Author Topic: On Bewitched  (Read 28406 times)

Offline Luvlylittlewing

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Re: On Bewitched
« Reply #40 on: October 26, 2013, 03:09:29 pm »
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.  :)

When we lived in Oklahoma City we dressed up to go into town -- well -- where and when we were allowed to go shopping, but I won't even bring that up.  :(  When we moved here to California the style of dress even in the 60s was more laid back, so we went downtown shopping every Saturday in slacks, skirts, even jeans.

I know what you mean about women getting dressed back then.  To this day I love to watch "Keeping up Appearances" because Hyacinth and Richard remind me so much of my grandparents.  My grandma always went out in her hat and gloves (my mom never did) and my granddad always wore his hat and driving gloves.  Granddad always opened doors for grandma and helped her out of the car just like Richard did for his wife -- well, most men had those kind of manners back then.  Ahh, good times!  :)

Offline serious crayons

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Re: On Bewitched
« Reply #41 on: October 27, 2013, 11:24:29 am »
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.  ;D  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?  ???

Exactly. They might have wanted to keep him free to romance the occasional guest star -- like Capt. James Kirk, for example -- (wait, I actually meant, so Jason could romance female guest stars the way Capt. Kirk did, then realized it could be read the other way and started to change it, then remembered I'm on BetterMost and decided to leave it free to be read either way). Anyway, if that was the plan it looks like they sort of dropped it. I think there were sparks with a comely woman doctor, and an Annie Oakley type sort of tried to hit on him, but that's about all I remember going on with him that first season.

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Oi, how is that I remember so much about this show?

Try watching it! You'll find yourself reciting the lines along with the cast, I'll bet.

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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.

The romance between Miss Essie and Big Swede was sweet. It was probably the second-most-explored relationship after Candy and Jeremy.

You know, I think that was another problem with the show. They had a great concept with the potential for all kinds of interesting plots based on the interactions of the lumberjacks and the "brides." Imagine a show today, as complex as The Wire or, heck, even Dallas, but using this setting and situation. It could be great.

Instead, what they did was bring in some guest star every week to stir up complications of one kind or another, often someone from out of town who would be gone the following week. You didn't get to know any of the brides except Candy and her best friend (blanking on her name and too lazy to look it up), and you didn't get to know the lumberjacks except for the Bolts and Big Swede. Sometimes the story would focus on a particular family, but after that week the family was never seen again. I guess that's just how they did TV back then.

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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?

Yes, there were plenty of strong women back then, because strong women are more dynamic characters and make for more interesting dynamic plots. There have been strong women going back at least to Cleopatra. As for the early days of the entertainment industry, yes, plenty. Scarlett O'Hara was strong. Carole Lombard and Joan Crawford and Bette Davis and ... well, you get the idea.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if there were more strong women then than now. Think of all the male-oriented "bro" movies we have now -- gangster, buddy, action, comic book, etc. -- and how much more prevalent a lot of those genres are than they were in the days before, oh, Star Wars. A suspicious type might say it reveals some subconscious fears stirred by the women's movement. But I actually think it has more to do with the way Hollywood likes to make money, through gigantic blockbusters ("tentpoles" they call them now) where stuff blows up and you don't need much language to understand and makes tons of money around the world.

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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.

It has Timothy Olyphant the whole time, so there's that, but actually he's almost the Jeremy Bolt of the show because his character (though not at all like Jeremy -- he's a stern sheriff) is less interesting than Ian McShane's, who's like a more nuanced and malevolent Jason Bolt. "Candy" would be this wealthy widow who's addicted to laudanum. And there's another strong woman who's a prostitute and another, an ex-prostitute who becomes a madam, and, well, a bunch other interesting characters. Oh, and Calamity Jane! She's a great, great character. Did I mention it's based on the history of the actual town of Deadwood?

BTW, if you're a Timothy Olyphant fan I hope you watch Justified, in which he has a great lead role. It's a great show for many other reasons, too.




Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: On Bewitched
« Reply #42 on: October 27, 2013, 08:37:59 pm »
Candy and her best friend (blanking on her name and too lazy to look it up),

They called her Biddie, which must have been a nickname, maybe for Bridget, because nobody is named Biddie. And the actress was Susan Tolsky, and God help me I've never forgotten her or the character because she had a voice that I found weird and annoying but obviously unforgettable!  ;D

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and you didn't get to know the lumberjacks except for the Bolts and Big Swede.


Bo Swenson. I should look him up to see if he's still alive.

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BTW, if you're a Timothy Olyphant fan I hope you watch Justified, in which he has a great lead role. It's a great show for many other reasons, too.

I didn't realize he was in Deadwood for the run of the show. I guess that was his breakout role. I've never seen Justified--just read a lot about it in TV Guide. I believe it's always aired against something else I was "committed to."

And speaking of Justified and strong women, that brings us to the amazing Margot Martindale, who's now doing comedy on The Millers.  :)
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: On Bewitched
« Reply #43 on: October 27, 2013, 08:41:09 pm »
I know what you mean about women getting dressed back then.  To this day I love to watch "Keeping up Appearances" because Hyacinth and Richard remind me so much of my grandparents.  My grandma always went out in her hat and gloves (my mom never did) and my granddad always wore his hat and driving gloves.  Granddad always opened doors for grandma and helped her out of the car just like Richard did for his wife -- well, most men had those kind of manners back then.  Ahh, good times!  :)

"It's Boo-kay!"  ;D

I miss Hyacinth, and Elizabeth, and Daisy, and Onslow, and Rose, and the Vicar, and poor, long-suffering Richard. A few years ago our PBS affiliate dropped all its Britcoms, including Keeping Up Appearances--and that's when I stopped contributing.  >:(
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Luvlylittlewing

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Re: On Bewitched
« Reply #44 on: October 27, 2013, 10:45:20 pm »
"It's Boo-kay!"  ;D

I miss Hyacinth, and Elizabeth, and Daisy, and Onslow, and Rose, and the Vicar, and poor, long-suffering Richard. A few years ago our PBS affiliate dropped all its Britcoms, including Keeping Up Appearances--and that's when I stopped contributing.  >:(


Thank goodness we still see Britcoms here on more than one PBS channel.  "Keeping up Appearances," "As Time Goes By" and "Waiting for God" are a few of my favorites.

Offline serious crayons

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Re: On Bewitched
« Reply #45 on: October 28, 2013, 09:19:58 am »
They called her Biddie, which must have been a nickname, maybe for Bridget, because nobody is named Biddie. And the actress was Susan Tolsky, and God help me I've never forgotten her or the character because she had a voice that I found weird and annoying but obviously unforgettable!  ;D

Yes! Thank you. I knew it was something kind of cutesy and insulting. Chatty? Blabby?

Oh, and by the way, one thing I've forgotten to mention in this discussion is that at some point a few years back my brother mentioned that he always found Candy hot. So the show really offered something for everyone!

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I've never seen Justified

Well, I highly recommend you give it a try. It's one of my favorite shows that's not on AMC or HBO. You may not be as into Southern redneck drama as I am -- the setting and culture might be described as a lighter Wintersbone. But it's also based on Elmore Leonard's writing, and maintains his signature tone of tension mixed with nonchalant humor.

Timothy Olyphant is great in it as a not-by-the-books U.S. marshall, and there are several other good characters, especially his longtime frenemy the erstwhile white supremacist born-again preacher small-time criminal Boyd Crowder.

You might start by watching a past season on Netflix or something (it's not on at the moment, anyway). The seasons each tell one overarching story, so the episodes are connected, but each season can stand alone. Season 3, the one with Margot Martindale, is my favorite.



Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: On Bewitched
« Reply #46 on: October 28, 2013, 10:05:59 am »
Oh, and by the way, one thing I've forgotten to mention in this discussion is that at some point a few years back my brother mentioned that he always found Candy hot. So the show really offered something for everyone!

Odd as it may seem (and in retrospect it sure seems odd to me!), you could say I had a crush on Bridget Hanley (Candy Pruitt), too. But then it seems I've always had a "thing" for red-haired women, starting with Patricia Blair as Rebecca Boone on Daniel Boone.  ???

Justified has merited a lot of coverage in TV Guide since it first debuted. I've read all the coverage, so, again, odd as it may seem, there really wasn't anything in your description that I really wasn't already aware of. That's how I know about Margot Martindale, from reading about the show in TV Guide. I guess Justified made her into another one of those overnight sensations who's actually been around for years in anonymous/supporting character roles. I ought to check her filmography at IMDb.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: On Bewitched
« Reply #47 on: October 28, 2013, 10:08:11 am »
Thank goodness we still see Britcoms here on more than one PBS channel.  "Keeping up Appearances," "As Time Goes By" and "Waiting for God" are a few of my favorites.

I really miss As Time Goes By, too. It was funny and yet still very sweet, so different from American "insult comedy."
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: On Bewitched
« Reply #48 on: October 28, 2013, 11:03:53 am »
OK, I do tend to get obsessed about these things. ...

In the link below is a very brief mention of what I vaguely remembered about a possible basis in history for Here Come the Brides. I intend to do some more research, but supposedly--at least, according to the National Park Service, a man named Asa Mercer, apparently the first president of the Washington Territorial University, brought a group of 11 marriageable young women to Seattle in 1864, and another group of 34 in 1866. They are known as "the Mercer Girls."

http://www.nps.gov/klse/historyculture/index.htm

Edit to Add:

OK, once I knew what to Google, that didn't take long. Here's the Wikipedia article on the Mercer Girls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercer_Girls

Further Edit to Add:

Here's the Wikipedia article on Asa Shinn Mercer. And note where he ended up: Hyattville, Wyoming!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asa_Shinn_Mercer
« Last Edit: October 28, 2013, 04:23:40 pm by Jeff Wrangler »
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Luvlylittlewing

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Re: On Bewitched
« Reply #49 on: October 28, 2013, 11:55:34 am »
I really miss As Time Goes By, too. It was funny and yet still very sweet, so different from American "insult comedy."

Exactly, and there are no dumb characters, although I think American comedy writers are getting away from dumb characters like Rose on "Golden Girls."  But the couple in "As Time Goes By" seem a bit stand-offish to me.  Or am I judging them by American standards or just my own?  Or perhaps they're too old?  Or is this off topic?  ;D