Thursday Movie Picks:TV Edition-Fantasy

Wandering Through The Shelves came up with a good one this week as it is all about Fantasy.  I love Fantasy but I have not seen many of the newer shows because they are on Netflix or Prime or HBO..ughh. Well, Here are my 3...

1. BEWITCHED-1964-1972

This was the time when most shows started in September and had more than  just 10 episodes.  The first season of this great show has 36! It stars Elizabeth Montgomery, a beautiful witch, who marries an unassuming, Ad Executive played, initially by Dick York. Samantha loves Darren and marries him but fails to mention she is a witch. Enter her mother, played gloriously by Agnes Moorehead as Endora who hates this situation and tries, for many years to dissolve this "mixed-marriage". Darren, being a typical husband of the time, doesn't want any help from his wife's witchcraft and forbids(HA!) her to use it. You know this never works and her witchcraft often saves the day. There are many characters that show up like Larry Tate, Darren's boss,(a series regular) Abner & Gladys Kravitz, the nosy neighbours. The great Alice Pearce played this role withholding the fact that she was dying of cancer. You have Samantha's Aunt Clara, Uncle Arthur, her dad and various cousins and Aunts come and go. It lost some sparkle when Dick York had to retire due to a severe back injury and was replaced by Dick Sargeant who was not as good as the original Darren. Marion Lorne, who played Aunt Clara died and the character just never showed up again. They replaced the character with a maid who was also bumbling but just not the same. Regardless, how I wish I could just wiggle my nose and have the house cleaned or take a trip to Europe.

2. I DREAM OF JEANNIE-1965-1970

This, I think, started because Bewitched was so popular. It stars Barbara Eden as Jeannie who saves an astronaut, played by Larry Hagman and goes to live with him often causing much mayhem. His best friend, played by Bill Daily, also knows about Jeannie but that is it.  Of course, with her arms crossed across her boobies and a nod of her head, they can go or do anything. The astronaut, Tony, wishes she wouldn't do a thing but she doesn't listen. She becomes jealous whenever a girl comes around and, eventually, Tony realizes he loves her. It is a fun show that is not as good as Bewitched but is still fun even though Barbara Eden could not show her belly button as that would be too sexy.  Did I say I love both opening music pieces from both these shows.

3. FANTASY ISLAND-1977-1984

Oh this was such a big show in its day which premiered right after The Love Boat. You have Ricardo Montalban as the mysterious Mr. Roarke who is the main man of this island along with his side kick, Tattoo played by Herve Villechaise. Each week, 2 or 3 guests come to the island ("Da Plane...Da Plane!) to have their fantasies realized. Mr. Roarke seems to have supernatural powers to help his guests play out their dreams often ending in a way they were not expecting but still feeling success. I used to watch this back in the day and I have been watching it again and, Oh MY God! How hoaky!! Michelle Phillips plays a mermaid who wants to know love so Mr. Roarke stares intently at her only for her to lose her tail and have legs. Some of the acting is corny and Tattoo becomes a comical sidekick to the point Herve left the show. It still is fun to watch especially that many guests were big name actors back in olden days.

Bonus...

4. THE HILARIOUS HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN-1971

This is a Canadian program that most of us Canucks just adore. It was made on a shoestring budget with Billy Van playing many parts most notably, Dracula who prefers pizza over blood. Igor always screws things up but we still get to learn some fascinating things since this was geared for children but many young adults loved it even more. They would have pet vets talk about caring for your pet to zoologists who would bring on more untamed animals. They also had a mad scientist played by a real life scientist, Julius Sumner Miller, who created real scientific experiments and explained how it worked. This man was a student of Albert Einstein! You know what else is cool...Somehow Hamilton, Ontario was able to get Vincent Price to be the narrator of this show...so cool! Go to Youtube and look up the Wolfman dancing to Innocence and Peppermints...groovy.

5.  DEAD LIKE ME-2003-2004

This is quite an off beat comedy-drama but with more comedy, just the dark kind. It starts off with a miserable teen, who tussles with her mom and, generally, hates, her life. She hates her temp job but this all will not last...why? well, when she is on her break, after getting a coffee, she looks up into the sky and gets killed by a toilet seat that came from the MIR station in outer space.  She is now dead but must fulfill her obligation as a grim reaper.  She becomes a member of a team led by chief Grim Reaper, Mandy Patinkin who gives out post it notes of the next person to meet their end. The reapers must find the people and touch them so that their souls can leave the earth and go towards the light. I thought this show was clever, funny, offbeat and you feel for these people who must  give out the touch of death. They always meet in a German waffle house to discuss their life events as it were. How fun is that?

Which 3 would you choose?