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Tabitha (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Tabitha is an American fantasy
sitcom that aired during the 1977-1978 season on ABC
. It is a spin-off of Bewitched
, which had ended its run several years earlier. On Bewitched, Tabitha had been played for 6 seasons by Erin Murphy
.
as Tabitha Stephens (some sources spell her name "Tabatha"), the daughter of Samantha and Darrin, now a young woman in Los Angeles
working in television, while learning how to use and control her witchcraft
powers. Helping her along (or hindering her) is her now-older and mortal brother Adam (David Ankrum) and previously-unmentioned Aunt Minerva (Karen Morrow
), while Robert Urich
appeared as her love interest.
Four actors from the original series appeared in separate episodes. Bernard Fox reprised his role of the warlock
Dr. Bombay, while George Tobias
and Sandra Gould
made guest appearances as Abner and Gladys Kravitz
. Dick Wilson
reprised his role as the drunk man who thinks he is hallucinating. Elizabeth Montgomery
, Agnes Moorehead
(who had died two years earlier), David White
and Dick Sargent
never appeared on the show.
The series takes place in the "present day" (late 1970s) yet does not attempt to reconcile how Tabitha and Adam could be in their early-to-mid 20s when they had been young children at the time Bewitched (also "present day") ended five years earlier. Another change, Adam is now the older sibling, whereas in Bewitched, Adam was born three years after Tabitha. As a pre-teen, Erin Murphy
was too young to play an adult Tabitha.
There were in fact two pilot
films produced for the series. The first, which was broadcast by ABC on April 24, 1976 (and used the variant spelling Tabatha for the title) starred Liberty Williams in the title role, with Bruce Kimmel
as Adam. The major difference between the pilot and the series was Adam was a full-fledged and mischievous warlock in the pilot, but was made a mortal for the series (thus making him the disapproving figure as Darrin had been, and going against the original series, where Adam had been proven capable of magic in the last season).
In the first pilot, Tabatha was an editorial assistant for the fictional Trend magazine, lived in San Francisco, and had a boyfriend named Cliff (Archie Hahn)
, and also contended with the supernatural antics of Adam, who wanted Tabatha to use her witchcraft and have some fun.
In situations that were very similar to the original debut of Bewitched, Tabatha tells Cliff that she is a witch, who at first doesn't believe her, but later discovers that she was telling the truth. Also, much like her mother did when she used her powers to deflect the unwanted affections of Sheila Sommers, her father's former fiancee, Tabatha deflects rival Dinah Nichols (Barbara Rhoades
) from seducing Cliff.
The first pilot (directed by Bewitched producer/director William Asher
) sold the series, but ABC changed the sitcom's setting from San Francisco to Los Angeles, recast the main roles, and ordered a second pilot with Hartman and Ankrum. This version also gave Tabitha an "Aunt Minerva", who had never been referred to on the original series and who fulfilled a similar role as Endora had in Bewitched.
The revised Tabitha pilot aired on ABC on May 7, 1977 and the series properly debuted on September 10 of that year. The series' second official episode would not air until November 12. The series then continued more or less uninterrupted but failed to garner sufficient ratings to be renewed for a full season. The final episode aired on January 14, 1978 for a total of 13 episodes produced and broadcast, including the two pilots.
, and was produced by Sony Pictures Television
(previously known as Screen Gems
, who had produced the parent sitcom Bewitched). It was filmed with a single camera with an added laugh track
, same as Bewitched.
released the entire run of Tabitha on DVD. The original Liberty Williams pilot is included as a special feature.
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
sitcom that aired during the 1977-1978 season on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. It is a spin-off of Bewitched
Bewitched
Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...
, which had ended its run several years earlier. On Bewitched, Tabitha had been played for 6 seasons by Erin Murphy
Erin Murphy
Erin Margaret Murphy is an American actress who is best known for her role as young Tabitha Stephens on the top-ten television sitcom Bewitched, which ran from 1964 to 1972. For the first season, she shared this role with her sister, Diane, as they were of similar appearance and stature...
.
Synopsis
The series stars Lisa HartmanLisa Hartman
Lisa Hartman is an American actress and singer.After some minor television appearances, Lisa Hartman starred in the short-lived Bewitched spin-off, Tabitha during 1977-78...
as Tabitha Stephens (some sources spell her name "Tabatha"), the daughter of Samantha and Darrin, now a young woman in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
working in television, while learning how to use and control her witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
powers. Helping her along (or hindering her) is her now-older and mortal brother Adam (David Ankrum) and previously-unmentioned Aunt Minerva (Karen Morrow
Karen Morrow
Karen Morrow is an American singer – actress best known for her work in musical theater. Her honors include an Emmy Award and a Theatre World Award, and an Ovation Award and five Drama-Logue Award nominations....
), while Robert Urich
Robert Urich
Robert Urich was an American actor. He played the starring roles in the television series Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire...
appeared as her love interest.
Four actors from the original series appeared in separate episodes. Bernard Fox reprised his role of the warlock
Warlock
The term warlock in origin means "traitor, oathbreaker".In early modern Scots, the word came to be used as the male equivalent of witch ....
Dr. Bombay, while George Tobias
George Tobias
George Tobias was an American character actor.-Early life and career:Born to a Jewish family in New York, he began his acting career at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California. He then spent several years in theater groups before moving on to Broadway and, eventually, Hollywood...
and Sandra Gould
Sandra Gould
Sandra Gould was an American actress, who appeared mainly in television. Among her many credits was a regular role on the sitcom Bewitched as the second Gladys Kravitz....
made guest appearances as Abner and Gladys Kravitz
Gladys Kravitz
Gladys Kravitz is a fictional character on the American situation comedy Bewitched . Portrayed by Alice Pearce from the show's premiere in 1964 until Pearce's death in 1966 and then by Sandra Gould from 1966 until her last appearance in 1971, Gladys Kravitz is an across-the-street neighbor of the...
. Dick Wilson
Dick Wilson
Dick Wilson, born Riccardo DiGuglielmo , was a British-born American character actor who played the role of finicky grocery store manager Mr...
reprised his role as the drunk man who thinks he is hallucinating. Elizabeth Montgomery
Elizabeth Montgomery
Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery was an American film and television actress whose career spanned five decades. She is perhaps best remembered for her roles as Samantha Stephens in Bewitched, as Ellen Harrod in A Case of Rape and as Lizzie Borden in The Legend of Lizzie Borden.-Early life:Born in Los...
, Agnes Moorehead
Agnes Moorehead
Agnes Robertson Moorehead was an American actress. Although she began with the Mercury Theatre, appeared in more than seventy films beginning with Citizen Kane and on dozens of television shows during a career that spanned more than thirty years, Moorehead is most widely known to modern audiences...
(who had died two years earlier), David White
David White
David White or Dave White may refer to:*Dave White , Derringer Award–winning mystery writer*Dave White , U.S. journalist*Dave White , U.S. Navy submarine skipper*David A.R...
and Dick Sargent
Dick Sargent
Richard Stanford Cox , known professionally as Dick Sargent, was an American actor, notable as the second actor to portray Darrin Stephens on the television series Bewitched...
never appeared on the show.
The series takes place in the "present day" (late 1970s) yet does not attempt to reconcile how Tabitha and Adam could be in their early-to-mid 20s when they had been young children at the time Bewitched (also "present day") ended five years earlier. Another change, Adam is now the older sibling, whereas in Bewitched, Adam was born three years after Tabitha. As a pre-teen, Erin Murphy
Erin Murphy
Erin Margaret Murphy is an American actress who is best known for her role as young Tabitha Stephens on the top-ten television sitcom Bewitched, which ran from 1964 to 1972. For the first season, she shared this role with her sister, Diane, as they were of similar appearance and stature...
was too young to play an adult Tabitha.
There were in fact two pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
films produced for the series. The first, which was broadcast by ABC on April 24, 1976 (and used the variant spelling Tabatha for the title) starred Liberty Williams in the title role, with Bruce Kimmel
Bruce Kimmel
Bruce Kimmel , also known as Guy Haines, is an actor, writer, director, composer, and Grammy-nominated CD producer. Kimmel lives in Los Angeles, California...
as Adam. The major difference between the pilot and the series was Adam was a full-fledged and mischievous warlock in the pilot, but was made a mortal for the series (thus making him the disapproving figure as Darrin had been, and going against the original series, where Adam had been proven capable of magic in the last season).
In the first pilot, Tabatha was an editorial assistant for the fictional Trend magazine, lived in San Francisco, and had a boyfriend named Cliff (Archie Hahn)
Archie Hahn (actor)
Archie Hahn is an American character actor and improviser best known for his appearances on the British version of Whose Line is it Anyway?. He is also well known for appearing in This Is Spinal Tap, Phantom of the Paradise, and many Joe Dante films...
, and also contended with the supernatural antics of Adam, who wanted Tabatha to use her witchcraft and have some fun.
In situations that were very similar to the original debut of Bewitched, Tabatha tells Cliff that she is a witch, who at first doesn't believe her, but later discovers that she was telling the truth. Also, much like her mother did when she used her powers to deflect the unwanted affections of Sheila Sommers, her father's former fiancee, Tabatha deflects rival Dinah Nichols (Barbara Rhoades
Barbara Rhoades
Barbara Rhoades is an American actress, known primarily for her comedy and mystery roles, especially as lady bandit Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushings in The Shakiest Gun in the West...
) from seducing Cliff.
The first pilot (directed by Bewitched producer/director William Asher
William Asher
William Asher is an American television and film producer, film director, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prolific early directors in the budding television industry, producing or directing over two dozen of the leading television series.With television in its infancy, he introduced the...
) sold the series, but ABC changed the sitcom's setting from San Francisco to Los Angeles, recast the main roles, and ordered a second pilot with Hartman and Ankrum. This version also gave Tabitha an "Aunt Minerva", who had never been referred to on the original series and who fulfilled a similar role as Endora had in Bewitched.
The revised Tabitha pilot aired on ABC on May 7, 1977 and the series properly debuted on September 10 of that year. The series' second official episode would not air until November 12. The series then continued more or less uninterrupted but failed to garner sufficient ratings to be renewed for a full season. The final episode aired on January 14, 1978 for a total of 13 episodes produced and broadcast, including the two pilots.
Characters
- Tabitha Stephens (Lisa HartmanLisa HartmanLisa Hartman is an American actress and singer.After some minor television appearances, Lisa Hartman starred in the short-lived Bewitched spin-off, Tabitha during 1977-78...
) was the main character. She is the daughter of Samantha and Darrin Stephens. She twitches her nose, much like her mother does, to invoke her magic spells.
- Adam Stephens (David Ankrum) was Tabitha's older brother. He is the son of Samantha and Darrin Stephens. He is against Tabitha using witchcraft (much like Darrin, their father, was) and persuades Tabitha not to use her magic. Despite that, though, he does love his sister.
- Aunt Minerva (Karen MorrowKaren MorrowKaren Morrow is an American singer – actress best known for her work in musical theater. Her honors include an Emmy Award and a Theatre World Award, and an Ovation Award and five Drama-Logue Award nominations....
) was Adam and Tabitha's aunt. She is a meddlesome, but well-meaning busy-body and encourages Tabitha to use her magic. She is the mother figure for Tabitha, in lieu of Samantha and Endora.
- Paul Thurston (Robert UrichRobert UrichRobert Urich was an American actor. He played the starring roles in the television series Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire...
) was the egotistical, somewhat obnoxious host of The Paul Thurston Show on the fictional TV station KXLA, where Tabitha worked as a Production Assistant. Paul was a love interest for Tabitha, but that didn't stop him from being a womanizer.
- Marvin Decker (Mel StewartMel StewartMilton "Mel" Stewart was an American character actor, television director, and musician who appeared in numerous films and television shows from the 1960s to the 1990s. He is best known for playing Henry Jefferson on the popular television series All in the Family...
) was producer of The Paul Thurston Show and Tabitha's cranky but lovable boss at KXLA.
Episodes
| № | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | "Tabatha" (Pilot #1) | April 24, 1976 |
| 1 | "Tabitha" (Pilot #2) | May 7, 1977 |
| 2 | "Tabitha's Weighty Problem" | September 10, 1977 |
| 3 | "Halloween Show" | November 12, 1977 |
| 4 | "A Star Is Born" | November 19, 1977 |
| 5 | "Minerva Goes Straight" | November 26, 1977 |
| 6 | "Mr. Nice Guy" | December 10, 1977 |
| 7 | "The Arrival of Nancy" | December 17, 1977 |
| 8 | "Tabitha's Triangle" | December 24, 1977 |
| 9 | "That New Black Magic" | December 31, 1977 |
| 10 | "What's Wrong with Mister Right?" | December 31, 1977 |
| 11 | "Paul Goes to New York" | January 7, 1978 |
| 12 | "Tabitha's Party" | January 14, 1978 |
Production notes
Tabitha was filmed at The Burbank Studios in Burbank, CaliforniaBurbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
, and was produced by Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
(previously known as Screen Gems
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
, who had produced the parent sitcom Bewitched). It was filmed with a single camera with an added laugh track
Laugh track
A laugh track is a separate soundtrack invented by Charles "Charley" Douglass, with the artificial sound of audience laughter, made to be inserted into television programming of comedy shows and sitcoms.The term "laugh track" does not apply to the genuine audience laughter on shows that shoot in...
, same as Bewitched.
DVD release
In 2005, to coincide with the release of the first season of Bewitched on DVD (and the release of the Bewitched feature film), Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentSony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...
released the entire run of Tabitha on DVD. The original Liberty Williams pilot is included as a special feature.
External links
- Bruce Kimmel reminisces about the first pilot