An Analysis of Bewitched
Evaluating Sitcoms – Bewitched
Bewitched is a situation comedy, produced in the year 1964 and set in America. The main characters include Samantha and Darrin Stephens. The program Bewitched conveys the premise to not make assumptions about someone instantly – because there may be more to a person then what meets the eye.
The pilot of Bewitched begins with the orientation, establishing the status of the newly wed couple. Darrin is portrayed as the breadwinner of the family, and Samantha is presented as the perfect wife, which fulfils all of the criteria of a typical suburban housewife. The complication is then introduced when Samantha reveals she’s a witch.
The complication is followed by a series of events, which begin with an invitation to Shelia’s -Darrin’s ex-fiancé- house. At arrival they are both greeted with a warm welcome, but soon things begin to get messy. Shelia starts to belittle Samantha’s appearance, making her uncomfortable and annoyed; but to make matters worse Shelia begins to flirt with Darrin whilst occasionally glancing over at Samantha, in order to her to make her feel insignificant and envious.
Samantha comes into conflict with herself in whether or not to use magic, but she decides using magic is the only way to go –even after promising Darrin no more witch craft – Samantha uses her magic in order to teach Shelia a well learnt lesson, to keep her hands of her man. The complication is soon resolved with Darrin and Samantha returning home to discuss her behaviour and the use of magic. Darrin becomes upset with Samantha for breaking her promise, but as any wife would do, Samantha almost instantly apologises and tells Darrin she won’t use magic again. The coda is illustrated in the end of the episode, despite Darrin’s request Samantha finishes by saying, “Maybe I can tamper off,” hence staying true to herself and not letting anyone change who she is.
There are aspects of this storyline, which are plausible where the audience sees
Bewitched is a situation comedy, produced in the year 1964 and set in America. The main characters include Samantha and Darrin Stephens. The program Bewitched conveys the premise to not make assumptions about someone instantly – because there may be more to a person then what meets the eye.
The pilot of Bewitched begins with the orientation, establishing the status of the newly wed couple. Darrin is portrayed as the breadwinner of the family, and Samantha is presented as the perfect wife, which fulfils all of the criteria of a typical suburban housewife. The complication is then introduced when Samantha reveals she’s a witch.
The complication is followed by a series of events, which begin with an invitation to Shelia’s -Darrin’s ex-fiancé- house. At arrival they are both greeted with a warm welcome, but soon things begin to get messy. Shelia starts to belittle Samantha’s appearance, making her uncomfortable and annoyed; but to make matters worse Shelia begins to flirt with Darrin whilst occasionally glancing over at Samantha, in order to her to make her feel insignificant and envious.
Samantha comes into conflict with herself in whether or not to use magic, but she decides using magic is the only way to go –even after promising Darrin no more witch craft – Samantha uses her magic in order to teach Shelia a well learnt lesson, to keep her hands of her man. The complication is soon resolved with Darrin and Samantha returning home to discuss her behaviour and the use of magic. Darrin becomes upset with Samantha for breaking her promise, but as any wife would do, Samantha almost instantly apologises and tells Darrin she won’t use magic again. The coda is illustrated in the end of the episode, despite Darrin’s request Samantha finishes by saying, “Maybe I can tamper off,” hence staying true to herself and not letting anyone change who she is.
There are aspects of this storyline, which are plausible where the audience sees