Bewitched (TV Series) I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha (1964) User Reviews

Quite clever.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 1 August 2020]

I am not a fan of "Bewitched" so you might want to keep this in mind as you read this review. So why would I then watch "I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha"? Well, I really enjoy seeing pilot episodes...much because you often see how different they are from the regular episodes.

The pilot begins with a nice montage where the announcer (José Ferrer) telling the story about how Darrin and Samantha met and married. The show then begins with the pair in their suite on their honeymoon. Darring still does not know his new wife is a witch and she soon reveals this secret.

Soon after this scene, Darrin does something which I assume he never did again on the show...he talked directly to the audience! Strange but kind of cute.

Darrin then goes to work and an old girlfriend (Nancy Kovack) arrives and invites him and his new wife to a casual get-together. However, when they arrive at the lady's house, it's obvious it was a set-up, as everyone is dressed in formal attire. And, during the entire dinner party, this passive-aggressive host does everything she can to make Samantha feel unwelcomed. Eventually, it becomes so bad that Samantha breaks her pledge to Darrin and uses her witchy powers to punish this nasty woman.

So is it any good? Yes...and quite cute. In fact, I enjoyed it far more than later episodes I've seen. Well written and available on YouTube.

A great start of a good show.

[XueHuaBingYu · 9/10 · 14 October 2019]

I've seen this series run on the local TV channel a few years ago. But I didn't watch that much because at that time, I couldn't watch it from the beginning. So, I don't know the whole story that much. And so, I didn't watch it. Just now, I was going over my external HDD and found this TV series stored in it. That time, I was copying some files to that external HDD. The file size was kind of very big, so, it took some time. While waiting, I had to watch something to pass the time. Thus, I started to watch this TV series.

At the first time, I didn't have high hope for this one. I thought it's an old series and I haven't watched any films this old. So, I wanted to figure out how would old films seemed to be. That's why I watched this one.

The story centers on a young man and woman. They met on several different places. And then they decided to have dinner. After that they become friends. Then they got married. Problem is the husband didn't know that she's a witch. On the night of honeymoon, wife's mother appeared and told her daughter she's going to say the truth. Her daughter stopped her and she told her mother that she'd tell him by herself. And then her husband knew his wife Samantha is a witch.

After I watched this first episode, I found that it's not that bad. The show's funny and cute in some way, especially I love Elizabeth Montgomery. She was so cute and I kind of love her. Although I don't like Dick York, but he's still OK.

As for performances of actors, their acting is a bit low compared to those ones nowadays. But at that time, their acting must be fine. So, I don't want to talk about it that much.

Back to the episode's scenes, I like every scene of this episode, especially how Samantha did to Sheila. Sam was right to do it. Sheila was so over him and as a wife of Darin, she should've done those things. That's why I love those scenes. It's really cool.

And also, it's so good to see that Darin could continue husband-wife relationship with Sam even though he knew Sam's a witch. No matter what your wife is, if you love her truly, you must accept whatever she is. That's called true love. I totally love it.

All in all, I must admit that I've underestimated Bewitched TV series before. Right now, I found that it's a good TV series. It has some comedy, but it doesn't seem less serious. Some scenes are funny. I laughed out loud. I think I have to be careful not to watch this show at night when people are sleeping. Otherwise, they will wake up because of my laughing sound. Because it's funny and good, I love to see the next and next episodes and I will definitely.

"Do you fly?" "Oh, yes."

[Hey_Sweden · 8/10 · 22 December 2022]

'Bewitched' is basically one of those high-concept comedies - a straight-laced suburban type, Darrin Stevens (Dick York), marries Samantha (the lovely Elizabeth Montgomery), who turns out to be a bonafide witch. Yes, a "broomstick-riding, cauldron-stirring, card-carrying, only is active on Halloween" witch. But it works pretty well, especially since the two lead characters are so endearing.

Samantha's mother Endora (a hilarious Agnes Moorehead) is not happy about her daughters' nuptials, but Samantha is determined to make a go of things. She even decides that she will be open and honest with Darrin and *tell* him that she's a witch. But she promises not to dabble in any more witchcraft, in the attempt to pursue a "normal" life. Of course, Samantha can't resist a little mischief when she meets Sheila (guest star Nancy Kovack), an ex-girlfriend of Darrins'. You see, Sheila turns out to be a pretty nasty person.

The assorted farcical moments when both Samantha and Endora exercise their powers can be priceless. Example: early on in the pilot, Endora keeps Darrin out of the bridal suite by supernaturally transporting him to the lobby. And Darrins' reactions to everything are just rich. In one odd moment this viewer DIDN'T see coming, York actually breaks the fourth wall a little past the halfway point!

This pilot was directed by William Asher, who guided 131 episodes of the series in total; he was Montgomerys' real-life husband during the whole run of the show. (In fact, she was pregnant with one of their children when she filmed this pilot.)

Good fun overall, and appealing as well.

Eight out of 10.

Darrin discovers that his bride has a little secret.

[jfarobinson · 10/10 · 24 September 2006]

This is the absolutely charming pilot for the classic series Bewitched. The premise of the series is laid out and many of the characters are introduced. Darrin, played by Dick York (the better Darrin), discovers that his beautiful new bride, Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery), is a witch. Her deliciously evil and funny mother, Endora (Agnes Moorehead), is dead set against the union and gleefully mocks the mortal every chance she gets. My favorite villain in this episode is Sheila, Darrin's ex-girlfriend. She is played by the unbelievably gorgeous Nancy Kovak. She invites the newlyweds to a "casual" dinner party at her place that turns out to be a formal affair. The under-dressed Samantha endures insults and put-downs until she can stand no more. Breaking her promise to give up witchcraft, she unleashes her magical fury on Sheila with hilarious results. Sheila's false eyelashes fall off into her food and hurricane-force winds blow her wig and clothes off. I loved this episode as a child, and it still makes me laugh out loud.

Introduction to Samantha

[gregorycanfield · 10/10 · 2 December 2021]

Absolutely perfect pilot episode, with the great Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha. Elizabeth looks very, very pretty here, and soon proves that she's much more than a pretty face. The story of how Samantha and Darren meet is quite rushed, and that works just fine. The premise of the show is established and secured, right off the bat. When Darren finds out that Samantha is a witch, he reacts as the whining, short-sighted dolt that he is. Why marry a witch, if you're going to insist that she not behave like one? This show is obviously a comedy. However, there was a dramatic "edge" that was apparent, right from the start. Endora (played to perfection by Agnes Moorhead) warns Samantha of the "prejudice" she is likely to encounter, being married to a mortal. A fantasy situation, but referencing a very real problem. Elizabeth Montgomery was superb in this show. She gave "Samantha" many different layers, and she elevated the show above the inherent silliness of the premise. A great start to the series.

Things happen when you marry a witch...

[Goingbegging · 6/10 · 23 May 2022]

Hate to patronise our excellent Stateside cousins, but they really don't have the subtlety for witchcraft-humour, and they always have to feature a Jennifer Aniston lookalike (in this case Elizabeth Montgomery), to represent the all-American beauty, which just seems to miss me every time.

This was not only the pilot episode, but the only one of the series that I had ever come across, so I thought we were starting off well when the lovely, mystic Agnes Moorehead suddenly popped-up from nowhere, assuming that this was our witch. But she turns out to be playing only a minor role as a sort of witch-mother, and the actual witch is Montgomery herself, who has just married the naive Dick York (the young schoolteacher from 'Inherit the Wind') and is determined to live a conventional suburban life. Deciding that they should keep no secrets from each other, she confesses to being a witch, and he makes the mistake of asking her to prove it. This leads to some rather unfunny stage trickery, before she swears to give it up for good.

The husband now gets an unwelcome visit at work from his ex (a wonderfully malicious Nancy Kovack), who invites them to a dinner-party, pretending it's casual-dress, when in fact it's a formal evening occasion. After putting up with hours of repeated humiliations, Montgomery is stung into reviving her forbidden powers, in ways we can't reveal...

5/10

[Analog_Devotee · 5/10 · 31 October 2021]

Honestly, this hasn't aged quite as well as I was hoping. At least, not in this first episode. The beginning feels rather slow and plodding -- boring, even. The latter half does prove to be quite funny with a handful of clever tricks to introduce our conflicted & witchy main character. I hope this gets better.