Tabitha

When I was a kid, I pretty much enjoyed this show due to the fact that it was pretty much an interesting show. However, since I have gotten older, I pretty much see it as a show that was wrong on several counts. First off, this show tried to be a combination of its parent show and "Mary Tyler Moore" with its concept of a witch who is also a career girl. Unfortunately, this combination was not a success and was probably the main reason this show was not a success. Also, this was an odd show due to the fact that when "Bewitched" went off the air in 1972, Tabitha and Adam were approximately 7 and 2 respectively and in this show which aired five years later they are now in their mid-20's whereas they should have been roughly about 12 and 7. Also, as another commentator mentioned, where did Aunt Minerva come from? If memory serves me right, Samantha was an only child and the closest she had to a sister was her wild cousin Serena. But perhaps the biggest inconsistency of this series was that they never attempted to really develop the relationship between Tabitha and Paul. In the entire run of the show they only had one scene that was even close to romantic. The rest of the time Tabitha was trying to fight off his amorous advances. But you had to know that this show was a disaster when they began bringing back many of the former regular and semi-regular cast members of the parent show such as the Kravitzes, who's niece was one of Tabitha's neighbors, and Doctor Bombay. This show was a perfect example of the lack of originality in television. Luckily it didn't sink the careers of Lisa Hartman and Robert Urich, who went on to successful careers after this show was canceled.

Having been a big fan of its parent show BEWITCHED, I really wanted this "spin-off" to work. I thought the idea of following the escapades of a now grown-up Tabitha was an interesting continuation of the BEWITCHED concept.

The first outing (with Liberty Williams as a very unlikely brunette Tabitha) bombed. I actually cringed while watching it. But ABC seemed determined to make it work (someone there was obviously just as big a fan of BEWITCHED) so they reworked the pilot episode by scrapping the entire original cast and crew.

Lisa Hartman was then cast as the lead and proved to be more charming and likeable. The rest of the cast and the writing however were no improvement over the first pilot. It was mainly a regurgitation of many of the familiar BEWITCHED plotlines and ideas, with mortal brother Adam chastising Tabitha every time she used her powers (as daddy Darrin did with Mom Samantha), and obnoxious, mischievous mortal-phobe Aunt Minerva filling in for Endora - causing problems for all the mortals in Tabitha's life. However, even with original characters from BEWITCHED turning up a few times (Dr. Bombay, Mrs. Kravitz) played by the actors who first originated them, the show seemed somehow detached and alien from the original show.

The whole thing was really not funny and only mildly entertaining, and it lasted only a handful of episodes.

Another nail in the show's coffin seemed to be that the sophisticated TV audiences of that era (the mid 70's), by then used to gritty and groundbreaking sitcoms like M*A*S*H, All In The Family, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, scoffed at such frothy nonsense. It would perhaps seem more fitting now in this current TV decade when audiences are more willing to accept such supernatural, effects-heavy shows as The X-Files, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and Sabrina The Teenage Witch (which is in many ways the BEWITCHED of the 90's). With all the current nostalgia these days for the shows/music/movies of the 60's and 70's, it's only a matter of time before someone takes another crack at it...

Like a few others, I was disappointed with the series. I was hoping it would live up to "Bewitched" but there really wasn't anything to set it apart from the other bland sitcoms surrounding it. Aunt Minerva really seemed like a tired retread of Endora with a smattering of Aunt Clara or Esmerelda, and Adam substituting for Durweed...Dogwood...Darrin seemed pointless (apparently, continuity wasn't considered. Maybe they thought the younger audience they were shooting for wouldn't have noticed or watched the original series?) The only thing it had going for it was the theme song. While Lisa Hartman was a decent choice for the role physically, it looked like her main direction was "pretend you're Elizabeth Montgomery playing Samantha". Overall, the show didn't feel very original.

I can't understand why shows like "Sabrina" and "Out of This World" can be hits with huge fan bases while "Tabitha" just seems to sit barely noticed in the corner. Lisa Hartman, later of "Knot's Landing," was a cute and sexy Tabitha even if the real Tabitha Erin Murphy was still a kid when this show was on. As Hartman once said, "if it hadn't been continually bumped for tv specials, it might have lasted." The problem was the rest of the cast was not very good; Robert Urich just couldn't do comedy very well and another thing is that there was not enough to connect it to "Bewitched." Every fan on that show can name all the characters, so just where did "Aunt Minerva" come from (the actress that played her even played a witch on "Sabrina." Maybe if the show was tried again today with Tabitha married and Sabrina working with her husband at a tv network, maybe ?

This was a great little show and I know that I am one of the few that remembers it. This is the show that made me a fan of the beautiful and talented Lisa Hartman (Clint I hope you know how lucky you are). This was a great premise based on the daughter Tabitha (hence the name) from the TV Show Bewitched, But little Miss Tabitha is all grown up now and dealing with the world on her own. Over the years I have mentioned this show to many because this is where my mind goes when I think of Miss Hartman since I was never a fan of the prime time soaps. Great little show that deserved a better shot and maybe it's time it got another one.