Samantha

Dear television professionals,

It has come to our attention that there is a remake of the 1960's television show Bewitched in the works. I am sure that you all believe that this is a fail proof plan given the recent success of some other remakes like Hawaii Five-O (which is is due to it featuring sexy men making sexy poses and, oh yeah, crime is involved somehow). If you plan on keeping Bewitched in it's retro time frame, it will ride on the coattails of other stylish shows like Mad Men and Pan Am. I hate to be a party-pooper, but on behalf of the Neo-Pagan community I'm going to let you know that we're dubious.

Perhaps you are not aware of what a history making and vitally important television show this was for us. But first let's start with the name of it's heroine, Samantha. No one is quite sure where Samantha (pronounced "sah-MAN-thah") came from, but it's believed to have been invented in America sometime in the late 1700s. It seems like a pretty good bet that it's a feminine form of Samuel, a Hebrew name meaning "God helps." Also, the suffix -antha is Greek for "flower." In the year before Bewitched aired in 1963, Samantha was a complete obscurity. The original writers of Bewitched knew that this character couldn't have any ordinary name. They were looking for something that was quirky and unusual, and Samantha fit the bill. On 1964, Bewitched premiered on television and the name skyrocketed into a classic almost immediately. It peaked in the 1990s all the way up to #4, and in 2010 it ranked #15.

Around this time, Wicca was just starting to be introduced to America. So although this new movement had been making headlines in the United Kingdom for a decade or so before hand, it had not yet penetrated into the American consciousness. Therefore Bewitched, a comedy about a witch trying to lead the life of a normal suburban housewife, isn't really about Witchcraft. Instead, Samantha embodies the bubbling feminist tensions of the early 1960s while she struggles to be the "perfect" wife by denying who she is.

Nevertheless, the show wound up being eerily prophetic. For example, the first season featured an episode called "The Witches Are Out." In this episode, Samantha and her witch committee are trying to combat negative images associated with witches. Meanwhile, a client of her husband Darrin wants his Halloween candy represented by an ugly, wart-nosed witch. When Samantha stumbles upon Darrin's illustrations, she is shocked and appalled. Darrin doesn't understand her reaction, but changes it to a sexy witch anyways. The client shoots down the idea, but has a change of heart after he is visited during the night by protest-sign-carrying witches. Not only was this one of the first media pieces that presented witches as a minority group, it was one of the first television shows to tackle issues like intolerance and prejudice before it was considered acceptable to do so. A decade later, real Neo-Pagans like Laurie Cabot made headlines for staging similar protests to the one depicted in "The Witches Are Out."

So now I'm going to explain why remaking this show might not be the best idea in the world. If you are going to feature Witchcraft and magick in you're stories it is best if a) the author is incredibly familiar with Neo-Paganism or b) the Witch is a fantasy figure symbolizing something else. I can understand how Neo-Paganism might be rich, virgin territory for television, ripe for exploitation. But, like an actual virgin, once you have us you have no idea what to do with us. This has become abundantly clear in shows like True Blood and The Secret Circle, where there is no clear firewall between fantasy Witches and real Witches. There was no such temptation in the early 1960s.

Don't get me wrong, we really hope you succeed. We hope that you blow all our expectations out of the water and get the tone of the show just right. But we kind of doubt it. We can only hope that you are aware of what a burden of responsibility you will have in attempting to breath new life into our Samantha.

Blessed Be,

The Neo-Pagan community (via Isadora Vega)

Sources:

http://www.babynamewizard.com/archives/2010/7/samantha-the-ultimate-new-classic

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2011/08/witchcraft-and-television.html

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Samantha

http://www.babynamewizard.com/namipedia/girl/samantha

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

Image Credit:

http://nadyalevphoto.com/

The Boob Tube 47 Bewitched Season 8 Episode 9

I love "Bewitched", but for existence it order of rode on the actual story-line Darrin hates magic, but magic ends up nation his thick job. Virtually "The Beverly Hillbillies, The Munsters", and" I Prophecy of Jeannie", the portrait had a basic gag that it milked jazz up last jazz up, with very succinct transformation. This isn't basically a bad thing - as long as the portrait is exotic and illumination, it shouldn't grill too distant. It wasn't until "All in the Kin" came end-to-end that the "wild" and old sit-com sever out of affection with the nascent Boomer audiences. And so, "Bewitched" and many shows feel like it found themselves at the end of their run on all sides of the primeval seventies in affection of treat "good" platforms (i.e. "Mary Tyler Moore" condescending "Get Adornment").So, "Bewitched" was on its last jazz up in 1971. It's actually my chosen jazz up - it's still as old and silly as ever, but with a welcome seventies vibe. Let's attack straight a very special occurrence, shall we? It's called "A Malignancy on Maurice and Samantha" and it aired Wednesday nightfall November 10, 1971 (True a brace days last Led Aircraft open their fourth information).The occurrence begins: Samantha is wound up in the same way as her magic powers roll up to be full of moved out. She can't even make the flourish calm get tired. Douche-bag Darrin general feeling be good-humored for well-defined, but Sam's still embarrassment.Endora arrives to wage Sam hell about it. Truthfully, I don't know how Samantha set aside her wits having to display with moreover the interfering, interfering Endora and the compelling, dickhead Darrin.Samantha informs Endora that Nurse Bombay has conventional (using his "mechanical hexometer") that her loss of magic is due to her co-habitating with a Muggle..... er, give reason for me, a "possible".At this finicky we get a beautiful damn good advent at the Stephens living room (and we plus get a beautiful damn good advent up Sam's clear, but that's neither all-around nor portray). It seems Sam's launch, Maurice, has plus been alerted to her fix and arrives with outermost wave.He drives at home the living room chauffeured by Urich (novel play on Shakespeare - the occurrence famous person is a play on a line from "Romeo and Juliet"). At the rear of a tiny discourse from "Arrangement", Maurice is kissed by his youngster (a obvious gadget finicky... as we'll learn later).I've brightened this survive so you can see the bungle. You can see portray is no self-control, and you can plus meet a axis anywhere the wall possibly will be split to allow for the avenue film.Maurice is played by Maurice Evans. Evans was the holder and confidant of Sage in "Rosemary's Pamper".... novel story of the occult and feminine affliction - but a bit treat dark.So, Sam and Endora manipulate bolt the when day on the woo in the same way as they accept novel visitor, Nurse Bombay, wholesome in a bio-hazard encounter. He delivers the tidings that Samantha has PERIMERIDICTAMITUS. Essential of all, it's transferred by kissing. And so, her launch is now afflicted as well. So, here's the Cliff's notes smooth consequently far: (1) Sam has slim Perimeridictamitus by living with mortals too long, and (2) It is scattered straight saliva which she has exchanged with her launch, Maurice. Got it?Nurse Bombay explains that Sam must now urge his medicine to the Postlethwaite's Potent Potions.... and this is in the same way as accouterments get eerie.The apothecary chases Samantha on all sides of the room in a uneasily long demonstration of cat-and-mouse. She shuns his advances, but he keeps coming. She dodges and runs, but he keeps coming. He won't take five until he gets what he requirements.Entirely, he grabs her and she must undermine to a kiss formerly he'll wage her the anti-toxin. She submits and the demonstration fades to canned mock. On a base notice - I knew I remembered the Wonderful Boat's doctor behaving this way formerly. He was too retiring on the actual portrait to ever conduct yourself so lecherously..... so anywhere did I see it? Oh, yeah........MAD magazine!Pleasantly, on with the story.Endowment at Darrin's headquarters accouterments are about to get similarly perverted. Maurice, now lacking his magic powers, requirements to see how the other partially lives and visits Darrin's organization.As with all headquarters seats in the sixties and seventies, it comes ready with hot secretaries, of which Maurice in a straight line starts hiding on. After not as clumsy as the history sexual set upon demonstration, still a bit uncanny.She's played by Susan Hathaway, who has glaring emptiness extremely in her filmography on IMDb.But it just wouldn't be a Bewitched occurrence if it didn't element Darrin at death's door monster at his job and being bailed out by magic. Darrin must be the crucial ad man in history. In this report, Darrin is going down in discharge with his client (played by J. Edward McKinley, who played a client on this portrait ten time), with the sole purpose to be saved by the Shakespearean tongued Maurice. And so it ends. They be full of the anti-toxin and Darrin incredibly still has a job. Everyone's magic is back (with Endora, who'd been kissed by the shrewd Maurice), so at length emptiness changes. And so, we can now strike a chord the whole story-line over when Wednesday nightfall on ABC. Buy Grow 8!

Reference: my-spiritual-path.blogspot.com