Everybody remember Bewitched, the 1960s sitcom about a cute witch who marries a regular guy without telling him how very different she is—only to turn his life upside down the moment after they say, “I do?” If you do remember it then you’re either old, a regular viewer of TV Land or a queer theorist, since the series is widely regarded as one of the most homo-infused sitcoms ever to hit TV screens. Its cast, save for Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha the witch, was stocked with lesbian and gay actors like Agnes Moorhead, Dick Sargent and Paul Lynde, who gave winking performances. And the show’s entire premise was a metaphor for living in the closet. It was X-Men before X-Men.
So now they’re going to ruin it by remaking it. Again.
Moviegoers already endured that terrible 2005 meta-comedy starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell, but that’s not stopping CBS from hiring Marc Lawrence (pro: Miss Congeniality, con: Did You Hear About The Morgans?) to pen a pilot and allowing the big-screen remake’s producers, Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher, to take another swing.
Any warlocks out there with a decent hex? Get to work.
How about we take this to the next level?
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PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
A friend recently turned me on to this show via his DVDs. All the not so subtle Gay wink and nods made me wonder how many multiple martini lunches the censors were treated to to get the ok to put some of these episodes on the TVs back then………. :p
Brandon H
I used to watch this show every night when I was little on Nick at Night. Why my mother was surprised when I came out, i do not know.
All I gotta say is they better not try that “were making a movie in a movie” bullshit. Give me Beawitched with Sam, Darren, Uncle Arthur, Aunt Clara, and Endora. It’s foreboding that they are using the same producers as the ones from that shit film.
jason
The Bewitched TV series of the 1960’s and early 1970’s is an absolute classic.
GayGOP
Why must everything be remade? Why can we not just leave well enough alone when things are done well?
Guy
Did anyone else grow up on just the black and white eps on Nick at Nite, love it, and end up disappointed with the later stuff in color?
That said I read “The Bewitched Book” a billion times in second grade and it was the first place I ever heard about homosexuality as normal.
Adam
I’m skeptical, too, but remember it took a second reboot to do Batman justice; perhaps the second time’s the charm.
And, for the record, I want to see Anjelica Huston as Endora.
Hyhybt
For all my adult life, I’ve found Bewitched an incredibly frustrating series. There’s a lot of good in there… but the whole notion that the husband is boss and the wife should completely ignore her nature. A *well done* reboot can be a great thing; the only problem is that there’s no particular reason to think it will be well done.
Mark
Daniel, I resent being called old since I remember the original series broadcast each week. Mind your manners!
Skeloric
I’m of two minds on this.
1. I love the original and thought it truly magnificent.
Even thought the film not too horrible, even fun at points.
2. I’d truly love to see a modern spin on the series.
Though I’d rather not have the 4th wall broken as they did in the film version.
Essentially, nothing they do can harm the original, which will ALWAYS be there.
Superman
Dream cast:
Samantha: Amy Adams
Darren: Jim Carrey
Endora: Helen Mirren
Uncle Arthur: Tim Bagley
Please God, let them get it right this time.
Pat Duffy
I guess it couldn’t be any worse than a Sci-Fi Channel movie;>…..
Henry
@Hyhybt: I remember some people saying it was an allegory of lesbian rights since the whole show seemed pretty gay. Or at least that it could have been an allegory if it was redone.
Cam
It woudl take some serious retooling. Even as a child watching the reruns I would get angry and not understand why Darren never wanted Samantha to use her powers or get a job, and never understood why she would marry him.
xander
Got introduced to the show by my super-lesbian aunt who had the shows on vhs (yes!) and D.V.D: she took great pains to point out the many LGB actors and guest-stars, the Queer subtext and, the gender roles…..and aww, I’m forgetting the rest of the lessons!
Remake? Only with a deft touch, because so much of the humour was based on the conservatism of that time. And, pray, they’ll leave in some cheesy special effects for good measure.
Disgusted Gay American
Ok Im gonna go all out an be REAL gay and comment on this……..I Grew up with BEWITCHED, Loved it…..always have,couldn’t wait for the movie to be made ( was supposed to be directed by Ted Bessell – Don Hollinger/THAT GIRLS bf ) he died suddenly..so it was shelved – until Nora Ephron Picked it up…..YIKES,Major Mistake….She blew it…the Movie SUCKED, Nicole Kidman..not bad, BOT enough sound effects, Will Farrell – Miscast!, Stroy – GOD AWFUL..and where the hell was the Original House? Helloooooo?????? Well, I was hoping it would be re-done RIGHT, maybe by PIXAR…and Erin Murphy do the voice over for Samantha? Well Lets see how this pans out…I aint giving up on it yet…..Ill chk out anything BEWITCHED! I know – THATS GAY!
Disgusted Gay American
Ok Im gonna go all out an be REAL gay and comment on this……..I Grew up with BEWITCHED, Loved it…..always have,couldn’t wait for the movie to be made ( was supposed to be directed by Ted Bessell – Don Hollinger/THAT GIRLS bf ) he died suddenly..so it was shelved – until Nora Ephron Picked it up…..YIKES,Major Mistake….She blew it…the Movie SUCKED, Nicole Kidman..not bad, NOT enough sound effects, Will Farrell – Miscast!, Story – GOD AWFUL..and where the hell was the Original House? Helloooooo?????? Well, I was hoping it would be re-done RIGHT, maybe by PIXAR…and Erin Murphy do the voice over for Samantha? Well Lets see how this pans out…I aint giving up on it yet…..Ill chk out anything BEWITCHED! I know – THATS GAY!
Disgusted Gay American
Carrot top as Endora? LOL
Queer Supremacist
The original series was a metaphor for interracial marriage, which in the 21st century upsets no one who isn’t married to blood relatives.
The movie was an unfunny mess that couldn’t have sucked any more if it was bankrolled by the Hoover Vacuum Cleaner Company. The fact that the same people are involved in this makes its suckage a done deal. At least they waited until 95% of the cast was dead. Can they at least wait until I’m dead, too?
Just die already, Hollywood. How many classic movies and TV shows have you desecrated trying to recapture what made them work? Your remake-mania even managed to make mediocre movies like Clash of the Titans worse.
zrocqs
@Superman: Love the “Dream Cast” idea. Try this on:
Samantha: Jasika Nicole. She does sweet with an edge so well on “Fringe”.
(Make Serena the one with long blonde hair!)
Darren: Steve Carell. Nuff said.
Endora: Anjelica Huston. Thanks @Adam: Perfect!
Larry Tate: Darrell Hammond
Uncle Arthur: Nathan Lane
Aunt Clara: Lily Tomlin
….this is too fun….must stop….now….
Joe K
YOu can not remake Bewitched as it dealt with a lot of social issues. The underlying story was how society in general reacted to (granted odd) minority. The writers have said that that really was the undercurrent of the show. Thy also were the first sitcom to have a black actor (the teacher episide) which at the time was considered shocking. There is no way to reproduce that. Besides who would take the Paul Linde role?
Bewitched In Dallas
I actually grew up watching Bewitched in the early 70’s. I would have one eye on the bus stop and the other on the tv hoping I could see the whole episode before running out to get the bus for school. Uncle Arthur and Endora remain my favorite characters. When I heard about the remake I almost creamed in my pants….LOL. Then, information started leaking about the story line and the cast. I thought the casting was meh but doable. However, the reboot within the reboot was NOT what I expected. I expected a Brady Bunch Movie type deal where they took story lines from the actual series and built the movie around it. Also, speaking of social issues it would of been cool to incorporate that into modern times a la Brady Bunch. NO ONE can touch Agnes Moorehead, Paul Lynde or Elizabeth Montgomery but I would be all for another version and pray to the God of the Gays that they create something worth watching. Angelika Houston as Endora? Hmmm, maybe. She did great as Morticia Adamms. Frankly, I am tired of Steve Carrell. He was OK as Uncle Arthur but leave him out of this one. Anyway, that’s my two cents. They could definitely start the movie with the marriage and all and even throw in a Darren recast…..
abnerb
Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery (1933-1995) also did 1 Flintstone cartoon titled Samantha where she voices Samantha Stephens. There are 3 Bewitched episodes where Samantha flies on a broom and they are again the 3 Christmas episodes of Sugar Plums Vision (both) and Humbug not Spoken. In 1 of the Bewitched episodes, they explain that the broom is obsolete for flying. I like comparing Bewitched to I dream of Jeannie episodes. Here are some.
1. Napoleon guest starred in 1 Bewitched episode & in 1 I dream of Jeannie episode.
2. In 1 Bewitched episode, Darrin is turned small by Endora and has to worry about a dog. In 1 I dream of Jeannie episode, Major Nelson is turned small & has to worry about cat-my incredible shrinking master.
3. In a Bewitched episode called I confess, Darrin wants to confess that Samantha is a witch & Samantha gives Darrin a dream of what can happen. In an I dream of Jeannie episode titled Hurricane Jeannie, Dr. Bellows finding out about Jeannie being a genie.
4. In Bewitched episode house that Uncle Arthur built deals with an invisible house. There are 2 I dream of Jeannie episodes with invisible house.
5. In a Bewitched episode, Darrin knocks out a boxer with Samantha’s help. In an I dream of Jeannie episode, Major Nelson takes part in boxing match with Jeannie’s help.
There are many other eg. such as people being turned to chimpanzees, elephant in house, etc. which can be found in both Bewitched and I dream of Jeannie episodes.