DVD - Bewitched Season 1
Premiered September 17, 1964 - Ran for 8 seasons.
I'm sure we've all at least caught some glimpses of this much beloved TV series staring Elizabeth Montgomery as the beloved witchy wife. Sadly the movie version that was released earlier this year didn't quite meet up with my (and many other fan's) expectations, but that's another story.
I've only watch the first DVD so far but I must say that it was nice to finally see the first few episodes of this series when everyone was still trying to adjust to their characters. Agnes Moorehead as Endora is perhaps one of the best casting choices and I'm glad to see she was around from the begining.
The one thing that struck me was how... un-PC the themes of the episodes of season 1 seemed. This show aired in 1964 so it reflected the social norms of that period. Still it was very strange to hear the husband (Dick York) say things like a woman's place is in the home and that the natural order of things was for the man to go out and work and the woman to stay home to cook and clean. Phrases like the little woman and such were also thrown in and how women enjoyed staying home to cook, clean and care for her man. Elizabeth Montgomery's role as Samantha actually challenged such concepts but it was okay for her because she was a witch not a human. Worst of all was that each episode was intent on teaching us a lesson in morality! What's that about?!
Heck, I'd say that over 1/2 the things in that first DVD would be so heavily censored by woman lib today that I'm almost surprised that have not tried to prevent the DVD from being released. I've never been very political and usually ignore things like woman's lib because it doesn't really affect me, but it's rather shocking to realise how much things have changed in just 40 years.
I'll admit that seeing such un-PC themes and dialogue did detract from my overall enjoyment of the shows but I also know that things do improve, thanks to countless reruns, so I'll forge onwards as any fan of the series would.
From Bewitched to Charmed. Me thinks that progress is a good thing. My 2 cents :)
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