"Oh. Hello, Dexter." - Endora (Agnes Moorehead), greeting her son-in-law, Darrin
Bewitched: The Complete Second Season DVD Review
By A.J. Carson
What was it about wives in the 1960s? Many, like Leave it to Beaver's June Cleaver happily cleaned their houses in cha-cha heels and cultured pearls. Her husband, Ward, came home, put on a chummy cardigan, read a paper, and offered deep fatherly advice to his kids. Some wives were downright weird. Lily Munster and Morticia Addams? Kinda nice, but creepy. And kooky. Who would have thought that Darrin and Samantha Stephens would turn out to be so relatively normal? Darrin (Dick York) is an ad exec who works long hours to provide for his new bride. Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) eagerly strives to become the perfect housewife. One tiny thing sets them apart - as Darrin learns on their honeymoon, Samantha is actually a witch who - simply by twitching her nose or muttering an incantation - can clean her entire home or whip up a knockoff of the latest fashions. Straight-laced Darrin forbids his wife from practicing magic, but with a baby on the way, this will be harder than ever. Not to mention Sam's mother, Endora (Agnes Moorehead), the very picture of a horrid mother-in-law, who sneers at her dreaded mortal son-in-law.
Bewitched, returned to ABC for its second season in September 1965, and the series' second season is just as charming as its first. There are a few changes this time around. In season one, the series centered on newlywed life with a magical twist. The Stephens marriage progresses, and for season two, finds itself growing. Samantha is pregnant. . .a development that worries Darrin and thrills Endora for the exact same reason: will the tyke be a little witch or warlock? The season milks the baby theme for all it is worth, even in episodes that aren't directly baby-related. In "Alias Darrin Stephens," Samantha looks forward to telling Darrin their good news on the night of their first anniversary. Aunt Clara (the ever-delightful Marion Lorne), unfortunately, drops in - literally - to help celebrate the anniversary and accidentally turns Darrin into a tuxedo-wearing monkey. A monkey in a monkey suit? Comic gold. Endora and Darrin even bond over Tabitha's birth in "And Then There Were Three" with special guest Eve Arden. Endora and Darrin's mother compete for the newborn's affections in "The Dancing Bear," an episode featuring the world's cutest baby and scariest baby toys.
Paul Lynde was so effective as a nervous driving instructor in his season one guest spot that the show's producers re-introduce him as Uncle Arthur, Samantha's prankster uncle, in "The Joker is a Card." Lynde is truly one-of-a-kind, and his addition to the cast is most welcome. It is hard to imagine what mid-'60s audiences thought of his prissy, mincing performance in this amusing episode.
Other standout episodes include "Trick or Treat," a fresh take on the mother-in-law gag in which Endora (disguised as a trick-or-treater played by a strangely poised Maureen McCormick from The Brady Bunch) turns Darrin into a werewolf; Aunt Clara's disappearing fashion creation in "The Very Informal Dress;" Aunt Clara having to face her dottiness when an old beau (Charlie Ruggles) proves to be just as magically impaired in "Aunt Clara's Old Flame;" and Bill Mumy (Lost in Space) as an eight-year-old Darrin in "Junior Executive."
The thirty-eight episodes that make up the second season are divided onto five discs. The discs are housed in three slim, clear plastic keepcases, the first two of which hold two discs apiece. The fronts of the cases are decorated with publicity stills of Montgomery, York, Moorehead, and other members of the supporting cast. The backs of the cases include titles and brief synopses for each episode. The interiors of the cases and the discs themselves also include production and publicity photos along with the cityscape over which Samantha flies in the show's opening credits. The DVDs continue the cityscape theme. Each disc also spotlights one of the cast members - Paul Lynde on disc one, Pandora Sparks (Montgomery's nom de TV when playing cousin Serena) on disc two, Montgomery on disc three, York on disc four, and Moorehead on disc five. The keepcases slide into a cardboard outer sleeve.
The DVD menus, which start off full-motion before freezing on a static image, mimic the series' animated opening credits. Viewers can play all of the disc's episodes or choose them individually. The episodes are divided into chapters, but there are no scene selection menus.
