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recast or new boss?

Posted by zapper <iframe src='https://members2.boardhost.com/bewitched/info/user=zapper' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on March 26, 2013, 5:53 pm

I realize this is all speculation, but I am curious what my fellow Harpies have to say.

We all know Bewitched recast a lot of characters over the years. Season three brought us a new Tabitha, Mrs. Kravitz and Louise Tate.

What if David White had not been asked back or not signed on?

Would the public have accepted a new Larry or would it have made more sense for Derwood to take a new job?
I have trouble imagining any one else playing Larry, but that doesn't mean he couldn't have been successfully recast.

In my opinion if Larry and Louise were both going to be played by different actors, it would make more sense to just make them different characters. Heck if they wanted to get around the whole Mrs. Kravitz switch they could even as gone as far as saying Darrin took a new job in another city. I have trouble picturing Sam and Derwood living any place but 1164, but it would have been an easy explanation.

I'm glad none of that ever happened, and I'm sure most of you guys are too, but I would sure like to read how you guys think it should have/would have been handled.

Re: recast or new boss?

Posted by maurine <iframe src='https://members2.boardhost.com/bewitched/info/user=maurine' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on March 27, 2013, 7:52 am, in reply to "recast or new boss?"

It's funny, but I think a new boss/company would have been better. If we'd been presented with the idea of a new Darrin in 1966, we'd have thought, ARE YOU KIDDING??? (And, if I think about it,it still seems like an incredible idea.) But they had to recast Darrin--couldn't have her getting a new husband, since the whole show was built around that relationship. But a new boss would have been easier to swallow, I think, than a new Larry Tate. Come to think of it, I wish they'd invented a new neighbor instead of recasting Gladys. And the switching of Frank Stephens' actors back and forth all the time was just nuts!!

"Witches are good! Witches are dear!"

Re: recast or new boss?

Posted by ol' what's his name <iframe src='https://members2.boardhost.com/bewitched/info/user=flyingethan' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on March 27, 2013, 9:30 am, in reply to "Re: recast or new boss?"

I tend to think that the people in charge of all of those decisions back then thought that the viewing audience either wasn't sophisticated enough to either notice some of the casting changes or care about the changes. Recasting Darrin was obvious to the viewers but some of the other recasts may not have been as obvious because the audience couldn't record episodes and re-watch them looking for details at that time. Today we can pick apart episodes/ entire series by re-watching, rewinding and pausing. Back then that was not possible. Also, back then the show was in it's first run and people didn't have nostalgia for Bewitched like we do now. New shows were always coming and going just like today.

Anyways, I think the the executives thought that no one would care as long as the show stayed pretty much the same. Of course, replacing Elizabeth Montgomery would have been out of the question imo. She was, and will always be, irreplacable.

I demand your pickle!

Re: recast or new boss?

Posted by J.P. <iframe src='https://members2.boardhost.com/bewitched/info/user=JP' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on March 27, 2013, 8:28 pm, in reply to "Re: recast or new boss?"

I always thought that "Once In A Vial" was originally written with Larry and Louise and then changed at the last minute to Bill Walters and his wife. So that episode has kind of the vibe of having another boss. I think that it would have been weird to recast Larry if they had the need to. I also think that it was a shame that they recast Gladys, Abner should have hooked up with another wife.

Re: recast or new boss?

Posted by zapper <iframe src='https://members2.boardhost.com/bewitched/info/user=zapper' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on March 27, 2013, 11:31 pm, in reply to "Re: recast or new boss?"

It is interesting reading everybody's thoughts.

I had never really thought about what it would have been like if they recast Darrin in 1966. For some reason recasting Darrin in season 6 is more palatable than recasting in season 3.

I understand the reasoning for recasting Gladys. I remember years ago someone suggested that SG should have played a widowed/divorced woman new to the neighborhood who had her sights set on the recently widowed Abner. I really liked the idea, but it would have screwed up Abner's role. If both his wives plus his sister all thought something funny was going on across the street, Abner would have to start thinking there must be at least some validity to the claims. I wonder why they didn't just bring back one of the other nosy women from the first season (I can't think of the character names at the moment, but I'm talking about the Welcome Wagon women)to fill the nosy neighbor void. They wouldn't have been a recast or a new character.

I agree and disagree with Ol' whats his name. I'm sure they figured people wouldn't notice certain things, but I'm sure they knew they couldn't totally slip things by either. KR had to wear a black wig so she would resemble IV. I think she was also a smoother recast simply because (for the most part) Louse's role was much smaller before KR took over the role.

They waited until Halloween to show the new Gladys Kravitz. In her first scene she doesn't even have any lines. She is a woman on the street, then Darrin clues the audience in that she is Gladys. It's been a while since I've watched it, but I don't think they even show her with Abner until close to the end of the episode or possibly the next episode. I'm sure this was seen as a way to ease the audience in to the new Mrs. Kravitz.

I'm going to have to go watch "Once in a Vail" again. It will be interesting to see from this new perspective.

Thanks everybody for commenting. I really love reading these.

Re: recast or new boss?

Posted by zapper <iframe src='https://members2.boardhost.com/bewitched/info/user=zapper' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on March 28, 2013, 7:48 am, in reply to "Re: recast or new boss?"

When I woke up this morning I remembered something else that sort of blows my "easing in to the new Mrs. Kravitz" theory out of the water.

If I recall, didn't they originally plan to recast with Alice Ghostly as soon as Alice Pierce died? I think the only reason we got Abner's sister was because AG turned them down. Maybe I was giving the writers too much credit with introducing the new Gladys.

Re: recast or new boss?

Posted by Tracey <iframe src='https://members2.boardhost.com/bewitched/info/user=imtracey' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on March 28, 2013, 6:31 pm, in reply to "Re: recast or new boss?"

If the writers had made Gladys die, that would have taken the comedic aspect out of the show. It would have been quite the downer.

Re: recast or new boss?

Posted by maurine <iframe src='https://members2.boardhost.com/bewitched/info/user=maurine' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on March 29, 2013, 7:55 am, in reply to "Re: recast or new boss?"

These are great speculations and ideas! Zapper, I like your suggestions about easing the audience into the idea of a new Gladys. The point about Alice Ghostley does sound vaguely familiar, though.... I wonder (and I'm sure some Harpy out there knows the answer to this) what other offers AG had at the time. Had she played Naomi the maid already, or was that in a later season? (Oh, I definitely need to start with Season 1 again and refamiliarize myself with it all!!)

Yes, one of the Welcome Wagon ladies would have been good, but even if SG had come a-courting and married the widowed Abner--and he STILL didn't believe that there was something strange going on across the street, then it would have made his obliviousness all the funnier, I think.

J.P., we're all going to have to watch "Once in a Vial" with Larry and Louise in mind!!

Tracey, I'm wondering if they could have incorporated a death into the storyline gracefully. There was a bit of pathos in the show from time to time--especially in those early years. I'm thinking of "Uncle Albert," or Zeno the alcoholic magician. I always wished they'd done more to acknowledge the passing of AP and Marion Lorne....

"Witches are good! Witches are dear!"

Re: recast or new boss?

One more thought: Wonder what they might have been able to do with making McMann the day-to-day boss instead of Larry. There's definitely a different dynamic there, but it had potential to be really funny, I think.

"Witches are good! Witches are dear!"

Re: recast or new boss?

Posted by Tracey <iframe src='https://members2.boardhost.com/bewitched/info/user=imtracey' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on March 30, 2013, 3:29 am, in reply to "Re: recast or new boss?"

Hi Maurine,

I just don't think that such a sad story line would have sat well Bewitched viewers. Gladys was so hysterical and such an integral part of the cast it would cast a pall over the show. On top of that, Bewitched was a situation comedy.

Just my thoughts...

Re: recast or new boss?

Posted by Tiffany <iframe src='https://members2.boardhost.com/bewitched/info/user=Tiffany' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on March 30, 2013, 10:01 am, in reply to "recast or new boss?"

I think Darrin would have taken a new job or Larry's character would have retired or moved and he had gotten a new boss.

Re: recast or new boss?

Posted by Zapper <iframe src='https://members2.boardhost.com/bewitched/info/user=zapper' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on March 30, 2013, 2:49 pm, in reply to "Re: recast or new boss?"

I could see them going with Mr.McMann as a way around it. I always did wonder why we never saw McMann. I think he is only in two episodes. It seems like he should have been a bigger part of the show.

I don't think they ever would have done a show where Mrs. Kravitz actually died. I suspect they simply wouldn't mention Glady's for a while, then when the new character was introduced there would be an exchange like ...

SAMANTA: That's Mrs. Gould. She's new to the neighborhood and it looks like she's setting a trap for a certain eligible widower across the street.

DARRIN: Mr Kravitz?

SAMANTHA: Do you know any other eligible widowers across the street?

That would establish that Mrs. Kravitz had passed away without dwelling on it. JMO

Re: recast or new boss?

Posted by zapper <iframe src='https://members2.boardhost.com/bewitched/info/user=zapper' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on April 1, 2013, 3:27 pm, in reply to "Re: recast or new boss?"

I just watched Once in a Vial and I have to agree with JP. I can't believe I never noticed until you brought it up. I'm pretty sure Larry was supposed to be in the restaurant scene and they just gave the "dinner at your house" line to the client. Then another couple who we've never heard of and never see again get invited for no real reason. It all looks pretty obvious now, but it never even crossed my mind until I looked at it with a fresh perspective. I feel like a total ditz!

Re: recast or new boss?

Posted by maurine <iframe src='https://members2.boardhost.com/bewitched/info/user=maurine' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on April 2, 2013, 2:20 pm, in reply to "Re: recast or new boss?"

Ah, that's what we're all here for, eh? To give each other new perspectives!

"Witches are good! Witches are dear!"

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