Bewitched-The Complete Third Season (1966) |
BUY IT |
General | Extras | ||
Category | Family |
Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio Trailer-Stuart Little 3, I Dream Of Jeannie, The Partridge Family |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 1966 | ||
Running Time | 807:48 | ||
RSDL / Flipper |
Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (4) |
Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Ads Then Menu | ||
Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By |
William Asher Bruce Bilson Jerry Davis Alan Jay Factor |
Studio
Distributor |
Sony Pictures Home Entertain |
Starring |
Elizabeth Montgomery Dick York Dick Sargent Agnes Moorehead David White Maurice Evans Alice Pearce George Tobias Irene Vernon Marion Lorne Paul Lynde Kasey Rogers Sandra Gould |
Case | ? | ||
RPI | $49.95 | Music |
Van Alexander Warren Barker Pete Carpenter |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles |
English Italian Spanish Dutch Arabic Greek Portuguese English for the Hearing Impaired |
Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
The third season of this popular 1960's TV series is released in the same format as the previous two series. My reviews of seasons 1 and 2 give a synopsis of the basic premise, so I won't re-iterate here. Suffice it to say that the formula for this series is pretty much the same and will be familiar territory for fans of the show.
With the third season Darrin and Samantha's world became colour and there is more location filming, so an increased budget is evident, but the same characters and situations continued with the producers clearly following the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" principle.
Episode 1: Nobody's Perfect (24:23)
Samantha discovers that Tabitha has the ability to perform witchcraft. Endora is, of course, delighted when she finds out, but Samantha is not sure how to break the news to Darrin.
Episode 2: The Moment Of Truth (24:24)
Darrin finally finds out his daughter is a witch and must get used to having two witches in his house.
Episode 3: Witches And Warlocks Are My Favourite Things (24:25)
A witches coven is convened to test Tabitha's powers. When the coven decides that Tabitha should be sent away to a witches school both Darrin and Samantha are outraged and must fight the coven to keep Tabitha.
Episode 4: Accidental Twins (24:23)
Aunt Clara is minding Tabitha and the Tate's son and accidentally conjures up a twin of the boy. When she can't remember the reversal spell, Darrin and Samantha have to keep the second child hidden from Larry and Louise Tate.
Episode 5: A Most Unusual Wood Nymph (24:24)
An Irish Wood Nymph arrives to carry out a curse that has been placed on Darren's family 500 years ago. To remove the curse Samantha travels back to the 15th Century to undo the wrong done by Darren's ancestor.
Episode 6: Endora Moves In For A Spell (24:21)
When Samantha's Uncle Arthur starts to take an active interest in Tabitha, Endora gets upset and decides to move into the neighbourhood. Samantha and Darrin become caught in the middle of a war of magic between Arthur and Endora.
Episode 7: Twitch Or Treat (24:25)
Endora decides to hold a Halloween party for her witch and warlock friends at Samantha's house. The unusual guest list causes problems for Darrin and the local councilman.
Episode 8: Dangerous Diaper Dan (24:25)
Darrin's advertising ideas are being used by a rival agency and industrial espionage is suspected but no-one can figure out how it is being done until Samantha discovers Diaper Dan, the nappy laundry service, has placed a bug in their house.
Episode 9: The Short Happy Circuit Of Aunt Clara (23:55)
Aunt Clara is left to baby-sit Tabitha and causes chaos when one of her spells blacks out the entire US east coast.
Episode 10: I'd Rather Twitch Than Fight (24:27)
Larry and Louise independently give Darrin and Samantha advice on marriage. The amateur psychology sparks a major fight between Darrin and Samantha.
Episode 11: Oedipus Hex (24:24)
Samantha is concerned that Darrin works too hard and needs to learn to relax, so Endora provides him with some enchanted popcorn that makes him forget his responsibilities. Things get out of hand as the spell spreads to everyone Darrin meets.
Episode 12: Sam's Spooky Chair (24:23)
Samantha buys an antique chair not realising it is bewitched. When one of Darrin's clients buys it from her it leaves them to return to Samantha.
Episode 13: My Friend Ben (24:25)
Aunt Clara tries to help Samantha with an electrical problem by conjuring up an electrician and accidentally brings Benjamin Franklin to the 20th century. The situation becomes more difficult when Ben accidentally steals an old fire engine and is arrested
Episode 14: Samantha For The Defense (23:21)
Benjamin Franklin is to stand trial for the theft of the fire engine and Samantha must come up with a defence.
Episode 15: A Gazebo Never Forgets (24:25)
Samantha must cover for one of Aunt Clara's mistakes when a valuer from the bank sees a pink spotted elephant that Aunt Clara made appear while trying to conjure a toy for Tabitha.
Episode 16: Soapbox Derby (24:24)
Samantha gets involved in helping a neighbourhood boy compete in a local soapbox derby but when he beats Gladys Kravits' nephew, Gladys accuses him of cheating.
Episode 17: Sam In The Moon (24:25)
Darrin over-reacts when Samantha sarcastically tells him she spent the afternoon on the moon and he takes her literally.
Episode 18: Hoho The Clown (24:25)
Darrin's job is on the line when Endora puts a spell on a popular TV clown to have him favour Tabitha. Questions are asked when she wins all the show's prizes and people discover Darrin's firm represents the show's sponsor.
Episode 19: Super Car (24:25)
Endora decides to do something nice for Darrin, so when she sees him reading about a prototype car, she makes him a gift of one. The problem is, rather than a copy, she makes the real one disappear from the car company in Detroit and appear in Darrin's driveway.
Episode 20: The Corn Is As High As A Guernsey's Eye (24:22)
Aunt Clara is depressed and feeling useless. She contemplates turning herself into something useful but Samantha talks her out of it and takes her to lunch. When she wanders off for a while, Samantha thinks she has turned herself into a cow.
Episode 21: The Trial & Error Of Aunt Clara (24:24)
The Witches' Coven is concerned about Aunt Clara's continuing magical mistakes and she must face a trial which may result in her being stripped of her powers. Samantha must defend her.
Episode 22: Three Wishes (24:27)
Endora gives Darrin three wishes without his knowledge and when he unexpectedly has to stay overnight in Boston with an attractive female client, Samantha believes he used his three wishes to cheat on her.
Episode 23: I Remember You... Sometimes (24:26)
Darrin is worried that his memory needs improving so Endora casts a spell that makes him remember everything.
Episode 24: Art For Sam's Sake (24:23)
Samantha enters an amateur art contest and Endora replaces Samantha's picture with a landscape by an up and coming artist to ensure she wins. Samantha has to get the painting back after one of Darrin's clients buys it at auction.
Episode 25: Charlie Harper, Winner (24:20)
One of Darrin's college friends arrives and has become wealthy and successful. When Samantha sees that his wife feels that Darrin is a failure, she uses witchcraft to make him seem more successful than he is.
Episode 26: Aunt Clara's Victoria Victory (24:25)
Aunt Clara decides it would be nice to go back to the Victorian Era but her spell goes awry and Queen Victoria is brought to 1960's America.
Episode 27: The Crone Of Cawdor (24:26)
The Crone of Cawdor, a witch doomed to be an old hag eternally, takes on the form of a beautiful woman client of Darrin's so she can seduce him and steal his youth.
Episode 28: No More Mr. Nice Guy (24:26)
After yet another argument with Darrin, Endora decides to punish Darrin by making everyone he meets for the first time dislike him which causes problems for Darrin at work.
Episode 29: It's Wishcraft (24:25)
Tabitha is starting to use her powers just as Darrin's parents are coming to visit, so Samantha enlists her mother's help to stop the Stevens discovering that their grand-daughter is a witch. Darrin's mother thinks Endora's presence is putting a strain on Darrin's marriage.
Episode 30: How To Fail In Business With All Kinds Of Help (24:25)
Endora gives Darrin's career a push and Darrin is infuriated when he finds out. When he thinks his next bit of good fortune is also Endora's work, his response almost costs him his job.
Episode 31: Bewitched, Bothered And Infuriated (24:11)
Aunt Clara accidentally conjures up a newspaper with the wrong date and Darrin reads that Larry will break his leg. Believing it will happen while Larry is on his second honeymoon, Darrin appears at Larry's resort and follows him around to prevent the accident.
Episode 32: Nobody But A Frog Knows How To Live (24:28)
A frog who has been turned into a man by a witch pesters Samantha to turn him back into a frog. When Samantha tells him she can't break another witch's spell, he makes himself a nuisance.
Episode 33: There's Gold In Them Thar Pills (24:24)
Darrin is ill so Endora summons Dr Bombay, a doctor who is also a warlock. Dr Bombay gives Darrin a pill that instantly cures his cold but it has some unexpected side effects.
At least with this season the colour is real. From season 3 onwards Bewitched was filmed in colour so the distributors haven't been able to inflict a colourised version on us this time.
The quality of this series is similar to the previous two series, which is quite good for a TV series of this vintage. The image is fairly sharp and there are very few artefacts to be seen, just the occasional fleck or scratch. The biggest improvement is in the colour. Not being colourised, the colours are now natural and pleasant without the strange hues and quasi-Black-and-White tones that were often present in the series 1 and 2 colourised releases. In short, a good but not exceptional transfer that does justice to the age of the show.
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Overall |
Dolby Digital 2.0 is reported but in reality almost all the work is done by the centre speaker. Audio is, as with the previous seasons, clear and clean. Once again this is an audio track that, while unspectacular, is difficult to criticise.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
The only extras are trailers for three DVD titles. They are:
Stuart Little 3 (1:16)
I Dream Of Jeannie (0:50)
The Partridge Family (1:01)
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
Region 1 gets only English and Portuguese subtitles, and misses out on the trailers, so there's not really much difference. I'd say it's a tie.
Pretty much more of the same from Sony with this season of Bewitched. The storylines follow the same formula as previous seasons and the transfer is of similar quality, although the absence of colourisation is a distinct improvement.
Fans of Bewitched will want to add this to their collection, but it isn't a must-have.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Toshiba SD-1200Y, using Component output |
Display | Panasonic TH-42PV500A 42" HD Plasma. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
Amplification | Yamaha RX-V596 |
Speakers | Richter Wizard fronts, Richter Lynx centre, Richter Hydra rears, Velodyne CT-100 sub-woofer |