The revised and updated
ANNIVERSARY EDITION
of
BEWITCHED
FOREVER
THE IMMORTAL COMPANION TO
TV’S MOST MAGICAL SUPERNATURAL SITUATION COMEDY
Foreword by William Asher
(Bewitched producer and
former husband to Bewitched star Elizabeth
Montgomery)
It’s here – in this, the 40th Anniversary of Bewitched
original network debut (9.17.64) -
The special ANNIVERSARY EDITION of BEWITCHED
FOREVER: THE IMMORTAL COMPANION TO TV’S MOST MAGICAL SUPERNATURAL SITUATION COMEDY
BY HERBIE J PILATO, which features EXCLUSIVE commentary from Bewitched stars
Elizabeth Montgomery (Samantha the witch-with-a-twitch Stephens, Dick York and
Dick Sargent (the two Darrins), and so many other of the super “natural” actors
and production team who brought Bewitched to the small screen - just as
Nora Ephron writes and directs the Oscar-winning Nicole Kidman for the
big-screen adaptation of Bewitched (set for release in the Summer of
2005).
Author/Actor/Producer Herbie J Pilato (The Kung Fu Book
of Caine/Bravo’s 100 Greatest TV Characters of All Time) spent years
researching and conducting interviews for BEWITCHED FOREVER (the
late Elizabeth Montgomery granted her ONLY in-depth conversation for this book
in over twenty years). Clearly, BEWITCHED
FOREVER is an earnest labor of love that has past the “immortal” test
of time, ultimately processing itself as essentially FIVE books in one:
- A "must-have" book for the hard and soft-core Bewitched fan.
- A TV companion book for the general television fan.
- The optimum coffee-table book.
- A "how-to" book for those in the entertainment industry, as it addresses the techniques of acting, writing, producing, directing, wardrobe, etc.
- A literary non-fiction history book about pop-culture that addresses the social influences of television and all media, with specific regards to prejudice, escapism, fantasy, women’s liberation, and several other sociological topics.
The Bewitched
fan base is vast and ever-increasing:
- TV GUIDE recently named Bewitched star Elizabeth Montgomery the TOP TV-BLONDE IN HISTORY (above Farrah Fawcett and Heather Locklear). In excess of 800,000 TV GUIDE character, Samantha, their FAVORITE FANTASY TV CHARACTER OF ALL-TIME. readers voted her.
- Montgomery's final picture, Deadline for Murder, was one of the HIGHEST RATED of 1995. Montgomery's first television film, A Case of Rape (1973), is one of the TOP TEN TV-MOVIES ever made.
- Columbia House Video has sold over 300,000 Bewitched VIDEOS in the ten two years since her death (while the studio readies a new DVD release). More than 25,000 Bewitched
WATCHES - with Montgomery's animated likeness - have been purchased (at $49.00 a piece) during reruns on Nick at Nite.
- Bewitched is still seen by an average of 20 MILLION VIEWERS each day on TV Land and in more than 225 global markets (203 of which are in the US). The foreign markets have exploded: Japan, Spain, Sweden, Mexico, Israel, Australia, and Italy (where Bewitched is known as Adorabile Strega - The Adorable Witch).
- Among Bewitched's multitude of enthusiasts, some of the greatest excitement and support for BEWITCHED FOREVER can be expected from the Gay Community. Bewitched's appeal and notoriety in this portion of the population is unparalleled, thanks, in part to Elizabeth Montgomery's humanitarian efforts for AIDS Research, and her march in San Francisco's 1992's Gay Pride Parade.
- The National Organization for Women will be certain to reach for BEWITCHED FOREVER, as Samantha became the first independent and powerful woman of the television age. She reflected the progress womanhood had made in the eyes of the public at large. (This on the heels of Betty Friedan's blockbuster book, The Feminine Mystique which, when released in 1963 - one year before Montgomery materialized as Samantha - documents, more than any other single factor, the launch of women's lib).
- Twitch trivia may be found on HUNDREDS OF WEBSITES, including the choice Harpiesbizarre.com and Elizabeth Montgomery Page, the latter of which has tallied over TWO MILLION HITS since its inception in 1995.
BEWITCHED
FOREVER caters to each of these markets, striking a chord with the
varied segments of the popular book buying public. Bewitched’s appeal is so
well-documented, that its main star (Montgomery) enjoys an exceptionally HIGH,
Q-TYPE RATING - the ad industry's measurement of a celebrity's
recognizability. Her generosity,
love-for-family, amiable disposition, and world-concern was world-renown, years
before another ruling blonde made it fashionable to be caring.
The
primary market for BEWITCHED FOREVER is the legions of Bewitched’s
monarchy of fans, generations of TV viewers who came of age watching her do
the twitch (with York or Sargent as Darrin).
So just exactly why is Bewitched
so popular? “It espouses to a tried and
proven truth,” author Herbie J Pilato begins to explain, “…though we may each
be different from one another, in order to live in peace, we must concentrate
on what makes us the same….our common humanity. It proves that popular television can be educational, as Bewitched
underlines our ability for positive social reform, stressing the importance of
inner magic, a strong work ethic and true love. Samantha loved Darrin for who he was, and not for what he could buy
her. And whatever he could buy her, she
could twitch up something better anyway. So it didn’t matter how much money he had or what his social
status. She loved HIM. And though everyone may not have agreed with
Darrin forbidding Samantha to use witchcraft, he knew that having things
without working for them were not worth having. And a very important aspect of the series to remember is that it was Samantha’s
choice to live the mortal life. She
could zap herself out of it at any time, but she chose to stay. So, she really was one of the first
independent women of the TV age.”
Still, controversies were rampant
on the series. Early on, Bewitched
was a tough sell, because some network and studio executives thought it would
promote Satanism. Yet, Agnes Moorehead, who played Samantha’s feisty
witch-mother Endora, was a fundamental Christian, and the daughter of a
Minister. And had she felt the series
had any form of “evil” connation, she would have left. But she did not (and stayed with the series
for its entire eight-year run). And then
of course, there’s the tale of two Darrins, and…oh, but why spoil it for you. You can read it for yourself, as if by magic,
in…
BEWITCHED
FOREVER
THE IMMORTAL COMPANION TO
TV’S MOST MAGICAL SUPERNATURAL SITUATION COMEDY
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Herbie
J Pilato is also the author of The Kung Fu Book of Wisdom (Tuttle,
1995), and The Kung Fu Book of Caine (Tuttle, 1993). Herbie J has written about Bewitched
and Elizabeth Montgomery for magazines such as: Remember, Retro Vision and Classic TV, and
the website TV-Now.com. He’s
been published in Starlog, Sci-Fi Entertainment and Sci-Fi Universe magazines,
and has served aw Editor for UPNTV.com and PAXTV.com. He’s worked as a Producer, Consultant and
Cultural Commentator on Bewitched: The E! True Hollywood Story, Entertainment
Tonight’s one-hour weekend special on Bewitched, Entertainment
Tonight’s special tribute to Elizabeth Montgomery, and A&E’s Biography
of Elizabeth Montgomery, as well as The Learning Channel’s Behind the
Fame specials, the Sci-Fi Channel’s Sciography series, David
Carradine: The E! True Hollywood Story, and A&E’s Biography of
Lee Majors. At schools/colleges and
business/community organizations, Herbie J employs his books with TV &
Self-Esteem Seminars: a lecture series that helps to bridge the gap between
popular culture and academia (advocating against violence on TV, and promoting
its more positive aspects). He will soon
be seen in a guest appearance on TV Land’s new reality show, Chasing Farrah,
and as a Cultural Commentary on Bravo’s upcoming five-part documentary, The
100 Greatest TV Characters of All Time, (one of which, of course, is
Elizabeth Montgomery’s Samantha Stephens. Herbie J is presently serving as Consultant
on the Bewitched feature film.
