Public Servant Lifestyle

Seventh season of TV?s Bewitched comes nose-twitching its way onto DVD.

The magic never stops for the Stephens family as season seven of the much-loved TV series Bewitched is out to buy as a four disc DVD box, from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

This month sees the release of season seven of the classic supernatural situation comedy Bewitched - starring the always enchanting Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha the suburban housewife...who just happens to be an honest-to-goodness witch!

This latest collection sees Samantha head off to the seat of the infamous witch trials: Salem, Darrin get sent to jail - falsely accused of stealing a bedpan - Endora changing Darrin into an old man and little Tabitha meeting a real live fairy.

Samantha lives with her mortal husband Darrin an Advertising Executive played by Dick Sargent and there two children Tabitha and Adam in what should be wedded bliss but for one thing, her mother. This is the 'mother-in-law from hell' Endora - played with glorious small-screen wickedness by four-times Oscar nominee Agnes Moorehead (Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Citizen Kane). Endora is a mother-in-law who never approved of her magical daughters? marriage and who makes it her sole aim is to end the union and release Samantha from what she sees as her ?mortal drudgery? by any means at her disposal.

Classic Characters

The show has a wonderful ensemble supporting casts of witches, warlocks and mortals. From the mortal world there is Larry Tate, Darrin?s greedy but kind hearted boss who seems to fire him in almost every show, the nosy neighbour Mrs Kravitz who knows Samantha is a witch and wants the world to know but no one believes her, then there is Mrs Stephens the ?other? mother-in-law from hell who thinks Samantha isn?t good enough for her boy Darrin.

From the supernatural world there is the yoo-hoo maid Esmeralda - an inept witch whose magic is at best erratic and whose conjuring always causes more problems than she solves?Then there is the family (witch) doctor, the eccentric Englishman Doctor Bombay who could be called upon to try to solve problems with spells and incantations, with his own unique bed side manner, bad jokes and all.
Speaking of bad jokes no Bewitched season would be complete without Uncle Arthur, a warlock who glories in practical jokes and pranks - mainly at Darrin?s expense - played by the unique talent of Paul Lynde. Finally there?s Samantha?s man mad, nearly identical kooky cousin Serena played as per the credits by ?Pandora Spocks?. Serena looks exactly like Samantha, mainly because Elizabeth Montgomery played this part as well?

Season Seven

There were a total of twenty eight shows made for season seven made in 1970/1971, the first seven of which had a common thread running through them, namely the town of Salem, the infamous home of the Witch trials and the venue for the Centennial convocation of the witches of the world. The plots revolve around Samantha being ordered to go to the convention, which she won?t do without Darrin and the adventures they have in Salem of the present and the past.

Unusually for the start of this season the show hit the road and shot footage away from the studio and back lot as was the norm, by going to Salem to film around the city itself. As an aside to this, in 2005 a statue of Elizabeth Montgomery in her persona as Samantha was erected in a park in Salem as a tribute to her role in the series.

These are another wonderful set of episodes of this classic show, there is a fine mix of episodes, and some of the stand out episodes are:

Sam?s Hot Bed Warmer - where Darrin sits in jail accused of stealing a bed warmer from the Historic house of seven gables, which in fact is a warlock trapped in the form of a bed warmer who it turns out was transformed by kooky cousin Serena who has to go back in time to Old Salem to remember the original spell

Samantha?s Old Man - where never one to give up, Endora turns Darrin into a 73 year old man to show Samantha what she will be married to in the future as Darrin grows old and while she doesn?t age a day.

Sister?s at Heart - where Tabitha wants to be real sisters with her friend Lisa who happens to be black, so she tries to solve the problem by witchcraft, which ends up with both of them covered in white and black polka dots. This show was said to be Elizabeth Montgomery?s favourite and the script won the Governor?s award at the Emmy?s in 1971. The episode was written by a tenth grade school class in Los Angeles.

The House that Uncle Arthur built - where in the last ever appearance of Uncle Arthur in the show he casts off his practical jokes, so he can continue to stay with his snobby girlfriend who hates them, problem is he casts them aside at Samantha?s house and chaos ensues.

This Little Piggie - a truly bizarre episode where having accused Darrin of being pig headed, Endora literally gives Darrin a pigs head, as usual this is at a very inopportune moment as he is expecting a client from work.

We would suggest you twitch your nose, cast a spell or use an incantation to magic up this box set of this magical show and let it cast its spell on you all over again.

Bewitched Factfile:

Created by Sol Saks in 1964, Bewitched originally ran on US television for a massive 254 episodes - between September 17 that same year and July 1, 1972.

Lead actress Elizabeth Montgomery was recently awarded her own star on the Hollywood walk of fame - which was unveiled in January 2008 by Los Angeles City Council.

Dick York & Elizabeth Montgomery appeared in animated form as suspiciosly familiar neighbours of The Flintstones in an episode of the Hanna Barberra cartoon called simply 'Samantha'.

For more information on Bewitched visit the award-winning Bewitched and Elizabeth Montgomery web site at: www.bewitched.net

See also on Lifestyle:

Nose-Twitching Fun - Nose-twitching family comedy as Bewitched gets new release.

Bewitched ? Season Seven is available to buy now on DVD, from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The boxed set retails at ?34.99 with a U certificate and packs a magic running time of 702 magical minutes.

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