I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha

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"I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha"
Bewitched episode
Bewitched cast 1964.jpg
A promotional photograph for the pilot. Left to right: Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha, Dick York as Darrin, Agnes Moorehead as Endora.
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 1
Directed by William Asher
Written by Sol Saks
Narrated by José Ferrer
Featured music Warren Barker
Editing by Michael Luciano
Gerard Wilson
Original air dateSeptember 17, 1964 (1964-09-17)
Running time30 minutes
Guest appearances
Gene Blakely as Dave
C. Lindsay Workman as Doctor Koblin
Paul Barselou as Bartender Al
Nancy Kovack as Sheila Sommers
Episode chronology
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"I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha" (also known simply as "I, Darrin") [1] is the pilot episode of American television series Bewitched . [2] The episode was produced three weeks after starring actress Elizabeth Montgomery gave birth to her first child with her husband, series director William Asher. [3] The episode was written by Sol Saks, the creator of the series, and initially aired September 17, 1964 on ABC. [4] José Ferrer served as the episode's narrator, starting with the words, "Once upon a time...". [5] Ferrer was not credited for this role. [6] In the episode, Samantha Stephens promises her new husband Darrin that she will not use magic, a promise that initiates a pattern that continues into each subsequent episode of the series; the conflict in each episode surrounds Samantha's failed attempts to keep her promise. [7]

The pilot is one of many episodes in the series that demonstrate that Samantha and Darrin have sexual desire for each other; as opposed to being depicted as sleeping in separate beds - as Rob and Laura Petrie are depicted as doing in the concurrently running The Dick Van Dyke Show - Samantha and Darrin are depicted sleeping in the same bed and expressing eagerness to do so. [8] Julie D. O'Reilly writes in her book Bewitched Again: Supernaturally Powerful Women on Television, 1996-2011 that, in "I, Darrin" when Darrin says, "You're a what?" in response to Samantha's statement that she is a witch, this exchange initiated a narrative that would be regularly repeated in television series into the 21st century. O'Reilly argues that this narrative is one in which a sexualized female character demonstrates to a male character that she has superpowers and the male responds with incredulity and no longer thinks of her as a woman but instead as a freak. [9] In "I, Darrin", Nancy Kovack portrayed Darrin's ex-girlfriend Sheila Sommers, and the episode's popularity resulted in Kovack returning to make Sheila a recurring character in the series. [10]

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References

  1. ↑ Moore et al. 2006, p. 130.
  2. ↑ Gibson 2007, p. 202.
  3. ↑ Newcomb 2014, p. 261.
  4. ↑ Pilato 2013, p. 43.
  5. ↑ Pilato 2012, p. 16.
  6. ↑ Metz 2007, p. 6.
  7. ↑ Breuer 2009, p. 151.
  8. ↑ Spangler 2003, p. 81.
  9. ↑ O'Reilly 2013, pp. 18–19.
  10. ↑ Weaver 2000, p. 248.

Bibliography

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