By Paul

  In the eight years and 254 episodes that Bewitched was on the air, there were so many conflicts and inconsistencies in the dialog and story lines it has become almost a trademark for the series. There were 62 different writers who formed 55 writing teams to work on the stories. Each team had their own ideas about the series, and did little comparison with past episodes when penning new scripts. Review of available scripts and comparing them with the aired versions, as is available at The Scripts, The Shows, and Their Differences, shows that the production crews spent a good deal of time removing or changing dialogue and scenes that did not fit into the production. Add to this a facade that was not complete, and would not support a true dwelling even if it were; a studio that made double use of sets (i.e., the master bedroom set doubled as the guest bedroom, sometimes Tabitha's room, and on occasion as the Tate's bedroom); and you have a formula that produced a lot of fun for nit-pickers.

  Here are some of the verbal conflicts and inconsistencies from Bewitched:

# 1 - Sheila says that she and Darrin were in Paris. In # 9, Darrin says he has never been to Paris.

# 1 - Samantha tells Endora that married people should have no secrets from each other. In # 91, she tells Darrin that there are some things about her he should not know.

# 5 - Endora says there was a martyr in the family at the Salem witch trials. In # 181, Maurice says the same thing. In # 119, # 203, and # 208 Samantha says there were no real witches involved in the Salem trials.

# 5 - Darrin goes in the bathroom in the den to shower. In # 13, Gertrude makes a comment about going to the powder room and heads down the hall. In # 78, Larry hides in the "closet." In # 154 it is a bathroom again. In # 209, the client comments about the dog/warlock being locked in the closet.

# 8 - The girl reporter calls and comes over the same evening. Darrin makes a comment about her "calling several days ago," which she had not done.

# 15 - Samantha uses the car to go shopping alone (also heard in # 24). She did not learn to drive until # 26.

# 19 - Frank and Phyllis have been married 40 years. In # 116, they have been married 35 years.

# 19 - Frank and Phyllis have moved to "the city" close to Samantha and Darrin. In # 58, they fly in to see the baby. In # 60, Phyllis keeps the baby during the morning.

# 22 - Darrin wonders for the first of many times when Samantha was born. Why did he not look on the marriage license? That is required information.

# 25 - Pleasure O'Reilly's house number is given as 1123 (can't be, has to be an even number). In # 30 the number is 1162.

# 31 - Larry asks Darrin how Samantha got to the hotel in 20 minutes. Larry never saw Samantha in the hotel room, so how did he know she was there?

# 32 - Gladys says she and Abner have been married 30 years. In # 42, Abner says 20 years.

# 54 - Darrin says he cannot swim a stroke. In # 69, Samantha twitches the "party Darrin" out of the pool when he dives in because she knows he can't swim. But, in # 99, he races Charlie Harper across the pool.

# 54 - Mason Curry is listed in cast credits as playing "Dr. Anton", but no doctor is seen in the episode.

# 59 - Darrin's office building is shown, at least 25 floors tall. The elevator only goes to the 15th floor.

# 68 - When the bum gets out of the truck it is still daylight, but prior to that Darrin and Samantha have gone to bed.

# 75 - Tabitha wiggles her nose to do magic. Samantha plainly sees her do it, but does not react until the second time it is done.

# 80 - Darrin complains about Uncle Arthur giving him a "hot foot." In # 150, Uncle Arthur says he gave up giving hotfoots 400 years ago.

# 81 - The Kravitz's house number is 1168. It must be an odd number to be across the street.

# 88 - Darrin says that he "snuck in through the back door," but he came from the kitchen that opens to the front of the house.

# 96 - Samantha wears her "flying suit." Darrin asks what it is, acting like he had never seen it before. He saw it during the trip to Santa's workshop in # 15.

# 98 - Samantha keeps calling for Endora to appear, but she knew that Endora was baby sitting Tabitha.

# 100 - The TV announcer says the north is in a bitter cold wave, but the Stephens' grass is green and the trees are in full green leaf.

# 103 - The plot of Darrin getting rained on because he made Samantha cry is all wet; he did not make her cry.

# 107 - Darrin has been at McMann and Tate for three years (since 1964). In # 247 it says that Darrin went to work for McMann and Tate on 11/15/61.

# 107 - Endora says that there is another witch doctor besides Dr. Bombay. In # 174, she says Bombay is the only doctor that they have. In # 118, Samantha says to Darrin that Dr. Bombay is just their general practitioner, and that he should see their specialist. In # 193, Samantha says Bombay is the best doctor they have. In # 237, Samantha says that Bombay is the only doctor who treats witches. In # 253, Samantha says that Bombay is their only doctor.

# 107 - Larry meets Dr. Bombay, but in # 190, Larry does not recognize the doctor.

# 109 - The Chases are coming to dinner at 7:30. The mess with the dolls is not cleaned up until later than that, but we never see the Chases or find out what happened to dinner.

# 119 - It is Thanksgiving, but the grass is green and Mrs. Kravitz is outside in short sleeves. Also it looks like late spring in Old Plymouth.

# 125 - For the only time, there is a lock on the hall closet. This closet is frequently not even there.

# 127 - Samantha says Darrin took her to Atlantic City for their honeymoon. In # 145 they go back to "Moonthatch Inn," which from its design cannot be the same place as in # 1.

# 138 - Darrin stands straight up on a six-foot ladder in the bedroom. That room must have had a high ceiling!

# 141 - Paul Lynde is given cast credit for being in this episode, but he was not in it.

# 142 - Samantha leaves Darrin a note that she and Tabitha are going to the store, but Tabitha is not with her when she puts on her coat and leaves. Tabitha is also not seen when Samantha returns.

# 143 - Why did Samantha go out the kitchen door, which opens to the front, when she says she is going out back to cut flowers?

# 147 - Larry says he is Senior Vice President of McMann and Tate. In # 191, McMann is referred to as "President and Chairman." Other than that, Larry is always called the "President" (e.g., # 239.)

# 159 - Samantha says Darrin's favorite meal is Irish stew. In # 164, she says it is corned beef and cabbage.

# 167 - Maurice changes Darrin into a mule, which he calls a jackass (a jackass is a male donkey). While Samantha calls "it" a mule and Mrs. Kravitz uses both terms.

# 167 - Samantha says Darrin's favorite breakfast is eggs benedict. Earlier, she said it was scrambled eggs and chicken livers.

# 171 - Tabitha is spelled with an "i," and up to this point it had been spelled with an "a."

# 200 - Samantha would not change clothes (witch style) in Darrin's presence until he turned his back. She had popped into a change of clothes in front of him other times.

# 247 - Louise babysits for Samantha. Who is keeping the Tate's baby, Jonathan?

  Lastly, the biggest inconsistency to fans of Bewitched is how the witches felt about Halloween. In # 7, Endora must retreat to the south of France to get away from the ugly stereotypes of witches. Yet in # 43, Endora wants Samantha to go to the "sacred volcano" with her for Halloween as if they participate in some sort of ritual. Whereas, who could forget Endora's huge, "annual" Halloween bash at 1164 Morning Glory Circle in # 81. That was quite a soiree for someone who detests the occasion. # 115 is consistent with #7, in that Samantha says that Endora goes to the south of France until "the whole thing blows over…"

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