Samantha-Serena Similarities
Did you know that Elizabeth Montgomery played two roles on the show “Bewitched?” she played Samantha, of course, but she also played the role of Serena. The two, while very different, also had many similarities.
Just like Samantha, Serena hung out with Mortals. She dated them as well; however, she was not married, she was more of a hippie swinger. She approved of Samantha marrying Darrin, who was just a mortal. Typically the two characters were not filmed in the same scene because that kind of technology was not around yet, but they would try to use split screen to have them appear simultaneously.
What Went Wrong?
The movie was just a little strange. It wasn't so much a remake of the series as it was loosely based on it. The movie followed a woman named Isabel Bigelow, who is played by Nicole Kidman. She moves to LA and gets cast as Samantha in a remake of “Bewitched.” Will Ferrell plays her husband, Darrin.
The twists and turns start, and we find out that Isabel is actually a witch. Of course, the cast and crew of the “Bewitched” remake do not know this, and that is where they are trying to get the comedy to shine through. They try really hard to recreate some of the mishaps that Samantha would encounter on the original show, but unfortunately, the movie did not hold a candle to the original.
Samantha’s Magic Was Really Just Stagehands
Of course, CGI and all kinds of movie magic did not exist yet back in the ’60s when “Bewitched” first got started. The magic that Samantha created with her witchery had to be done in a very particular manner. The production team had stagehands who worked tirelessly to conjure up all of the magic.
Let's say, for instance, Samantha wanted to clean up a messy room quickly, Elizabeth (who played Samantha) would actually just stand there, she would throw her arms up, and then the director would cut the scene. At this point, stagehands would come on set and remove everything that her magic was going to remove. Then they would roll again, and it would look like she had made everything disappear.
Dr. Bombay
Another supporting cast member who was a fan-favorite was the doctor to the Stephens family. They, of course, could not have a regular doctor, they had a witch doctor. His name was Dr. Bombay. He was played by an actor named Bernard Fox. Dr. Bombay would appear in episodes in crazy costumes.
It was also said that the supporting cast members had to bring their own wardrobe. It is not certain if the outlandish costumes Dr. Bombay wore were actually his own Or if he was an exception to that rule. He also appeared as Dr. Bombay multiple times on the “Bewitched” spin-off called “Tabitha.”
Cassandra Wasn’t Meant To Be
Could you imagine the classic “Bewitched” with a different actress and a different name?! It almost was that way. Tammy Grimes was an actress who almost became the lead witch in “Bewitched.” At this time the role was named Cassandra, not Samantha! She auditioned for the role, and Sol Saks really wanted her to play Cassandra, but she was under a contract with Screen Gems and would not have been able to take the job.
At that point, they cast Elizabeth Montgomery and changed the role to Samantha. The rest, as they say, is history! She became an iconic character, and the show was a mega success.