Blog #423: Why “Bewitched” and “I Dream of Jeannie” Demonstrates to Neurodiv
- Jeffrey Snyder
- Mar 19, 2024
- 3 min read
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Being as a child of the 1990’s, I was fortunate enough to be exposed to some of the classic sitcoms of the 1950’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s in addition to the shows of the 1990’s. Back in the day, Nickelodeon had a nighttime block called “Nick at Nite” that aired classic sitcoms and two of the sitcoms featured were “Bewitched” (1964-1972) and “I Dream of Jeannie” (1965-1970).
Now you might be wondering why do I bring up these two classic sitcoms? What is it about them that sends a message to neurodivergent/developmentally different individuals and their families? Could it be that there is more to the nostalgia than meets the eye?
Well, to be frank, both “Bewitched” and “Jeannie” unintentionally demonstrate to neurodivergent/developmentally different individuals and their families that it’s okay to be slightly different from others. That’s why for this week’s blogs, we will be covering each series and their connections to neurodivergents and developmentally different individuals and how there is an importance that despite being made in the 1960’s, “Bewitched” and “I Dream of Jeannie” are something that needs to be looked at in this day and age.
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For Part 1 of this blog, we will take a look at “Bewitched” which ran from 1964 to 1972 for 8 Seasons.
The premise of “Bewitched” is about a witch named Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) who settles down as a housewife to a mortal named Darren Stephens (Dick York and later, Dick Sargent) later becoming a mother later on and still using her witchcraft to help her maintain a sense of normalcy. When it comes to neurodivergent individuals, in way, they are like Samantha Stephens in terms of living life according to their way of living.
Now, I must be real in the sense that only Elizabeth Montgomery and Elizabeth Montgomery alone can twitch their nose and make things happen. We can’t twitch our noses and have something magically happen before us. But we can have a talent that is on the level of twitching our noses. These can range from having a photographic memory to just having a deep knowledge about a certain topic.
What “Bewitched” also demonstrates is that Samantha isn’t the only one who is a witch and different from other people around her. There are others such as Dr. Bombay (Bernard Fox) and Uncle Arthur (Paul Lynde) who also demonstrate their own differences via witchcraft.
But the important fact is that Darren doesn’t judge his wife for who he is and although he is taken aback at first because she is a witch, Darren eventually accepts Samantha for who she is.
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Now you might be wondering about “Bewitched” and the fact that it can be corny at times to some people. I mean, if you were to judge someone like Samantha Stephens as corny because she’s a witch, how would you feel if someone that you know was corny simply because of who they are as people.
Not to say that I could be like Samantha Stephens, but you might say that being neurodivergent is more than just twitching the nose. It’s making life better for those around me and for those in the future. You might also say that the ratio for an autism diagnosis, 1 in 36, is essentially 1 in 36 more people becoming like Samantha Stephens, people with magical abilities.
That’s why I highly recommend families sit down and watch episodes of “Bewitched” because with nearly 300 episodes, you can step into Samantha’s shoes and the shoes of her husband Darren and just see things from both a neurodivegent and neurotypical perspective and how the two sides clash and work together at times.
In the end, Samantha summarizes the whole love she has for Darren despite being a witch and him being a mortal in the last episode of the show:
“But I love you and that is the truth, the whole truth and et Cetera…”
-Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stephens
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By the way, Elizabeth Montgomery didn’t just do her magic on “Bewitched.” She also took her talents to “The Flintstones” in one memorable crossover episode in which she tries to help Wilma and Betty prove themselves to Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble that they can manage camping just as much as they can. I highly recommend checking it out if you haven’t done so already:
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Catch you all later!!
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