by on OCTOBER 4, 2009
Welcome to Movie Monday, when I feature the houses from our favorite films and TV shows. So many of you requested a post about the �Bewitched� house on 1164 Morning Glory Circle that I finally gave in and started researching it. I hesitated, though, because I had never seen the show and knew nothing about it. I may be the only person in America over the age of 25 who can say this! My parents were strict about what we were allowed to watch, and �Bewitched� reruns were banned when I was growing up.
One of the fun things about the first season is that we get to see Darrin (Dick York) and Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) go house hunting. When Samantha and her mother Endora (Agnes Moorehead) first visit the house at the beginning of Season One, it has just been built. It�s empty and bare, and there isn�t a blade of grass in the yard:
Samantha fixes the place up with a quick twitch of her nose:
Oh, if only home improvement could be that easy! That scene was fun because Samantha and Endora take turns trying different looks for the house and argue about which is the best version.
When they step into the house for the first time, this is what it looks like:
The interiors were all created on soundstages at Sunset Gower Studios.
The pilot for �Bewitched� was supposed to begin filming on November 22, 1963, but was postponed because of Kennedy�s assassination. The first episode aired in 1964.
You can see the backyard in this shot through the glass doors:
Samantha decides to try a few different looks for the dining room. Here�s how it looks before she puts any furniture in it:
They fall in love with the place and buy it. Here�s how it looks after they move in:
What�s that penguin doing in there? I suspect some magic was involved:
These episodes were originally in black and white but were later colorized. The tell-tale sign of colorization is when a character opens their mouth and their teeth look gray. Their skin tones also tend to be a little orange at time, like a sunless tan gone wrong.
The dining room:
According to 1164.com, a popular website for �Bewitched� fans:
The interior and backyard scenes, as well as some garage and front porch scenes, were all filmed in a soundstage. The set consisted of a modular (but complete) first floor and back yard. It also contained the hallway visible above the steps (though those doors at the top only led to tiny closets!).
All of the upstairs shots were filmed on another set, often just a few rooms that were frequently changed around.
Love the colorful coffee mugs she has lined up on a kitchen shelf:
The laundry area at the back of the kitchen (with the avocado appliances!) must have seemed very modern and convenient in 1964:
The bedroom:
Check out the massive lamps on either side of their bed and the cushion that goes across the head of it. I wonder where they stashed their sleeping pillows during the day?
�Bewitched� was on the air for 8 years. In Season 2, Samantha and Darrin had a baby girl, named Tabitha (whose name was spelled Tabatha for the first few seasons and then changed later on). Here are some photos of the nursery:
The den set on the first floor doubled as the nursery set for Tabitha. According to 1164.com:
For nursery scenes, they just put a fake wall up outside the door to hide the view into the kitchen. For den scenes, they put brown paneling up over the pink walls, covering the nursery window area with the plain wall near the den�s fireplace.
Samantha paints a pink pony on the crib:
When Darrin gets home from work, we get a look at the garage and driveway:
The exterior in Season 2:
The house was built on the back lot of the Warner Bros. Ranch (on West Oak Street in Burbank, California). It sits alongside other famous facades used for classic shows like �The Partridge Family,� �Gidget,� and �I Dream of Jeannie.�
Here�s how the �Bewitched� house looks today:
