By
Joe G, Paul and Dr. Bombay
In
any long running TV series, there comes a time when the writers run
out of completely new ideas and begin to repeat episode themes. Bewitched
was no exception, especially in the later years. However, because
of a lack of a firm definition of what a "remake" is, Bewitched
has probably been unfairly tagged with running too many remake episodes.
If you count a repeat of the main story line as a "remake" episode,
then the theme of Darrin’s trying to land an advertising contract
makes more than half of the episodes repeats. How about a subplot
of Endora playing a dirty trick on Darrin and he still gets the account?
There are about 40 episodes that repeat on that theme. This page will
address the total remakes, partial remakes, episodes with similar
plots, and shared similar scenes and dialogue from episodes that have
nothing else alike.
# 1,
“I, Darrin Take This Witch, Samantha” and # 126,
“Snob in the Grass”
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Both episodes contain similar scenes and dialog where
Samantha gets even with Sheila. Footage from # 1
is even included in the # 126
flashback scene. |
Use your cursor to
swat that fly! |
# 1,
“I, Darrin Take This Witch, Samantha”, # 64,
“Double Split,” and # 164,
“The Battle of Burning Oak”
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Sheila in # 1
asks Samantha if she knows "Dr. Hafner, the plastic surgeon, he
does good nose work." Exactly the same line is used to Samantha
by the snobbish girl in # 64.
The exact same question, word for word, is asked Samantha in # 164
by one of the "Burning Oak" screening committee members. |
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# 4,
“It Shouldn’t Happen to a Dog” and #s 105
& 106, “Serena Strikes Again,
Parts I & II”
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The single clients make trouble again! Rex Barker
and Clio Vanita try to make advances on Sam and Darrin in the backyard
near the gazebo. Sam transforms Barker into a dog, while Serena
changes Vanita into a monkey. Both animals are put out in the yard
for the night, and escape. The bulk of the rest of # 4
and #s 105 and 106
are unrelated, but both clients are eventually changed back into
their original forms. |
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# 5,
“Help, Help, Don’t Save Me” and # 252,
“A Good Turn Never Goes Unpunished”
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Sam suggests a few changes to some campaign ideas,
but Darrin thinks she did it by witchcraft. He uses his original
ideas, but they’re rejected. Eventually he uses Sam’s, but they’re
rejected, too, so he realizes the error of his ways. Sam sneakily
still manages to get him the account in the end. “Help” was about
Caldwell Soup, while “Good Turn” was about Benson Mattresses. |
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# 6,
“Little Pitchers Have Big Fears” and # 90,
“Soapbox Derby”
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Samantha helps a young boy (Marshall/Johnny) with
a single parent achieve his goal (play baseball/enter Soap Box Derby)
despite the objections of Darrin and the parent. In both, Gladys
is suspicious of Sam and her influence on the boy. Gladys also has
a competitive nephew in each episode. |
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# 8,
“The Girl Reporter” and # 194,
“The Generation Zap”
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A girl falls for Darrin (in “Reporter” it’s naturally
done, in “Zap” it’s because of Endora) while a boyfriend/father
become angered. Both feature the boyfriend (“Monster”) or father
(Mr. Harrison, a McMann and Tate client) being unable to punch Darrin
because of Sam’s help, but the girl (Liz/Dusty) being able to slap
Darrin. |
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# 9,
“Witch or Wife” and # 130,
“MacTavish”
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Each has a scene where Darrin delivers
his speech about "You can’t take a beautiful witch in the prime
of her life and expect her to hang up her twitch." |
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# 10,
“Just One Happy Family” and # 234,
“Paris, Witches’ Style”
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Both have scenes in which Maurice
walks around fuming mad, and breaking things, Darrin being changed
into an inanimate object, and Maurice destroying Darrin, then
mustering up enough energy to bring him back. |
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# 11,
“It Takes One To Know One” and # 240,
“The Eight Year Witch”
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Endora litters the kitchen with model
photos that came from Darrin’s briefcase, and Sam must explain that
those are part of his job. In “Takes One,” Endora gets another witch,
and in “Eight Year,” she gets a familiar (cat) that she turns into
human form to go into Darrin’s office and get the job of the model
(Ophelia). Both episodes have a modeling session, and a scene at
the witch’s apartment/hotel room in which the witch tries to seduce
Darrin, and get rid of Larry. Sam intervenes on both. Both episodes
use a lot of the same dialogue, and most of the same scenes. |
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# 17,
“A is for Aardvark” and # 157,
“One Touch of Midas”
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Both episodes contain a scene where Samantha has to
convince Darrin that she has all she wants and doesn’t need money. |
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# 22,
“Eye of the Beholder” and # 210
“Samantha’s Old Man”
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Darrin questions what will happen as he gets older
and Samantha still looks the same in both of these episodes. |
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# 24,
“Which Witch is Which?” and # 196,
“A Chance on Love”
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These episodes both have the plot of
Samantha being unable to go to an obligation. In “Which Witch,”
Endora assumes her identity, and in “Chance,” Serena goes in her
place. Both fake Samanthas get a man while fulfilling the obligation,
and then start seeing the man as Samantha. The man in # 24
ends being a friend of Darrin’s that is in town promoting a book,
while the man in # 196 is a client
at McMann and Tate. Troubles start to arise when Darrin and Samantha
find out, but by the end of both, all is solved when the men see
Samantha and Endora/Serena at the same time. |
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# 27,
“There’s No Witch Like An Old Witch” and # 243,
“Samantha’s Magic Sitter”
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In these episodes, Aunt Clara and Esmeralda feeling
down end up baby-sitting for a client. Both episodes feature the
gag when the kid tries to shoot Aunt Clara/Esmeralda with a water
gun and it fires backwards. While Aunt Clara makes the rounds
as the hot new baby-sitter in town, Esmeralda only does it once.
Both end up telling who they are baby-sitting that they’re a witch.
Parents get mad at this, but each episode has a different ending.
Aunt Clara has a hearing with a disgruntled parent, while Esmeralda
does a magic show to show what she meant by “witch.” |
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# 29,
“Abner Kadabra” and # 228,
“Samantha and the Antique Doll”
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Gladys and Phyllis both witness magical happenings
at the Stephens house. Samantha convinces them that maybe it’s they
that have the magic powers and caused it to happen. Gladys goes
about trying to turn on and off the rain, while Phyllis goes on
about familiars with the antique doll. Both episodes feature a seance,
a relative’s ghost appearing during the seance, and the husband
(Abner and Frank) turning into something (a pile of dust and a mule)
via Sam. However, the seance in # 228
is to turn Frank back into human form, while in # 29
Abner turns into dust during the seance. Both vow to give up their
powers. |
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# 32,
“Illegal Separation” and # 140,
“Splitsville”
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Gladys and Abner have a fight in both
of these, and one of them goes over to the Stephens’ “for the
night” (Abner in # 32, Gladys
in # 140). As time goes on,
the Kravitz continues to stay and Darrin is eager to get them
out. Samantha uses witchcraft to prove to them how much they actually
love each other (dream sequence in # 32,
and hexing the butcher to flirt with Gladys in # 140),
and they reunite. |
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# 39,
“We’re in for a Bad Spell” and # 179,
“Samantha’s Secret Spell”
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A spell is required in these two
episodes, however for very different reasons. In “Bad Spell,”
it’s to rid a curse from Darrin’s friend Adam. In “Secret Spell,”
it’s a spell for Darrin to prevent Endora turning him into a mouse.
However, both spells in the episode require odd things to be done
by the person (Adam/Darrin) like drinking a potion under water,
and kissing a spotted dog without the assistance of witchcraft.
When the things correctly occur, a ding or music are heard. |
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# 42,
“Take Two Aspirins and a Half Pint of Porpoise Milk” and # 253,
“Samantha’s Witchcraft Blows a Fuse”
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Samantha loses her powers after coming into contact
with some rare anti-witch plants: black Peruvian roses, and Himalayan
cinnamon. Both plants proved effective in driving out witches
of the areas in which the plants originated. In # 42,
Samantha gets square green spots disease, while in # 253,
she gets bright red stripes disease. Both shows have a trip to
an apothecary (Trigby and Postelwaite). The potion cure for both
diseases requires a hard to find feather (ostrich and dodo bird).
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# 43,
“Trick or Treat” and # 177
“To Trick or Treat or Not to Trick or Treat”
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In order to make Darrin get what she
thinks he deserves, Endora transforms Darrin into a werewolf /
stereotypical witch. She is angry about his favorable attitude
towards Halloween. However, she learns in both that by doing what
she did, she is only acting out as the stereotypical witch, and
is sorry. |
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# 46,
“Junior Executive” and # 224,
“Out of the Mouths of Babes”
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Darrin is turned into a little boy
in both of these episodes, but the majority of the episodes is
very different. In both, however, Darrin learns the kids’ point
of view on two products and that helps with his approach of the
two accounts at McMann and Tate (Harding Toys model ship and Mother
Flannigan’s Irish Stew). |
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# 47,
“Aunt Clara’s Old Flame” and # 226,
“Samantha’s Magic Mirror”
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Aunt Clara and Esmeralda are both going to receive
visits from old beaus. The reunions occur at the Stephens house,
and Samantha helps both of them with their magic. In the end,
both Aunt Clara and Esmeralda realize that their old beaus aren’t
quite so good at their magic either. Besides these points, the
rest of the episodes are unrelated. |
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# 50,
“Speak the Truth” and # 254,
“The Truth, Nothing But the Truth, So Help Me Sam”
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Wanting to prove that humans don’t
deal well with the truth, Endora gives Darrin a Truth God statue
in the first one, and casts a truth spell on a Unicorn pin Darrin
is going to give to Sam in the second one. Repeated in the second
one are Darrin commenting on Sam’s looks, Darrin and his secretary
revealing what they really think of each other, and the client
and spouse coming to the Stephens’ for dinner. Both clients have
lame slogan ideas, and the clients and spouses end up having a
fight because of the truth spell; much of the episodes are word
for word the same. |
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# 57,
“Fastest Gun on Madison Avenue” and # 225,
“Samantha’s Psychic Slip”
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Each episode opens with the bit where
Samantha orders 60 cans of waxed beans because they are on sale. |
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# 58,
“The Dancing Bear” and # 163,
“Tabitha’s Weekend”
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In both episodes, there is the same bit
about Frank’s vending machine idea (See Frank’s
Vend-O-Matic). |
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# 59,
“Double Tate” and # 96, “Three
Wishes”
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Unbeknownst to him, in both of these
episodes Darrin receives three wishes from Endora. |
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# 68,
“Divided He Falls” and # 185,
“Samantha’s Better Halves”
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Endora splits Darrin into his hard
working half, and fun loving half. In “Divided,” fun loving Darrin
and Samantha go on vacation, while hard working Darrin stays home
to work. In “Better Halves,” one Darrin stays home to care for
pregnant Samantha, and the other travels to Japan to do business.
In both, Samantha realizes that she only wants one Darrin. |
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# 70,
“Man’s Best Friend” and # 209,
“Samantha’s Pet Warlock”
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Both episodes feature an old admirer
of Samantha’s (Rodney/Ashley) coming back to whisk her away with
him. She refuses, and both warlocks turn themselves into dogs
that Darrin eventually takes a liking to. |
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# 75,
“Nobody’s Perfect” and # 115,
“The Safe and Sane Halloween”
# 75 - "I know what a
wonderful feeling it is to be part of the magical life, to have
so much at your fingertips. But we're living in a world that just
isn't used to people like us, and I'm afraid they never will be.
So I'm going to have to be very firm with you, you're going to
have to learn when you can use your witchcraft, and when you can't.
Now your wonderful Daddy wants us to be just plain people."
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In both episodes, Samantha
gives Tabitha the "magical life" speech.
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# 115 - "I know what
a wonderful feeling it is to be part of the magical life. But
you're just going to have to try and understand that we're living
in a world that isn't quite ready for us yet, and I'm afraid they
may never be. Tabitha, now please, listen. I'm going to have to
be very firm with you, and insist you wish your friends back into
this book. It's very important to Daddy." |
# 77,
“Witches and Warlocks Are My Favorite Things” and # 242,
“Adam, Warlock or Washout”
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Tabitha and Adam’s powers are tested by a coven
(Hagatha, Clara, Enchantra and Endora for Tabitha, and Enchantra
and Grimalda for Adam). In both, Darrin and Samantha become angry
over the coven’s suggestion to whisk the child off to a more witchly
environment. Samantha calls for Maurice to come to her aide. Both
children end up having great talent for their age. |
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#s 87
& 88, “My Friend Ben” & “Samantha
for the Defense”, #s 249 &
250, “George Washington Zapped Here,
Part I” & "George Washington Zapped Here, Part II” and #
173, "Samantha’s Caesar
Salad."
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In the duel two-parters, Benjamin
Franklin is zapped up by Aunt Clara trying to get an electrician,
and George Washington is zapped up by Esmeralda trying to get
his button and buckle from a picture in a book. Both American
icons wreak havoc around town (Ben crashes a fire truck, and George
challenges a policeman to a duel), and are sent to court. Both
prove innocence through lengthy speeches by themselves and Samantha,
despite the protests of Gladys in # 87/88
and the police officer in # 249/250.
Much of the dialogue from the Franklin two-parter is repeated
in the Washington two-parter, including the judges saying, “If
he isn’t Benjamin Franklin/George Washington, he should be.”
In # 173 when Julius Caesar
is accidentally sneezed from the past, he leaves the Stephens’
home unbeknownst to Darrin and Sam and gets involved with a protest
march in town, resulting in a confrontation with a police officer
and a near arrest. Here, however, Sam manages to cajole the officer
into letting her take Caesar home with her. |
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# 107,
“There’s Gold in Them Thar Pills” and # 247,
“Serena’s Youth Pill”
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Dr. Bombay and Serena both have great pills that
Larry wants to market. Dr. Bombay’s cures the flu, and Serena’s
makes one more youthful. Unfortunately, both pills have nasty
consequences. Dr. Bombay’s pills cause one’s voice to get higher,
while Serena’s pills do make you young, but you keep getting younger
until you’re a baby. Besides these relations, the episodes are
different. |
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# 119,
“Samantha’s Thanksgiving to Remember” and # 207
“Samantha’s Old Salem Trip”
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Both of these feature Samantha being
sent back to Salem in the 1600’s not by her choice, and Darrin being
accused of witchery and taken to court. |
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# 120,
“Solid Gold Mother-In-Law”, # 127,
“If They Never Met”, and # 239,
“Warlock in the Gray Flannel Suit”
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All three of these
episodes contain a scene where Larry promises Darrin a partnership.
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# 142,
“Samantha Goes South for a Spell”, #s 229
& 230, “How Not to Lose Your
Head to King Henry VIII, Parts I & II” and # 208,
"Samantha's Old Salem Trip."
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In these episodes, a general plot outline
occurs in both: a witch gets mad at Sam (whom she thinks is Serena
in # 142) for meddling with
a man, the witch sends Sam back in time (1868, New Orleans and
time of King Henry VIII, England), Sam doesn’t know who she is
back in time, Sam is taken in by a man (Rance / King Henry VIII),
Darrin is sent back in time to kiss her to restore her memory,
the man and Samantha gets mad at Darrin, Darrin ends up fighting
with the man, Samantha intervenes because of her instincts, Darrin
kisses her, they go back to the present, and the people in the
past quickly deny that Samantha or Darrin were ever there.
Another trans-century rescue of the same type is carried out
in # 208. Here, Darrin must
also return to the period Samantha has been whisked back to, she
has no recollection of who she is, nor who Darrin is. She also
shows Darrin the same animosity she showed him in #s 142,
229 and 230.
An amulet rather than a mere kiss is used here to restore her
memory, enabling her to escape back to the present with Darrin. |
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# 143,
“Samantha on the Keyboard” and # 246,
“Samantha on Thin Ice”
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Samantha agrees to learn how to play the
piano, and ice skate (with Tabitha) the normal way. The instructor
for both, though, sees Tabitha performing extraordinarily thanks
to Grandmama Endora’s spells. The instructors find world class experts
in music and ice skating to show off what they saw Tabitha do. Samantha
and Darrin make Endora remove the spells though, and the experts
walk away in disappointment. |
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# 147
“Samantha’s French Pastry” and # 172
“Samantha’s Caesar Salad”
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These two episodes each have famous monarchs
of the past (Napoleon Bonaparte and Julius Caesar) appear in the
present mistakenly from Uncle Arthur/Esmeralda trying to make food
(napoleons and a Caesar salad). |
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# 147,
“Samantha’s French Pastry” and # 236,
“TV or not TV”
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Both of these contain a bit where Samantha
tells someone to flub their TV line. |
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# 151,
“I Don’t Want to Be a Toad, I Want to Be a Butterfly” and # 248,
“Tabitha’s First Day at School”
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Tabitha ends up turning a classmate
into an animal in both of these first-day-of-school episodes.
Amy is changed into a butterfly, and Billy is turned into a frog.
The teacher states in both episodes that, “No child is essentially
different from any other child.” The same actress, Maudie Prickett,
is used in both episodes, portraying two different school teachers.
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# 151,
“I Don’t Want to Be a Toad, I Want to Be a Butterfly”, # 185
“Samantha’s Better Halves”, and # 251,
“School Days, School Daze”
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All three of these episodes feature
a gag in which Sam mixes Darrin a progressively stronger drink
as she tells him about what happened with Tabitha at school and
what happened with Darrin in Japan. He finally tells her to finish
the stories and passes out. |
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# 153
“Instant Courtesy” and # 239,
“The Warlock in the Gray Flannel Suit”
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In the opening, while Sam is doing morning
rituals in the kitchen, Endora zaps Samantha into burlap and chains
in 153, into ball and chains
in the kitchen in 164, and into
a jail cell with a ball and chain in 239.
The same old, "If you're going to act like a slave/prisoner, look
like one" line is used. |
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# 165,
“Samantha’s Power Failure” and # 245,
“Serena’s Richcraft”
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After Arthur loses his powers in #
165, he tries to light a match.
He finally reads the instructions, which say, "Close cover before
striking." He closes the cover, puts the match book on the table,
and pounds the matchbook. In # 245,
Serena, in the same situation, does the same thing, complete with
repeated lines. |
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# 171,
“Samantha and the Beanstalk” and # 238,
“Hansel and Gretel in Samanthaland”
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Tabitha zaps story book characters right
out of their pages (Jack, and Hansel and Gretel) and goes into the
stories herself. Chaos ensues as Jack starts talking to Phyllis,
and Hansel and Gretel start talking to the Tates. Darrin tries to
cover up for the characters as Sam goes into the stories to get
Tabitha out. While Tabitha seems to have control of the giant in
Jack in the Beanstalk, the witch of Hansel and Gretel has her in
a cage. Eventually, Tabitha and Samantha come out of the books,
and put the characters back. |
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# 186,
“Samantha’s Lost Weekend” and # 211,
“The Corsican Cousins”
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In both of these episodes, there is a
scene where Samantha, under a spell, acts foolishly in a supermarket. |
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# 196,
“A Chance on Love” and # 245,
“Serena’s Richcraft”
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Serena falls for two debonair clients,
but ends up breaking it off (not by her choice) with both of them.
Both episodes feature a bit with the client singing “Fly Me to the
Moon” and actually going there. |
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And
More!
#
7, "The Witches Are Out,"
# 43, "Trick or Treat" and
# 177, "To Trick or Treat or
Not to Trick or Treat"
All have clients that want to use an ugly witch in their campaign, and
much of the dialogue about using a beautiful witch is repeated, as well
as the same line from Tabitha and Mary: "Why don't we tell the
world who we are and then they'll see what wonderful nice people we
really are."
#
17, "A is for Aardvark"
and #s 180 & 181,
"Daddy Comes For a Visit" and "Darrin the Warlock"
Both involve Darrin acquiring magical powers and going wild with them
until he realizes that always getting what you want, when you want it,
isn't as satisfying as working for it.
#
53, "Maid to Order" and
# 154, "Samantha's Super Maid"
Samantha tries to hire a mortal maid and goes through about three candidates
before she finds the perfect one.
#
61, "The Horse's Mouth"
and # 241, "Three Men and a
Witch on a Horse"
Both involve Samantha changing a horse into a human so she can speak
to it and discover its problem.
#
72, "What Every Young Man Should
Know" and # 135, "I Confess"
Both have a dream sequence where Larry is told about Samantha's powers.
#
79, "A Most Unusual Wood Nymph"
and # 217, "The Return of Darrin
the Bold"
Both have Samantha meeting Darrin's ancestor, Darrin the Bold.
#
138, "The No Harm Charm"
and # 212, "Samantha's Magic
Potion"
In # 138, Uncle Arthur gives Darrin
an object which he says will make him impervious to witchcraft, when
in reality it's not a magical object at all, just a lamp finial. In
# 212, Samantha gives him a "potion"
that will make him impervious to witchcraft, when in fact it was just
orange juice. Both instances were to give Darrin confidence.
#
167, "Daddy Does His Thing"
and # 222, "Darrin Goes Ape"
Both involve Darrin being turned into a large animal and taken into
custody by animal control, only to have Samantha pop in and spring him.
Often
repeated bits:
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Sometimes when Samantha gets mad at
Darrin, she zaps him from the bed to the couch. This happens in
#s 19, 131,
149, and 252. |
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Samantha leaves Darrin in #s 5,
9, 132,
and 252. |
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In # 96
she was ready to leave, but did not. |
For often repeated lines see Say
it Again, Sam! |