Zoneboy
03-06-2009, 08:04 PM
Link (http://www.examiner.com/x-1124-TV-on-DVD-Examiner~y2009m2d23-Bewitched-S7-The-season-of-Salem-and-Serena)
Fans of the 1960s fantasy sitcom “Bewitched,” which largely revolved around the relatives of Samantha the witch tormenting her mortal husband Darrin Stephens the advertising executive, will remember season 7 of the show as the one that included the 8-part story that was set largely in Salem and Gloucester, Massachusetts. This 28-episode season was released on DVD earlier this month.
In addition to enjoying revisiting this childhood favorite, I liked viewing episodes that seemed several minutes longer and much more complete than the syndicated episodes that I watched growing up.
The “Salem” episodes were noteworthy as well for dealing with the prejudice of the witch community towards mortals generally and Samantha’s “mixed” marriage particularly. This topic was particularly timely during the civil rights unrest of the 1960s.
The seventh season also had an equally noteworthy Christmas episode that addressed racial prejudice more directly. The Stephens’ young daughter Tabitha, who was also a witch, cast a spell that placed black dots on her face and white dots on the face of a young black girl who was her friend.
Tabitha had done so because bigoted children at the park had told her that her being white and her friend being black prevented them from being sisters. I do not want to spoil the nice ending for those who have not seen the episode or do not recall how the conflict was resolved. The DVD also includes a nice introduction and closing remarks by series star Elizabeth Montgomery with this episode. Fans will recall as well that a 10th grade English class wrote the episode.
This season is also one in which Samantha’s twin free-spirited cousin Serena, who Montgomery also played, appeared in what seemed to be at least forty percent of the episodes. These episodes were particularly fun and Serena really reflected the groovy counterculture of the day.
An episode that involved Samantha, who was a good corporate wife, ruining a relationship with a stodgy client by involuntarily acting like Serena was another notable one in this season that had several “gems.” This is one of the few episodes in which the witchcraft-caused turmoil was not explained away and in which Darrin did not maintain the relationship with the client. This was a nice change from the 100s of still very amusing episodes in which this was the outcome.
“Bewitched” fans can also look forward to completing their sets of this great series when Season 8 is released on DVD. This will likely be sometime this fall.
Please feel free to share your comments as additions to this entry or as e-mail to tvdvdguy@gmail.com.
Fans of the 1960s fantasy sitcom “Bewitched,” which largely revolved around the relatives of Samantha the witch tormenting her mortal husband Darrin Stephens the advertising executive, will remember season 7 of the show as the one that included the 8-part story that was set largely in Salem and Gloucester, Massachusetts. This 28-episode season was released on DVD earlier this month.
In addition to enjoying revisiting this childhood favorite, I liked viewing episodes that seemed several minutes longer and much more complete than the syndicated episodes that I watched growing up.
The “Salem” episodes were noteworthy as well for dealing with the prejudice of the witch community towards mortals generally and Samantha’s “mixed” marriage particularly. This topic was particularly timely during the civil rights unrest of the 1960s.
The seventh season also had an equally noteworthy Christmas episode that addressed racial prejudice more directly. The Stephens’ young daughter Tabitha, who was also a witch, cast a spell that placed black dots on her face and white dots on the face of a young black girl who was her friend.
Tabitha had done so because bigoted children at the park had told her that her being white and her friend being black prevented them from being sisters. I do not want to spoil the nice ending for those who have not seen the episode or do not recall how the conflict was resolved. The DVD also includes a nice introduction and closing remarks by series star Elizabeth Montgomery with this episode. Fans will recall as well that a 10th grade English class wrote the episode.
This season is also one in which Samantha’s twin free-spirited cousin Serena, who Montgomery also played, appeared in what seemed to be at least forty percent of the episodes. These episodes were particularly fun and Serena really reflected the groovy counterculture of the day.
An episode that involved Samantha, who was a good corporate wife, ruining a relationship with a stodgy client by involuntarily acting like Serena was another notable one in this season that had several “gems.” This is one of the few episodes in which the witchcraft-caused turmoil was not explained away and in which Darrin did not maintain the relationship with the client. This was a nice change from the 100s of still very amusing episodes in which this was the outcome.
“Bewitched” fans can also look forward to completing their sets of this great series when Season 8 is released on DVD. This will likely be sometime this fall.
Please feel free to share your comments as additions to this entry or as e-mail to tvdvdguy@gmail.com.