Bewitched ran from the 1960s through to the 1970s and was ahead of its time in some aspects but swallowed by societal norms in others. Samantha was a fully-fledged witch who could stand on her own and was married to Darrin, a mortal. As the two experience life together, chaos ensues. A usual plotline would consist of one of Samantha's relatives butting in for a moment, Darrin doing or saying something insulting and being impacted by magic in some way or another.
Samantha has to figure out a way to save him and the situation, often before Darrin's boss decides to fire him. Or Samantha just generally trying to use her magic for good and Darrin not wanting her to. The show had some pretty great lines, but some of its humor didn't age well 60 years later. Here are 10 jokes and plot devices that aren't quite cutting it anymore.
Jokes About Appearance
In the season 1 episode, "A Change Of Face" Darrin's facial features are given a little touch up by Endora and to his surprise, Samantha, who disagreed with her mother's antics at first, but then had fun making caricature style changes. After Darrin becomes self-conscious of his normal appearance, she uses witchcraft to build up his confidence by getting attractive strangers to compliment him. In another episode, Endora is insulted by Samantha's father, who says "Thank you, Endora, your charm is ageless. So sad about the rest of you." The show also makes a comment about weight when a horse can't race, saying it can't beat a fat man up a hill. Coincidentally, most of the animals they transform into humans are physically attractive.
Turning People Into Animals
The peak of humor in some episodes was when one of the characters, often Darrin, was turned into an animal. The selection ranged from donkeys, butterflies, bullfrogs, snakes, goldfish, dogs, apes and chimpanzees. The animal would then be put in a position where they run away or are taken away, leading to them needing to be saved.
But after one too many times, the joke gets tiresome and isn't very humorous. It can only be imagined how tired Samantha would be having to do the same thing over and over. An offensive type of humor, no. But not that entertaining either.
Abner And His Snide Comments To Gladys
Gladys was seen as a crazy lady. Yes, she was a little extreme and a lot nosy when it came to her neighbors. But she was rightly justified in most of the things she saw happen at the Stephens' residence. Abner would always have his nose in the newspaper, being used to the things she would say and chalk it up to her not taking her medicine. But sometimes he went too far in just being plain rude. His line, "Gladys, let's play house. You be the door and I'll shut you," is an example of just one of many moments he spoke to her like she wasn't his wife, but the corner kook. She deserved respect.
Joking About Male Sensitivity
Something that would definitely not stand in today's society is jokes about people's emotional states of mind. In this case, more specifically about men and how they are perceived. With men suffering from mental health, depression and the struggles of societal expectations, it's not a joke to make fun of sensitivity. Endora and Darrin's arguments were usually petty but sometimes one of them would go too far. In season 2 of Bewitched, Endora says "I hate to criticize a man when he's down, Samantha, but Donald always struck me as overly sensitive." Even if Darrin does have heightened emotions, and can't handle the witch world, it's better to work it out than comment about it.
All Women Are Witches
When Darrin first finds out that Samantha is a witch, he goes to the pub to lament over his witch married to a mortal problem. He tells the bartender, Al, that his wife is an old, broom riding, spelling casting witch. His comforting advice? "You do just like I done, pal. I mean, you just gotta learn to live with it." This remark is derogatory and didn't age well, by implying all women are witches.
Not a witch, like Samantha. But a brooding, irksome, tear-your-hair-out type of person who has to be lived with. In the '60s, the equality of men and women still existed, regardless of people's awareness of it.
Curly Hair
The hairstyles of the '60s were very sleek, smooth and voluminous in their presentation. Unlike the versatile selection of looks driven by unique personalities and open expression that is common nowadays, many people had the same style. So when Samantha decides to get a perm and curl her hair, it's a cute look, but not the usual look she normally goes for.
Edora probably didn't mean to be rude about people with curly hair, maybe it was just Samantha's hair that she didn't take a liking to. But even so, her comment, "On purpose? I thought perhaps your finger got stuck in a light socket," is insulting to women and men with curls. Really Endora? You yourself have a bit of a liking to them.
Endora Trying To Split Sam And Darrin
It's a long-running joke of the show. Endora loves and fauns over her daughter and knows she could do better than the situation she is currently in by being married to a mortal. Derwood, Donald, whatever his name is. According to her, his name isn't important enough to . When Samantha defends Darrin saying "he's a dear, sweet, wonderful, perfectly marvelous man," Endora replies "Oh my poor baby. He sounds simply horrible." In several episodes, Endora puts Samantha in uncomfortable positions by sending past suitors and potential attractive hopefuls to woo her into leaving Darrin. This prompts advances to be made and Samantha having to defend herself using witchcraft.
Casual Comments About Family Violence
Samantha's family is a bit odd. Obviously. They're warlocks and witches. And now they have a mortal in the mix. What could go wrong? Darrin says that he has a beautiful wife, comfortable home and lovely daughter, but that he "would be ecstatically happy if you were an orphan!" to Samantha. Samantha's reply? "Another remark like that and I'll be a widow." Comments like these are thrown around all the time. Darrin also says "But if that mother of yours ever pulls a stunt like that again, I'm gonna use a little magic of my own. Make a few of her teeth disappear." In one episode where someone says that Samantha's father is "dynamite" and that she should be proud, she replies "ooh I do too. And, uh, I never know when he might explode."
Drinking To Cope With Family Troubles
It's something that is done in society today, even more than the past. But the fact that Samantha had to constantly be making Darrin drinks when there was something that had gone wrong to the point where he would say, "Sam just give me the news without the anesthetic" it's just a bit too much. Is it a healthy routine to joke about? Not really. Instead of having a conversation and seeking a solution together, Darrin uses it as a method to cope. "How bout a drink" is a frequent line used in the show. Not something to rely on, especially when this show has enough trippy scenarios.
Larry's Constant Jokes To Fire Darrin
How to describe Larry Tate? He's a suck-up in the advertising business who relies on others to come up with the pitches to clients. Most of the time he then takes the credit afterward. One thing you could count on that he would say in an episode would be his threats to fire Darrin if he did poorly. For instance, when Samantha says that Darrin has his "finger on the pulse of today," Larry adds, "and his foot on the unemployment line of tomorrow." Not nice Larry. Especially when he's so casual about putting a family's home life in jeopardy even if he does love them.