Was Darrin an Alcoholic?

[tcr1701]

Originally Posted by nightcrawler

and that is true, there really was always something going on. I wonder if she had ever witnessed Endora on the roof of the Stephens house casting any type of spell.

Abnerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

interesting that she saw them flying over the house at Christmas but never put it together that she was a witch.



In one episode she accused Samantha of being an alien from Venus.

[biffbronson]

Regarding why Gladys was at the window so much: If she weren't, we wouldn't still be talking about her character 60 years later...

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Bonniegirl

I think it was the times! In the 1960's seemed like a lot of business deals were done over cocktails! And even heavy drinkers were not considered alcoholics ! If you had a home, held a job and weren't in a flea bag hotel or in the gutter you weren't considered an alcoholic !

Why were they always drinking on the TV show Bewitched?

Alcohol usage was quite common in the 1960s and that usage was incorporated into television series, especially ones where the characters were supposed to be middle class to wealthy.

Additionally:

1. Alcoholism didn’t have the stigma that it does now - The adults on Bewitched could have after work drinks or cocktails before a dinner party and people would not consider them to have a “problem” or “problems” as they might today.
2. Driving under the influence wasn’t the significant issue then as it is now - There are several episodes where characters CLEARLY imbibe amounts of alcohol large enough to have obtained them DUIs in modern America. Within my own lifetime, DUI blood alcohol levels have dropped to the point where 2–3 drinks is satisfactory to cause an arrest and that differs greatly from the mid-1960s to early 1970s setting of the series.
3. People back then often had the home bars and cocktail stations that were shown in the series - Arguably it was easier to prevent children from accessing your alcohol if you were a parent in times past than it would be now. Most people, even the wealthy, rarely have the bars and stations as they did at the time and the Stephen’s (the protagonists) could have one as they were childless at first and then their children were toddlers for much of the remainder of the series.
4. To limit the production costs, the Stephens primarily entertained at home - If you watch the series carefully, there are three mains sets (the living/dining room, kitchen and Darrin’s home office) with about six to seven additional sets. They were always going to be shown drinking because the production costs wouldn’t allow the series to film on location or to assemble additional sets to imitate restaurants, bars, nightclubs,etc.
5. People weren’t as health conscious at that time as they are now - A couple Samantha and Darrin’s age would be running, going to the gym, or using devices like Peletons. In the 1960s, couples rarely did those things and relaxing with an after-work, evening, or weekend drink was a preferred “recreational” activity. In a sign that the series was “modern” it actually showed women/wives drinking who were not alcoholics, nor problem drinkers. Earlier televisions series (I Love Lucy, The Donna Reed Show, Leave It To Beaver, etc.) rarely showed adult women drinking and certainly not the main characters unless there was a “special occasion” or celebration.

Public mores and values have changed drastically in the interim 50–60 years and so the actions of characters on Bewitched seem “alien” to the people of today. Or the people of today see how detrimental they might be in manners that people of that era may not.

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by TMC

Why were they always drinking on the TV show Bewitched?

This may be an answer to a question, but it is not the answer to the question, why was drinking so prevalent on Bewitched as opposed to other series. Just as an example, Rob and Laura were a contemporary couple, Rob was in show business, did a lot of home entertaining but alcohol (such as having a drink before dinner) was not a significant part of the series. I can't think of another comedy series of that era that was focused in this manner. The only other comedy series that focused to some extent on drinking was Topper, but that was from the 50's. I wonder if it had to do with the fact that ABC as the third network could take chances and introduce topics that the other networks wouldn't touch. ABC probably had fewer southern affiliates so it may have been easier for the network to feature sitcom characters casually drinking.

[Will Dockery]

Originally Posted by TheLittleFaerie

I don't think it was just Darrin, it seems everyone on the show were heavy drinkers.... It seems Larry usually had a drink in his hand as well

I've been noticing that, it was taking place in the Mad Men era of the 1960s, after all.

[Will Dockery]

Originally Posted by Duster76

This may be an answer to a question, but it is not the answer to the question, why was drinking so prevalent on Bewitched as opposed to other series. Just as an example, Rob and Laura were a contemporary couple, Rob was in show business, did a lot of home entertaining but alcohol (such as having a drink before dinner) was not a significant part of the series. I can't think of another comedy series of that era that was focused in this manner. The only other comedy series that focused to some extent on drinking was Topper, but that was from the 50's. I wonder if it had to do with the fact that ABC as the third network could take chances and introduce topics that the other networks wouldn't touch. ABC probably had fewer southern affiliates so it may have been easier for the network to feature sitcom characters casually drinking.

Just some trivia, in 1960s Georgia, NBC was the "missing" network.

Columbus Georgia, 100 miles south of Atlanta, and the stations most available in middle Georgia, only had WRBL-3 (CBS) and WTVM-9 (ABC).

On weekends and during the summer, when I visited my grandparents in La Grange, WSB-2 (NBC) from Atlanta could be seen.

Columbus Georgia didn't get NBC broadcasts until around 1971 when WYEA-38 began.