Twitch Upon a Star (33 page)
Read Twitch Upon a Star Online
Authors: Herbie J. Pilato
The Ashers' Benedict Canyon home (which Lizzie would later share with Robert Foxworth and retain for the rest of her life) was massive, and located directly across from Harold Lloyd's fabled estate.
They also owned land in northern California. But most importantly, they retained 20 percent of the profits of
Bewitched
. At the time, 20 percent of any television show going beyond the third season (as
Bewitched
certainly did) was worth approximately $2 million.
Lizzie was raised in wealth, but her newfound money was something else again. It would be a lot to expect for her to refrain from using it to ease even the slightest burden.
In today's world, statistics show that many marriages dissolve due to lack of money. Conversely, many stay together because of lots of money. It wasn't all that different during the reign of
Samantha
and
Darrin,
and Lizzie and Bill.
Bewitched
was a success. They were in love. They had a happy marriage and a happy show. In the midst of it all, the
new
Lizzie had arrived. She had kowtowed to Asher's rule and found emotional satisfaction, at least in 1967.
In the later years of the series, she played a more active role in the business aspect of their relationship. The show became a co-production of Screen Gems/Columbia Studios and Ashmont Productions, which was initiated in 1965. Then in full swing, Ashmont rivaled the much larger Desilu Productions in name only. The title Desilu was formed by the first names of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball; the shingle “Ashmont” was shaped from the last names of Bill and Lizzie. Still, Ashmontâthe company and the happily married coupleâwere a force to be reckoned with ⦠at least until the “twitch hit the fan.”
Twelve
“Every little breeze seems to whisper Louise.”
â
Dr. Bombay
to
Samantha
, in the
Bewitched
episode, “Mixed Doubles” (3-4-71)
Beyond the fact that there were two
Darrins
on
Bewitched
, there were several
twin aspects
of the series that were concocted or just plain happened ⦠on camera and behind the scenes.
After Alice Pearce died in 1966, Sandra Gould stepped into the role of nosy mortal neighbor
Gladys Kravitz
. Alice Ghostley's bumbling witch maid
Esmeralda
replaced Marion Lorne's blundering sorceress
Aunt Clara
following Lorne's death in 1968. Kasey Rogers was hired to play
Louise Tate
, after Irene Vernon exited the role in 1966. Multiple sets of twins played little
Tabitha
over the years, notably sisters Erin and Diane Murphy, while twin brothers David and Greg Lawrence played the part of
Tabitha's
younger sibling
Adam
. And, of course, Elizabeth herself played both
Samantha
and her look-alike cousin
Serena
.
Into this mix, a few episodes of
Bewitched
imbued a “doubles” premise, such as “Mixed Doubles,” which aired on March 4, 1971, and was directed by William Asher and written by Richard Baer:
Samantha
can't sleep. She's concerned about
Larry
and
Louise
(Rogers), who are having marital troubles. But the next day, she has troubles of her own. She finds herself in bed with
Larry,
while
Louise
is at the
Stephens
home with
Darrin.
Somehow,
Samantha
and
Louise's
souls have switched bodies. Consequently,
Sam
calls
Dr. Bombay
(Bernard Fox), who remedies the situation which, he says, was caused by something called “dream inversion.”
“I always thought those [type of episodes] were kind of fun,” Lizzie said in 1989. “I just hope that we didn't do too many of them. And I don't think we actually did, but they were fun because I think audiences enjoyed all that kind of nonsense. I always enjoyed watching stuff like that, too. It's fun to watch other people behaving like they shouldn't behave.”
In 1980, music legend John Lennon released what would become his final recording:
Double Fantasy
, an album that in many music circles was labeled a love letter to his wife Yoko Ono, who by then was also a member of his band.
Years before, Lennon and his original “mates,” The BeatlesâPaul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starrâmade their American television debut on CBS'
The Ed Sullivan Show
, February 9, 1964, approximately seven months before
Bewitched
debuted on ABC.
Bewitched
and The Beatles offered entertaining escape from the turbulence that infested the 1960s. The Beatles wanted everyone to hold their hands to forget their troubles;
Samantha
made everyone wish they could twitch away their heartache. Off-screen, Lennon married an Asian princess in the form of Ono; on-screen,
Darrin
married the queen of the witches in the guise of
Samantha
.
Both were mixed marriages that fell victim to third parties who sought to create a great divide. McCartney, Harrison, and Starr blamed Ono for the breakup of The Beatles.
Endora
desperately desired
Samantha
to leave
Darrin
. The Lennons represented racial equality and sang to give peace a chance.
Samantha
advocated for conciliation among TV's top two racesâ witches and mortals.
Lizzie and
Bewitched
, and Lennon and The Beatles each strived for some sense of familial and universal tranquility. It was a double fantasy, and a dark reality. But somehow, we all came out of it a little better and none the worse for wear. We were delivered by a music superstar (who commented that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ) and a supernatural TV series that delivered a fantastical solution for a subpar world.
Magic was welcomed wherever it could be found, and with Elizabeth and
Samantha, Bewitched
provided the perfect forumâa forum that still stands today, if born amidst the controversy of yesteryear.
When
Bewitched
debuted, September 17, 1964, certain network, studio, and advertising executives expressed concern as to whether or not the show would be perceived in the Bible Belt as a platform for Satanism. The notion may today seem absurd, particularly because at its core the series was a romantic comedy, certainly more human and humane than much of contemporary television.
But if
Bewitched
had any serious evil overtones, Lizzie's co-star, Agnes Moorehead, would have been the first to voice any objections. Passionately opinionated, the fiery redhead was the daughter of Dr. John H. Moorehead, a Presbyterian minister who, by present standards, would be considered a Pentecostal Christian Fundamentalist. Charles Tranberg, author of
I Love the Illusion: The Life and Career of Agnes Moorehead
(BearManor Media, 2005) explains:
It seems a contradiction because Agnes was such a fundamentalist Christian in her upbringing and throughout her life. But she loved playing
Endora.
[She] even came up with the name of the character and liked to come up with all kinds of ideas. She also had played witches before, in an episode of
The Shirley Temple Playhouse
for example, and later on an episode of
Night Gallery
. She really never thought of
Endora
as “evil” but as mischievous, and somebody who was simply pointing out the foibles of mortal life.
Moreover, if anyone had the “right” to object to Lizzie's portrayal of
Sammy's
supernatural ways, it most probably would have been Britain's Sybil Leek, then the world's top-ranking self-professed, real-life witch.
Fortunately, as Lizzie explained in 1989, Leek had visited
Bewitched
set and granted her sorcery seal of approval. “Sybil gave us her blessing and was very sweet.”
“Oh, Darling,” Leek told her, “I've seen so many of these
things
(other media witches) and I really can't stand them. But I just love your show. You're so nice and have such a sweet way about you. You're doing everything just perfectly.”
Had Leek not sanctioned her performance, Lizzie mused, “I would not have shown up for work the next day.”
On September 13, 1970, reporter Lorraine St. Pierre profiled
Bewitched
for
The Boston Sunday Advertiser
to commemorate the show's first on-location filming in Salem, Massachusetts, a city that
TV Guide
once named “the witch capital of the world.” The article was published in tandem with the airing of eight
Bewitched
episodes from the seventh season involving
Samantha's
trip to a witches' convention, and St. Pierre described Lizzie's
Samantha
as “a cute prankster.”
In her
Book of Shadows
(Broadway Books, 1998), author and real-life Wiccan priestess Phyllis Curott wrote, “A witch is anyone who cultivates divine and sacred gifts.” She also deduced that television programs like
Bewitched
are important because “they're showing witches are good.”
Fortunately, while working on
Bewitched
, Lizzie agreed.
Exhibit A: She vetoed the name
Cassandra
which, inspired by the sorceress from Greek mythology, was
Samantha's
original name in the
Bewitched
pilot. Lizzie “hated that name. It's terrible; a real
doom and gloomer
.
Boo ⦠boo
.
Hiss ⦠Hiss
,” she said in 1989.
The other suggestion was calling her
Elizabeth
, but she was just as adamant about that not happening. “
No, thank you
,” she intoned. “I mean, isn't that the stupidest thing you ever heard? Having the character's name be the same as the actor's name? I find it distracting. It doesn't separate the character from the actor. And I think it smacks of a rather appalling ego.”
Despite Lizzie's strong opinion on the matter, there was a kinship of sorts between
Samantha
and
Cassandra
.
Cassandra
and other gods of Greek mythology abided by a strict and specific mystical doctrine;
Samantha
and her supernatural peers followed a particular code of ethics found in the
Witches' Book of Rights
(as relayed in the
Bewitched
episode, “Long Live the Queen”). Both
Samantha
and
Cassandra
possessed the power to foretell the future (although the
Bewitched
creative team decided there would be no conflict if
Sam
chose not to engage this particular foresight).
That leaves one last
Samantha
-
Cassandra
affinity. In the Greek myth, the god
Apollo
places a curse on
Cassandra
. Eons later, it would seem
Samantha
got caught in the fall-out. Like
Cassandra
, she always knew of some forthcoming disaster but was helpless to avert it, namely, Agnes Moorehead's
Endora
.
