Although traditionally feared and despised, witches have also long provided the public with light-hearted entertainment – one only has to look at the stereotypical image of the witch, with the pointed hat, green face, black cat and flying broomstick, an image that is impossible to take seriously. Hollywood has long seen witches as comical characters, and it was perhaps inevitable that they would become the subject of a television sitcom in the Sixties. Bewitched debuted in 1964, and told the story of Samantha Stevens, who – on her wedding night – reveals to husband Darrin that she is a witch, complete with magical powers. Darrin asks her not to use these powers, and so the scene is set for assorted comic mishaps. Each week, Sam’s magical powers, or those of her gaggle of witch and warlock relatives, would cause chaos and result in twenty five minutes or so of frantic attempt to restore normality and find plausible explanations to give to neighbours, friends and relatives for the strange things that have been happening. Buy Bewitched Complete Season Box Set on DVD from Bewitched was produced by William Asher (better known for I Love Lucy), and starred his wife Elizabeth Montgomery, who took the part in order to work with him.
Asher also directed most of the all important first season, which established the show as a hit. The cast also included Dick York as Sam’s long-suffering husband, David White as his boss, and Agnes Moorehead as Sam’s constantly interfering mother Endora, who dissaproved of her daughter’s marriage to a mortal. The antogonism between Moorehead and Sargent formed the basis for much of the humour – Endora would constantly use her magic to put Darrin in difficult positions. Darrin’s boss, Larry Tate (played by David White) was usually on hand to get caught up in some hard-to-explain hocus-pocus, while Sam’s Aunt Clara (Marion Lorne) regularly popped up to bungle spells and then forget how to put things right. And to cause even greater headaches for Sam and Darrin, nosy neighbour Gladys Kravitz (played by both Alice Pearce and Sandra Gould) was usually snooping about – though things would always return to (relatively) normal before her husband Abner (George Tobias) turned up, to dismiss her claims as crazy.
The show was inspired by Rene Clair’s 1942 film I Married a Witch, and it’s interesting to compare Montgomery’s character to that of Veronica Lake in Clair’s movie (or even Kim Novak in Bell, Book and Candle, another important inspiration). Lake is a lively, mischivious and rather sexy hex in I Married a Witch (itself a rather toned down version of Thorne Smith’s risque novel The Passionate Witch), but Sam is the picture of motherly domesticity, even before she has kids. Psp save data download. Harry potter deathly hallows part 2 crack only assassin.