Posted by Dr. Bombay on June 17, 2011, 12:56 am Resident Bewitched Historian
...ABC re-aired Episode #209, "Samantha’s Pet Warlock" which originally on November 19, 1970.
Having been out of town so long Samantha finds that there needs to be some gardening done at 1164 and Durwood finds her out digging in the dirt. He would help but has been studying about dogs all night for the new Gibbons Dog Food account. As he recounts all he has read, Endora pops in surprised that he’s not racing with all the other rats and so he leaves. She has come to visit to tell Samantha that she ran into Ashley Flynn, a warlock that Samantha used to date and before Samantha knows it, Newton, er, Ashley pops in, apparently still carrying a torch for her. Wanting to leave the two “love” birds alone, Endora pops out but Samantha isn’t at all impressed. She reminds Ashley that she is married but he tells her mortal marriages don’t count though he would love to meet Durwood so he can see what Samantha sees in him. She suggests that it would never happen as they run in different circles and tells Ashley to get lost and so he pops out to the roof where he decides he’s gonna see what circles Durwood runs in.
At McMann and Tate, Durwood and Larry try to convince Mr. Gibbons to sign with them but he tells them that as he judges people by the dog he keeps and he asks Larry about his dog. As Larry doesn’t have a dog, he says as much but tells Mr. Gibbons that Durwood has one. Unbeknownst to the men, Ashley pops in invisible to watch and when Mr. Gibbons asks what kind he has Durwood and Larry say two different breeds at the same time. Larry tries to make up for it by saying it’s a mixed breed and when Mr. Gibbons asks what type of hair it has, the two men again say different things at the same time. Mr. Gibbons is perplexed but Larry tells him that Durwood’s dog is quite different as it has a white spot around one eye and a dark spot around the other with a beard. Intrigued, Mr. Gibbons asks to come see the dog and Larry says that will be OK much to Durwood’s shock. They make an appointment for later and after Mr. Gibbons leaves, Durwood lays into Larry, who will not take the blame as he says if Durwood was like every other man he would’ve had a dog. When Durwood asks him about his not having one Larry admits he’s allergic and tells Durwood they’ll just have to try and find one down at the pound. And with that Ashley pops out.
At the pound, the worker thinks they are nuts for asking such a dog while in the cages Ashley pops in and turns himself into the dog they described just as the men are led in. The worker is shocked but no more than Larry and Durwood but as it seems to be a bit of serendipity, they forget about it and Durwood takes Ashely the dog home.
At home, Durwood shows Samantha the dog and goes to find a blanket for the dog to sleep on. Samantha finds that the dog is very affectionate and when she sees him turn his baby food lunch into a steak she realizes that it’s not a dog at all! She realizes it must be Ashley when he won’t stop being affectionate and when Durwood comes back she tells him the truth. Ashley transforms back into his manly form and tells Durwood that he wanted to meet him and now that he has he can’t see what Samantha would want to do with him. Realizing he’s going to find another dog, Durwood gets a little upset but Samantha tells him he doesn’t need to and with a quick zap, turns Ashley back into the strange dog. And with that Durwood leaves to go buy some Gibbons Dog Burgers so he can impress the client.
Later on, Mrs. Kravitz shows up to borrow some paprika and see that the Stephens have a new ugly dog and remarks so causing Ashley to growl at her. Frightened, she leaves without her paprika and Samantha chides Ashley. When he begs to go outside she thinks he wants to follow through with his attack but she won’t let him out until he acts as though he will “make water” inside if she doesn’t let him. She makes him promise he won’t attack Mrs. Kravitz and lets him out. He rushes across the street to the Kravitz’s new house which is much bigger than their old one and he magically knocks the door. When Mrs. Kravitz answers the door he rushes in and delights Mr. Kravitz but Mrs. Kravitz doesn’t want him in the house. Before she can catch him he runs into the kitchen and changes into a sheep dog and then a beagle confusing and scaring Mrs. Kravitz even more. Having shown her who’s boss, Ashley returns to Samantha’s.
Later on, Durwood arrives back at home just as Larry and Mr. Gibbons pull up. When they come inside Samantha hasn’t a clue where Ashley is until he starts howling and they find him locked in a closet. Mr. Gibbons isn’t at all impressed and thinks Durwood may be abusing the dog but Samantha assures him that Ashley loves staying in the closet and must’ve got locked in there by mistake. When they open the door Ashley growls at Durwood but he says it must be because the dog is hungry and he lays down a Gibbons Dog Burger which Ashley immediately zaps into a steak. Mr. Gibbons is shocked but Samantha tells him it was done with mirrors and that it was all done for part of the new campaign. On the fly Durwood tells him that his idea was to shape the burgers into steaks with a rubber chew toy in the middle as the bone. Mr. Gibbons loves it and signs on immediately.
After Larry and Mr. Gibbons leave, Ashley resumes his normal shape and Endora pops in ashamed of Ashley for helping out instead of breaking up the marriage. However, Ashley makes it up to her by taking her to dinner.
I would give it only about two stars because it’s just a recycle of “Man’s Best Friend” from Season Two with Rodney, though I like this one much better than that one. And they not only recycle that story but also many of the lines that Warlock George used. And what the hell is it with them using Newton only about four episodes later??? They should've either got another actor or they should've just said that Newton realized what a beeyotch Miss Ferndale was and as Serena wouldn't have anything to do with him anymore he went for the second best thing, her look-a-like cousin Samantha.
There are only a couple of times where I liked Samantha in the pig-tails but this isn't one of them. And why didn't she change for the client? Samantha has always dressed up for the client, but here she just keeps her grub clothes on. I don’t like it.
And where do you think they got that dog? I'm sure the episode idea must've come up after they found the dog. I also thought it cool that he zapped up his own steaks and such.
And the Kravitzes new house is due to The Partridge Family using their old house. The new house looks HUGE on the outside! But yet their kitchen looked teeny.
My fave lines from this are:
Samantha (to Ashley the Dog): "You wouldn't. (pause) You would!"
Durwood: "...And the name is Darrin!" Ashley: "Then why does everyone call you 'Durwood'?"
Erin Murphy also celebrated her seventh birthday the night this aired.
That same day President Nixon officially declared the U.S. War on Drugs.
The next day Thomas Gomez, who played Garcia in Season Five’s “Samantha and Darrin in Mexico City” and who also appeared with Agnes Moorehead in The Conqueror, passed away.
"I never did dig what Sammy dug about that dodo." ~ Serena
Re: 40 Years Ago...
Posted by Breen on June 18, 2011, 8:44 pm, in reply to "40 Years Ago..."