Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Samantha Stephens: Endora: 10 Famous TV Moms: Costume Ideas

Are you and your BFF a good witch and a bad witch? Maybe you'd like to dress up like Samantha Stephens and her mom, Endora for Halloween?

Two Moms for the price of one! Bewitched was on ABC from 1964-1972.

Elizabeth Montgomery played Samantha Stephens, a pretty, blonde witch who falls for a mortal man living in suburbia.

She twitches her nose when casting spells. Samantha's mother is Endora, played by Agnes  Moorehead.

Endora and Maurice (Maurice Evans), appear to have had a unique marriage, and Samantha was their only child together. They are no longer a couple. Neither parent approves of Samantha's choice of a mate.

The Women's Elegant Witch Costume (right) is just one of the Bewitched costumes that could pass for that iconic pretty blonde witch that we see at the beginning of each episode.  Maybe you'll want to add a Blonde Wig. Costume wigs are much less expensive than a human hair wig. They're fun to experiment with.

Samantha has married Darrin Stephens, an advertising executive. Darrin Stephens was played by Dick  York from the beginning of the series through a back injury made him leave the role in 1969. The character was taken over by actor Dick Sargent, who played Darrin 1969-1972.

In the second season, Samantha gives birth to their daughter, Tabitha. In approximately the sixth season son, Adam was born. Both children we eventually learned had magical powers like their mother's side of the family. The timing of these two on-screen children coincided with Elizabeth Montgomery's pregnancies with her own second and third real life children born in 1965 and 1969.

I also like the black/white Which Witch Reversible Adult Witch Costume for Samantha. She can wear either color, depending on how she feels and what she's up to! These costumes come in standard and plus sizes. Were all witches on tv shows this attractive?

Tabitha was a spin-off of Bewitched. Lisa Hartman played their magical daughter on ABC for two seasons from 1976-1978. Turns out that another program, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996-2003) is based on the Archie comic book series of the same name. That show starred Melissa Joan Hart.

The sterling silver pave CZ puffed heart necklace really resembles the Bewitched heart necklace regularly seen worn by Samantha.

While Samantha had no siblings, she had a free-spirited cousin from her dad's side of the family. This dark-haired cousin's name was Serena, and she looked remarkably like Samantha.

An Endora costume is harder to find, but fun to imagine and put together yourself. She wore a lot of outfits during the series but was perhaps best known for a long flowing lavender gown, long sleeved, with a long glowing green sort of vest over it. Endora's hair was red and she wore it in a carefree up-do.

Do you have a purple long, flowing gauze peasant dress? Even a lilac princess dress could do. A purple dress with a green vest, cape, pashmina or even a lovely green kimono jacket over it. These options allow us to wear the clothes long after the parties. Add a fun red wig.

The Purple High-Low Long Sleeve Dress (right) has a fun hemline and comes in several sizes. Something like the Violet Maxi Peasant Dress, this one plus size petite, would work even with short sleeves. Something in a darker shade like burgundy, a gypsy renaissance peasant style is definitely a possibility.  

Choose a shawl, vest, jacket, etc in a complementary shade of green, something that goes with the dress.

The Pashmina Store has shawls and scarves in many colors. The olive and sage green choices, especially the beautiful silk pashminas would probably be favorites for Endora and for us since we can use it later.

Pashminas are very popular now. They travel so well and can be worn different ways year-round. Take one on the plane and use it as a blanket on that long flight.

Don't limit yourself, you know Endora would know what looks good on her and try anything! The Ladies' Solid Swimsuit Cover-up Sarong offers at least six shades of green to choose from! It's handmade, 66" X 44" and can be worn a multitude of ways.

Would a modern day Endora wear a pair of Pleaser heels?! Some of the Platform Sandals come in neon green.
 
Add a redhead's wig to this ensemble. The Women's Sangria Red Wig (right) is a good starting place for a modern day Endora. A fun wig alternative for Endora could be the Wicked Widow Wig Black/Red Accessory.

When choosing your wig, consider if you're going to add a witch's hat, fascinator or anything else. A wig cap is a good idea to keep your hair in place underneath. You might also like to get a witch's broom and practice some incantations and spells to recite at the party? Fun!

Switching actors, popular series

The switch in actors playing Darrin has become legendary. The show had two actresses playing Louise Tate and even Gladys Kravitz, but from then on any show that changed an actor in a significant role was compared to the Two Darrins Syndrome or something like that!

The cast of the show Roseanne had fun with this. Lecy Goranson, playing daughter, Becky, left her role on the show for to attend school. Later when Becky returned, she was played by actress, Sarah Chalke.

In a Season six Roseanne episode called Homecoming, the family, with the brand new "Becky," is watching an episode of Bewitched, commenting on how outrageous it was that a show could replace the actor playing a main character and not say anything about it / not expect the audience to notice.

Chalke, as the new Becky says, "Well, I like the second Darren much better."

Actress Geri Lee Reischl has fun with this. She replaced Eve Plumb as Jan Brady in nine episodes of the The Brady Bunch Hour in the 1976–77 run of the show. She makes personal appearances often known as Fake Jan.

The Saturday morning show Land of the Lost, lost a main character, Rick Marshall. Due to financial negotiations, Spencer Milligan left the show at the start of Season Three. This was awkward since the main characters were stranded through a "time door."

The show was a time travel story. Rather than replace the character with another actor, Rick Marshall's brother, Jack Marshall appeared. Uncle Jack remained in the Land of the Lost along with Rick's children, and the story was that Dad, Rick, had been transported home.

Something similar but not the same happened in season 3 of the show Monk on USA, running 2002-2009. When an actress left the show, instead of filling the role with someone else they created a new character, which is what's normally done. Tony Shalhoub played Detective Adrian Monk. He required an assistant.

Bitty Schram played his assistant, Sharona Fleming, for seasons one-three. When Bitty Schram left Monk, everyone claimed there were creative differences. A new assistant, Natalie Teeger, played by Traylor Howard was brought on. She would remain on the show for seasons 3-8.

There was a surprisingly big fan uproar. A whole Sharona or Natalie discussion/debate ensued in online groups and forums.

Schram returned in the season 8 episode Mr. Monk and Sharona where fans get to see Natalie and Sharona together. In the last episonde, cast regular Lt. Randy Disher, played by Jason Gray-Stanford, is moving to New Jersey to live with Sharona. This allows the fan base reason to discuss the possibility of a big show reunion someday.

Would this have happened when they changed Darrins if internet discussion groups existed in the 1960s?

Get yourself a Bewitched Cast Color Photo (left) Choose style and size, Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York, Agnes Moorehead.Good luck for the office cubicle or the wall at home.

All eight seasons of Bewitched - the Complete Series is available on DVD - Seasons 1-8

The 2005 feature film version of Bewitched (Special Edition) has Nicole Kidman as Samantha, Will Ferrell and Shirley MacLaine as Endora. Nora Ephron is the director.





Agnes Moorehead, Enter and Sign in Please; What's My Line?


Agnes Moorehead is also famous for being in The Twilight Zone. In  the 1961, Season 2 episode, The Invaders, she played a woman living in isolation who is terrorized by space aliens. She died of uterine cancer in April of 1974. She was 73. Her mother survived her, living until 1990 to the age of 106.

Elizabeth Montgomery died of cancer in 1995 at the age of 62.  There is a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame was presented in honor of Montgomery's work in television at 6533 Hollywood Blvd.

In 2005, a statue of Montgomery as Samantha Stephens was erected in Salem, Massachusetts. It's part of a series of statues throughout the US bankrolled and installed by TV Land. Samantha is in a witch costume on a broom set inside a crescent moon. There was some controversy about the statue's being in Salem.

Other statues include Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) in front of the Port Authority Bus Terminal. That was followed by Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) tossing her hat in Minneapolis; Andy and Opie Taylor / Andy Griffith / Ron Howard fishing in Raleigh, NC (an identical statue was later added in Mt. Airy, NC) and Dr. Robert Hartley (Bob Newhart), in Chicago. -- thanks to Roadside America for some info.

Darrin Stephens has one of those television character names that is often misspelled. Darrin is often called Darren Stephens. Tabitha Stephens' name was even spelled Tabatha in the show credits for a few seasons before being corrected and then being spelled Tabitha forever after.  This is like Aunt Bee you sometimes see as Aunt Bea Taylor.


Tabitha on DVD - The Entire Series Lisa Hartman and Robert Urich

Roseanne DVD- Season 6 Roseanne, John Goodman, Sara Gilbert, Laurie Metcalf

Monk DVD: Season Eight Tony Shalhoub, Ted Levine, Traylor Howard, Jason Gray-Stanford

The Twilight Zone: Season Two (Definitive Edition)




Photo at the top of page may sell out. It and similar collectible photos can be yours:
Photos from Bewitched Elizabeth Montgomery & Agnes Moorehead Different sizes and styles are available.





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What other TV Moms will be on the list
of 10 Costume-worthy Mamas? 
Who do you think belongs on the list?

So far we've had June Cleaver, Cher and Samantha Stephens & Endora. 
Seven more to go.


Previously there was 
The Famous TV Dads Costume Ideas list

** This 10 Famous TV Dads Costume Ideas Series began with Andy Taylor from The Andy Griffith Show. The dads are in no particular order

When significant updates are added to pages, there will be a message with a date of last update.

Andy Taylor, Gomez Addams, George Jetson, Paul Teutul Sr., Ricky Ricardo, Herman Munster, Ben Cartwright from Bonanza, Homer Simpson and now King Friday the 13th and Bruce Jenner were the 10 Famous TV Dads.

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