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Can you imagine the pitch meeting? ìIt's your perfect all-American family - only the housewife is actually a witch. It's like a mix between Leave it to Beaver and The Twilight Zone !î
Actually, Bewitched only utilizes its otherworldly nature when it comes to goofy gags, so this first season of the show is far more Beaver than creepy-crawly, but that sense of Blondie/Dagwood cheer and glass-eyed pep is what has given the show such a notoriety over the years.
With the feature-film version coming in a matter of weeks - I wonder why Sony decided to release these discs nowÖ - Bewitched proves that it has cemented its placement in the aw-shucks sitcom TV universe as the most paranormal half-hour television ever got before Out of This World in the early 90s. And for a matter of moments during the show's debut episode, this ëoddity' really seems like it might make for a nice slice of brain-dead sitcom glee.
But the thing about Bewitched is that the novelty wears off fast . Watching Dick York and Elizabeth Montgomery freak out their neighbors and share a handful of in-jokes during each episode is one thing, but after the newness of their unique marriage becomes standard information, the show turns completely limp, leaning on tired gags and uninventive plot devices to drive the series along.
There are highlights to this first-season DVD box set, though: Raquel Welch makes a hilarious cameo - as does Adam West - and taken in doses, Alice Pearce's Gladys Kravitz character (the nosy neighbor) is a hoot. But overall, these 36 episodes are a whole lot of nothing - a showcase for a series that had a kitschy, vampy idea and drove it into the ground.
[Be warned, too - the show is being released in both black-and-white and color versions. Make sure you get what you pay for.]
Tabitha , on the other hand, is pure camp enchantment. Bewitched 's doomed spin-off, following Samantha and Darrin Stephens' daughter as she swings around 1970s Los Angeles (or what looks like Los Angeles) causing trouble and having feuds with her mortal brother and her witch aunt, is so violently cheesy that it should come with a grater.
As Lisa Hartman goes through the motions as the Farrah Fawcett-Majors-looking heroine of Tabitha , she's able to avoid the mediocrity at the core of Bewitched 's banal universe, but that humdrum quality that many viewers loved was replaced with a youthful, awkward sense of comic timing that is both unfunny and too bizarre to grab onto.
But for fans of Bewitched - especially collectors of the show's vast swarms of memorabilia - this twelve-episode collection of Tabitha 's short time on the air will provide infinite hours of fun.
The Video: How Does The Disc Look?
DVDFile only received a colorized version of Bewitched to review, and it looked hideous. Flesh tones are out of control - they're no less pink than the walls in the Stephens house - and fine detail quality is rendered completely fazed. Black levels are also grey as Hell. I would imagine the black-and-white release is a step up - the prints of the show look clean and without heavy blemish, at least - but I can't vouch for it. But unless you yearn for colorized TV, STAY AWAY.
Tabitha looks better - at least it's supposed to be in color - but the fine detail quality here isn't much better than Bewitched 's. Color contrast is fine, though, and even if there's a bit of grime to speak of on the transfers here, I don't think they cause much of a problem.
The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
Bewitched 's mono mixes are a step down from Tabitha 's, but they're both all right. Dialogue and music both sound tinny and crunchy, but that's the name of the game for 60s/70s television. They'll sound exactly as you remember them.
Also included on Bewitched 's first season set are Spanish and Portuguese mono tracks , Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Thai subtitles and English closed captions ( Tabitha just comes with English closed captions ).
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
Bewitched offers two featurettes : Magic and Mishaps (7:00) - a look at the film's goofy gag moments - and The Magic Unveiled , a 15-minute look at the show's development that is annoyingly split up into two halves - 7 minutes on disc one and 8 on disc two. We also get previews for Bewitched (the movie), The Partridge Family, The Brooke Ellison Story and D.E.B.S.
Tabitha only gives us previews for: Bewitched (both the show on DVD and the movie), D.E.B.S., The Partridge Family, The Brooke Ellison Story and Creature Comforts: The Complete Series .
Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?
No DVD-ROM features are included on this DVD.
Final Thoughts
Tabitha was way more fun than Bewitched , but seeing as it's taken a while for both series to find their way onto DVD, fans must be chomping at the bit. But beware the colorized Bewitched transfers - they're awful. Otherwise, these are so-so editions that should please hardcore fans and few others.
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