“The Darrin Syndrome” was contagious! The producers were at it again, they did not stop at the replacement of Darrin, they also swapped out Samantha’s neighbor Gladys.
Originally the role of Gladys Kravitz was played by actress Alice Pearce. When Alice left the show, she was replaced by another actress named Sandra Gould. As if they thought nobody would notice, the producers just swapped out these actors without so much of an explanation. It is funny when you think about it! Do you think this would ever fly today? Probably not!
The Fans Loved Tabitha
While some of the cast members of “Bewitched” were ready for it to end, most notably Elizabeth Montgomery, the fans still wanted more. There was a spinoff created of the show “Bewitched” called “Tabitha.” This show followed Tabitha, Samantha and Darrin’s daughter. It was about her life as an adult. People were really excited about the show; however, it ended up being a big disappointment.
Fans of the show loved the actress who played the role of Tabitha on “Bewitched,” but she was not involved with the spin-off, and they cast a new actress to play the role of Tabitha. For that reason, along with many others, the spin-off did not do well at all.
Aunt Clara Actress Marion Lorne Collected…What?
Here is a fun fact! You know how Aunt Clara on “Bewitched” is totally obsessed with doorknobs? Well, the actress who played Aunt Clara, Marion Lorne, had an obsession with them in real life! The basis for this funny obsession was based on the actress's real-life hobby!
Marion Lorne had over one thousand antique doorknobs in her personal collection. We mentioned earlier that some of the supporting cast would bring in their own wardrobe and accessories to be used in the show, this was no different for Aunt Clara. She used her own doorknob collection in the show as well!
Bell, Book, and Candle
The creator of the show “Bewitched,” Sol Saks, has said that the inspiration for the show was a movie called “Bell, Book, and Candle.” in this movie, the main role is a blond beauty just like Samantha.
Actress Kim Novak portrays a beautiful young witch who lives in New York City. In this movie, she really loves her neighbor but does not like the fiance of the neighbor. She uses her magic to put a spell on him to fall in love with her, however, it all back by her is when she ends up falling in love with him as well, especially since he is a mortal.
Drunk On Set!
A lot of things that happened back in the sixties while filming television shows would never fly in this day and age! One thing, for example, was that cast members would often drink on the set of “Bewitched.” in fact, they were even filmed drunk at times. Sometimes if you saw them drinking on the show, they really were drinking! Even the producer, William Asher, would drink on set!
The drinking was so expensive that there were even stand sites created that would calculate the number of times a character was seen drinking and each episode. Sounds like a pretty fun drinking game!