Bewitched/Trivia

• Acting for Two: Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha and Serena, though because the characters were so radically different from each other, many viewers were actually convinced that Serena was played by another actress. To further keep the fact that Elizabeth played both characters as vague as possible, starting in Season 6, the end titles would list Serena as played by, "Pandora Spocks".
• The Danza: Maurice Evans plays Samantha's father, Maurice.
• Edited for Syndication: The opening animated credit sequence usually included a bit with sponsor of the week's logo, such as the Darrin and Samantha characters riding the Chevrolet logo through the sky, or Samantha turning herself into a sheepdog for Ken-L-Ration dog food.
• Hey, It's That Guy!:
  • Maureen McCormick had two appearances, one as a pre-Tabitha imaginary future daughter, and another as Endora regressed to childhood.
• The Other Darrin: Not just Darrin, but Gladys Kravitz, Louise Tate and Darrin's father, not to mention two babies and three different sets of twins playing Tabitha.
  • The trope namer has the bonus of both actors being named Dick, leading fans to affectionately call it "the Dick switch".
• Reality Subtext: Tabitha and Adam were both conceived and born because Elizabeth Montgomery got pregnant.
• Recycled Set: Essentially every room in someone else's house was the Stephens' master bedroom with new furniture and different camera angles. The Kravitzes' kitchen was the same as the Stephens'.
  • The Stephens' living room set was itself recycled from the movie Gidget Goes to Rome.
  • The recycling continued for years after. The exterior of the Taylors' home in Home Improvement was a redecoration of the facade of the Stephens' home, and the fountain in the local park is most famous as the place the Friends play around during their theme song.
• Recycled: The Movie: Arguably, Bewitched was Suggested By the movies Bell, Book and Candle (1958) and I Married a Witch (1942). (in both an uptight mortal discovers that the hot blonde he just married is a centuries-old witch. Hilarity Ensues).
  • Unlike Bewitched and Bell, Book and Candle, though, in I Married a Witch the "shadow-horror" element is much closer to the surface, the witch in question really does have very bad intentions for Wallace Wooley (the hero) at first, and her warlock father is much worse. The protagonist comes out ahead in the end, partly by accident, but even at the end there's a hint that he might not be home free yet. The feel is similar to Bewitched, but a step or two closer to reality and so a step or two scarier and more unnerving amid the comedy.
• Sequel: Tabitha, a 1976-1978 series starring a young Lisa Hartman (before her marriage to Clint Black) as a Tabitha Stevens apparently subjected to Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome (given that she's in her early twenties only 4 years after we last saw her in elementary school).
• What Could Have Been:
  • Dick Sargent was actually the original choice for Darrin all along. He and Elizabeth Montgomery had been good friends prior to the show's start, and she and husband/producer/director William Asher felt he was the perfect for the role of Darrin, though Sargent was under contract to another studio at the time the show was starting up production, making him unavailable to accept the role.
    • On the same token, a third Dick was also considered for the role: Richard Crenna (who also eerily bears a striking resemblance to Dick York).
  • In an effort to keep the show on a little while longer, ABC tried negotiating with Elizabeth Montgomery and Bill Asher into continuing the show past its fifth season. While Seasons Six and Seven were eventually set in stone, ABC also gave them the options for Season Eight, Nine, and a partial Season Ten which would have included a Grand Finale TV-movie. Preparations began for a ninth season, but by then, Elizabeth wanted out, and there was no question that while Darrin could've been played by other actors (Dick Sargent was also wanting out by then as well), no one could play Samantha like Elizabeth.
  • Years later, Bill Asher attempted to develop a sequel series called Bewitched Again, which would focus on an entirely new couple (formally introduced to viewers in the pilot by Samantha, who would have only appeared in that episode), the only difference is unlike Darrin wanting Samantha wanting to give up her powers, the new husband would actually encourage his witch wife's craft. The new series never materialized.
  • Samantha was originally named Cassandra. Elizabeth Montgomery thought the name made the show seem too macabre; she also vetoed pulling The Danza, since it would make the show come off as if she was promoting herself. Samantha's maiden-name was originally going to be Dobson, as she was implied to be the daughter of John Dobson, a historical figure who had been burned at the stake as a witch. Considering Samantha's father, Maurice, later appeared alive and well later on in the show, fans are divided on how canon it is.
  • Some sources claim that Samantha and Serena were originally intended to be sisters. The idea of making them look-alike cousins was likely a reference to Bill Asher's previous project, The Patty Duke Show. Elizabeth Montgomerey herself also claimed that the idea of Sam having a long-lost sister that never got mentioned before was too ridiculous, and cousins were more pragmatic. Ironically, I Dream of Jeannie had no problem with sisters.
  • Elizabeth Montgomery wanted her father (respected actor-producer Robert Montgomery) to provide the voice narration for the pilot episode; he declined. Later still, Elizabeth wanted her father to play Maurice, on the grounds that his aristocratic demeanor would be perfect for the character; he declined again - though this time, it was because he was ill at the time he was approached with the role.

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