DVD Release Date: July 10, 2007 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Color/ 1968-69
MSRP: $39.95
Number of Discs: 4
Number of Episodes: 30
Running Time: approx. 759 minutes
Total Run Time of Special Features: N/A
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English,
Spanish and Portuguese languages; Spanish, Portuguese
subtitles; closed-captioned.
Special Features: Sony TV DVD Previews
Introduction:
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings us another
season of Bewitched on DVD, this time The Complete
Fifth Season! Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York, Agnes
Moorehead, all return for more spellbinding and magic
at Morning Glory Circle! Join the Stephens family as
Sam takes a trip back to 1868 New Orleans, Endora
shrinks Darrin down to size, Serena tries her luck at
computer dating, and Tabitha wreaks havoc in nursery
school. The four-disc set contains all 30 episodes of
season five from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment,
marking the final season with Dick York as Darrin. So
join Elizabeth Montgomery in ... Bewitched!
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
This season is the last season with Dick York as
Darrin, and he goes out with a bang with classic
episodes! In the season premiere, “Samantha’s Wedding
Present,” Endora tries to make peace with Darrin, but
ends up shrinking him down to size ... gradually.
Samantha is sent back in time to 1868 New Orleans by a
jealous witch named Brunhilda, who happened to be
Serena's boyfriend's wife in “Samantha’s Goes South
for a Spell.” In “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall,” Endora
turns Darrin into the most self-centered, conceited
person on earth. Uncle Arthur switches Samantha and
Darrin's voices, and they try to keep a depressed
Louise and Larry from finding out in “Samantha Loses
Her Voice.” The Witches Council takes away Samantha's
powers when she refuses to break up with Darrin in
“Samantha’s Power Failure.”
Some famous guests this season include Dick Wilson,
Jack Cassidy, Isabel Sanford, Vic Tayback, Jonathan
Harris, Henry Gibson, and Danny Bonaduce. Recurring
actors include Bernard Fox, Paul Lynde, Sandra Gould,
Robert F. Simon, Marion Lorne, Kasey Rogers, Maurice
Evans, and George Tobias.
Packaging:
Like the previous sets, we get nice slim cases! This
set is a four-disc set, like the last one, so we have
two slim cases, each holding two discs each. But
before we get to the full slim case details, let’s go
back to the box. The cover of the box is a nice blue
color scheme. It has the attractive Bewitched logo in
script with a photo of an animated Samantha on top of
that. There is a nice photo of Samantha in the middle,
with Tabitha & Darrin to the right and Endora to the
left in a nice city type of background with a huge
moon. The back of the box has synopsis of the show and
the set, with three nice snapshots on the left side.
On the front of each slim case, there are pictures of
various cast members. Case 1 has Samantha, with Darrin
and Tabitha to the left. Case 2 has another shot of
Samantha, with Mrs. Kravitz and Endora on top. On the
back of each case, there is a listing of all of the
episodes on the discs contained inside as well as a
brief description of those episodes.
The art contained on the discs is simple, blue in
color with the city skyline in the background and
pictures of different characters on each disc. Disc 1
has a picture of Samantha, Disc 2 has a picture of
Darrin, Disc 3 has a picture of Endora, and Disc 4 has
a picture of Tabitha. Disc 1 contain episodes 1-7,
Disc 2 contains episodes 8-15, Disc 3 contains
episodes 16-23, and Disc 4 contains episodes 24-30
(and the bonus previews crap). When you take the discs
out, you will see nice photos surrounding the slim
case inside. Again, a Sony catalog comes with the
packaging. It is actually updated, too...stating
Married...with Children Season 7, The King of Queens
Season 9, and I Dream of Jeannie Season 4 are coming
soon, which is true, as all are in September.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menus are pretty simple like the previous sets.
Each menu screen on each of the four discs is
different. It starts off with an animated showcase of
Sam (each disc is different) twitching you to the menu
screen. Disc one menu is pink, the disc two menu is
green, disc three menu is purple, and disc four menu
is blue. They have one thing common; they have an
animated Darrin & Sam. The theme song plays in the
background (and it does loop if you stay awhile). The
options are: Play All Episodes, Episode Selections,
and Languages. The Episode Selections option takes you
to a simple menu where you can choose the episode you
want to see (pictures from the episodes are shown in
what appears to be picture frames on a wall).
Languages allow you to select what Audio and Subtitles
you want. Bonus Previews option is on disc four.
Almost exactly the same as the previous set. I think
it was 100% actually.
Video and Audio Quality:
Bewitched has been pretty good in video for previous
sets. This set is not as good though in terms of
video quality. There are some episodes that look
outstanding. However, there are quite a few where you
will notice a little too bright in color. This can be
easily noticed during the blue opening and closing
credits. “Cousin Serena Strikes Again, Part 1” (the
last episode on disc two) is VERY bad in video
quality. It is almost unwatchable. In addition, why
is that episode the last one on the disc? That is a
2-part episode and the second part is the first one on
disc three. All episodes appear to be unedited with
run times all over 25 minutes. The audio track is
pretty good, in Dolby Digital mono. There are no major
problems, and the volume is at a good level. Chapter
stops are available at the right places. We have about
5 stops. The new Sony Pictures logo is at the end of
each episode running like 5 seconds. The FBI warning
is available at the start of the first episode on
each disc...but you can chapter skip it. Some other
interesting facts: During the closing credits for the
episode “Samantha’s Wedding Present,” instead of just
the animated Sam during the credits, we get Darrin &
Sam on a cloud! Also, even more better, on the
closing credits for “One Touch of Midas,” that
animated Darrin & Sam is there once again, but instead
of a cloud, we get a Chevrolet logo! So cool that
Sony left that in there, but it has appeared on TV it
seems, as this YouTube video shows:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U__rPJkdRdY
The following are the runtimes for each episode:
Disc one
1. “Samantha’s Wedding Present” 25:04
2. “Samantha Goes South for a Spell” 25:06
3. “Samantha on the Keyboard” 25:06
4. “Darrin, Gone and Forgotten” 25:06
5. “It’s So Nice to Have a Spouse” 25:05
6. “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall” 25:22
7. “Samantha’s French Pastry” 25:21
Disc two
8. “Is It Magic or Imagination?” 25:16
9. “Samantha Fights City Hall” 25:20
10. “Samantha Loses Her Voice” 25:21
11. “I Don’t Want to Be a Toad, I Want To Be a
Butterfly” 25:19
12. “Weep No More, My Willow” 25:05
13. “Instant Courtesy” 25:21
14. “Samantha’s Supermaid” 25:20
15. “Cousin Serena Strikes Again, Part 1” 25:09
Disc three
16. “Cousin Serena Strikes Again, Part 2” 25:20
17. “One Touch of Midas” 25:22
18. “Samantha, the Bard” 25:19
19. “Samantha, the Sculptress” 25:20
20. “Mrs. Stephens, Where Are You?” 25:18
21. “Marriage, Witches’ Style” 25:22
22. “Going Ape” 25:18
23. “Tabitha’s Weekend” 25:20
Disc four
24. “The Battle of Burning Oak” 25:20
25. “Samantha’s Power Failure” 25:22
26. “Samantha Twitches for UNICEF” 25:24
27. “Daddy Does His Thing” 25:20
28. “Samantha’s Good News” 25:22
29. “Samantha’s Shopping Spree” 25:19
30. “Samantha and Darrin in Mexico City” 25:19
Special Features:
The first two sets had great extras; the last three
sets have had nothing but previews. Previews for this
set are Norman Lear TV, Bewitched Movie, I Dream of
Jeannie DVD, and Ladies Night TV. All the TV trailers
are so old. Again, it is not even funny anymore Sony!
The Lear one is new though, but still it has no
upcoming previews.
Final Comments:
I think Sony tries to release at least two Bewitched
sets in a year. We got season four in October, which
was almost 9 months ago. I hope that we get season
six, the first with Dick Sargent as Darrin, by
Halloween. If this pattern continues, which I doubt
since Sony is erratic, we could be finished with this
series by Halloween 2008 (S6 in Halloween 2007, S7 in
July 2008, and S8 by Halloween 2008). That is just my
take. Faster would be better, but two a year is fine
by me! Let’s just hope they don’t drag it longer than
that. As for this set, it is decent, but the video
quality is certainly a letdown. Other than that, the
set is on par with the last three sets, and of course
down from the first two where we got great special
features. So pretend your Elizabeth Montgomery and get
on your broom to the video store to buy this DVD, or
better yet - ride your broom in your house and just
buy it on Amazon.com by
clicking below!
