: 0/5
Menu Navigation/Design: 4.5/5
Overall: 4/5
-- Reviewed by pavanbadal on 03/11/06
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