Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4409 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-03-24
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Formats: Colour, PAL
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 729 minutes

Synopsis
Elizabeth Montgomery plays Samantha, a witch who trades in her magical powers for marriage--or tries to, anyway--in this classic sitcom from the 1960s. A witch who inherited her powers from her feisty mother Endora (Agnes Moorhead), Samantha agrees not to use her powers anymore when she decides to marry mere mortal Darrin Stephens (Dick Sargent in his first series as Darrin)--both of which actions disappoint her mother greatly. Not to worry, though, because most of the time Samantha just can't help herself, using her magic and creating many a hilariously sticky situation for Darrin, especially with his boss, Larry Tate (David White). This release includes the sixth series in its entirety.

Customer Reviews

Dick Sargent's first season as Darrin - Not perfect but any new Bewitched is better than nothing
Well 2008 saw Elizabeth Montgomery finally get her star on the Hollywood walk of fame and the release of the sixth season of Bewitched on DVD. Major downside of this season was the replacement of Dick York with Dick Sargent, after Dick York's chronic back pain became too severe for him to film. Ironically Dick Sargent was originally cast as Darrin Stevens but due to other commitments the part was given to Dick York, who made it his own. Sargent isn't the same calibre of actor as York, and he looks so similar to York it's all a bit eerie, but at least he tries and some-one had to take over the role of Darrin. Dick York was bedridden for much of the remainder of his life, from where he founded 'Acting for Life', a private charity to help the homeless and others in need. In the end Sargent just swaps over from York with no comment, despite the possibility that a 'magical' storyline reason could have been used for the difference in appearance.

My daughter [14] has all five of Dick York's Bewitched seasons, and for her he will always be the real Darrin. Still as she has watched the first 5 seasons of Bewitched to death, she decided that any new Bewitched is better than nothing. However, unlike York's first five seasons, she hasn't totally taken to the 6th season [as Darrin's just not 'right'], and months on she still hasn't watched all of the episodes. To be honest, although the Bewitched production team were starting to run out of ideas, there's still much to enjoy though. All the other cast members are present: Sam/Serena, Endora, Tabitha, Uncle Arthur, Maurice, Dr Bombay, the Kravitzes, and the Tates. Plus Tabitha's brother Adam is born, Esmeralda the shy maid materializes [sneezing magic as she moves] and there's guest stars such as Henry Gibson and Jack Cassidy. By now Erin Murphy has taken over the Tabitha role completely, as she now looks noticably different to her fraternal twin sister Diane [coincidently they share the same birthday as Elizabeth Montgomery's real daughter Rebecca - June 17th]. In this Season 6 DVD set you get all 30 episodes over 4 DVDs. We opted for the cheaper NTSC region 1 version from Amazon resellers, which had `mini-episodes' of `I dream of Jeannie' and `The Partridge Family' as the extras. So a season still worth owning for any Bewitched fan. That said, the later Bewitched spinoff DVD set 'Tabitha: The entire series' is rated far more highly by my daughter, so check that out as well.

Still a great programme, even without Dick York
Season 6 is the first season of Bewitched to have Dick Sargent in the role of Darrin. Dick Sargent's Darrin is a different Darrin to that portrayed by Dick York, and the difference in style is hard to adjust to when you are used to Dick York.

However, once you do get used to Dick Sargent he is entertaining in his own right, and indeed adds a fresh element to the show after five seasons with Dick York.

By this point it's clear that the writing team were running out of story ideas, and there are a number of "remakes" in this season, some of which very closely resemble episodes in earlier seasons. However, the presence of the "new" Darrin does put a different spin on them.

The quality of episodes in this season is mixed, although generally even the below average quality Bewitched episodes are still worth watching, and there are still some excellent episodes in this season. Overall I don't think that the average quality of episodes in this season is that much lower than in previous seasons.

Overall I don't think that you should be discouraged from buying this season by the "new" Darrin. The series still retains the old Bewitched magic, and there are still loads of laughs and enjoyment to be had from watching this season.

Good storylines
I was disappointed to see a differente Darrin as I was used to seeing Dick York and his strong temperament. Dick Sargent is good, but he was in disadvantage as he started the series from the middle. However, the stories are very good and this is one of the best series of Bewitched.