Black & White or Color? Which one do you prefer?

* Talking about the Seasons One and Two DVDS. *

I prefer the original black & white version. How about you? :)

Black and white

I'm so excited because I just received the B & W Season One of Bewitched!!!! :D I've wanted to get this ever since it came out but never got around to it until now. Yay!!!! Anyway, I'm a sucker for old B & W TV shows and movies so I vote for the original B & W. But I do admit that I'm curious to see what the colorized eps. look like.

Signed,
Respectfully,
Dutch

I chose color. As a kid, when I watched Bewitched reruns it was always the color version that I had seen for years. It wasn't until a lot later that I found out they were originally black and white. I've actually only watched it in black and white a couple of times and it's just so strange to me to see them like that.

Black and White

I prefer the colorized version, it's done so well imo. I have always wondered how season 1 and 2 would look in color.

I prefer the color ones. There more exciting to watch.

I divinity prefer watching all the episodes in color. They are divinity more enjoyable to watch.

color, because for a long time I never knew that there were black-and-white episodes, until NICK AT NITE started showing them in the early 90s.

B & W the way they were when I watched them when they first aired.

Color ... only because 1966-1972 episodes are more entertaining for me to watch than the 1964-1966 episodes.

I actually like both the B & W and color eps.

Shows that began in b&w in the '60s like this show should have ended their runs in b&W as well. To me, there's a lack of continuity with both. Andy Griffith never looked right in color. Too artificial.

i would have said that i prefer black and white but i'm a loser and went out and bought the color versions because i didn't realize there was a difference. i must say, i do love the color ones.

color

If the show was originally shot in B&W, then it should remain that way. Color should not be an option.

I like Both Black and White and Corol.

I prefer it in Black and White.

I never watched the show until it came to Nick at Nite and aired in Black and White. In fact, I wasn't aware it had been colorized for syndication until the DVDs came out. Plus, I'm the kind of guy who wants the shows as they originally aired. It it was filmed in B&W, then that's how it is.

I think Elizabeth Montgomery was more beautiful in black and white.

I like Black and White over that phony color of the sixties.

I prefer it in Black and White.

I never watched the show until it came to Nick at Nite and aired in Black and White. In fact, I wasn't aware it had been colorized for syndication until the DVDs came out. Plus, I'm the kind of guy who wants the shows as they originally aired. It it was filmed in B&W, then that's how it is.

I think Elizabeth Montgomery was more beautiful in black and white.

I like Black and White over that phony color of the sixties.

The other thing is that from a technical standpoint, shows and movies were shot differently in b&w. They were lit differently because of the lack of color. When you artificially add color to them, something gets lost, hence the "phony color."

I watched a colorized version Casablanca back in the '80s when colorizing first began. The b&w version looked dark and mysterious. The color took the dark mysterious tone away and it looked...average.

Around that time, I watched a colorized version of a Honeymooners episode that was so badly done that it looked a child had colored it with a crayon. Just about that bad.

Leave the old shows in their original state.

The other thing is that from a technical standpoint, shows and movies were shot differently in b&w. They were lit differently because of the lack of color. When you artificially add color to them, something gets lost, hence the "phony color."

I watched a colorized version Casablanca back in the '80s when colorizing first began. The b&w version looked dark and mysterious. The color took the dark mysterious tone away and it looked...average.

Around that time, I watched a colorized version of a Honeymooners episode that was so badly done that it looked a child had colored it with a crayon. Just about that bad.

Leave the old shows in their original state.

Exactly. From 1947 to 1965 (and some in 1966) most sitcoms were done in black and white. From 1965 to the present most all sitcoms are done in color. That's just the way it is. Accept the fact that the older sitcoms were black and white. Embrace the Black & White.

I remember watching the colorized Christmas episode of "I Love Lucy." I enjoyed watching it just to see what they looked like in color. But if they released Lucy in both versions, black and white or color, I'd definately buy the black and white sets.

I have the colorized season 1 & 2 DVD sets. I guess I'm just used to seeing the Bewitched reruns in color, never saw the B & W version episodes. However, I do have the first season of Gilligan's Island in B & W (it's a wonder Warner Bros. didn't release a colorized version as well). So, either version is okay with me.

COLOR!!! I LOVE those, it doesn't bother me at all that they aren't original. :cool:

Well, look at it this way... If you buy the color DVD and want to see it in black and white, just change your TV monitor settings so it's in black and white. Problem solved. :D

I prefer seasons 1 and 2 to be in black&white---just like they were filmed. Granted, the colorization is better than it was years ago when they made Yankee Doodle Dandy look like the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, but the colors still don't look exactly true.

and whoever talked about different lighting for B&W and color was exactly right. If you already have season 3 you know what I mean.

I just rented season 2 from Blockbuster----all they had was the colorized version, so I'm just turning the color off! :)

B&W for sure...

B&W...Im SUCH a purist, in so many ways...besides, colourisation is SO full of mistakes ( Such as giving Stan Laurel brown instead of red hair in the first colourised movies ever done, when the technology was first invented here, in Canada* )
*Personally, I think IMAX was a much better Canadian film invention

...situation comedies (and virtually every other kind of TV series) were not generally filmed in color until the beginning of the 1965-'66 season. It was a matter of economics: ABC didn't really begin telecasting color shows until the fall of 1962 [and ONLY "THE FLINTSTONES" and "THE JETSONS" were seen in color on the network in that 1962-'63 season!]....NBC was the only TV network trying to "push" color TV (so that its corporate parent, RCA, could sell more color TV sets), and they didn't really begin telecasting color sitcoms until the start of the 1962-'63 season {"HAZEL" and "THE JOEY BISHOP SHOW" were their only filmed comedy offerings that season!}....CBS didn't want to "help" RCA (and NBC) in their quest to sell color TV sets, so they resisted telecasting ANY color shows until the fall of 1965 [even though "THE LUCY SHOW" was filmed in color, beginning with their second season in 1963-'64, the network didn't telecast it in color until September 1965!]. It wasn't until the start of the 1966-'67 season that ALL the networks began telecasting ALL their prime-time shows in color (those comedies that hadn't been, including "BEWITCHED", "I DREAM OF JEANNIE" and "F TROOP", began filming in color that season). Until then, there were still plenty of black & white shows on the networks in prime-time. After September 1966 (except for old movies), "black & white" became a thing of the past {and daytime shows like "DARK SHADOWS" finally converted to color a year later}.

Screen Gems/Columbia, however, had another reason WHY they didn't shoot "BEWITCHED" and "I DREAM OF JEANNIE" in color during their inital seasons(s): MONEY. They were a cheap outfit, and special effects cost more to film in a half-hour comedy [sitcoms like "GIDGET" and the final season of "THE FARMER'S DAUGHTER" stayed within their budgets and were filmed in color]. Sidney Sheldon offered to pay the extra $300 or so out of his own pocket to film every episode of "JEANNIE" in color at the beginning (he owned the show). But Screen Gems executive Jerry Hyams told him, "Save your money". Of course, when ALL the networks converted to "100% color" the following season, Hyams and the studio HAD to pony up the extra money to shoot new color episodes for both series.

wrong, all the networks didn't start showing ALL their programs in color at the start of the 66-67 season. CBS continued to show "GUNSMOKE" in black and white until start of the 66-67 season, when Bill Pailey (the network president at the time) had them renew it, aney moved it to mondays instead of saturday where it had been.

I vote for the color ones even though I am a huge fan of B&W television. For Bewitched I feel its best seasons were 3, 4, and 5. Seasons 1 and 2 were good but I felt the show really started to roll with the 3rd season. I also prefer Sandra Gould over Alice Pearce as Gladys Kravitz (JMHO).
Seasons 6 & 7 were not too bad but with the new Darrin and the loss of Marion Lorne as Aunt Clara the show just changed too much. Ezmerelda just never had the same charm and funniness as Aunt Clara.
Season 8 should not have even been made IMHO, It just wasn't that funny.

...I believe I said, in my previous entry, that "it wasn't until the start of the 1966-'67 season that ALL the networks began telecasting ALL their prime-time shows in color"....including "GUNSMOKE".

Happy Mother's Day!

you're probably right; but I could have sworn I read somewhere that "GUNSMOKE" went to color at the start of the 67-68 season.

Hey,
I want to buy my mom the first season of Bewitched on DVD as it is her favorite show. She just turned 50 so she grew up with the show. Did seasons 1 & 2 only become colorized for the DVDs or did Nick @ Nite/TV Land have them colorized as reruns in syndication? I tried to be clever and ask her which she'd prefer but I wasn't able to get any good feedback. Any ideas from people of her age that grew up loving the show? At first I thought she'd think the color was easier to watch but now I think she may like them as they originally were.

...'treky', to start filming "GUNSMOKE" in color at the start of the 1967-'68 season. Their first color season coincided with their last season on Saturday nights (1966-'67). And as we all know, if Bill Paley, "Mr. CBS", didn't enjoy and appreciate the series so much, he wouldn't have insisted it be renewed for 1967-'68 on Mondays, replacing the planned fourth season of "GILLIGAN'S ISLAND" and a new Filmways series (which never was) called "DOC", starring John McIntire......however, all "new" daytime shows on the networks WERE shown in color at the start of the '67-'68 season, including "DARK SHADOWS". "CANDID CAMERA"'s black & white videotaped repeats went off CBS daytime in 1968. The black & white filmed sitcoms still running on CBS and ABC were off by 1969.

As for you, dear 'madison_rose', get your mother "BEWITCHED" as it was originally shown in 1964-'66...in black & white. The "colorized version" LACKS the same kind of "warmth" the original version has...and no, Nick At Nite and TV LAND NEVER showed the "colorized" version (thank god!!). The first two seasons were specifically "colorized" for DVD release, although I do know some cable outlets outside the U.S. are showing them in "color"....PRIME in Canada, for one.

I grew up watching them in black & white, even after they were filmed in color, we still had a black & white tv, so thats what we had to watch.

Hey,
Did seasons 1 & 2 only become colorized for the DVDs or did Nick @ Nite/TV Land have them colorized as reruns in syndication?

The Hallmark Channel aired the colorized episodes during its "Comedy Kickback" programming several years ago. Before that I remember hearing about them being aired in Canada.

The B&W years (1964-66) truly had a special magic to them. These episodes were more low key, and more romantic. One of the reasons Danny Arnold left (or was fired, depending on which account you read) was that the network wanted more, more, more witchcraft, while he believed less-is-more. It's a testament to Arnold's talent as a writer to help make both Bewitched, a whimsical romantic fantasy, and Barney Miller, a gritty yet witty police comedy, successful and beloved by couch potatoes everywhere. Getting back to Bewitched; the show was always extremely enjoyable up until Dick York left after Season 5. But I'll always have a special place in my heart for the first two seasons.

Although I love the nostalgia of black & white, and color can't take the place of that, I have to admit they did a fantastic job with the colorization of the first two seasons. Honestly, if I didn't know better, I wouldn't even realize they were "touched up." And I enjoyed seeing the episodes I saw in black & white many times in color finally. It does add a certain spark/liveliness to the show.

So I guess my answer is color. :D

The B&W years (1964-66) truly had a special magic to them. These episodes were more low key, and more romantic. One of the reasons Danny Arnold left (or was fired, depending on which account you read) was that the network wanted more, more, more witchcraft, while he believed less-is-more.
I tend to believe that he was fired, why else would the first Louise Tate (Irene Vernon) have left. Danny and Irene were close friends and there was uneasiness when he left that Elizabeth wanted her gone too. That's also why the second Louise Tate wore a black wig, no one seemed to notice the switch after the show went to color.

Danny Arnold left after Season one & Irene Vernon was back for Season two, so the whole she left as a result of her association with Danny Arnold doesn't really make any sense as if it was so she would have left after season one with him if the two were a package deal of some sort.

As well if that was so she would have continued acting in Shows Danny Arnold was produceing as he left Bewitched to set up his own Production company.

So the fact that she came back for season Two & that she never acted again after Bewitched seems to me to indicate that it was her choice, had nothing to do with Danny Arnold's leaving & that she simply chose to retire & go into the saner world of Real Estate, i never thought i would ever describe Real Estate as Sane. ;)

Larry Tate :)

Black and white. I prefer to watch "Bewitched" the way it originally aired in black and white.

I bought them in color because that's all the stores carry around here. They did a beautiful job, IMO.