I'm Attempting to Watch the Entire Series on DVD!

[Adamantium]

I’ve never seen every episode of Bewitched before. Though I’ve owned the DVDs since Sony first released them, I didn’t do a whole lot of viewing, except for a phase I went through when I only owned seasons one & two. Anyways, I’m attempting to watch the entire series and I’ve just finished disc one. When I get to the fifth season, I’ll watch them in production order, with Darrin absent for a group of episodes in a row before the new Darrin arrives (that’s also how I watch The Wild Wild West during season four when Artemus Gordon was absent for about eight episodes). Other than that, I’ll stick with the DVD order as I'll just have to assume that's the correct viewing order.

Anyways, if this viewing is successful, I’ll want to talk about the show and visit this board more often.

[Adamantium]

Here’s an episode cast list for the first disc. This is taken from the ending credits. In episodes 7 and 9, Agnes Moorehead is credited but does not appear in the episode. Since I want to keep it accurate to what it says on screen, I’m including her credit but mentioning next to it that she’s not in the episode. And yes, I’m watching the black & white versions, which is the proper way to watch seasons one and two.

Episode #1. “I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha”
Cast:
Samantha . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Montgomery
Darrin Stephens . . . . Dick York
Endora . . . . . . . . . . . Agnes Moorehead
Dave . . . . . . . . . . . . Gene Blakely
Doctor . . . . . . . . . . . Lindsay Workman
Bartender . . . . . . . . Paul Barselow
And Nancy Kovack as Sheila

Episode #2. “Be It Ever So Mortgaged”
Cast:
Samantha . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Montgomery
Darrin Stephens . . . . Dick York
Endora . . . . . . . . . . . Agnes Moorehead
Abner Kravitz . . . . . George Tobias
Gladys Kravitz . . . . Alice Pearce

Episode #3. “It Shouldn’t Happen to a Dog”
Cast:
Samantha . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Montgomery
Darrin Stephens . . . . Dick York
Endora . . . . . . . . . . . Agnes Moorehead
Babs Livingston . . . . Grace Lee Whitney
Dr. Jason . . . . . . . . . Monroe Arnold
1st Policeman . . . . . . Karl Lukas
Mrs. Tate . . . . . . . . . Irene Vernon
And David White as Larry Tate
Jack Warden as Rex Barker

Episode #4. “Mother Meets What’s His Name”
Cast:
Samantha . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Montgomery
Darrin Stephens . . . . Dick York
Endora . . . . . . . . . . . Agnes Moorehead
Gladys Kravitz . . . . . Alice Pearce
Abner Kravitz . . . . . George Tobias
Shirley Clyde . . . . . . Hollis Irving
June Foster . . . . . . . . Alice Backes
Phone Repairman . . . John Copage

Episode #5. “Help, Help, Don’t Save Me”
Cast:
Samantha . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Montgomery
Darrin Stephens . . . . Dick York
Endora . . . . . . . . . . . Agnes Moorehead
And David White as Larry Tate
Charles Ruggles as Caldwell

Episode #6. “Little Pitchers Have Big Fears”
Cast:
Samantha . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Montgomery
Darrin Stephens . . . . Dick York
Gladys Kravitz . . . . . Alice Pearce
Abner Kravitz . . . . . George Tobias
Coach Gribben . . . . Byron Keith
Marshall Burns . . . . Jimmy Mathers
Brush Salesman . . . Art Lewis
Umpire . . . . . . . . . . Joe Brooks
Floyd Kravitz . . . . . Joel Davison
Player . . . . . . . . . . . Greger Visen
June Lockhart as Mrs. Burns

Episode #7. “The Witches Are Out”
Cast:
Samantha . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Montgomery
Darrin Stephens . . . . Dick York
Endora . . . . . . . . . . . Agnes Moorehead (NOT IN EPISODE)
Bertha . . . . . . . . . . . Reta Shaw
Mary . . . . . . . . . . . . Madge Blake
Foreign Legion Officer . . . Jacques Roux
And David White as Larry Tate
Shelley Berman as Brinkman
Marion Lorne as Aunt Clara

Episode #8. “Witch or Wife”
Cast:
Samantha . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Montgomery
Darrin Stephens . . . . Dick York
Endora . . . . . . . . . . . Agnes Moorehead
Mrs. Tate . . . . . . . . . Irene Vernon
Stewardess . . . . . . . . Raquel Welch
Waiter . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Camlin
Woman on Plane . . . Rowena Burack
And David White as Larry Tate

Episode #9. The Girl Reporter”
Cast:
Samantha . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Montgomery
Darrin Stephens . . . . Dick York
Endora . . . . . . . . . . . Agnes Moorehead (NOT IN EPISODE)
Liza Randall . . . . . . . Cheryl Holdridge
Marvin Grogan (Monster) … Roger Ewing
Mr. Austen . . . . . . . . . Alex Gerry
And David White as Larry Tate

[Adamantium]

In Gladys' first appearance (episode #2) Abner tells her to take her medicine after she freaks out over the witchcraft going on in the soon-to-be Stephens' house. To me, this means that she has already had some mental problems, maybe having hallucinations if she's already being medicated for something. Unless I'm wrong about what kind of medicine it is. Is it just for nerves? Since Abner doesn't seem that concerned with what she has to say, she must say crazy things all the time, pre-dating Sam and Darrin's arrival to Morning Glory Circle.

Also, it's Samantha who says she's going to give up witchcraft for Darrin BEFORE he finds out she's a witch. So even though Darrin also said it, she was planning to live the mortal way anyways.

[Adamantium]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

Such pretty guest actresses around then: Nancy Kovack, Grace Lee Whitney, not to mention young Raquel Welch.

Yes and I just watched the episode featuring "Miss Jasmine" (who turned out to be a witch trying to seduce Darrin) and she's a beauty.

On top of Elizabeth Montgomery, who I think looks her best in the first two seasons. I don't know, maybe I just prefer her in black & white.

[Hazel Anyday]

Looks like you're reinventing the wheel. Credits and episode guide order are readily available in books not to mention internet.

I prefer to watch Bewitched's seasons 1 and 2 in the absolutely beautiful colorized version. Here the color is even better than the actual color shows to come. Besides these seasons would have been filmed in color if b/w wasn't the standard of the day, not to mention much cheaper to film in b/w. To not take advantage of the pristinely colorized versions of seasons 1 and 2 is just stubbornly foolish. I only wish I could watch colorized versions of The Honeymooners, My Favorite Martian and dozens and dozens of other drab b/w filmed shows. So when you have the grand opportunity to watch a show the way it would have been filmed if it weren't for the costs and standard of the day it's like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

[gopyle]

Colorize THIS!!

[Hazel Anyday]

Gladly

[gidgetgrape]

When the DVDs first came out, someone on another board suggesting buying the colorized version and turning the color down on your TV set when you felt like watching the show in black and white.

[Larry Tate]

The Grey scaled B/W Bewitched DVD sets the first Two seasons.
The point is that Sony used a colorized turn the color off grey scale for their B/W option on seasons one & two not the original print, if you have the colorized version & turn the color off then you get the exact same version as the B/W one that Sony offered, even though it is very different then the original version seen in the 1960's which you can see on the CH VHS tapes.

That is just Sony being cheap & not wanting to pay for two restored versions.

I don't consider the colors fake looking at all, in fact they in my view look very realistic as if they were filmed in color which creates a seamless context as you go into the actual color filmed season 3.

Even N@N when they got the color episodes as well in 1998 i think it was, used the restored grey scale prints in showing the B/W episodes before the colorization took place & as such the B/W episodes clearly looked as they do now & different then they had in the early 1990's when they had used the original un-restored prints from the 1960's, the restoration process altered the B/W look from the original well before the colorization took place.

I thought they did a wonderful & overall superb & accurate job of colorizing Bewitched.

Of course if you get the first two seasons in Color you get them in B/W as well, all you have to do is turn off the color on your remote control for your TV & it is exactly the same grey scale as the B/W sets are.

The B/W sets are not an accurate replication of how Bewitched was originally seen in B/W in 1964 to 1966, if you want the original shadows, lighting, witchy feel, contrast and visual feel then you need to see original studio 16 mm prints or the Columbia House & Screen Gems VHS tapes which were done before the show was restored & remastered and used old 35 mm master prints that were made during the shows actual run from Fall 1964 thru the spring of 1966.

The Columbia House tapes are especially as the show was originally seen in the vintage sense with the same aesthetic quality's that were seen back in the 1960's.

So you really don't need to buy the shows again in B/W as you will have them already on your Color DVD's with the color turned off.

So i am a proponent of the Colorized episodes as it is a Two for One deal in effect, both Color & B/W.

Elizabeth Montgomery have list:
http://www.freewebs.com/larrytate550/

Elizabeth Montgomery Want List:
http://larrytate70.tripod.com/

Non Elizabeth Montgomery have list:
http://larrytate700.tripod.com/

[robyrob]

Originally Posted by Adamantium

In Gladys' first appearance (episode #2) Abner tells her to take her medicine after she freaks out over the witchcraft going on in the soon-to-be Stephens' house. To me, this means that she has already had some mental problems, maybe having hallucinations if she's already being medicated for something. Unless I'm wrong about what kind of medicine it is. Is it just for nerves? Since Abner doesn't seem that concerned with what she has to say, she must say crazy things all the time, pre-dating Sam and Darrin's arrival to Morning Glory Circle.

Also, it's Samantha who says she's going to give up witchcraft for Darrin BEFORE he finds out she's a witch. So even though Darrin also said it, she was planning to live the mortal way anyways.

my theory was always that Glady's "medicine" was just vodka, and it helped her with those hallucinations awwrite.

[Hazel Anyday]

Really, all kidding aside, I think that the colorizing done on Bewitched and on I Dream of Jeanie is the best example of colorization I have ever seen. It really does look like it was filmed in color from the start. Nothing fake or unreal about it. Whenever I have to use an example of really excellent colorization I always cite the Bewitched and Dream Of Jeanie sets. Columbia really did an EXCELLENT job on bringing genuine looking color to these TV series. I even like the colorization on these Bewitched sets better than the current colorizing done on some I Love Lucy episodes that pop up on CBS once in a while. These Bewitched sets take the prize as for really good examples of just how good colorization can be when it's done right.

Now if only they'd do the same for the first season of Hazel and the Honeymooners Classic 39.

[TV Guy]

Disagree. The colonizations are horrible. They were done 20 years ago and they are a product of their time. The skin tones are completely off, to start, and everything looks soft as opposed to the sharpness of the actual color episodes.

Colorization has come a long way in the last 20 years (see the latest colorized version of It's a Wonderful Life, for example - this one was done about five years ago). But I still prefer B&W. For Bewitched, I'd like to see the original B&W episodes, not the grayscale versions of the colorized episodes.

[OH Nuts!]

Glad you're going through the entire series Adamantium. Bewitched is an UTTERLY fun show. I've never watched the entire series in order, but tend to go through the ep list and revisit the eps that jump out at me. I did this the day I was prepping for my colonoscopy; it made that day fly by. I have the first 5 seasons,but stopped after that cause Dick York will always be Darrin to me. But since then, have seen some of the S6-8 eps on Antenna, and am warming to Dick Sergeant as Darrin #2.

Re colorization, to each their own. My own personal preference is to watch 50's shows in their orig. b & w. - and most 60s shows if not automatically in color.
Bewitched is an exception- given the nature of the show, I'd want to see all of it in color.

[Larry Tate]

Bewitched was colorized about 18 years ago and looks superb in my eyes, the skin tones are spot on, it is a bit softer in visual acuity then the color seasons due it originally being filmed with a soft lense to make Elizabeth Montgomery look more believable to be around 22 as Samantha.

If one wishes to see the first two season in the original B/W with vintage atmosphere and ambiance, shadings, lighting,shadows, contrast and witchy feel one would have to find the original 16 mm prints (i have over 130 many of the restored and remastered) or the Columbia House tapes which were made from the original 35 mm Bewitched prints as were the Screen Gems tapes released at about the same time.

Elizabeth Montgomery have list:
http://www.freewebs.com/larrytate550/

Elizabeth Montgomery Want List:
http://larrytate70.tripod.com/

Non Elizabeth Montgomery have list:
http://larrytate700.tripod.com/

[Hazel Anyday]

I was hoping just once not to encounter another argument over colorizing, but alas even a nice humble observation seems to invite a naysayer. I still say Bewitched and Dream of Jeanie are the best examples of colorization I have ever seen. The trouble with both the new colorized Wonderful Life and the colorized Holiday Inn is that the color is turned way down too low. When watching either of these movies I have to turn the color intensity dial all the way to the extreme most to get decent natural looking color. The color on these movies is just too faded out, looks like a faded color picture. Certainly not natural till you turn up the color dial. Whereas the Bewitched and Jeanie color is nice and bright and accurate to boot, no need for adjusting the TV set, it's perfect right off the bat. Of course now someone will disagree, but it will never change my mind.

Love anything colorized over a drab b/w picture any day any time. That's the final word from me.