I know the black/white episodes are probably the most popular but I find them boring. Some woman is after Darrin. Sam tries to get a traffic light installed. Sam heads up a women's group.
And she's so serious. I love the color episodes where Sam is funny and whacky. Plus, there's more of her relatives in the color episodes.
Al - Alicia
An - Andrew
Jo - Joseph
Be - Benjamin
The show is much classier, fresh and original in the first two years. And as
for the lack of Uncle Arthur, Serena and Dr. Bombay, I say, YAY! I, too,
adore them LATER, but enjoy the simplicity of the series in this first year.
And you're comparing seasons one and two, when there is great difference
between them. The second year really went for true comedy, including the
debut eps of Uncle Arthur and Serena (both are great offerings).
I agree, and I also think the show lost a lot of its magic when aunt Clara died and Paul Lynne left the show. What ruined the series was the second Darin. At least for me. The first few years were the best.
The easiest thing i have ever had to do was give my heart.
And I love the Endora/Darren relationship in those first two seasons. Much more textured than in the color episodes.
shareI disagree. There's something very special about the black-and-white episodes. And as someone else mentioned I love the relationship that Endora and Darrin have In the first two seasons.Plus it was very much a romantic comedy in those first two seasons.
American Horror Story Season 6: Donald Trump
And I always lump season three (my personal fave) with the first two years
as far as romantic comedy. Again, there's no Serena (I adore the character,
but do not miss her here) and only one Dr. Bombay episode (his first, and
one of his best, "There's Gold in Them Thar Pills"). We have more Aunt
Clara in season three than in any other, and (hooray!) there's no Esmeralda
or Adam (he may as well have been a stuffed toy, he offered so little). The
third year was imaginative and diverse ("Sam in the Moon", "The Trial and
Error of Aunt Clara", "Charlie Harper, Winner'), yet still very romantic.
I love the fourth year, but it's much more in league with the rest of the
series.
I will agree with that. Season 3 is very much on par with the first two. And yes, 99.9% of the time there was more Aunt Clara, it was always good. After season 3 things started to get a little wacky...not necessarily a bad thing...but it simply wasn't the same as those first 3 seasons.
American Horror Story Season 6: Donald Trump
This show benefited when it went to color. It looked more lively. It looked boring in black and white. I think it was more that than the stories. Plus, Elizabeth Montgomery just looked prettier in the color episodes and that gave the show more appeal too. Suddenly, everything worked.
shareBenefited for sure...but the show was already very successful before it ever went color.
American Horror Story Season 6: Donald Trump
The show does NOT look "boring" in black-and-white. While it does benefit
from color, it also benefits from the incisive black-and-white photography,
the first season in particular. Black-and-white isn't "less than" color; it
is merely a different art form.
I'm a big fan black and white shows and movies and think the '50s and '60s were a great era for both. But, strangely, some shows look better and work better in one or the other. With the change to all color TV shows in '66 we got to got to compare and later make judgements on some shows.And color didn't always fit the show as well. There were always other issues involved too, like the writing, or the casts just jelling together more or the concept of the show growing tired. But, for seemingly every show, there was a change in feel of going from black and white to color that either helped or hurt the show a little. For Bewitched, and a few other series, most of the fans probably think it gave a nice little spark that helped that series. Most fans of shows that changed usually prefer the b&w or color episodes more and color isn't always the choice.
shareCheers to that gbennett. I totally agree. I love the first 3 seasons. Each season offering something different.
I enjoy monochrome films in general.
"Black-and-white isn't "less than" color"
Yes, it definitely is less than color. A B&W TV only has one "color" (white, generated by white phosphors), which, by varying the intensity, can create an infinite number of shades of gray, as well as white and the illusion of black (especially in a dark room). A color TV has three colors (red, green, and blue), which, when combined, and by varying the intensity, can create the illusion of an infinite number of colors, including everything a B&W TV can produce. B&W is factually, and demonstrably, less than color.
"it is merely a different art form."
That's irrelevant in this context, since the decision to shoot the first two seasons of Bewitched in B&W wasn't even remotely artistically motivated. They did it because it was cheaper than shooting in color and it was the norm for TV shows at the time.
That's like saying a dime is less than a nickel because there's not as much metal in it. Black-and-white is not less than color, artistically. It doesn't matter whether it was an artistic or budgetary choice. Once the choice was made, it was shot as artistically as possible.
share"That's like saying a dime is less than a nickel because there's not as much metal in it."
No, it's nothing like that, since you didn't include what that would be in reply to.
"Black-and-white is not less than color, artistically."
Again, "artistically" is irrelevant in this context, and I already explained why.
"It doesn't matter whether it was an artistic or budgetary choice."
Yes, it does.
"Once the choice was made, it was shot as artistically as possible."
No, it absolutely wasn't. It was strictly a technical process. We're talking about a sitcom shot primarily in a studio under blazing lights, not some artsy movie that experiments with light, shadow, angles, etc.
Wrong. Just because it was less expensive, doesn't mean black-and-white is inferior to color. Absurd. There is great thought and care that goes into the lighting, shadows and aura of black-and-white photography.
By your way of thinking, something like "Halloween 5: Season of the Witch" is more visually appealing than "Casablanca" because the former is in color.
"Wrong. Just because it was less expensive, doesn't mean black-and-white is inferior to color."
Since I didn't say anything whatsoever about "less expensive," nor anything anything at all related to cost, in my reply to "Black-and-white isn't "less than" color," this is a non sequitur from you, and as such, consider it dismissed out of hand.
"There is great thought and care that goes into the lighting, shadows and aura of black-and-white photography."
None of those things are inherent to black and white photography. Do you think there was "great thought and care that [went] into the lighting, shadows and aura" of, e.g., a B&W "stag film" from the 1950s? How about old B&W newscasts shot on 16mm? How about B&W home movies shot on 8mm?
"By your way of thinking, something like "Halloween 5: Season of the Witch" is more visually appealing than "Casablanca" because the former is in color."
Since you've posted nothing but non sequiturs, you obviously don't have the foggiest notion about my "way of thinking." Your problem seems to be a reading deficiency of some sort. As for "Halloween 5: Season of the Witch," there's no such movie.
No, it's YOU that doesn't have the "foggiest", bud.
You stated that black-and-white IS less than color because, it's "gray." As if not being able to discern blue and red in a given shot makes the scene "less." It's about the value of the DP's image, not which color someone's eyes are. Ridiculous.
Shooting something in black-and-white doesn't automatically make art. Any dummy knows that. But color doesn't transcend anything to art either just because you can see a green suit.
Actually, BW WAS lit and shot with great care, especially in its first year. This is why the hideous "colorization" spoils the mood of every shot in the first two years BW.
Lastly, enjoy your stag films. I'd wager you have a huge collection, lol!
I'm certain you'll want the last word. This means, of course, you'll have to post again. Somehow I think you'll manage it.
So long, pal.
"No, it's YOU that doesn't have the "foggiest", bud."
Your non sequitur is dismissed.
"You stated that black-and-white IS less than color because, it's "gray.""
Reading Deficiency Alert: Part II
I said that B&W is less than color because a B&W TV only has one "color" (white) and a color TV has three colors (red, green, and blue). One color is less than three colors, obviously. That's a fact, and facts aren't debatable.
"As if not being able to discern blue and red in a given shot makes the scene "less." It's about the value of the DP's image, not which color someone's eyes are. Ridiculous."
Your non sequitur is dismissed.
"Shooting something in black-and-white doesn't automatically make art. Any dummy knows that."
Any dummy except for you, given that you proclaimed:
There is great thought and care that goes into the lighting, shadows and aura of black-and-white photography.
Black-and-white isn't "less than" color
The first season of BEWITCHED (like the first season of, say, GILLIGAN'S ISLAND) is early-'60s in tone, while the color episodes are late-'60s in tone.
Which is to say, the B&W episodes have a soothing, spooky, haunted, mystical quality (as much because of the era as the B&W itself) while the color episodes have a typically late-'60s tone: louder, more garish, more neurotic, more in denial of what's going on in the external world (that's not a criticism, just a description for late-'60s TV in general).
For some people, I guess the soothing, spooky, more mystical tone of Season 1 of BEWITCHED is "boring", but I really like it. (Oddly, like a lot of other shows which remained in B&W during the 1965/66 TV year, I find Season 2 to feel like a color show they forgot to shoot in color -- you can feel that late-'60s flavor knocking at the back door like it's Mrs. Cravitz or something trying to get in).
BTW: I tried to spell "Mrs Cravitz" with a "K" -- and the site kept bleeping it... LOL!
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I don't find the color episodes "garish" or "neurotic" (exactly what does THAT
mean?), any more than I feel that say, Uncle Arthur's first visit or Tabitha's
birth "need" to be in color. By contrast, I don't feel black-and-white is
an ymore "soothing" than color. They are different but EQUAL art forms, and
the fact that black-and-white WAS (not now) cheaper to execute is totally
beside the point.
I've noticed, gbennett5, that across the boards, you seem to demand that everyone define everything in the terms you "prefer" (even when they're not disagreeing with you).
And that doesn't always work.
Plus, I myself never commented on B&W being "cheaper".
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I just so happened to see the original Pilate episode a few years ago and I was shocked that it was in color, because I quite clearly remembered the early couple of seasons were black and white. According to a critic of a certain 'Bewitched' DVD collection, some of the colorization was quite awful in it's quality. Do they still play any of the early episodes in their original black and white form on current TV reruns ?
shareI haven't seen the black & white episodes for decades. The show was syndicated around the fourth season. I remember my sisters and I watching the b&w episodes in the morning during summer vacation.
But TV was in the process of going "all color". Episodes like this that were in b&w were taken out of syndication. The networks figured that audiences only wanted to see color episodes.
I do love the first two seasons for their uniqueness. Everything was new and different.
I also much prefer the original Louise Tate, Irene Vernon. She could act. Alice Pierce's Gladys Kravitz was a lovable, charming busybody. Sandra Gould had big shoes to fill. But I could have done without her screechy version of Gladys in most (but not all) of her appearances.
To be sure, there a few clunkers in the early seasons like the forgettable "Pleasure O'Reilly".
But the early years were special. We were introduced to family members. Darrin's father was so bemused by Aunt Clara's revelation that she was a witch. He just thought she was a lovable eccentric. Maurice's larger than life first appearance was memorable.
So many early episodes were classics.