On Bewitched

[serious crayons]

Just saw this great thread. Bewitched is a fascinating topic for me, for several reasons.

Mainly, I see it as an allegory with a feminist message, whether deliberate or not. Samantha had powers that she wasn't allowed to use, under orders from the patriarchy, aka Darren. She was obviously smarter than Darren, even magical powers aside, and with her powers way outclassed him in all other skills. Darren forbade her to practice or reveal those superior skills to anyone, and she willingly complied, embracing the role of happy devoted housewife except very occasionally, when required to avert disaster, usually caused by her own relatives.

Bewitched began in 1964, the year after The Feminine Mystique was published. It ended in 1972 -- two years, for perspective, after The Mary Tyler Moore Show debuted. Bewitched, with that premise, could never, ever air today. Whereas in essence TMT is really a less-funny 30 Rock (think about it! you can even see parallels among many of the cast members, though Liz Lemon = Mary + Rhoda).

Even as a child watching Bewitched, I was always baffled that smart, cool, beautiful, magical Samantha would marry (and obey!) dorky dimwitted Darren. I thought her evil twin brunette cousin Sabrina had made the much better lifestyle choice.

The show is also fascinating to watch because it's so full of anachronisms, not just sexist ones. In one episode I saw, in addition to Samantha having to beg Darren for money to buy herself a winter coat, we saw Darren's use of both sides of scratch paper as evidence that he was under a spell that made him absurdly frugal, and when Samantha told him she was planning to make chicken when the big client came to dinner, Darren, still under the frugality spell, ordered her to make something cheaper, like veal.

[Jeff Wrangler]

The show is also fascinating to watch because it's so full of anachronisms.

That's one reason I enjoy watching all of these old sitcoms. When was the last time you saw a woman go shopping all dressed up and in a hat and gloves (and I don't mean a winter hat and winter gloves)? Or people actually getting dressed up to travel? And automobiles the size of cabin cruisers? And no security screenings at airports? And no cell phones? And rotary dial telephones? I'm sure there are lots more. These shows are great for a review of American material culture in their day.

[serious crayons]

That's one reason I enjoy watching all of these old sitcoms. When was the last time you saw a woman go shopping all dressed up and in a hat and gloves (and I don't mean a winter hat and winter gloves)? Or people actually getting dressed up to travel? And automobiles the size of cabin cruisers? And no security screenings at airports? And no cell phones? And rotary dial telephones? I'm sure there are lots more. These shows are great for a review of American material culture in their day.

And not only material things, but outdated attitudes, as well.

One of my favorite shows as a kid was Here Come the Brides -- a Seattle-set historical dramedy about a 19th-century logging camp and a parallel camp of women who'd been shipped in to be courted by the loggers (if it were more real-life, it would have been a whorehouse, but the women were all chaste and "proper"). Anyway, at the time it was seen as sort of feminist: the cast was full of strong female figures.

But a friend of mine who'd also been a fan checked Season 1 out of Netflix a couple of years ago and we watched in horror. It's actually laced with sexist stuff.

I bet people who were more attuned to sexual orientation than I was would have noticed those elements more vividly. I do remember that any situation involving two presumably heterosexual men accidentally touching or getting physically close was a typical setup for a big "laugh."

[Luvlylittlewing]

That's one reason I enjoy watching all of these old sitcoms. When was the last time you saw a woman go shopping all dressed up and in a hat and gloves (and I don't mean a winter hat and winter gloves)? Or people actually getting dressed up to travel? And automobiles the size of cabin cruisers? And no security screenings at airports? And no cell phones? And rotary dial telephones? I'm sure there are lots more. These shows are great for a review of American material culture in their day.

Or cooking dinner and cleaning house in pearls and high heels? 

[Front-Ranger]

I like to think when she wriggled her nose that it was a bit like a secret wink that said, "we know who REALLY wears the pants in this family!"

[Jeff Wrangler]

And not only material things, but outdated attitudes, as well.

One of my favorite shows as a kid was Here Come the Brides -- a Seattle-set historical dramedy about a 19th-century logging camp and a parallel camp of women who'd been shipped in to be courted by the loggers (if it were more real-life, it would have been a whorehouse, but the women were all chaste and "proper"). Anyway, at the time it was seen as sort of feminist: the cast was full of strong female figures.

But a friend of mine who'd also been a fan checked Season 1 out of Netflix a couple of years ago and we watched in horror. It's actually laced with sexist stuff.

That was one of my favorites, too! I've thought about buying it, but it's still pretty expensive. I think I must have had a crush on Robert Browne but was too thickheaded to realize it!    I was always puzzled by the fact that only the youngest Bolt brother (Bobby Sherman!) had a steady girlfriend. 

But anyway, believe it or not, supposedly the show had a ... tenuous ... base in historical fact. Were the historical figures prostitutes whitewashed by their civic descendants? I don't know. I've never gotten around to doing the research.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Or cooking dinner and cleaning house in pearls and high heels? 

Now, now. ...

I do remember my mother getting dressed up to go downtown shopping. And she dressed me up to take me along with her!

And both of my grandmothers wore dresses--or at least a skirt and blouse--every day, even to do housework. My mother, however, wore trousers.

There's a generational change, I do believe. 

[serious crayons]

That was one of my favorites, too! I've thought about buying it, but it's still pretty expensive. I think I must have had a crush on Robert Browne but was too thickheaded to realize it!    I was always puzzled by the fact that only the youngest Bolt brother (Bobby Sherman!) had a steady girlfriend. 

I recommend renting a season on Netflix first. I found that as I watched I could practically say the lines along with the characters, so easily did the shows come back to me. And yet at the same time I was somewhat shocked by their primitive social norms (I mean primitive circa 1968, not late 1800s).

I was more of a Bobby Sherman girl back in the (fifth grade) day, but as I watched it recently I realized that Robert Browne was much more interesting and attractive than his brothers. Heck, Aaron Stemple was more attractive than Bobby Sherman! However, according to the internet, as the seasons go on, Browne's character becomes less and less interesting -- more an asexual and slightly comic figure, while the younger brothers are established as the romantic leads.

I suppose it had something to do with the music biz. Bobby Sherman was cranking out hits, and David Soul followed with one or two of his own.

But anyway, believe it or not, supposedly the show had a ... tenuous ... base in historical fact. Were the historical figures prostitutes whitewashed by their civic descendants? I don't know. I've never gotten around to doing the research.

If you ever have a chance to watch HBO's mid-2000s' series Deadwood -- and I highly recommend it -- you'll see what I would guess is a more realistic depiction of the times. There it's about a town settled around gold mines rather than logging, but prostitution is big. Almost all of the women in the show are prostitutes of one kind or another, but in most cases it depicts their characters with sensitivity and nuance.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I was more of a Bobby Sherman girl back in the (fifth grade) day, but as I watched it recently I realized that Robert Browne was much more interesting and attractive than his brothers. Heck, Aaron Stemple was more attractive than Bobby Sherman! However, according to the internet, as the seasons go on, Browne's character becomes less and less interesting -- more an asexual and slightly comic figure, while the younger brothers are established as the romantic leads.

As best as my poor middle-aged memory can remember it, it seems to me most girls were more Bobby Sherman fans back in the day.    That said, I think I might have had a "45" of his recording of the theme song. But that's exactly what I was remembering, Joshua and Jeremy being the romantic leads (with Jeremy going steady with Candy Pruitt), but what the heck was the matter with Jason? 

Oi, how is that I remember so much about this show? I do remember Candy and Lottie the saloon proprietor (Joan Blondell) being what I guess you could call "strong characters," and also Miss Essie, the schoolteacher. And here I think we could almost spin off into another thread: How do you define a "strong" female character in a TV show--especially a show from 40 years ago--and were there more "strong" female characters "back then" than we tend to remember?

If you ever have a chance to watch HBO's mid-2000s' series Deadwood -- and I highly recommend it -- you'll see what I would guess is a more realistic depiction of the times. There it's about a town settled around gold mines rather than logging, but prostitution is big. Almost all of the women in the show are prostitutes of one kind or another, but in most cases it depicts their characters with sensitivity and nuance.

I've heard good things about Deadwood (if nothing else it had Timothy Olyphant, at least for a while  ), and I don't doubt for a minute the prevalence of prostitutes in a place like that, but after watching three seasons of Hell on Wheels, I've also developed a sneaking suspicion that producers of Westerns these days may, in the interests of "realism," be bending over backward a tad more than necessary in making things "messy," as if they're overcompensating for the "sanitized" Westerns of the past.

[delalluvia]

And not only material things, but outdated attitudes, as well.

One of my favorite shows as a kid was Here Come the Brides -- a Seattle-set historical dramedy about a 19th-century logging camp and a parallel camp of women who'd been shipped in to be courted by the loggers (if it were more real-life, it would have been a whorehouse, but the women were all chaste and "proper"). Anyway, at the time it was seen as sort of feminist: the cast was full of strong female figures.

But a friend of mine who'd also been a fan checked Season 1 out of Netflix a couple of years ago and we watched in horror. It's actually laced with sexist stuff.

Wouldn't that add to the historical aspect of the show?