Bewitched: The Complete Fourth Season

Much can be said about Bewitched's 4th season. I believe the series peaked here. They introduced a whole slew of new sound effects, some of which remained until the end of the series. Sam's identical cousin, Serena, began making semi-regular appearances during this season. Dr. Bombay appears a few times also. His character was fully developed from the word GO. Also, this was the final season we see Aunt Clara prior to Marion Lorne's passing away. (They should have at least given an explanation about her absence in season 5).

Some of the best episodes here include "Double Double Toil and Trouble" where we first see Serena terrorizing Darrin while pretending to be Samantha. Also, "I Confess" has Sam showing Darrin, via dream, what would happen if they told the world Sam's true identity. Another classic is "Allergic to Macedonian Dodo Birds" has Endora losing her powers only to be a bigger terror to Darrin than ever before. This is also the only season to film a Thanksgiving episode where aunt Clara zaps the gang back to the first Thanksgiving...a holiday must-see. Oh, and let us not forget Samantha being crowned Queen of the Witches. They came up with this idea, then didn't know what to do with it, so they quietly seemed to drop it. It was mentioned halfway through the season, then not ever again acknowledged that it ever happened until the beginning of season 7.

Although we don't see Tabitha too many times at the very start of the season, she pulls some very funny story lines with her powers as the season progresses including conjuring up Prince Charming out of a fairy tale, turning a spoiled brat of a neighbor into a bulldog, and zapping up strange-looking spooks out of a halloween book. The second episode was devoted to Tabitha turning her dolls and stuffed animals into live beings, but if you look and listen closely, it is very obvious that episode was filmed for season 3, but wasn't aired until the beginning of season 4.

My only complaint about this season was that if someone were tuning into episodes like "Business Italian Style" or "Cheap, Cheap" and they never have seen the show before, they would come to the conclusion that the Stephens' were childless. That always bugged me, but that has always been a television affliction. We are always to assume kids are asleep, in their rooms, out back, etc while the action is going on. Just watch "Everybody Loves Raymond" or "I Love Lucy" and you'll know what I mean.

There were a couple of lousy episodes including "Majority of One" and the episode that introduced a nanny, but never materialized after that. But thankfully, with modern DVD's, you don't even have to fastforward over them. Just click which episode you want to see, and it appears. Samantha and Tabitha would have said that the mortals were catching up with them.

But every show has episodes that are subpar, and quirks. But the superior character development, original storylines and superior acting makes Bewitched a show for all-time. Many shows in the sixties were not terribly well acted, especially the police dramas. But many of the sitcoms like Bewitched, Jeannie, the Flying Nun, That Girl, Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies, Get Smart, all had top rate actors and storylines. This is why they remain a staple in our culture to this day.

"Bewitched", was one of those special programs that I had the extreme privilege to literally grow up with as a boy. Blessed with one of, if not THE best cast of players in comedy history, terrific writing, imaginative special effects, and most importantly of all heaps of charm, this show was a total winner from episode one. Binding all of this magically together through an amazing 8 seasons was the ever lovely Elizabeth Montgomery as the beautiful suburban housewife witch Samantha. Quite rightly dubbed "The Grace Kelly of 1960's television", Montgomery was one of those rare television actresses that only the 1960's decade seemed to be able to produce who totally won everyone's heart. How she never won an Emmy Award for playing Samantha is one of the great mysteries of American Television History . Season Four of "Bewitched", is by far my favourite of the whole series and saw the series really peak with the entire cast at their creative best. It was also sadly the last season before Dick York's on-going health problems really began to interfer with the production of "Bewitched", prior to his unfortunately having to leave the series near the end of Season Five. Season Four contains a huge host of classic episodes that spotlighted the shows leading players in Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York, and the legendary Agnes Moorehead (another performer who also strangely missed out on winning an Emmy Award for her hilarious playing of the Mother-In-Law from Hell, Endora ), while still giving the wonderful supporting players like Marion Lorne, David White, Mabel Albertson and Bernard Fox real opportunities to shine in various episodes.

Every "Bewitched", buff has their favourite episodes from this season and I find that season 4 has an abundance of really classic episodes to choose from when compiling lists of favourites. Some of the outstanding ones in my belief are;

"Long live the Queen", a very lavish episode that finds Samantha enthroned as the new Queen of the Witches in a out of this world ceremony. Her new honour however causes numerous problems on the homefront with Darrin.

"Double, Double....Toil and Trouble", where in her latest scheme to get rid of Darrin, Endora gets Serena to masquerade as Samantha for a day causing all kinds of hilarious misunderstandings and the usual bewilderment for Darrin as sweet Samantha suddenly transforms into the raunchy "Terror of Morning Glory Circle".

"Cheap, Cheap", where Endora turns Darrin into a terrible penny pinching miser which causes all sorts of complications at a dinner party for an equally "careful", client.

"A Safe And Sane Halloween", the best of the Halloween episodes in my belief and a very funny telling of how Tabitha brings to life a number of Halloween characters from one of her books causing mayhem for Darrin and Samantha. This episode taught me as a boy in Australia just how this holiday was celebrated in America, proving that television of all kinds can "educate".

"Allergic to Ancient Macedonian Dodo Birds", one of the great classic episodes of the series and a tour de force for Agnes Moorehead when Endora loses her powers much to Darrin's delight, however the delight turns to horror when a "mortal" Endora proves even more impossible to cope with in the Stephens' household.

"Humbug Not To Be Spoken Here", a wonderful Christmas episode based loosely on Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", has Samantha showing the real meaning of Christmas and togetherness one magical Christmas Eve to a scrooge-like client of McMann and Tate. Elizabeth Montgomery has in my belief`never been lovelier than in this episode.

"Once in a Vial", another hilarious Agnes Moorehead performance when Endora by mistake drinks a love potion intended by her for Samantha and then runs off with one of Darrin's clients in a "love potion induced romantic frenzy", to get married!

"Snob in the Grass", Samantha has another encounter with Darrin's ex-fiance the bitchy Sheila Summers, (Nancy Kovak in a scene stealing performance), at a dinner party for a prospective McMann and Tate client. The evening comes to a climax in an all out cat fight between the two women with Sheila once again coming off the worse thanks to some of Samantha's well timed witchcraft.

"If They Never Met", a wonderfully romantic and at times sombre story where Endora takes Samantha back in time to see what Darrin's life would have been like had he and Samantha never met.

"Samantha's Secret Saucer", another of Aunt Clara's classic goof ups when she accidently (of course!) zaps a spaceship with two aliens onboard right down into the Stephen's backyard while spending the night babysitting Tabitha. This causes all kinds of trouble for Samantha and Darrin with both the military and an ever suspicious Mrs Kravitz before Aunt Clara remembers how to send them back into space. This sadly proved to be Marion Lorne's last appearance on "Bewitched", as the daffy but loveable Aunt Clara just prior to the actresses death in early 1968.

The fourth season of "Bewitched" is a delight. The series had established a universe of characters so that they had an excellent variety & balance by the fourth season. Several episodes were written with Darren away on business, presumably because Dick York was increasingly suffering from back problems. I thought that my favorite character Aunt Clara was well represented in episodes like "McTavish" where her warlock boyfriend Aucky buys a haunted castle that requires Samantha to zap over to England just as Darrin's parents are vacationing there. One professional reviewer did write, "Conspicuous by her absence throughout most of season four is Marion Lorne as 'Sam's' befuddled Aunt Clara, whose magical spells somehow always go awry. Seriously ill and suffering from a rapidly failing memory, the 84-year-old Marion Lorne was forced to severely cut back her work load; the actress died just after filming wrapped for the season, on May 9, 1968." While I didn't feel an absence of Clara because of great episodes like "Out of Sync, Out of Mind" where Clara's spell throws Samantha's voice out of whack & "Samantha's Thanksgiving to Remember" where the Stevens & Gladys Kravitz get whisked back to Plymouth. I also enjoy how the producers seemed to develop an ensemble cast such as bringing Craig Hunley back as a neighbor boy who wants to mow Darrin's lawn. On another season's episode, he'd been an orphan that Samantha takes to the North Pole to prove there is a Santa Claus and in another he played the young Darrin Stevens. On of the silliest episodes for the great Agnes Morehead was "Once in a Vial" where she drinks a love potion and then gets lovey-dovey. Elizabeth Montgomery is a delightful comedienne with great double takes, confusion and continual surprise. While Sony might have put a bit more information about the show in the packaging or on the extras, this is an excellent DVD set. Enjoy!

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