I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha

"I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha"
Bewitched episode
A promotional photograph for the pilot. Left to right: Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha, Dick York as Darrin, Agnes Moorehead as Endora.
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 1
Directed byWilliam Asher
Written bySol Saks
Narrated byJosé Ferrer
Featured musicWarren Barker
Editing byMichael Luciano
Gerard Wilson
Original air dateSeptember 17, 1964 (1964-09-17)
Running time30 minutes
Guest appearances
Gene Blakely as Dave
C. Lindsay Workman as Doctor Koblin
Paul Barselou as Bartender Al
Nancy Kovack as Sheila Sommers
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"I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha" (also known simply as "I, Darrin")[1] is the pilot episode of American television series Bewitched.[2] The episode was produced three weeks after starring actress Elizabeth Montgomery gave birth to her first child with her husband, series director William Asher.[3] The episode was written by Sol Saks, the creator of the series, and initially aired September 17, 1964 on ABC.[4] José Ferrer served as the episode's narrator, starting with the words, "Once upon a time...".[5] Ferrer was not credited for this role.[6] In the episode, Samantha Stephens promises her new husband Darrin that she will not use magic, a promise that initiates a pattern that continues into each subsequent episode of the series; the conflict in each episode surrounds Samantha's failed attempts to keep her promise.[7]

The pilot is one of many episodes in the series that demonstrate that Samantha and Darrin have sexual desire for each other; as opposed to being depicted as sleeping in separate beds - as Rob and Laura Petrie are depicted as doing in the concurrently running The Dick Van Dyke Show - Samantha and Darrin are depicted sleeping in the same bed and expressing eagerness to do so.[8] Julie D. O'Reilly writes in her book Bewitched Again: Supernaturally Powerful Women on Television, 1996-2011 that, in "I, Darrin" when Darrin says, "You're a what?" in response to Samantha's statement that she is a witch, this exchange initiated a narrative that would be regularly repeated in television series into the 21st century. O'Reilly argues that this narrative is one in which a sexualized female character demonstrates to a male character that she has superpowers and the male responds with incredulity and no longer thinks of her as a woman but instead as a freak.[9] In "I, Darrin", Nancy Kovack portrayed Darrin's ex-girlfriend Sheila Sommers, and the episode's popularity resulted in Kovack returning to make Sheila a recurring character in the series.[10]

References

  1. ^ Moore et al. 2006, p. 130.
  2. ^ Gibson 2007, p. 202.
  3. ^ Newcomb 2014, p. 261.
  4. ^ Pilato 2013, p. 43.
  5. ^ Pilato 2012, p. 16.
  6. ^ Metz 2007, p. 6.
  7. ^ Breuer 2009, p. 151.
  8. ^ Spangler 2003, p. 81.
  9. ^ O'Reilly 2013, pp. 18–19.
  10. ^ Weaver 2000, p. 248.

Bibliography

  • Breuer, Heidi (2009). Crafting the Witch: Gendering Magic in Medieval and Early Modern England. Routledge. ISBN 9781135868239.
  • Gibson, Marion (2007). Witchcraft Myths in American Culture. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780415979788.
  • Metz, Walter (2007). Bewitched. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 9780814335802.
  • Moore, Barbara; Marvin R. Bensman; Jim Van Dyke (2006). Prime-time Television: A Concise History. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780275981426.
  • Newcomb, Horace (2014). Encyclopedia of Television (2 ed.). Routledge. ISBN 9781135194796.
  • O'Reilly, Julie D. (2013). Bewitched Again: Supernaturally Powerful Women on Television, 1996-2011. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9781476601618.
  • Pilato, Herbie J. (2012). Twitch Upon a Star: The Bewitched Life and Career of Elizabeth Montgomery. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781589797505.
  • Pilato, Herbie J. (2013). The Essential Elizabeth Montgomery: A Guide to Her Magical Performances. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781589798250.
  • Spangler, Lynn C. (2003). Television Women from Lucy to Friends: Fifty Years of Sitcoms and Feminism. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313287817.
  • Weaver, Tom (2000). Return of the B Science Fiction and Horror Heroes: The Mutant Melding of Two Volumes of Classic Interviews. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786407552.