Bewitched (TV Series) A Vision of Sugar Plums (1964) User Reviews

The magic of Christmas from Samantha, Santa & Billy Mumy

[spockosemail · 8/10 · 24 December 2020]

Samantha and Durwin take home a troubled orphan for Christmas. He doesn't believe in Santa, so Samantha takes him to the North Pole to meet him. Santa tells him, "The real happiness of Christmas isn't found in what we get, but what we give." The orphan learns the lesson and later gives a gift to another orphan he fought with and to a couple who were thinking of adopting him.

Heart warming story, with some great acting by Billy Mumy.

This episode aired on Christmas Eve 1964. Mumy played the boy with powers on the famous Twilight Zone, It's a Good Life, three years prior. He starred in Lost in Space staring in 1965. Keep an eye out for Bill Daly, (The Bob Newhart Show), for his TV debut as the man in the couple wanting to adopt the boy.

I Remember This

[bthwaithe · 8/10 · 25 November 2021]

I was looking at a nostalgia site when someone mentioned this episode and I suddenly had a memory of watching this on Christmas Eve when it was snowing outside and I was so excited. My mother was setting my hair in the living room. I was standing on the coffee table so my mother and I could see my reflection in the mirror (everyone had a big mirror over their couch in those days - so big & heavy that my mother left it on the wall when she sold the house in 2005 because she could it get it down). In the mirror I could see the reflection of the house across the street. The owner was a builder & electrician and he'd put up a wooden painting on his roof which showed Santa stepping into the chimney with a sack full of toys. It was lit up by a spotlight and was just about the greatest thing I ever saw. To me, it really looked like Santa was climbing into his chimney. The spotlight also lit up the snow that was falling on the roof. And this show came on. I was about the age where I wasn't sure if Santa was real, but seeing this show made me sure that he was.

I came to IMDb to check if the show aired on Christmas Eve as I remembered, and it did, in 1964.

Billy Mumy got to do the best stuff. He got to rule his hometown of Peaksville, Ohio. He got to go see Santa at the North Pole. He got lost in space and battled the evil Dr Smith with his robot pal and he always won. I was very jealous of him. I said to my parents "Why does that kid get to do so many cool things & you guys don't let me do *anything*?!"

Very nice Christmas episode

[VetteRanger · 8/10 · 22 December 2022]

Today I picked out a few Christmas episodes from classic TV series, so far this one, an episode from season six of Night Court, and even one from Murder She Wrote!

I probably saw this episode on its original run, which was a LONG time ago. LOL I still remember the night our family took a drive to see houses and stores and streets decorated with Christmas lights, and I worried about getting home in time to see Bewitched. That was likely the night this episode aired! :-) We DID get home in time.

On today's viewing, who should we spot but Bill Mumy, the most recognizable child star of the time ... well ... maybe in a close race with Kurt Russel. He gives his normal solid performance, in this episode as an orphan with a grim view of Christmas and already soured on the idea of Santa Claus. And who better equipped to cure his issues than Samantha? Definitely worth a watch, especially during the season.

That's not Michael. That's Will Robinson!

[gregorycanfield · 10/10 · 5 December 2021]

Billy Mumy, in my opinion, was the best child actor of all time. In this episode, he is entirely believable as an orphan who doesn't believe in Christmas. Samantha and Darren temporarily take him home. Samantha takes him to the North Pole, and let's him "see for himself." Despite Darren's annoying insistence that she not "do her thing," Samantha prompts Michael to believe in magic. The fact that he didn't believe in magic, or much of anything else, was his initial problem. Great holiday-themed episode, made great by Elizabeth Montgomery and Billy Mumy. Interestingly, June Lockhart guest starred just before this episode. Jonathan Harris makes an appearance in a later episode. Too bad that they couldn't have gotten all three in the same episode. Something like Bewitched gets Lost in Space!

Classic TV Xmas Countdown Episode #2

[kgraovac · 10/10 · 20 December 2023]

The Stephens take in a troubled orphan for the holidays, and when their attempts to give him the Xmas spirit fail, Sam flies the boy and Darrin to the North Pole.

This is my second-favorite Xmas episode of all time. The story, the acting and its emotional resonance are unmatched. Filmed in glorious black-and-white, for some reason this episode seems like it comes from a much earlier era than 1964. Samantha seems almost ethereal here, particularly in the scenes at Santa's workshop. There is a reaction shot of her and Darrin while Cecil Kellaway (Santa) is making his speech to Michael (Billy Mumy) that never fails to make me tear up - simply beautiful!

But there is enough humor to balance everything out. Of course, it all comes from the Kravitzes across the street. Thankfully, Alice Pearce - the original and best Gladys - got to play this script. It wouldn't have been the same with Sandra Gould. The funniest line is a simple "ABNER" after Gladys overhears the boys discussing the North Pole trip outdoors. Pearce turns a throwaway line into the episode's biggest laugh.

Billy Mumy plays his role perfectly; from the cynical orphan we see at the beginning to the dazzled child we see meeting Santa - he hits all the right notes.

Bonus points for the appearance of a pre-I DREAM OF JEANNIE Bill Daily and Gerry Johnston (voice of Betty Rubble in the later FLINTSTONES episodes) as the couple who show up to adopt Michael.

A Must-See for Classic TV fans. One of the best holiday episodes ever made. 10/10.