"Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Tabitha." - "Tabitha"'s opening narration
Tabitha: The Entire Series DVD Review
By A.J. Carson
Sometimes kids just turn out bad, no matter how terrific their parents may be. Such is the case with Tabitha, the underachieving offspring of the classic sitcom Bewitched. Premiering on ABC in 1977, the series borrows heavily from both Bewitched and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but without the humor or heart of either of these superior sitcoms.
Lisa Hartman (Knots Landing) stars as Tabitha Stephens - the twentysomething daughter of Bewitched's Darrin and Samantha - who has left her parents' Connecticut home for life in sunny California. Tabitha is a blonde, perky, all-American girl. She also happens to be a witch. Like her mother, she can conjure up people and things with a simple twitch of her nose. She works as a production assistant at TV station KLXA, a job she received thanks to her brother Adam (David Ankrum). Adam did not inherit their mother's abilities, and he insists that Tabitha lead her life as normally as possible. Otherwise, they both might be out of a job. This proves to be a difficult proposition, however, when working for Paul Thurston (S.W.A.T.'s Robert Urich), a vain, egotistical, borderline imbecilic talk show host. And with their irrepressible Aunt Minerva (Karen Morrow) keeping a witchy eye on the Stephens siblings, it will be even harder for Tabitha to keep her powers a secret.
Tabitha often feels like a fuzzy Xerox of Bewitched and MTM. Hartman is quite beautiful and often seems to be imitating Elizabeth Montgomery's vocal cadences, but here she lacks the indefinable "it" that made Montgomery so irresistible. Aunt Minerva is a poor-man's Endora, and Morrow vainly channels Jo Anne Worley in an attempt to breathe life into the uninteresting character. The usually reliable Urich is saddled with a character that is a direct rip-off of MTM's Ted Baxter. Even worse, in "Paul Goes to New York," the writers lift almost the entire plot from MTM's "Ted's Moment of Glory." The one thing that isn't copied from Bewitched and MTM is laughs. It's possible to watch entire episodes of Tabitha without even cracking a smile.
The stark contrast between Tabitha and the series that spawned it becomes even clearer when characters from Bewitched stop by for a visit. In "The Arrival of Nancy," nosy neighbors Gladys and Abner Kravitz (Sandra Gould & George Tobias) show up on Tabitha's doorstep in pursuit of their ditzy niece, Nancy (Penelope Willis), who has run away to Los Angeles to become an actress. Even though Bewitched had been off of the air for only five years, the Kravitzes are barely recognizable. Mr. Kravitz even sports a Grizzly Adams-style beard. The two were always good for a laugh on Bewitched, but here.nothing. They're barely even in the episode. The emphasis is instead on their annoying, seemingly retarded niece. Dr. Bombay (Bernard Fox) also pops in from time to time with medical advice. These visits are vaguely sad, and the series' writers seemingly do not understand how to use the older characters.
Other familiar faces appearing in Tabitha include Barry Van Dyke (Airwolf), Mary Wickes (Sigmund and the Sea Monsters), Dick "Please Don't Squeeze the Charmin" Wilson, Richard Libertini (Soap), Billie Hayes (H.R. Pufnstuf & Lidsville), Dack Rambo (Dallas), Barbara Sharma (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In), Kenneth Mars (The Producers), and Mary Grace Canfield (Green Acres). Mel Stewart (All in the Family, Scarecrow and Mrs. King) is woefully underused as Paul Thurston's producer.
The twelve episodes that make up Tabitha: The Entire Series are divided onto two discs. The discs are housed in a standard-sized keepcase with an interior swinging arm to hold the second disc. An insert included inside the DVD case includes brief synopses of the series' episodes.
The menus are simple and functional. Viewers can play all of a disc's episodes or choose an individual one. The episodes are divided into chapters, but there are no scene selection menus.
