"Tabitha" - 13 Week Theatre
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
- 13WT is back, and this time we're looking at the different attempts to create a spin-off from "Bewitched." It's the Three Faces of Tabitha!
SUPPORT 13 WEEK THEATRE ON PATREON AND GET EXCLUSIVE EARLY ACCESS: / 13week
This show may have worked 10 years later. Tabitha grew up too fast. By the timeline of the series, she should've been about 12 when this was on.
Yes, and if Erin Murphy had reprised the role, "Tabby" would have been in middle school, and maybe, JUST maybe, her one shot "friends" from the original series would be regulars like, "Amy" from season 5, "Lisa" from season 7, and "Sidney" also from season 7( that's when he was first seen on camera, but was briefly mentioned in a season 6 Christmas episode, would be her regular co stars)
Exactly what I was thinking.
I suppose they could "retcon" some nonsense about Tabitha going to a "witch training school" that somehow jumped her 10 extra years in age.
Right! I also thought that now, but not in 1977!
I watched the 2 first pilots today and did not even think about how simliar the 1st pilot was to the original....I liked it with Lisa Hartman
But that one have a lot of mistakes
One small nitpick, the party in the last episode of "Tabitha" was actually a celebration at KXLA for good ratings or something. The only mention of Darrin and Samantha's 25th wedding anniversary is when Cassandra comes popping in with some weird bird thing and mentions "25 years of wedded bliss" before deciding Tabitha and Paul should get married like Samantha and Darrin did.
There's a People magazine article from 1990 or so where they mention another attempt at reviving Bewitched. It would have taken place in London and Elizabeth Montgomery was considering appearing in the pilot episode to introduce the new witch/main character of the new series. This was right around when Lizzie started realizing people still loved the show and was starting to talk about it more, including doing interviews about the show with author Herbie J Pilato.
The irony being there have way more successful young witch themed shows (the most successful being the CWs Charmed and ABCs Sabrina The Teenage witch and Netflix's The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) But Tabitha remains a forgot ten footnote in sitcom history.
Sabrina on Netflix, is based on the archies series
Did anybody notice that the pilot for “Tabatha” in the TV series with Lisa Hartman had completely different spellings of the name Tabitha?
Elizabeth Montgomery was friends with a couple who named their daughter Tabitha, Montgomery liked the name and chose it for the series. Initially the "Bewitched" end credits listed "Tabatha" which bothered Montgomery until it was changed to "Tabitha".
Actually I just found this other show called Tabatha and it's a completely different actor playing her not Lisa Hartman...
ruclips.net/video/LTO-eB_ixQg/видео.html
Yes. That’s the Liberty Williams first pilot as seen in this episode.
Yep, I hate it when they can't spill things right!
@@dannycarrington1601 I also read in the Bewitched cookbook that when Erin Murphy became a regular cast member her father wondered why it was spelled with an "a" instead of an "I"!
I always thought Mary Wickes was a natural fit for the Bewitched universe, though her appearance was only on "Tabitha". At least the Lisa Hartman show did its best to make the witchcraft look and sound like "Bewitched". All but one pop in sound effect was used at one point or another on Bewitched. When Dr. Bombay appears here, that particular sound effect was never used on the original show.
Everyone forgot that Adam had powers in the original series
Wait...
WHAT!!!!!!!!
“Bewitched,” Season 8, Episode 14. Adam is discovered to have powers. Only time he’s seen to use them, however.
One of the things that isn't being considered with the similarities in the "Bewitched" pilot and the first "Tabitha" pilot is that many people hadn't seen the first episode of "Bewitched" in almost ten years. It wasn't initially included in syndication because it was in black and white. I can't recall the exact year, but I remember they didn't show those early seasons of shows like "Bewitched," "I Dream of Jeanie," and "Gomer Pyle, USMC" until at least 1978.
-and that was really too bed,because in all those shows the first seasons were really the best.
I believe the first two b&w seasons of Bewitched were first aired again when Nick At Nite made its debut in the mid1980s. One of the selling points used was "not seen in years!"
I spent time on the Tabitha set at Warners. Lisa Hartman and George Tobias were extremely nice, as was Robert Ulrich.
I wish they had made a version where Adam's powers were wonky...he couldn't control them well, or he really had to concentrate to get them to work right...that's how I remember him in the original...he wasn't adept at using them. Would have been an interesting spin on a witch/warlock trying to blend in; he would have been mortal appearing by default but wanting to use his powers more.
Adam was mortal in Bewitched
@@JohnWinchester3567 no, I believe the end of the episode showed that he was able to move a toy without Endora’s help. So he had weak but evident powers.
Season 8 episode 14 confirms Adam is a warlock after Maurice accidentally awakens his latent powers.
@@robragland Not Endora but Maurice Sam's dad.
I love the episode where Adam discovered his powers. He only concealed his true nature because he thought his dad, Darrin, wouldn’t approve. But when Sam said it was alright and Darrin finally consented, he revealed his true gift. It sent a good message about being true to yourself even at such a young age. Parents and children should take a note from this episode of Bewitched
I love that you put in the original 1964 credits here. The DVD copies just took the 1966 color credits and redid them as B&W.
I mainly wanted to use that version of the credits because they had The rarely-heard second season version of the theme. The DVD’s pair the season 3 animation with the season 1 theme, which I personally think was the weakest of the four versions heard over Bewitched’s history.
@@PabSungenis you may be interested in this contemporary musical slot with Lisa Hartman from 'The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour (1977) | Slappy White Rodney Dangerfield' which was just published on the ReelBlack channel. Here is the link:
ruclips.net/video/z42jnx3Ukmw/видео.html
The 1970s had alot of "magical" shows including Sally Fields in "The Girl with Something Extra."
They should've done a series about her as a kid. Have her at boarding school since it wouldn't be the same with different parents. That could be fun.
Netflix's The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina kinda went that route
If they kept a consistent timeline and Tabitha the age she should have been in 1977 (11), that's about the right age to get sent off to boarding school. Perhaps a "special witch school" at the insistence of Grandmother.
Also, set away from home like that, it give a good excuse to keep her parents off camera, since the originals don't want to do it.
Facts of life, with witchcraft. years before facts of life.
A mortal aunt who works for the circus?
That's a...interesting choice
Darrin’s side?
I loved this show and had a crush on Lisa Hartman!
Was that Barbara Rhodes in a scene? That woman was a knock-out!!
Indeed, Tabitha was three years older than her bro Adam.
Casting Lisa Hartman was about the only thing they got right in the second attempt. "Tabitha" was very derivative of "Mary Tyler Moore"; Tabitha worked at a local TV station, her boss was similar to Lou Grant and Robert Urich's character was similar to Ted Baxter (Ted was originally conceived as a romantic interest for Mary prior to casting Ted Knight).
Ulitmately, Fred Silverman was dissatisfied with the ratings the series was getting......and he didn't care for fantasy sitcoms in the first place. He let the series run it course, and ordered no further episodes after the 12th and final one was filmed.
I remember that tune... It could be magic.
Really enjoying all this kitsch, thanks kindly.
Believe it or not, Tabitha was a Capricornian Green or Wood Snake, because she was "born" on Thursday January 13, 1966, while his younger brother Adam was a Libran Brown, Orange, Yellow or Earth Rooster, because he was "born" on Thursday October 16, 1969.
i could not understand that part where she's wearing 1950s clothing when bewitched went off the air in 1972
Maybe she had a bit part on "Happy Days"?
@@enricosanchez894 Hi,
Happy Days started on TV in 1976.
I remember because we had moved into a new apartment January 1976, and that's when it started in the new apartment. Hope this helps.
Take care, stay safe, have a nice day.
👵✌️🖖 🙉🙈🙊 🌎☮️🕊️
Something that makes no sense is Tabitha would have been 13 in 1978 being that she was born in 1965.
Yes, the timeline was off, but the show worked! I loved "Tabitha" when it was first aired (I was a kid who had loved "Bewitched") and I still love "Tabitha" (on DVD) as an adult. I"m really sorry that more episodes were not produced. They were a heck of a lot better than the "Bewitched" movie of 2005!
Love this series (13 wk Theater) but one small correction. Back in the '70s, Friday night was not considered a death slot. In fact, within a couple of years the number one series, with the single most watched episode in history was on Friday nights- Dallas. It wasn't until the '90s that Friday and Saturday became death slots for series.
Oh hey! Liberty Williams was also in another failed sitcom, 13 Queens Blvd.
Shes in a Threes Company episode called A camping We Will Go. Very funny.
If Dr. Bombay was the family doctor, why would he say he hadn't seen her since she was little? I went to my pediatrician up til high school.
breaking the fourth wall?
I wonder if he is any relation to Coach Bombay from the Mighty Ducks?
The only thing I remember about the new pilot was the theme song.
I saw this series on British TV, but I don't think it was shown until the early 80s, so the time discontinuity wasn't apparent (Tabitha would have been 17 or 18 at that time). The episode I remember the best was where she was playing a cheerleader in a pizza commercial, then proceeded to mess things up on purpose for some reason. Finally she went back in time to correct her mistake.
Same here in Australia, it was shown in the early eighties.
@@JohnLee-pt5jz Lucky guys both of you! Down here in Brazil was never aired!
@@josieldeassis you didn't miss much.lol.
I wouldn’t say the concept never took on again. Sabrina the Teenage Witch was a combo of Bewitched and Tabitha, and had a long and happy run on network television. This concept will be revived again.
Sabrina was based on a 1960's comic and a 1970's Saturday morning animated series.
@@kevinnelson66 I believe Sabrina was a spin-off from Archie.
@@peterbelanger4094 Yep.
@@kevinnelson66 Yes, but the "feel" of the "Sabrina" sitcom was definitely "Bewitched"-inspired. Did you know that the reason "Sabrina" became a "Filmation" cartoon was because they couldn't get the rights to "Bewitched"? They even asked William Asher, who said he wasn't able to make that call (I'm assuming because Hanna-Barbera might have had the cartoon rights? They later made "Tabitha and Adam and the Clown Family" in addition to the opening sequence and the "Flintstones" appearance). But then someone brought up that Archie Comics had a then-little-known witch character (Sabrina), so Filmation used her instead.
I was always curious about the first Tabitha pilot. Great to see it, and this series, again. Look forward to seeing more.
[And I still want to see Struck by Lightning. :-) ]
The Liberty Williams pilot is a “Special Feature” on the “Tabitha” DVD release from a few years ago. It is a lot closer to “Bewitched” than the Lisa Hartman version.
I’ll see if I can dig up enough material for “Struck by Lightning.” No promises, though.
Thank you, Pab.
“Tabitha”, a short-lived spin-off of “Bewitched”, is one of the worst TV shows of all time. It starred Lisa Hartman as the title role working as a production assistant at KXLA, a Los Angeles television station. In the show’s opening, Tabitha Stephens was a born to Samantha and Darrin Stephens, while Endora and Maurice, Tabitha’s grandparents, were never mentioned.
all remnants of the actual tabitha show with lisa hartman (which was great) have been PULLED from YT. down the memory hole
I was hoping this series would return... 13WT that is, not Tabitha... great vid!
I just realize that if they call Aunt Minerva as "Aunt", they're saying that Samantha has a sister, and that's impossible
She could be a great aunt. Say, Maurice’s sister.
@@PabSungenis 🤔🤔, she is sister of Maurice?
This show came up in my feed and I actually remember watching the one with Lisa Hartman. My mom liked Bewitched and would watch it in reruns so she was excited there was a spinoff. I was young but didn't understand how she could be grown when only a few years earlier was much younger. I remember Erin Murphy (who played Tabitha) talking about pushing an updated version of Tabitha/Bewitched where Tabitha is now middle aged with a grown daughter who is also a witch. I think it might make an interesting TV movie but not as a TV show since outside of her, her sister (who also played Tabitha but not as often), and Adam (I assume) no one else is still living.. I don't see this happening because of this. Tabitha would have to be late 50's and Adam early-mid 50s probably. I don't see a big demand for characters from a show off the air over 50 years where most of the characters are dead.
Could you tell me where you found the animated clip announcing Tabitha--the one that starts at 0:50 and ends at about 1:20? I'd really like to see that for myself (without your voice dubbed in, that is). I love obscure animation.
It was on RUclips. Search for Bewitched Promos.
I love the video, one technicality, wouldn't the last episode of Tabitha air in January 1978 not 1977?
I noticed that also.
William Asher also did 'The Girl with Something Extra' staring Sally Fields and John Davidson. The girl was Psychic, it was a knock off of Bewitched.
Unfortunately that title always made me think that Sally Field's character might be a futa. (Urban dictionary lookup)
I remember watching that and another show “The Second Hundred Years “ , on USA network back in the mid eighties. Haven’t heard or thought of them since.
One wonders if the series might have had a chance if only the network gave it a regular time slot
Wild Archie Hahn appears!
Why is it spelled TABATHA in the title?
I wonder if they used "Tabitha" as inspiration for the movie Anchorman...besides the witch stuff very similar style of characters and aesthtics.
Wow! Liberty Williams couldn’t catch a break with any show...
Well, her "Tabatha" pilot flopped and "Busting Loose" was a disaster, but my generation remembers her better for a very successful show. She voiced Jayna (the female Wonder Twin) on "Superfriends."
She did a great job in the Disney movie, "Gus", though.
The only link to te original series is the appearance OF Dr. Bombay.
The Kravitzes were on “Tabitha” as well
I liked this show Lisa Hartman claimed ABC kept preempting it for specials,which hurt its ratings.
Robert Urich had so many failed shows, McLean Stevenson came nowhere close, and yet nobody made fun of him for it.
Robert Urich had 2 successful shows VEGA$ n Spenser for Hire. He also was in S.W.A.T which was pretty good but only lasted 1 season
Notice at 2:42 that they spelled Tabitha as Tabatha. That used to irritate Liz Montgomery. They corrected it in season five.
I always thought Lisa Hartman had a lot of the Liz Montgomery's behaviors and facial expressions down really well. ABC really blew it. Big shocker.
Bring it back
I like Adam in the first pilot and you did not watch him right. He was the guy talking about that witches are coming out of the closet and brought Cliff and Tabitha back together. I think one of the issues maybe that they need to use Adam better. You were talking like they were making him into Endora role , they were not. In the first pilot he was slightly flirty with Tabitha's neighbor , he has no problem with mortals. In the second pilot they made him into the Darrin role. I think they would have done better if they left Adam what he was a warlock who was forced to be a mortal during his childhood
I was aware that Adam was the bartender. I only really included that clip because of the parallel with the bartender in Sol Sak's original pilot for "Bewitched."
@@PabSungenis I was talking about Adam being the bartender cause he brought Cliff and Tabitha back together. That makes him different from Endora who was trying to break up his parents. For me conflict would be from Adam choosing the warlock lifestyle and not understand why Tabitha would choose the mortal life, leaving the hating mortals out of it.
now in 2022 tv & movies are looking back at past hits, maybe they'll try again. Hopefully, the network won't sabotage their creation with such stupidity that sank the last attempt. they'd hopefully use the original series as inspiration if they try a new one.
Was Doctor bombay Bernard Fox who was on both Bewitched and Tabitha? Did I see the real kravits from bewitched?
Yes both Dr Bombay and the Kravits were in different episodes of Tabitha!
Why was the first live action pilot was called "Tabatha", with an 'a' instead of an 'i'?
The pilot was all wrong... a brunette Tabitha? Adam was a warlock? Plus having been born in 1966 Tabitha would have been 12 years old! Maybe, Tabitha, the teenage witch would have worked better! Mr. & Mrs. Kravitz did make an appearance when their Neice visited her childhood friend Tabitha!
Exactly, What were they thinking!
Actually, Adam *was* a warlock in the original Bewitched (episode "Adam, Warlock or Washout"); so the first pilot was more true to that aspect than the second pilot. That being said, I preferred the Lisa Hartman series.
@@camscics I think the Lisa Hartman series worked primarily because Lisa looked like a younger version of Liz Montgomery and was a blonde. That's important for continuity. Liberty Williams in the pilot looked nothing like what we imagined Tabitha would grow up to look like and that was the first fatal flaw of the pilot. They misread audience expectations.
Too bad this was not successful, I like the very first episode was very cute!
Does the animated pilot still exist?
It exists, but is hard to find.
Its o youtube now.
Tabitha wasn’t bad. It was rerun on Nick at Nite or TV Land or some such thing about 15 years ago and I saw it then. You start off with young Lisa Hartman in a bikini and a good theme song and it’s hard to make it a flop, but I guess that’s networks for you.
They made Adam the older sibling.
This spin off was awful. The producers just pulled a new relative ( Minerva ) out of thin air- no mention of what side of Sams family she belonged to- the spells were second rated - the plots if any were just corny as hell. Adam acted like he was Tabithas anti-witchcraft mortal husband..lol! I think I will stop there.
Remember that There Is One Show That Lasted Longer Than Tabitha Sabrina The Teenage Witch And That Show Out Lasted Two Bewitched And Tabitha Thank You Melissa Joan Hart
Sabrina lasted that long because the writers capitalized the first letter of each word in the script. That makes writing a lot better.
@@acr08807 And had suppressed punctuation for the same reason
Wait...wait a minute...that clown cartoon thing....you just made that up for this video, right? That can't possibly exist. No way.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0331666/
The cartoon pilot existed. Saturday Morning Movie. I remember watching it
Lisa Hartman was a dead ringer for Elizabeth Montgomery.
This is a great back story! It's a shame Alice Ghostly couldn't have been the "aunt" character instead! No shade to "Minerva" but she had no connection to the original series!
Wasn't Sabrina basically a successful retread of Bewitched?
It’s a little more involved than that. Sabrina was created for Archie Comics by Dan DeCarlo and inspired by Bewitched, but other than “Sabrina” and “Serena” (Samantha’s cousin) sounding similar and the two being witches with a physical twitch to activate their powers, the two are dissimilar. Sabrina had her own backstory and supporting cast very unlike Samantha’s.
That didn't stop TV GUIDE's critic, Jeff Jarvis, from calling "SABRINA" a "baby 'Bewitched'" when he reviewed it in 1996 (he wasn't aware of Sabrina's previous existence as a comic book and Saturday morning cartoon character-- probably because he was a telesnob). Another TV critic, David Bianculli of the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, virtually had orgasms whenever he discussed the series, THAT'S how much *he* loved it. When it finally ended in 1993, he lamented the fact that it couldn't have continued so that Sabrina could get married. Never mind that the series' title was "SABRINA, THE TEEN-AGE WITCH"................
Lisa Hartman Black is a very beautiful and sexy woman, but even she couldn't save this show.
Tabitha Stevens series I remember them both the first pilot episode and the later one thought the second was better and I reckon it would be interesting to bring her back but in a way that where she's married and runs a hotel which is haunted? Somehow she inherited it from an relative who it turns out to be the ghosts haunting the hotel and her it has nothing to do with her mother or relatives or magical things it her father cousin's hotel it turns out the Stevens weren't normal they were in fact from an old English family who had a few black sheep and smugglers and pirates in their roots interesting one was said to have magical powers? The Hotel is called Shady House taken from a famous pirate? The gossip is the cousin was a dappled in finding a treasure chest that was cursed he suddenly died from a cold or something but Tabitha has found out why a darker mystery a edger comedy as she discoverers her family secrets and it a scary tale of horror and mystery and Adam is there to? And her family will have their powers put to the test as that chest hold a strong connection to magic and that's just the tip of the iceberg as many new secrets are answered and someone from the past will help?
Making Adam mortal was a mistake.
If they are "immortal", why did they age?
I get the idea the producers were thinking, "Wait, we have to do magic special effects with THREE of the main characters? We can't afford that!"
They should have had her renounce her magic to become a Disco queen! God, who wrote these shows!?
...and bump into Dona Summer?
I thought Lisa Hartman was adorable. Robert Urich was great in this…sexy and funny, in a 3piece suit a lot.
I saw the second pilot or first episode as a 12 year kid. My older brothers & sister watched it as a goof, but even as a kid I was amazed at how unfunny and awful it was..
Was it incompetence on the network's part, or were they deliberately trying to sink the show?
I vote for incompetence. If they wanted to sink it they would never have gone with the second pilot with Lisa Hartman, just cashing in after the Liberty Williams pilot failed.
it was a bad idea....period
I think the writing just should have been better. It was getting corny, and didnt match the technological advancement or area of believability, which is the reason Harry Potter did so well... even though it borrows from Bewitched.
King Cole And with the show going into the late 70s, it was leaning more towards realistic, adult oriented programming. I can see why it didn’t work. It was never going to work.
@@cityhawk that's right. The times had changed. Bewitched worked in the 60s because times were still innocent. The 70s was a very gritty time and the whole global situation had become rather dark with economic recessions, the Vietnam war, watergate, oil crises and all sorts of civil rights movements raging. The original cutesy premise of the show just didn't seem fitting to the times. And it never has ever since. The most recent remake in the 2000s with Nicole Kidman was a huge flop and just dreadful. Because once again, the premise doesn't work for modern audiences who demand authenticity and grit in storylines. The only other witch show that worked was Charmed in the 90s, but that's only because they provided darker themes and more sexually liberated characters to fit the times. TV is a medium that demands very contemporary storylines. It is a medium that steamrolls history, is very commodified (relying as it does in advertising) and so is best suited to very current themes, contemporary actors and modern narratives. In its day, the original Bewitched starring Liz Montgomery was actually very modern and novel. Audiences hadn't really seen anything like it before on television (only in motion pictures) and the special effects and sound effects (which seem silly or dated now) were actually state of the art back then and audiences marvelled as much at the "magic of television" as they did at the magic of the witchy characters. Bewitched worked in the 60s because it played on the very high tech nature of the televisual medium itself.
@@stmichl9433 that’s true. The whole premise would have to be different now. Back then interracial marriages were the newest thing. Now it’s old hat. That and the domineering husband subjugating the wife would definitely not work
Any Bewitched die hard fan would know it was Tabatha.
Something that makes no sense is Tabitha would have been 12 in 1978 being that she was born in 1966. Definitely some continuity errors.
Not in witch years.
Remember how bad the Bewitched movie with Nicole Kidman was? UGH!
Interestingly the Pilot for the second "Tabitha" series; spelled her named: "Tabatha"; while the 3rd series episodes spelled it, conventionally; as: "Tabitha"-!
Uggh-!; your opening disjointed piano music; is such a turn-off.
Cool I have DVD videos complete collection of bewitched TV show series episodes and DVD videos complete collection of TV show series episodes of Tabatha
The opening to the final "Tabitha" series was AWFUL. That narrator was annoying, and it was just stupid. They'd be better off with a little mini-cartoon like Bewitched...and just music. When new shows try to be hip, it seldom works!
A standalone os stupid. Is stupid. No winder it did not live or I know about it. Don't like who played her brother. He was not good looking, she had brown hair not blonde. I wish it could have been with original actors, grandmother included. Sad she passed away. The 2nd Tabitha was better idea, etc. The voice was closer to her mother's. I never knew all this wow.
Some kids hair darkens as they get older. I started out with blond hair that was almost white and it darkened to brown hair by the time I was in my teens.
Why was the name misspelled on the first pilot?? "Tabatha" Shame on you for relying on Herbie Pilato for your research, and please learn how to pronounce "reprise" properly, buddy, it's not "rePREEZ."