Elizabeth Montgomery is an intelligent and incredibly beautiful woman. Plus she has magical powers that could grant your every wish. So, who does she choose as a mate? A neurotic moron who won’t let her do magic. He’s not even all that good at his job – Larry Tate is constantly threatening to have him fired. That is, until Samantha can save his incompetent ass once again.

http://my-retrospace.blogspot.com/2009/08/beauty-and-buffoon-implausible-tv.html

With your (dead on) analysis the show should have been canceled after the first season.
I think there might be more to the show for it to last 8 years :crazy:


Elizabeth Montgomery is an intelligent and incredibly beautiful woman. Plus she has magical powers that could grant your every wish. So, who does she choose as a mate? A neurotic moron who won’t let her do magic. He’s not even all that good at his job – Larry Tate is constantly threatening to have him fired. That is, until Samantha can save his incompetent ass once again.

http://my-retrospace.blogspot.com/2009/08/beauty-and-buffoon-implausible-tv.html

Well, I think the chemistry between EM an DY went a long way in making Sam and Darrin's love believable. Plus, I always perceived Larry as the dopey one, not the other way around. Darrin wasn't a "yes" man to the clients like Larry was. Darrin had strong opinions and wasn't afraid to let the clients know he didn't always agree with them. THAT'S why Larry would always fire him (and then re-hire him because he didn't have the people skills that Darrin did).

As far as his marriage with Samantha - she'd had warlock boyfriends before and none of them had ever worked out. Obviously, she was looking for something different. Darrin, despite his awkwardness and temper, was at heart a sweet and loving husband. He loved Samantha with all his heart and would do anything in his power for her. He was a good father and provider. What woman (mortal or witch) wouldn't respond to that?

Well said Catlover and I would never refer to Darrin as being a neurotic moron. In the pilot he is referred to by one of Sheila's dinner guests as "one of the brightestest young men on Madison Avenue" and time and time again Darrin saved Larry's bacon in deals with clients. In one episode where Larry was under a truth spell he admitted he would never be able to get by without Darrin's skills even though he often used to fire him in anger. The fact that Larry always turned up at Morning Glory Circle trying to get Darrin back with McMann and Tate says alot about how he was viewed by others. Unlike certain others opinions here the Dick York Darrin wasn't always mad at Samantha and I agree with you that he was a loving husband , many episodes showed him having great affection for Tabitha. he wasn't flashy like Sam's old warlock boyfriends and I think that's what appealed to Samantha.. It must also be remembered that most of the mishaps and chaotic situations Darrin found himself in in the office in front of clients that reflected badly on his work were due to a spell being cast on him by a member of Sam's family and would never have occured had he not married into a magical family.. Incompetent? No way!! The fact that Darrin hung in there through one embarrasing situation after another showed great strength of character in my belief as well as a real love for Samantha no matter what happened. Sam and Darrin (Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York) were one of the great if not greatest love stories of 1960's television.


Well, I think the chemistry between EM an DY went a long way in making Sam and Darrin's love believable. Plus, I always perceived Larry as the dopey one, not the other way around. Darrin wasn't a "yes" man to the clients like Larry was. Darrin had strong opinions and wasn't afraid to let the clients know he didn't always agree with them. THAT'S why Larry would always fire him (and then re-hire him because he didn't have the people skills that Darrin did).

As far as his marriage with Samantha - she'd had warlock boyfriends before and none of them had ever worked out. Obviously, she was looking for something different. Darrin, despite his awkwardness and temper, was at heart a sweet and loving husband. He loved Samantha with all his heart and would do anything in his power for her. He was a good father and provider. What woman (mortal or witch) wouldn't respond to that?

Incompetent?! Moron?!?! How could you say such a thing?! He is not! :nonono:

Elizabeth Montgomery is an intelligent and incredibly beautiful woman. Plus she has magical powers that could grant your every wish. So, who does she choose as a mate? A neurotic moron who won’t let her do magic.
Actually, that would be Samantha - not Elizabeth. ;)

Actually, that would be Samantha - not Elizabeth. ;)
That's right!! :nod:

The fact that Darrin hung in there through one embarrasing situation after another showed great strength of character in my belief as well as a real love for Samantha no matter what happened. Sam and Darrin (Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York) were one of the great if not greatest love stories of 1960's television.
I think they were one of the greatest love stories in all sitcom history, especially the 60s. In that time period, I think the only other couples that came close to them were Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore, as well as Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman of IDOJ.

I think it was a smart move to start the show with the wedding/honeymoon. We get to see the marriage right from the beginning and the adjustments they have to make. To me, the selling point was not watching them get together, but STAYING together despite interfering in-laws (both the witchly and mortal), Larry Tate, and Gladys Kravitz's constant snooping. Who doubts that Samantha and Darrin were deeply in love? See the pics:

Darrin was a success before Samantha...in fact many of Darrin's job problems came as a result of Endora's interference, which then usually resulted in Darrin and Sam figuring out a way to win the client. And Larry, if anyone, was the incompetent--how many times he gave to Darrin the hard to please clients and also took the bows for when Darrin (and sometimes with Sam's help) actually saved the day?

^ My point exactly!!!

Well, I think the chemistry between EM an DY went a long way in making Sam and Darrin's love believable. Plus, I always perceived Larry as the dopey one, not the other way around. Darrin wasn't a "yes" man to the clients like Larry was. Darrin had strong opinions and wasn't afraid to let the clients know he didn't always agree with them. THAT'S why Larry would always fire him (and then re-hire him because he didn't have the people skills that Darrin did).

As far as his marriage with Samantha - she'd had warlock boyfriends before and none of them had ever worked out. Obviously, she was looking for something different. Darrin, despite his awkwardness and temper, was at heart a sweet and loving husband. He loved Samantha with all his heart and would do anything in his power for her. He was a good father and provider. What woman (mortal or witch) wouldn't respond to that?
:clap

Think you hit the nail on the head, Monika

Catlover79, the pictures are beautiful!

Besides, he only "yells" at her about her magic is because he loves her and cares about her. If he didn't care, he'd make her zap up everything without a second thought. Haven't you ever seen "I Confess"? or "A Is For Aardvark"? It's no fun if you just zap up a drink for your husband, or make your wife zap up a pretty dress that you didn't surprise her with, without even saying, "I love you"! They want to enjoy their love...not..."zap" it. (I'm not good with words...:( ) But that's how it is with them...

Catlover79, the pictures are beautiful!
Thank you - I found them on random image searches. :D

:clap

Think you hit the nail on the head, Monika
Thank you, Gene!! :D

Besides, he only "yells" at her about her magic is because he loves her and cares about her. If he didn't care, he'd make her zap up everything without a second thought. Haven't you ever seen "I Confess"? or "A Is For Aardvark"? It's no fun if you just zap up a drink for your husband, or make your wife zap up a pretty dress that you didn't surprise her with, without even saying, "I love you"! They want to enjoy their love...not..."zap" it. (I'm not good with words...:( ) But that's how it is with them...
Exactly. Plus, as Dick York said in the book Bewitched Forever, Darrin didn't want Sam to use her witchcraft because he didn't want anyone else to find out about her or have her. He wanted her all to himself.

This came across perfectly in the S4 episode, "I Confess", which I think is one of the best episodes of the entire series. It really does say it all.

No Darrin was not incompetant, if he were he wouldn't have been and ad executive. He had a rich girlfriend before Samantha and he wasn't happy or in love with her.

No Darrin was not incompetant, if he were he wouldn't have been and ad executive. He had a rich girlfriend before Samantha and he wasn't happy or in love with her.
Exactly. Had Darrin married Sheila, he would've been miserable for the rest of his life.

Yep! Just like in "If They Never Met"!

We might want to look to Larry Tate as far as someone who is incompetent. He always sides with the client immediately, and turns face once the client changes his mind. This gets to why he threatens Darrin often: Larry has very little to offer as far as creativity or being able to judge the work of others fairly, so he makes threats to scapegoat Darrin to try to preserve his own position.

I think it's been said before that Darrin and Larry needed each other, but with Darrin being the true creative talent, Larry needed him a lot more. McMann probably could have fired Larry and not have found himself hurting for business at all.

The only thing that bugged me about Darrin is why he wouldn't let Samantha use witchcraft.

We might want to look to Larry Tate as far as someone who is incompetent. He always sides with the client immediately, and turns face once the client changes his mind. This gets to why he threatens Darrin often: Larry has very little to offer as far as creativity or being able to judge the work of others fairly, so he makes threats to scapegoat Darrin to try to preserve his own position.

I think it's been said before that Darrin and Larry needed each other, but with Darrin being the true creative talent, Larry needed him a lot more. McMann probably could have fired Larry and not have found himself hurting for business at all.
BINGO!!! You hit the nail right on the head. No way would a superior in Larry's position would get away with all those things in real life. Ethics wasn't exactly Larry's middle name. :crazy:

As far as I can remember, McMann was the CEO and Tate was the President... so why didn't McMann fire Tate? I guess they were friends?

As far as I can remember, McMann was the CEO and Tate was the President... so why didn't McMann fire Tate? I guess they were friends?
Good questions! I have no idea. If I was McMann, I would've dumped Larry and made Darrin partner.

One thing I noticed is that EVERY time Darrin loses an account, Larry fires Darrin or threatens to fire him if he doesn't fix it. Wow! If working in advertising is like that, then I don't want any part of it. I may not have the best job in the world, but at least it's not easy to get fired.

As far as I can remember, McMann was the CEO and Tate was the President... so why didn't McMann fire Tate? I guess they were friends?
I would say that Larry was a brilliant hotshot in his young years and Darrin took over once Larry was in the management position and taking on more responsibilities, overseeing the other ad execs.

One thing I noticed is that EVERY time Darrin loses an account, Larry fires Darrin or threatens to fire him if he doesn't fix it. Wow! If working in advertising is like that, then I don't want any part of it. I may not have the best job in the world, but at least it's not easy to get fired.
I'm surprised Darrin didn't have ulcers up the yin yang, working for a boss like that. I sure would!!! It's a testament to the acting of David White that he gave Larry insecure qualities that made the character a bit sympathetic. Let's face it, on paper, the character of Larry is almost completely unlikeable.